The end of the workday came to an end and Musa was cleaning up her office after a young child had thrown around the small instruments in a moment of frustration.

"Tyler decided to give your office another makeover I see?"

Musa looked up to see Flora standing at her doorway, another cup of tea in her hand. She looked at Musa who was crouched down on the floor, picking up the small mallets and finger cymbals.

"You know if you keep drinking that tea, your child is going to come out with leaves for hair." Musa groaned as she rose to her feet.

"I may not be a medical doctor but I am pretty sure that is not how that all works." Flora giggled as she took a sip of her tea. "But I probably could stop stress drinking tea."

"Better than some other stress-reducing alternative." Musa shrugged as she put away the instruments and began to work on putting her notes into Tyler's file.

"I think that Helia enjoys the tea-drinking over me waking him up at 2 am and forcing him to make me strawberry whole-wheat waffles. I'm just sad that the baby doesn't like peach tea," Flora began to rub her swollen stomach, "but thank goodness she loves this chamomile and lemon tea. Spending my days on the floor of a bathroom was not fun."

"Not fun for Helia either from what he told me."

"Well, his opinion doesn't matter." Flora waved her hand.

"And here I thought that you and my cousin were so in love and that you strived to build a relationship based on mutual respect and understanding?" Musa teased.

"When I am carrying life inside of me, it's all about me and what I want in the Saladin house."

Musa let out a light laugh and rolled her eyes as she put away the file in the file cabinet. She went to the closet and pulled out her bag and threw it over her shoulder. Musa pulled out her phone and took a look at the notifications that were on the home screen. A few messages from the band group chat and a few emails from a few websites that she had subscriptions to. She was surprised to see that there were no messages from Jared.

"Everything okay, sweetie?" Flora asked as she took in Musa's sullen and somber face.

"Oh nothing, just...nothing."

"Musa..."

"Flora," Musa sighed, "it's nothing. Really. Just surprised not to have gotten a message from Jared all day."

"He is at work, just the same as you."

Musa shot a lighthearted glare towards Flora, "Why do you have to be so rational all the time?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Flora rolled her eyes, "what a complete and terrible excuse for a boyfriend. He should be totally devoted to the goddess that is Musa Song!"

"Exactly!"

Flora laughed and took another sip of her tea, "But seriously, don't worry about it too much, dear."

As if on cue, Musa's phone rang and Jared's name flashed across the screen.

"Speaking of..."

"See," Flora smirked, "I told you."

Musa pressed the green accept button on her phone screen and held the small red device up to her ear.

Flora backed away from Musa's office door, "I will see you tomorrow."

Musa gave Flora a short nod as Jared's voice filled her ear through the phone.

"Hey, Musa. I was wondering if you wanted to do dinner tonight. It has been a long day and I want to see you."

"Yes, of course!" Musa exclaimed as she walked out of her office and shut the door behind her. She felt like a schoolgirl who had just been asked out on her first date. Making her way down the hallway, she stopped in the lobby and waved goodbye to Miele before heading out of the small office and onto the streets of Magix.

It was twilight and the city was transitioning from the workday to the nightlife. Though it was a Monday, the night scene in Magix was always lively no matter the day.

"Do you want to meet at my place?" Musa asked.

"Sure, I'll bring sushi from Sakanaya."

Musa's mouth stretched into a smile, "Oh yay!"

She could hear Jared let out a small laugh on the other end of the phone.

"I'll be there soon."

Musa heard the phone call end and she pulled the phone away from her ear as she began walking back to her apartment.

Musa approached her apartment building and looked up to her apartment and her eyes begrudgingly went over to the apartment next to hers. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw that the lights were off, just like they had been for the past few months. Musa made it a small mission to herself to figure out Riven's schedule. To know when he was going to be in and out of the apartment. She didn't want a repeat of this morning or of last night. In fact, she would be quite content never seeing his smug face ever again.

Entering her apartment building, Musa walked up the stairs and walked down the small hallway to her apartment door. Pulling her keys out of her bag, she quickly unlocked the door and walked inside.

She set her bag down on the small table near her door and took off her leopard print flats. Making her way to her bedroom, she began stripping, more than ready to be out of her work clothes and in her comfy sweatpants and cropped tank top. She grabbed a pair of gray sweatpants and a red tank top and immediately, she felt more at ease.

Musa walked back into the living room and took down her long, black hair from her bun and shook out the tangled mess on top of her head. She thought about cutting her hair short again, thinking that a change would be nice. But she groaned when she thought about all the work that came with having shorter hair and decided against it. Having longer hair meant that she could get away with wrapping her wet hair in a bun and running out of the door. She didn't know how Tecna did it.

Walking into her kitchen, she opened her small pantry and smiled when she saw the unopened bottle of red wine on one of the shelves. She quickly picked it up and she looked over to a bag of chocolates and sighed. Later, she told herself, the voice in her head sounding much like her late mother.

