CHAPTER TWO

We have finally taken off! We waited almost 30 minutes for everyone to board the plane, fill the overhead compartments with their carry-ons, and settle in to their designated seats. I was seated near the window with Sonny on my right and Kasey on the aisle. She sits with her iPad and headphones in while she plays Sudoku and listens to music. Sonny has his laptop in front of him and his Beats headphones resting on his shoulders around his neck as he fidgets with his email. I look down at my notebook in my lap and start writing a song. I love writing when I fly. It's a great way to make the time go by. When I visit my mom in my hometown of Cleveland seems to be my best time to write. I wrote 4 of my 10 songs on my album during flights. I start writing a song I have been thinking about….

I walk in the shadows of my former self

Looking back at the past

I know I have been put through hell

Lost on the path I know I have been placed

I look around and can't see a familiar face

Because they all knew I went the wrong way

Wrong can't be right

No matter how good it feels

Nothing can take away the scar

No matter how long it heals

It's like a tattoo

Reminding me of a time

Of when I was with you

And how much it hurt

It hurts to love you

..

I look up and notice Sonny staring at me with a smile.

"What?" I say with a smile.

"I hope you don't mind that I was watching but you just wrote some pretty kick ass lyrics in like barely any time at all. That's pretty amazing." He replies and points quickly at the page.

"You like them?" I say surprised. The fact that he even likes them at all surprises me a lot. For someone who writes such amazing music and lyrics I feel really honored.

"Oh yeah. I would love to see what else you got. Tom sent me a copy of your CD. I listened to it last night. You're really talented." He says as he moves his body in my direction and closes his laptop.

"Sure. I keep them all in my notebook here." I say as I hand it to him. He takes the notebook eagerly and flips the book to the first page and begins to read my first song in there. I sit back comfortably and stare out the window as he reads the book page by page. He looks up at me and laughs. "Do you have any idea how much I want to collaborate on a song with you right now?" He says as he hands me the notebook back. I take it feeling enthralled by the idea of working with him.

"You really want to?" I say excitedly.

"Yeah. We should work on it once we land in Paris. We can set up a little session at the hotel or something. Maybe Tom will want to help. I'm sure he would once he looks at your notebook." He says as he opens his laptop up again and pulls up his email. I scan the cabin and see Tom is up two rows ahead of us on our right in the next section sitting on the aisle with Mark and a random woman near the window. I hear Tom's phone chime and see him pull his iPhone out and see him read a message. I can't see the message because of the seats in front of us. He then turns around and winks at me. I'm guessing Sonny sent him a message or something to avoid shouting and disrupting the other passengers. I smile at Sonny and say, "Sounds like fun".

Sonny smiles and says, "Hell yeah should be a great session. I've been working on this Zedd song all week. It would be nice to work on something else. Anton asked me to remix a song for his new album True Colors dropping this summer".

"What's the song called?" I ask.

"Beautiful Now. It's supposed to be his second single. You want to listen to what I got so far?" He asks wonderingly as he takes his headphones off from around his neck and hands them to me. I take them and put them on to signal that I would. He clicks some buttons and music starts to surround me. Jon Bellion's voices dances in my ears as Sonny's mix bends the beat in an inspired way. It plays for a little over 3 minutes and each minute is better than the next. Once the song is over I take the headphones off and hand them back.

"That was amazing. Is it done?" I ask.

"Yeah pretty much. Just some drum work to fix but yeah it's basically done. What do you think?" he asks curiously.

"I love it. I can't wait to buy it and play it on repeat." I say excitedly. His song is amazing! I wish I could hear it more and more but I don't want to seem like a maniac stalker fan who just worships him. That would be weird.

"Good. I'm glad you like it. Hopefully I can finish it before we land so we can focus on our session tonight". He puts his headphones on as he silently shushes me so he can work on the song. I pull out my handy notebook so I can keep writing.

Our first layover is in three hours in Atlanta and then we have a nine hour and sixteen minute flight to Paris. Should be interesting to see how I spend this time wisely. I think I will take a nap for the long haul of the trip. I stare at my notebook and continue writing my song.

Three long hours later we arrive in Atlanta. Sonny finally finished his song about thirty minutes before we landed. He emailed the song to the label to be approved. He told me all about how remixes are handled with him. Apparently they always get approved and it takes less than 48 hours before the song gets sent to Anton and released. It must be amazing to be so popular that the record label just trusts your skills and immediately makes your work available.

