Chapter 1
She propped her elbows upon the mixing console, careful not to damage its knobs, or leave any dirt behind. She was slightly irritated, for she was sure that that Saturday would be reserved for her and her sanity; she knew she needed to relax after a hectic week, but once Alvin's ever-so suave voice flowed through her cellphone asking to meet at the recording studio 'to get down to some serious business',… she knew in her heart she couldn't say no.
He promised he'd be there at ten on the dot, but of course, thirty minutes blew by, and was still a no-show.
She expected just that from him; sure, she was vexed, but she knew Alvin more than anyone on the planet. It was almost as if she were immune to his behavior she studied over the long, stretching years they've known one another.
The moment she decided to take a walk around the building, to pass time, the doorknob to the studio began to jiggle. The door flew open with an unstable Alvin bursting through, catching himself against the wall next to the door. In one hand, he held a large brown bag, and in the other, a large drink, precipitation leaking from all around the cup.
With a heavy breath and a weak smile, he composed his posture and presented what he had in his hands. "Lunch?"
###
"And the line was stupid long! I would have been here earlier if it weren't for that! Stupid soccer mom and her coupons! And there were like, no cashiers, out of hundreds of registers!" he explained his ordeal as he took a monstrous bite from his double cheeseburger, some of its lettuce falling to his white jeans.
Brittany giggled at his 'tragic' story before brushing off the lettuce into a nearby trash bin. "Alvin, I think you might have exaggerated that by, like… a lot…"
He shrugged, not denying for a single second the words that slipped from her mouth. "And? It made for a good story!" he finished with a chaste smile and a charismatic wink to complement it.
Brittany despised that she loved what she saw.
After his final bite, Alvin dusted the crumbs from his crewneck, and as he did so, Brittany spotted the perfect moment to insert her sass.
"Still conceited, even at this age, huh?" she asked as she pointed to his last name stitched in cursive on his black crewneck. "Aren't you a little old for names on shirts?"
"You know me so well," he replied, his words oozing with sarcasm. "I'll never be too old."
He rose from his spot in his chair, gathered up his garbage and proceeded to toss it in the trash. "Ready?" he asked hastily before pulling a notebook with the day's plans written in chicken scratch.
A blank stare crossed Brittany face as she gazed into Alvin's blue-eyed gawk. "Ready for what?"
Alvin's face scrunched in confusion as he pointed a thumb towards the room, the live room, a swift chuckle escaping him. "To record? Remember I said to meet here so we can get down to business and finish your songs?"
Her face produced the reddest blush it could possibly make, and for Brittany's sake, she hoped that Alvin hadn't noticed. What was she thinking? She should have known that that was what Alvin was alluding to, being in the studio and all, but sadly, she had to leap out of her sweetest fantasies at some point. She composed herself and straightened her skirt with delicacy, carefully standing to her feet.
"Just testing you…"
She brushed shoulders with Alvin as she entered the room and placed the headphones around her neck. Alvin turned on the speaker to the soundproof room, waiting for her to say her que. "Are you ready at all? Or do you need to warm up your voice?"
She scoffed with a roll of her eyes before placing the headphones around her ears. "I was born ready, and you should know this by now!"
"Sure," he replied with raised eyebrows.
He cut the speaker off and started her track. He positioned his fingers accordingly upon the knobs, readying himself for the three minute session. He looked to the notebook to see the first song: Light up the Night. "So generic," he jokingly thought.
Take in a breath
Show them who you are
Emancipate yourself
And you'll shine like a star
You're a star ready to fight
Make it right, hold on tight
You're a star, baby girl, to light up the night
It was one of those days for Alvin; the days where he had to listen to Brittany in order to properly master her sound; the days where he couldn't focus on the mastering because her voice was so hauntingly beautiful to him.
Yep. One of those days.
As her song progressed, he nervously fumbled with the knobs, and for a moment, he looked to Brittany through the soundproof window, seeing her luscious lips move as she read the lyrics from her phone.
Somedays, like that day, he wished he didn't like Brittany to the extent of losing focus on his job. He always vowed to never let anyone, especially a woman, get in the way of his livelihood.
Brittany Miller? She was the ultimate exception to the rule.
Her track faded out, indicating the end. She whipped off her headphones and charged out of the room to meet Alvin by his side. "Was that good? Do we need another run-through?"
Alvin blushed. "Nah, not at all…"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Well, because I was thinking-"
"It was perfect."