There was a knock on her door and Musa turned around and smiled as she ran over to the door. She wasn't expecting Jared so soon but Musa wasn't complaining. She swung open the door and saw Jared standing there, the bag of food in his hand.

"Oh come in come in come in!" Musa pulled Jared inside of her apartment. Jared stumbled through the door and nearly fell onto Musa. He caught himself on the wall and began to laugh.

"Who knew that bringing you food would get me a reaction like this?"

"I always feel this way when I see you." Musa smacked him lightly on the arm as she took the bag of food away from him and walked into the kitchen.

"You say as you take away the food and leave me in the hallway after hitting me." Jared followed behind Musa into the kitchen. She was pulling out the sushi and placing them onto plates. She reached into the drawer and pulled out two pairs of chopsticks. Musa grabbed a plate and turned to Jared, handing him his food and placing a pair of black chopsticks on top of the plate.

Musa grabbed her own plate of food and a set of red chopsticks adorned with a golden, dragon design. They had been a souvenir from Flora and Helia's honeymoon to Domino, one of the many stops that they had made. She had also gotten a set of earrings from Solaria and Flora had impulsively bought her and Musa matching bathing suits in Andros. But Musa knew that Flora had bought the scandalizing swimsuits for the both of them because Flora didn't want to admit that she had bought herself the swimsuit for Helia's enjoyment. Flora had always been so modest but she still came back from the honeymoon pregnant, much to Musa's amusement.

"Do you want to eat out on the balcony?" Musa asked as she motioned towards the back, glass doors at the back of the living room. Jared nodded his head and he and Musa made their way outside to sit at the small metal and glass table on the balcony that overlooked the city.

Musa and Jared began to eat their food in comfortable silence as the city noise filled the air around them. Musa grew up in Melody, a much more rural place than Magix but Musa felt so at home in the city.

"So how was work?" Musa asked to start some sort of communication.

Jared swallowed his bite of food, "Fine."

"Just fine?" Musa lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Jared chuckled as he set down his chopsticks on his plate, "it was work. Same old, same old. Like I said, I had a long day and I just wanted to see you."

Musa slowly brought up a sushi roll to her mouth and put it up to her lips, a small smile forming on her mouth.

"So what about you?" Jared asked, "You seemed more eager than usual when you answered my call. You usually aren't the eager type."

"I also had a long day and I was glad to get your call. I didn't get your usual lunch text."

"Yeah," Jared rubbed the back of his neck, "I had to work through lunch."

Musa dropped her sushi roll in shock and horror, "Does Helia know about this? Did he make you? I'll give him a piece of my mind. Or I will tell Flora to yell at him on your behalf. He listens to her more than anyone and she has gotten scary since she became pregnant."

"No no," Jared protested, "there was just an emergency with one of the websites and we lost track when working on it. Nobody's fault but our own."

"Jared..." Musa scolded with a whine, "I know you and I know that there was a team of you all working on it and then they went off for lunch and you volunteered to stay behind."

"You know me too well." Jared scoffed as he continued to eat.

Musa and Jared continued to eat in silence when Musa felt a vibration in the pocket of her sweatpants. Reaching inside her pocket, she pulled out her phone and looked down at the number. She didn't recognize it but it could have been a patient calling her or something else important. It was past the time for any telemarketer to call her.

"Hello?" Musa answered the phone, her face contorting into an expression of questioning.

"Yes, hi," a male voice greeted from the other side, "is this Musa Song?"

"It is, may I ask who is speaking?" Musa asked. She looked ahead at Jared who kept eating, shrugging his shoulders at Musa's unverbalized question.

"Good evening, I am sorry for the late call. I am a representative from Magix Music under Mr. Jason McQueen. I know that he said that he would call you when he was back in Magix but he had to handle some things at our Domino office. "

Musa shot up to her feet and began to pace across the balcony. She could feel her heart begin to pound and she had to remind herself how to breathe.

"Not a problem at all." Musa breathlessly exclaimed, "How can I help you?"

"Well, Ms. Song. Mr. McQueen is going to be back in Magix in November and he told me to set up a listening session with you and your band. Would this be something that you all would be interested in?"

"Of course! Yes!" Musa did her best not to leap out of her skin.

"Great! We will contact you later on to set up a specific date and more details of the meeting. Mr. McQueen does like to hear new music that nobody else has heard before, something that we might be able to use for a potential album. So be prepared to come with new songs."

"Yes, I understand."

"Very good. We will be in touch soon."

"I look forward to speaking with you again! Thank you so much for the opportunity!" Musa beamed as she looked out over the city, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, Ms. Song."

"You too! Thank you!"

Musa heard the call end on the other side of the phone before she pulled the phone away from her ear. She was frozen in place as she took it all in. Looking down at her phone, she stared at the blank screen, still in disbelief that just happened. It did happen, right?

