Chapter 1

It was a quiet day at Red Bedroom Records but Haley James Scott had a lot to do. She sat at her big desk in the corner of the office at the studio and was busy responding to emails, answering phone calls, scheduling, and taking care of some paper work that had been piling up over the past couple of weeks. Running the studio had been a lot more work than she thought it would be when her friend Peyton asked her to take over when she decided to leave Tree Hill and do some traveling with Lucas and their new baby girl, Sawyer. Peyton had made it look so easy when she was here, she always seemed to have everything under control. Haley wondered how she had managed to do it all on her own. It was a lot of work and it got stressful at times but Haley did love it. She really enjoyed getting to work with the artists and share her talent in ways that she never had before. She also liked the fact that it kept her busy now that she was no longer teaching at Tree Hill high and Jamie had gone back to school, she now had some more time on her hands and needed something to keep her busy. On days like today though, that consisted of endless phone calls and reading through hundreds of emails, Haley wished that Peyton was still here as she was much better at taking care of all of that and Haley could just enjoy her time in the studio making her own music or collaborating with the other artists.

Today was an especially busy day because although none of their currently signed artists had studio time, Haley had to get all the office work finished before their open auditions started tomorrow. For the next two days, the doors of the studio would be open to any new artists or bands looking to take the next step in their careers and working towards making it big. Haley liked the few artists they currently had signed with them and were working with. She was happy and content with the talent that they had, but Peyton insisted that they needed to sign more people. Mostly, because the big label was always asking for more than a small studio like this one could produce but they did a lot for them so Peyton tried her best to give them what they asked for, as long as it was somewhat reasonable that is.

On days like today Haley had wished that Mia was around to give a helping hand. Mia loved helping out at the studio. When she wasn't working on her own music or out touring, she always enjoyed getting in the studio with the other artists and giving them some creative feedback. She even helped with the phone calls and the work load that often piled up when Haley got lost spending too much of her time focusing on the music stuff and not enough on all the other things that came along with running this place. Haley was thankful that Mia was so eager to help. She was the first artist RBR had ever signed and Mia was so grateful that they had taken a chance on her that she wanted to do whatever she could to help out and keep this place going, even if that meant spending hours sorting through boring emails. But today Mia was out of town. She had left a few days earlier to travel to New York for a benefit concert and shoot a video while she was there so she wouldn't be back in Tree Hill until after the weekend. Haley was happy for Mia and knew that she was doing a wonderful thing but she still wished she had a little help this week.

After a long and quiet morning in the studio, Haley was startled when she heard her cell phone vibrate on the other side of her desk, taking her away from her work. Reaching for it, she read the name that popped up on the screen and smiled. Her mood just got a whole lot better.

"We still on for lunch? 1:00 right?" the text read after Haley unlocked her phone to read the message.

"Yup! I could totally use the break. See you soon!" Haley instantly replied.

Haley looked down at the clock and realized she only had about 20 minutes to get herself together and make it downtown in time for her lunch date. She quickly finished up the email she had been writing before she got the text and then started gathering up her things. As soon as she got her purse together and was headed out, she heard the studio phone ring. Rolling her eyes, she turned back around and stared at the phone for a brief moment, contemplating whether or not to answer. "It can wait" she thought, with that, she was on her way out the door again.