Page 50 of Are You Going to Love Me

Stay: No idea what you’re talking about.

Eden: No? For some reason, he thinks I'm just going to get dressed and go sit with him at a studio.

Stay: Oh yeah, so what kind of JoyRide he ordered your bougie ass?

Eden stepped off the elevator and spotted the platinum JoyRide under the pavilion of her building.

Eden: I wouldn’t know because I’m not going

Stay: So your Joy360 pin is moving because you’re having a dance off through the lobby?

Eden: I don’t know why it’s moving. Maybe it’s a glitch

Stay: Have fun

Eden: I won’t because I'm not going

Eden strolled out of the building and climbed into the back of the blacked-out SUV. All of it was out of her norm. Sure, there were men she went out with from time to time in some grand fashion because they wanted to be seen. With Maximus, it felt genuine. It felt like he liked her for her, and he wanted to be around her off the strength of that alone. So here she was, walking into the studio, trying to school the butterflies in her stomach.

“I feel like I’m sixteen,” she scolded herself. “Damn near thirty and giddy. How was your grandmother a gangsta, and you’re about to go out like a simp?”

The door to Studio B opened, and Maximus appeared in the hallway. His intentions were to meet her outside and walk her in, but Eden’s nerves had her moving quickly.

“You know, for someone who ain’t here, it’s nice to see you,” he spoke, leaving only a couple of inches of space between them. “You need anything?”

“Nope, because I’m not here,” she quipped before she offered him a half smile. “You gon’ let me hear what you got cooking, or are you going to stare at me all night?”

With a swipe of his tongue over his full lips, he allowed her some space to walk past him. Maximus allowed himself to be elevated by the softness of her scent, and like a puppy, he followed the cloud into the studio.

“Gary, this is Eden. Eden, my engineer, Gary,” Maximus introduced.

Contrary to what Maximus had presented himself to be, she was expecting a studio full of women, clouds of smoke, and liquor everywhere. From the looks of it, he had locked himself in here in hopes of coming out with something organic to who he was.

Politely, Eden offered a wave before sitting down in a chair out of Gary’s line of sight and out of the way of the sound board. Maximus made note of that. Any other woman in her position would’ve come in loudly and opted for being seen and heard.

“Play back that third track,” Maximus stated, as he took a seat on the other side of Eden. He needed to observe the way the music resonated with her. If she didn’t respond, he was scrapping it and starting over.

Eden’s ears were tuned to the raspiness of Maximus’ voice as it came through the speakers.

“I gotta whole lot of shit on my chest. Trae Way. Been movin’ through life with a chip on my shoulder. Saw some bullshit made my heart a little colder. A nigga got visions and dreams, but I keep a clip in the holster.”

Eden nodded her head before nudging him. “Stop it real quick.”

Maximus got Gary’s attention, and the music paused. “You ain’t fucking with it.”

She caught a glint of defeat in his eyes. “Gary, you mind giving us a second?”

“Nah, do your thing,” Gary said, as he stood and gave them the room.

Once alone, Eden turned to face him full on. “Why are you doubting yourself?”

“You can hear it?”

She nodded. “Hear it, see it. Almost like you don’t know if this is what you deserve. I don’t know your life story, or all your struggles, and you don’t need to tell me. What you need to do is put it all on this album. Don’t leave anything behind either. Now, as far as this song goes, I like the intro. You could use a female voice to say Trae Way. I think that’ll be dope. Who you know who will pull up right now?”

“You,” he shared. “You should do it.”

“Uh uh. Boy, I am not going in there. I mean someone like Sadi G or-”

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