He chats with me about his time as a singer and how he left because he felt the band was holding him back and how he was interested in dubstep. It's interesting seeing him open up to me so quickly.

I share some stories of my own about how my mom started her own law firm and my dad does Administration work for a computer company. I tell him how my brother is autistic and how he inspired me to volunteer and help people like him. I shared how I became a singer after my music teacher suggested I study music in college. And how my music teacher had me meet with her husband who worked at Interscope which led to be being signed with my friends who are in my band Disenchanted Ones. I told him about my friends Dylan, Chris, and Josh who are in my band. He asked why they weren't on the flight and I told him how they took an earlier flight so they could have some free days to explore Paris.

As the flight attendant announces we are about to start the process of landing, Kasey finally removes her headphones to join us in conversation.

"Sorry I missed out on the bonding but I needed to have some me time on this flight." She says comically as she puts her iPad in her bag.

"You didn't miss much hun, but Sonny and I are going to work with the guys on a song when we get to the hotel." I say excitedly as Sonny glances at Kasey and starts putting his stuff all together to leave.

"That should be fun! Hopefully we can get some sleep beforehand!" She says tiredly and yawns.

I laugh and say, "Of course".

Sonny sits up after putting his bag under the seat and says, "I plan on hibernating for a while once we get to our rooms." He says jokingly and touches my arms quickly. I laugh and nod. "I definitely will be napping probably on the next flight. I barely slept at all due to my annoying ex who kept texting me."

"Ex?" Sonny asks. "What happened there?"

Kelsey butts in and says, "Well her ex-boyfriend John, who she was with for almost three years and was 'engaged to' broke up with her through a text message very randomly saying he has been 'unhappy for a while' and 'needed space', blah blah blah…"

Sonny looks at me sadly and says, "That sucks. I know how that feels. My ex Ellie and I broke up because of us traveling all the time. We just never got to see each other. We're better off as friends really. I haven't talked to her in over a year though. We just grew apart."

I sigh and say, "Yeah it sucked. But I've been single for about a year and I'm honestly okay with it. No drama. If I date again, and that's a big IF, it will have to be with someone I am really in to. I'm sick of seeing girls just date around because they don't like being alone. I am not like that. I do not mind being alone at all. I prefer it actually. I just get lonely after a while." I say. It is true that I have been quite lonely lately but working on the album and writing more music has helped keep my mind occupied.

"Well hopefully we can make you feel better!" He says with a huge comical smile that makes me and Kasey laugh. Tom looks back from his seat and coughs signaling Kasey and us to turn around and look at him. "Don't have too much fun without me!" He says jokingly which makes us all laugh.

The pilot signals us all to fasten our seat belts and we all quiet down and get ready to land. This definitely has been an interesting ride.

The plane lands and we exit the airplane and we all head to our next gate at the Atlanta International Airport. Some of us stop at the bathrooms and get refreshed. I walk to a gift shop with Sonny, Kasey, Mark, and Tom and we all grab snacks. The rest of our group head to our gate. After we check out we all join them.

I sit near a charger and plug my phone in. Sonny sits next to me along with Tom. Kasey sits with Jamie who is next to Tom. The rest of the group are farther away where there are open seats with no chargers. Tom nudges me after I plug my phone in and says, "So I hear we are having jam session later after some sleep. I can't wait to see what you got for us!" I smile and pull out my notebook and flip to my finished song and hand it to him. "Go ahead and get a sneak peak." I say as Sonny laughs and chimes in, "It's so good."

Tom giggles and grabs it and puts it in between him and Jamie as they read it. Kasey looks over Jamie's shoulder after she finishes a text. Sonny nudges me and I look over at him. "So what do you got going on after you check in at the hotel?" He asks. "Not sure." I reply. I wonder why he wants to know. I thought he wanted to hibernate or whatever.

"You should come up to my room and we could hang out or something. I get all hyper after a flight. And since you're going to sleep on the plane, I'm sure you will still be awake."

"Sure that sounds cool. What do you want to do?" I ask.

"I'm sure Paris has plenty of things in store." He says jokingly. He pulls out his phone and opens his emails and says, "We could order room service and play some music or something". He suggests as he replies to an email.

"I think we can arrange that. I brought my guitar with me. I checked it in when we got to LAX". He looks up at me and says, "Cool. Jamie can lend me hers and then maybe we can have a little acoustic session by ourselves."

