Page 17 of Places I've Never Been

“Hang in there, girl.” Kat waved and ended the call.

Mattie lifted her face to the morning sun and tried to push all the drama out of her mind. When that didn’t work, she threw on a sundress and went for pastries.

Chapter Four

Adam arrived at the studio for his meeting with Mattie Bellamy an hour early and looked around, trying to see the place through the eyes of a stranger. From the outside, it looked like just another Los Angeles storefront on yet another tree-lined street not far from Griffith Park. The lobby was more entryway than proper waiting space, and as first impressions went, it was clean but plain. He’d insisted the cleaning crew come twice just to make sure it didn’t smell like stale french fries. He sniffed. The scent of vanilla and spice hung in the air. Perfect.

A hallway led from the lobby into the control room, which contained two large, overstuffed sofas, a couple of club chairs, plus all the latest equipment for mixing, effects, and recording. The walls were covered in acoustic tiles that gave the place a cave-like vibe. It was comfortable and reminded him of the band’s early days in his parents’ garage. His dad had never taken the tiles down, and most of their setup was still there, even though he still grumbled about it from time to time.

On the other side of the glass, the studio was big enoughfor the entire band, their equipment, plus a few extra microphones and odds and ends. Two large monitors hung in the corners to display lyrics or other notes about the song they were recording.

The spaces together were a little heavy on male influence, maybe, but overall he thought it would impress most people as a high-tech, professional place where serious music happened. They’d set it up years ago because renting someone else’s studio in Los Angeles was expensive and had too many strings attached. Plus, the songs came out better when they were in a place that felt like home.

Flynn and Brandon were already setting up the equipment, but LT and Cooper were nowhere to be seen.

Adam took out his phone and tapped out a text to them.Where R U?

He opened the door to the studio and stepped inside.

“Hey,” Brandon said without looking up. He played a few bars on the keyboards, tilted his head, then nodded. “Good to go here.”

Flynn ran through a quick test of the drum kit and grinned. “I don’t know. Think it’s good enough forher? I mean, have we dusted every nook and cranny? Shined the metal bits? Do we have rose petals?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Try to behave, okay? If we scare this one away, you’re stuck with whatever I wrote in high school.”

“We all know what that means,” Brandon said. His fingers danced over the keys, playing the melody to “Every Breath You Take” by The Police.

“Would you cut that out?” Adam flashed an irritated look at his brother. “I’ve never been that kind of guy.”

“Sure, bro. Sure.” Brandon kept his gaze down, but the song changed to “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick.

Flynn tapped out aba-dum-bumpand hit the cymbals for good measure.

Adam’s phone chimed. Cooper had responded.Caffeine and Carbs.

Hopefully, that meant LT was with him. He checked the time. Mattie would be here in thirty minutes.

He tapped out another quick message to Cooper and LT.Bring some for Mattie.

LT responded this time.Like what? Coffee? Tea? Red Bull?

Cooper responded,Balloons that say I Love You?

He shook his head.Ass. Coffee, tea, muffins.

Cooper sent,Leave the gun.

LT quickly responded,Take the cannoli.

Adam sent a flip-off emoji and went back out to the control room.

When the lobby doors opened he jumped to his feet, expecting to see Mattie. Instead, it was Cooper and LT with the provisions.

Cooper flashed him a knowing look and unloaded the bags of goodies onto the coffee table in front of the couch. “That’s not happiness to see us, is it?”

LT smirked. “That was definite disappointment in those baby browns. But here, a shot of caffeine will fix that.”

Adam took the offered cup. “Let’s get set up, okay? I want to make a good impression.”

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