Page 56 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Cerys grinned up at him. “Perhaps one day soon you’ll get to have me for dinner.”

“You have no idea how good that sounds.”

Once she was tucked up in her car, he leaned his head through her window and kissed her. “Drive safely. Wait. I forgot who I was talking to. Text me how many times you get beeped at on the way home.”

Her laughter as she turned on the ignition made him wish she’d decided to stay.

And yet, for once, he fully understood why she had to go.

9

The following morning, Cerys finally parked her car a few blocks down from the packed studio lot. Why there were so many fancy cars, she had no idea. She wasn’t particularly a car person, but as she’d driven around trying to find a place to park, she spotted two Hummers, two Cadillac Escalades, and theSpirit of Ecstasybonnet ornament meaning there was at least one Rolls-Royce.

She thought back over the schedule. A rapper had been booked into Studio One for the day yesterday, but by the packed parking lot, he was still in there, along with everyone else in his contact list. Grabbing her bags, she hustled to the studio doors and let herself inside. People crowded the entrance and spilled into the coffee area. Two people were asleep on the orange sofa, shocking, given the pulsing beat currently playing.

While they weren’t at their capacity, she needed to find her father. By the time Sad Fridays arrived, the lobby needed to be twenty decibels quieter.

At some point today, she was going to see Jase. Even so, her nerves raced. She had sensed from yesterday’s run-in with Alex that Jase wouldn’t see the difference between being here and the cottage. And while part of her wanted to experience being with Jase like he was at the cottage, it was the furthest thing from professional. Especially when she wanted to prove to her father she was worth having on the team.

The words Jase had spoken at the cottage came back to her. She needed to make space for herself.

It was why she was here at six thirty in the morning. After a long soak in a super bubbly bath the night before, she’d climbed into bed and talked with Jase. They’d decided that he’d tell the band that morning about what had happened over the weekend with his music. Alex didn’t want to be put in the tough spot his brother had been put in with Matt and Izabel. Jase had shared the whole story with her. How Matt and Iz hid their relationship because of Jase and Luke, but how Ben had found out and been caught in the middle.

But she’d decided, realising timing was everything with her father, that she would still wait for the right time to tell him.

Nobody paid her any attention as she headed straight past her office to Studio One. The control room was packed. Four men sat on chairs along the back wall. Two stood hovering over the production desk. Another blocked her view into the studio.

“Get your fingers off that,” Jimmy barked as one of them messed with the fade. He pressed the button to speak to whoever was in the isolation room.

“You’re losing the beat. Let’s start recording it in sections.” Jimmy tugged his hand through his hair. His shirt was untucked from his jeans and looked rumpled.

“But, man. It flows better in one go, yeah?” The voice filtered back into the studio.

“It does if you can keep time. Everyone’s getting tired. We can switch the way we capture the song, or we can call it and come back another day.”

“He can’t,” one of the seated men said. “It’s the tour. Gotta get this down today before he flies back to Dallas.”

Jimmy rubbed his hands over his face. “He needs less distraction. This is a fucking circus.”

The man shook his head. “It’s his process, man. He gets inspired by his entourage.”

Cerys edged in and could see the recording studio had even more people in it. Two women were dancing in stripper heels in front of the isolation booth. Guess people needed their creativity kick-started in lots of different ways. But, she could tell the team was tired. Rahim put his head on the desk and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Jimmy,” she said loudly. “We need this studio in sixty minutes. This is going to have to move into Studio Two.”

All eyes in the room shifted to her, including Jimmy’s.

“Who’s coming in?” he asked.

“Sad Fridays. They wanted an early session. I’m going to need you to take this to Studio Two, but the only problem with that is it’s the one without separation between production and performance. So, only you, your team, and the artist can step in there.”

Seated guy stood. “Why can’t they use the other studio?”

“Ah, there are five of them. Lots of instruments. Need the isolation booths. Sorry. And I’m going to need the hallways cleared because I have to move drum kits. I’m sorry, I’m Cerys, Jimmy’s operations manager.”

“I’m Young Punk’s A&R rep, Trey. We booked Jimmy and this studio.”

Young Punk. What a perfect name for a scrawny Eminem wannabe.

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