"Sounds like we have a plan." I say affirmatively. I open my phone to see I have 10 messages and a missed call. I open the recent calls to see my mom called me. I check the voicemail and see the notification. I hold the phone up to my ear and smile at Sonny. "My mom called me while we were on the plane and left me a message. I'm just going to see what she said." He nods and replies, "Okay, I gotta check some email anyway." I listen to my mom's voicemail…

"Hey sweetie, it's mom. Just wanted to see how your flight was. Call me back when you get to Paris. I love you sweetie and I hope you have fun on your tour. Make sure you don't forget about me! Love you!"

I smile after I delete the message. Kasey looks over at me and asks, "What did your mom say?" Tom and Jamie look over at me. "She just wanted to say hey and see how I'm doing. Basically being a mom." Tom smirks and says "That happens a lot in the beginning. They learn to back off after a while." He hands me the notebook. Jamie says, "You're real good kid. Love the song about the dying bird. Real tragic shit." She says with a giggle. "That's what I was going for." I reply while everyone laughs. Sonny looks up and puts his phone in his lap.

"With how many emails I get you would think I was a Kardashian or something. Those bitches are always on their blackberries reading something." He jokes and leans against my arm rest almost resting his arm against mine and puts his head on the wall. I get little goosebumps on my arms. After the flight, I feel like Sonny and I have a really nice connection and he is really easy to talk to. Most time when I try to talk to guys it just seems like they don't really care what I'm talking about and they just act like they do so I'll go home with them. But when he listens to me, I feel like he is generally interested in what I have to say and actually likes getting to know me. I hope he feels the same way.

Tom reaches in front of me and smack Sonny's arm so it falls and his head falls on my shoulder. Sonny shrieks and then just laughs and keeps his head there. "It's more comfortable here anyway." He jokes and I lean my head on his. "Lay all you want hun." I laugh and Tom smiles and starts chatting with Jamie.

"You really don't mind that I am laying my head here 'cuz I can move." I lift my head up and look down at him. "I'm fine. You relax." I lean my head against the wall and relax as we wait for our flight to board.

We finally arrive in Paris a good ten hours later. I slept most of the way there and I think pretty much everyone else did too. It's almost eight in the morning when we touch down. We all gather our stuff and exit the plane. I was really excited to be on an international flight before we got on our first plane and now I see why my mom never took us on one. That flight took forever!

We all head to baggage claim and grab our stuff and make our way to our SUVs waiting to pick us up. We all climb in to our assigned places: Sonny, Diplo, and Jamie in SUV 1; Luke, Kyle, and Mark in SUV 2; and lastly Kasey and I in SUV 3. We make our way to our hotel called La Tremoille in the Golden Triangle which is located on Montaigne Ave, Georges V Ave, and the Champs-Elysess. I looked it up before we came here and it's one of the most classic luxury hotels and was originally built in 1883 but was remodeled in 2002. It's supposed to be amazing.

We drive for a while and finally I see the hotel. The hotel's entrance is on a corner of the building that looks like a triangle with the pointy side towards you. It stands six floors tall and has amazing metal balconies around each room with sliding glass doors. It's a light yellow color with shingle siding with a light blue roof. The cars all stop in front of the building and security guards open the doors for us. The hotel was ready for our arrival. The street is mostly clear and I see police cars down a ways with the road marked off so people can't come through. The label must have had this all set-up so we won't be bothered. We all exit our vehicles and little hyper men dressed in dark blue uniforms jump around to the trunks and start unloading bags.

We all gather around the front and start heading in. Sonny walks over to me and says, "Give me your phone and I'll give you my number. Text me when you get to your room and settled and I'll let you know when to come up and where to." I pull out my phone and say, "Here." He grabs is and types it in quickly. He hands it back as a man hands us each our cards. I look at my card. Kasey and I are sharing a room on the fourth floor. She locks arms with me and Sonny wave's goodbye. We both wave back and she whispers, "Look at you already with a date in Paris. They don't call it the 'City of Love' for nothing." She laughs. I lightly punch her in the arm. "It's not a date. Were just going to eat and play some music."
She looks at me like I'm the biggest idiot in the world. "Sounds like a date to me, girly." I look down and blush. "Whatever let's go find our room!" I say excitedly and we go to the elevators. Everyone has already gotten on by the time we get there. We got a little lost on the way due to the hotel having coffee out and it was screaming me and Kasey's name so to speak. We decide on the elevator ride to order food when we get to our room after showering separately and then maybe explore the town. We get to our floor and find our room. We're in 4D. I grab my key after rifling through my bag and open the door.