She stopped in her tracks and looked to Alvin as he stood to his feet to stretch.
"Um," Brittany started, trailing off into her own little world. "So it was good?"
Alvin nodded as he started to gather up his things, and this only confused Brittany, for they had a handful of songs to get to before evening hit.
"Alvin, what about "Whatever"? "Can You Talk Me"? "Secret Lover"?"
He merely shrugged, keeping his gaze low. "I-I-I just can't focus…"
Brittany crossed her arms fitfully across her breasts, her blue eyes narrowing in on the exasperated being. "Alvin, you call me in on my day off just so we can sit, eat lunch, do one song, then leave?!"
The way she worded it made the situation seem even worse. He must admit though, it was a little selfish of him to leave at the moment. But he couldn't focus. All because of her.
Alvin blankly stared off into space as he could hear Brittany going on one of her rants that he learned to zone out over the years. This time was different; he liked the way she ranted: how her lips moved at inhumane speeds, and how her tiny hands always made their way to her curvy hips, and the way her face turned the cutest pink as she did.
He broke her rant with a hefty chuckle before lifting his phone from his pocket and waving it about; a perfect diversion.
"The guys need me; I gotta go, I'll text you."
They swiped shoulders, and Alvin was out and down the hall faster than Brittany could process his move.
"Alvin, wait!"
Brittany wanted her answers. She knew Alvin always acted out of spontaneity, but this time simply felt peculiar to her.
She jogged her way to Alvin's side just as he was about to board the elevator. She yanked him out from between the doors, and they closed shut, leaving Alvin beyond humiliated.
"Alvin, what's wrong? I thought everything was fine!"
"And it still is!" he admitted as he took her by her shoulders. He dropped his eyes, not once looking up as he spoke, "do you wanna watch a movie at my condo?"
###
Once the doors were unlocked, he flicked on the light that illuminated the entirety of the condominium with Brittany following close behind.
"Wow…" Brittany admired as she twirled around to intake all of the condo's corners and edges. "This is really nice. How long have you lived here?"
"Three months," he answered as he kicked off his shoes and discarded them in a nearby corner.
Brittany was impressed that Alvin was doing so well for himself; she always thought he'd be more… rambunctious with his lifestyle.
As Alvin fiddled with the DVD player, Brittany placed her purse on the couch and perched herself on the arm of it. She watched as Alvin struggled to turn the contraption on, and she couldn't help but to laugh. "Everything okay?" she asked as she wiped a tear from her eye.
Alvin cut a sharp glance over his shoulder and eyed Brittany for quite some time. With a smirk, he broke his attention from the player and put every last bit of it on Brittany. He casually approached her, towering over her for mere seconds before planting his lips against her unsuspecting ones, her body jolting at the sudden action.
He pulled away with a one-shoulder shrug. "Now it is."
Brittany hated surprises more than anything in the world; but this was Alvin, and that kiss… and that sweet, loving, kiss. As she watched Alvin strut back towards the T.V., it only heightened her impulse. She stood to her feet and took model-like strides to his side to give him a piece of her mind.
More like…
She took him by the shoulder to force eye contact, and it was safe to say Alvin was back at it again, kissing her softly, holding her close.
The two pulled away from each other, pressing their foreheads against the other.
"What is it about you, Brittany?" Alvin questioned, eyes closed, foreheads still pressed.
He knew what it was; her laser-like ice-blue eyes that could cut diamonds, her luscious auburn hair with a tint of red that smelled of ripe strawberry with a hint of lemon. It was her glow when she walked into a room, her smile brighter than the sun, her laugh enchanting and beautiful. Her sass and dominance was overpowering, but Alvin, in a sense, found it attractive when a woman was unafraid to show her true colors.
And that was Brittany.
She could smell the cologne that loomed off his body, his warm hold around her waist. With her hand pressed to his chest, she could feel his heartbeat, and it seemed to speed up with each passing second. She pulled away to meet his navy-blue eyes that sent a chill through her very soul. She could see the confidence his gaze held, and she could feel him talking to her through pure eye contact. Brittany knew Alvin was capable of such a thing, and so his gaze conversed with hers, and it only pulled her deeper and deeper…
"Hey Brittany."
"Yes?"
"This is crazy, but I'm losing focus on everything."
"Why?"
"Because you're here."
"I guess love can make you do crazy things…"
She bit her lip. Love. Everything screamed 'love'.
"Just kiss me…"