"Is everything alright?"

Pulled out of her euphoric stupor, Musa turned around to look down at her confused boyfriend. A smile stretched across her face and she charged over towards him and threw her arms around him.

"Everything is perfect! Magix Music called me and the rep said that Jason wanted to listen to the band when he is back in Magix!"

"Congratulations, Musa!" Jared beamed as he wrapped his arms around Musa's slender torso. "I knew that you could do it."

Musa jumped up and out of his arms, "I have to call the guys and let them know! We have so much to do before November!"

Jared watched as Musa once again began pacing along the balcony. She was going on about the new music that she would have to write with the band and the rehearsals that she would force them to have. He rose to his feet and went to stand in front of Musa and grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"Musa," Jared softly said as he rubbed the back of Musa's hand with her thumb, "relax. Jason loved your music before and he is going to love what you are going to do. How about you go call the guys and then we can celebrate."

"Frutti Music Bar?" Musa asked as she looked down at her phone to search for her bandmate's numbers.

"I was actually thinking that we might be able to celebrate another way..." Jared smirked as his grip tightened on Musa's hand.

Musa looked up from her phone and to Jared's smug face, "Mr. Lee if I didn't know any better I would say that you are wanting to keep this celebration a little more...private."

"Good thing that you are so smart and talented, Ms. Song."

Musa put her phone on the small glass table next to her plate and made her way back into the apartment, pulling Jared behind with her. Once they were inside, Musa wasted no time in pushing Jared down onto her couch and straddling his lap. Her hands gripped his face and began placing kisses along his neck and the underside of his jaw.

"I thought that you were going to call the guys first?" Jared asked through what could be described as both a chuckle and a moan.

"The boys can wait." Musa answered through kisses.

Jared gave his reply by meeting Musa's mouth with his own. His hands began to roam over the slight curves of Musa's svelt body.

Musa's hands moved from Jared's face to between their bodies where she tugged at the hem of his shirt. His hands also began to move under Musa's shirt, feeling the soft skin of the juncture of her breasts and sternum along his fingertips. He moved his hands up to the swell of her breast, causing Musa to moan under his touch.

Musa's attention lowered to the waistline of Jared's pants and began to fumble with the button and small, metal zipper.

"Jared I-"

She was cut off when all of a sudden there was a rumble of loud music thumping on the other side of her living room wall. Pulling her head away from Jared, her hands stilled and she rolled her eyes. Letting out an exasperated groan, she looked over to the wall that she shared with her new neighbor.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Musa exclaimed.

"What is that?" Jared asked as he looked up at Musa.

Musa sighed and held her head down before giving the wall a stern glare. "I have a new neighbor and he is proving to be a complete ass."

Jared dropped his hands to the top of Musa's thighs. The music was still thumping and Musa and Jared sat in silence, the moment of lust quickly dissipating. Musa huffed as she climbed off of Jared's lap and marched over to her front door and swung it open.

Charging over to her new neighbor's door, she brought up a small fist and began to bang on the large, white door.

The door swung open to reveal a shirtless Riven, sweatpants being the only garment that he wore with a pair of sneakers. He was covered in sweat and a towel was slung over one of his broad shoulders.

"I'm in the middle of a workout so this better be good." Riven smirked as he looked at Musa's disheveled appearance. He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms across his chest.

"And I was in the middle of..." Musa caught herself, "You know what? It's none of your business. Turn down your music!"

"Damn, sweetheart, you don't have to yell." Riven rolled his eyes.

"Don't call me that!"

"Until you give me another name..."

Musa looked up into the violet eyes of the man in front of her and glared, "Just turn out the music before I send a message to the leasing office."

Turning on her heels, she made her way back into her apartment and slammed the door behind her. The music from Riven's apartment filled her own and the wall ceased to shake. Giving out a relieved sigh, she looked over towards Jared who was now standing up by the couch.

"I think that I am going to get going." Jared sighed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked down at it and put it back in his pocket.

"What? No..." Musa whined, "We were supposed to be celebrating."

"You need to call the guys and then we both have work in the morning. We can all celebrate properly this weekend."

Musa sighed and hung her head down in defeat, "Fine."

Jared walked up to Musa and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" Jared said as he placed his hand under Musa's chin.

Musa silently nodded her head with a smile. Jared placed a soft and quick kiss on Musa's lips before opening her front door and walking out.

Closing the door behind him, Musa glared over to the shared wall that she had with her neighbor.

"What an absolute jerk."

Thanks for being patient with me as I juggle school and this story! As always, let me know what you think! Things will begin to pick up a bit in the next chapters. I only plan to have maybe 10 chapters but who knows lol. You can follow me on Instagram at starrynights513 for polls, story updates, and conversation!