Some one is Watching

Selene’s POV

I slept little that night.

My mind was not ready to settle after the notification was posted on my phone. I slept in bed hours and hours watching the ceiling re-enacting the moment. The demo file had been seen by somebody. The account was accessible to someone.

That is what I kept in my mind as a kind of warning it could not get out of my head. Light came slow in the morning filling the room. I got out of bed and rubbed my eyes and felt weary yet restless. The house was quiet. Ronan had already gone off to work early.

I descended and prepared myself a cup of coffee, which I hardly tasted. My mind was somewhere else. I took my laptop to the dining table after several minutes and opened it. When somebody had accessed the account, there must have been a trace.

I hoped there would be, at any rate.

I returned to the cloud storage account. The page was loading, and my fingers were moving on the keyboard rather fast. The well-known folders were again visible on the screen.

My old recordings. My past. My proof. I went to the security settings and found the history of logs. Nothing seemed to appear a moment.

Then the page refreshed.

The list of access points appeared.

There was my own login of the previous night. But there was another one. My heart began to beat faster. I leaned closer to the screen. The site was associated with the log-in. Los Angeles.

That was not the thing that tightened my chest.

The network source was displayed in the system.

A corporate network. My stomach was sinking with the name attached to it. The access was an inside job in one of the biggest record labels of the country. I gazed a long time at the screen.

It had been accessed by someone in one of the large music companies. My fingers moved slowly toward the touchpad and swiped through the information once more just to confirm that I was not misunderstanding.

Nonetheless, the information was not altered. The log in had occurred early in the morning. Many hours later when I had closed the laptop. Which meant that somebody had been in the account since I left it.

But how?

I had not given out the password to anyone. I sat back in my chair and touched my hair.

“Think,” I whispered to myself.

The account was not used since years ago. Nobody was to know it was. Unless… The thought came to me like a tightening of my chest. I would not have been noticed unless a person was watching me. I was interrupted by the sound of the opening of the front door.

I minimized the browser window quickly. Ronan entered the dining room a moment later and took off his jacket.

“You’re awake early,” he said.

I did not sleep very well, I said.

He stared at me and sat down facing me.

Keep on thinking about the file?

“Yes.”

I swiveled the laptop to his direction and displayed the history of logins to him. Ronan gazed at the screen without saying anything. His face was gradually altered.

That place, he said to himself.

“I know,” I replied.

“That’s a major label building.”

“Yes.”

There we sat a moment without saying anything. At last Ronan drew himself back. This is because somebody in the industry has already watched your demo he said.

“But I didn’t post it,” I replied.

“I know.”

I closed the laptop slowly.

“So who accessed it?” I asked.

What question is that, Ronan said.

He hesitated and said something.

Somebody may already think that Liora stole these songs.

My heart beat a little faster.

You believe that some other one found out the truth?

“It’s possible,” he said.

I got on my feet, and started pacing slowly around the room.

And in case someone in the industry knows that the songs are not hers... I replied, they might be intending something.

Or they might be defending themselves, Ronan added.

I stopped walking.

“What do you mean?”

In case some label put money in her album, Ronan said, they may need to have evidence before the scandal blows out.

That made sense. Nevertheless, the idea of some other person lurking over the scene was uncomfortable. Ronan got on his feet and looked at his watch.

By the way, said he, of the industry, we have somewhere to go to-night.

I frowned slightly.

“Where?”

“A cocktail event,” he replied. “Music executives. Producers. Journalists. The usual crowd.”

My stomach tightened.

“Let me guess,” I said.

Fine, Liora will be there, Ronan finished.

I sighed. “Of course she will.”

This is the promotion of the new album, he said.

I crossed my arms.

“You want me to go? Why?”

Due to the fact that it provides us with information, Ronan answered in a calm manner. “And information is power.”

I considered it for a moment. In a way, I loathed the thought of being in the same room with Liora once more. But there was a different part of me that realized that Ronan was right. In case there was already something strange with the demos, I had to observe the industry response.

“Fine,” I said finally. “I’ll go.”

The party that night was held in a downtown large hotel ballroom. There was soft music on the background and waiters were going up and down through the crowd with the trays of drinks. The hall was packed with attendees who were wearing costly suits and fancy dresses.

Music producers. Agents. Journalists. Artists. The whole industry appeared to be present. As we walked into the room Ronan was behind me.

“Relax,” he murmured.

“I am relaxed,” I said.

He gave me a small amused look.

“You’re clenching your jaw.”

I had to make myself loosen my face.

Liora I soon caught sight of across the room.

She was standing in the middle of a small crowd, with a glass of champagne in her hand and was talking in a very lively manner with a few people.

She looked confident. Happy. As a star, she was relishing her time. I felt my chest tighten again. Ronan turned a bit towards me.

He was only to watch, he said to himself.

I nodded.

We moved closer to the group. I heard Liora talking as we came closer.

It is my favorite album, she said proudly. I have been working on each of the tracks all through months.

My fingers tightened a little around the glass that I was holding. Months. Right. A gentleman who was standing next to her nodded.

The initial reviews are good, already, he said. The songs are quite intimate.

They are, Liora answered and smiled brightly.

My stomach twisted.

One of the men standing at the back of the group broke in.

In fact, he replied carelessly, there was something interesting that crossed my desk to-day.

Liora stared at him in wonder.

“What do you mean?”

The man shrugged lightly.

There are recordings of songs sent by someone who is unknown and they sound very similar to yours.

Everything in me momentarily stood still. My heart skipped a beat. What?

Liora laughed softly.

“That’s impossible,” she said. “My songs are original.”

I am only telling you what I heard, the man answered. “Old demo recordings. Same lyrics. Same melodies.”

The room became unnaturally warm.

My mind raced. I had not published the demos. The one to be posted was not yet a few days away. Which meant… The recordings had been sent out by someone else. Another one had already begun to expose her.

Ronan glanced at me quickly. He had made out well the same thing. Liora shook her hand in a gesture of dismissal.

It is likely some jealous singer who wants some attention, she thought.

The producer shrugged again.

“Maybe.”

And the discussion continued, and I paid little attention to the remainder. My mind was spinning. Someone else had the demos. They had been sent out by some other person. But who?

I swiveled around and glanced across the room. That was when I noticed him. A man standing near the bar.

He was watching me. Not the crowd. Not Liora. Me. Our eyes met. There was, at a moment, no motion on our part. Then he picked up the glass he was holding gradually. His face flushed with a calm expression. And his lips moved.

He mouthed a single word.

“Selene.”