Our room is about quite nice with a lime green accent wall behind the beds and white pillow with matching bedspread. There is a small darker green accent pillow with a small white notecard saying welcome in some fancy script placed in front of it. The other walls are white but with some random vine patterns in corners. There is a dark brown stained desk towards the big dark green curtains with a wonderful view of the city. There is a matching dresser with a 60 inch flat screen hanging from the wall. In between the beds is another matching side table with a lamp and phone on it.

I check out the bathroom located near the door. It's a large room with a giant walk in shower and a two sink counter. The toilet is located in its own little room right near the door. The toilet has shelf over it with extra towels.

I walk back in to the room see a closet across from the bathroom with a mirrored door and see a mini fridge, microwave, coffee pot, and water cups with ice bucket on a stand next to the door.

"Home sweet home." Kasey says as she lays on the bed close to the window. "At least for the next week." I say as I lay my stuff on my bed. A knock comes to the door and I open it to see our bags have arrived. I let them in as they unload the cart and tip the guy who dropped them off.

I check my phone and write a quick text to Sonny.

'Hey it's Hallie. This is my number for when you need it '

I set my phone down on the nightstand and start unpacking. Kasey yawns and throws her stuff in the corner and just grabs some clothes and heads to the bathroom to shower. I hear my phone go of a couple minutes later. Sonny replied. We start to text back and forth.

Sonny: So how is the view?

Hallie: Looks pretty amazing. I can't wait to go explore.

Sonny: I've been here a bunch. You guys will have plenty to do.

Hallie: You gonna go out today at all?

Sonny: Nah just work on some music and watch some TV.

Hallie: Snooze you lose

Sonny: I'm sure you can tell me all about it later then ;-)

Hallie: What do you recommend?

Sonny: Just walk around. Don't bother asking for help because the French hate everyone.

Hallie: Great. Thank God for Apple maps.

Sonny: Riiiiight. Otherwise you'd be looking like a lost tourist like in one of those horror flicks?

Hallie: I'm not gonna be one of those stupid kids who gets killed in the first scene am I?

Sonny: Nah you'd at least make Act 2.

Hallie: Well thanks.

Sonny: Just kidding Hal. I'd protect you.

Hallie: Thank you kindly good sir.

Sonny: Anytime madam.

Kasey comes out of the bathroom with her hair still wet but in fresh clothes and her hair in a towel. She's wearing light blue jeans with a dark blue and blue plaid shirt buttoned halfway with a light blue lacey tank top underneath. Her sleeves are rolled up to her elbows. She's wearing dark blue vans with white socks and has her jeans rolled up to show her small ankles. "Whatcha doing?" She asks as she takes her towel off her head and stars drying her hair with the towel.

"Nothing. Just talking to Sonny. He was telling us to just walk around and not ask for help because French people are assholes." I say with a laugh.

"Seems like you guys hit it off. You guys sure did talk a lot. You like him?" She asks as she throws the towel on the bed and lays down. "I don't know. Maybe. He is easy to talk to." I say with a shrug and lay down. My stuff is basically all put away. I look over at her and she asks, "I think he likes you." She says cutely. I laugh loudly and throw both my hands up mockingly and say, "NO WAY! I am not nearly his type. You heard how he mentioned Ellie Goulding, his ex, and she looks nothing like me. I'm short and have long dark brown hair and I'm not nearly as thin as she is."

"You are just as beautiful as her. Shut up. I think he is in to smart, beautiful, talented women and you know that you are all the above." She says. She does have a point. Maybe he does like me. I mean why else would he have invited me up to his room later and wanted my number. He must like some part of me. But maybe he just wants to be friends. He did say 'hangout' and not like 'go out'. But maybe it's because he doesn't want to be hounded by people and wants us to be able to get to know each other without distractions. Or I am completely wrong and he just is too lazy to leave the hotel and wants to hang out with someone because everyone else is busy. I'm overthinking this.

"Maybe you're right. We will just have to see. And don't worry I will tell you everything that happens tonight." I say. She give me a thumbs up and says, "Good." I just want to enjoy today in Paris and keep my mind of tonight. If I overthink things I might make myself go crazy. It's better to just see what happens and go with it. You never know what could happen. Especially in the City of Love.