Page 98 of Hard Rock Muse
“Do you not need me anymore?” I asked.
“No, it’s fine. We’ll get this hammered out better with no distractions.”
Distraction? Was that all I was now? I’d been an integral part of creating this song. And now I was being cast aside before it was one hundred percent finished?
“You can hang around if you want,” he offered. “See what the final product is like.”
Sure. I’d justhang aroundwhile the rest of them finished the song I’d worked so hard on, the song I’d put everything I had into.
I pressed my lips together.
“No. I’ll just got get a coffee or something. Wouldn’t want to be adistraction.”
I said the words shortly but Julian didn’t seem to notice. He was focused on the music sheets, making notes here and there.
With a frown on my lips, I stalked out of the room and made my way to the break room where I knew I’d find a fancy espresso machine.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so upset, but the way Julian had dismissed me so easily rankled. I knew he believed he couldn’t have written the song without me, but now that my part of the job was done, it was like I was being cast aside. Like I wasn’t needed anymore.
Wasn’t that exactly what he had said? I’d just be a distraction to them? As if I couldn’t possibly have any input into the arrangement process, as if my expertise counted for nothing.
Maybe Julian didn’t think that much of me after all. I’d helped him write some words. He’d taken those words and ran with them. My part was done. I wasn’t needed anymore.
The frown didn’t leave my face as I struggled with the espresso machine. I just wanted a damn latte.
“Well, isn’t this interesting,” a voice said from behind me.
I froze, my hand still on the coffee machine knob, ready to flick it to the latte setting. My fingers trembled, almost causing the knob to twist back and forth.
I knew that voice. I knew who it belonged to.
It was a voice that haunted my dreams. It was a voice I hoped I’d never hear again.
The rustle of clothes told me the person was moving closer. All the hairs on my arm stood up. I could practically feel his presence behind me. He cast a shadow over me, like storm clouds passing over the sun. Like a dark, swirling storm of pitch darkness, horrendous thunder and terrifying lightening.
“I didn’t think I’d run into you here, Ever,” the man said. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
I slowly turned around, bracing myself.
Tall, with cold amber eyes, dressed in a grey suit and tie, light brown hair slicked back. The one man I hoped I’d never see again in my life.
Keith.
The one man who had stolen everything away from me.
