I'm working my way to chapter six. It all begins to gather more and more momentum and by the luck of some draw I can have a real story coming together by then.

This won't be a long story, I don't believe. Then again, I guess it depends on how long Molly can keep up her ruse.

PS: I'm giving you freaks TWO chapters. I better get reviews or I'll make you suffer. And after chapter 6, you wouldn't want that, huh?

PPS: I've taken to naming my chapters. If anyone tells me the song, I'll give you muffins.

The final vocals for the final song; all that was needed after today was a final mixing of everything and Molly and I could call it over. Of course I wasn't ready for it to be over, but with the aforementioned final word on signing, I was sure I'd be seeing a hell of a lot more of her. This was only going to be the beginning of things, I was positive about that.

Molly took to swiveling back and forth in her chair during playback and I could only call so much of it bored entertainment before my hands grabbed the chair's arms and stopped the incessant movement.

"What's up?" she asked me nonchalantly, fingering a lone tendril before giving it a swift pull and leaning back. "Are we done for today?"

I eyed her keenly, turning down the volume on her song and quirking an eye brow.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get out of her. Plans?"

She shrugged just as coolly as she'd asked her original question.

"Not really." She stretched out in her seat, unfolding her arms from over her stomach and resting them at odd angles beside her. "What did you do before producing?"

"Hmm?" I'd definitely heard the question but the offhanded way that it came out deemed it worth repeating.

"What did you do before producing? You know, what was life like before you were in the liner notes for a thousand different songs?"

I looked her over, wondering if getting inside of my head was some sort of trick. Just as people lock up wills and deeds and proofs of stocks owned in safety deposit boxes, my past had gone into a box and labeled "DO NOT OPEN". This was Molly, though. She seemed incapable of mind games. If anything, this was seriously genuine inquisitiveness.

"I was in a band."

She seemed almost shocked before going on with her queries.

"How long were you with them?"

"Almost four years. Things happened, mainly my ego, and I decided to try and go at it alone. Never happened so I went into producing."

"You really love music, don't you?"

I smiled warmly, thinking about all of the good times music had given me, not to mention how many times it'd been able to save my ass. Then I thought of the heartache it had brought into my life, things that I would have never have had to go through had it not been for my passion. A failed marriage, the death of a lover, the end of a career in front of the mic and my subsequent disdain for everything that had to do with the spotlight. Then there was everything that happened with Jude. I never would have known the girl if it weren't for music. Music left me with both a fire for living and a sour taste in my mouth.

"I'd call it an even 50/50 split. Music and I have been in a strange love affair over the years."

"Was it worth it?"

The question was almost loaded. I may not have liked having to go through all of the nastiness I did, but arriving to the place I was right then almost made the bitter sacrifices bearable. Gazing at her face, definitely solidified the idea for me.

"I wouldn't make the same decisions, but it was definitely worth it." I sat back in my seat, getting more comfortable for this conversation. "But what about you? What brings to you to Montreal?"

"Summer internship program."

"Internship? You spend all of your time here and this definitely isn't what I'd call an internship."

"Yeah, I kind of skipped that part of the deal. As long as I report back to the agency that I'm doing some kind of work then they don't really ask too many questions." She laughed at the audacity that would be clear to anyone else who heard the story. "It's kind of a bad thing, really. I could pretty much do nothing but scour the streets and take pictures of stuff and as long as I was back in the evening to check in, they'd never know."

I nodded at what she said, the notion that she was there alone with only minimal supervision surprising.

"So you're here alone. How'd you manage to get your parents to agree? And won't they flip if they find out you're skipping out on the program?"

She sighed and I saw annoyance briefly grace her features.

"It wasn't easy. Took almost a solid month of negotiations and pleading with my mom before my aunt stepped in on my behalf. She told her that it would be good for me and that she hadn't been much older herself when she took off on a summer trip to Europe. But, like I said, as long as I get back for the check-in, no one will ever have to know."

This is where I have to step in and say, yet again, that all of the various details I had got over the months should have been adding up for me. Singing mother, traveling aunt, European tour, "Andrews" for a last name; for any sane person, it should have clicked. Even now, I don't know if it was sheer blindness or absolute thoughtlessness. Maybe I was just that stupid.

How was it possible for her and me to share this space, a love for something, and even click on some unspoken level all without delving into personal war stories and heroism? How could we have spoken so plainly and matter-of-factly without jumbling any part in emotionality? If nothing else, this strange ability of ours intrigued me. I for one knew that such a thing was nearly impossible most of the time. Then again, she made me feel comfortable; that was undeniable. I was growing to really like that about her but I had a soft spot for any girl who could understand me in the slightest. Of course, you already know all of this.

"So, Tommy. With all of this time you spend here with me," her hands gestured around the room, "what else is there? A love for senseless guy movies? A stack of decorating magazines? Got a girlfriend or maybe a dog?"

I chuckled under my breath, both amused and apprehensive.

"I prefer action movies or even those supposed-to-be-profound foreign films over guy flicks, there's no decorating magazines just tons of Billboards and Rolling Stones. I'm more of a cat person than a dog person, with one old ginger tabby I named Bananas, and I haven't had a girlfriend in quite a while."

She seemed to latch onto my last answer in devout interest.

"What? No girlfriend? Crazy talk."

"Yep. I think I'm destined to a life of bachelordom."

"Why do you think that?" She leaned forward, silently anticipating my every word.

"My luck isn't good with women is all. The last time I was really serious about someone, I wasn't at my best. By the time I was ready to get over my hang-ups and go for it, she'd moved on and picked someone else."

"That's stupid. I'd never pass you up." It was a slip of the tongue and she didn't catch it. If she did notice, she didn't try to backpedal or cover it up. I had to keep my ego in check, though, lest I revel in the accidental revelation.

"Well, I had a tendency to be a jackass even if in my mind I was doing the right thing. We were too fiery for each other, really. But I still can't believe she went for her geeky best friend over me." I gave her a slight look and I noticed a bit of unease cross her face. That was new to me and as an awkward silence threatened to descend upon us, I decided to reverse the tables. Might as well cross-examine. "And you? Same questions."

"I have a thing for history dramas, I quite enjoy the decorators' mag every now and then, and I have a Jack Russell terrier named Duncan."

"And the last question?"

She bowed her head slightly and I almost thought I saw her blush before her head snapped up and she stared at me confidently.

"No boyfriend, ever, but I've had crushes here and there. You know…" She gave me a brief flash of a smile before blindly turning up the music on the control panel. "But let's get back to this. It's getting on past eight and I have to be in by nine to get credit for today's work."

I smiled back at her before turning around toward the board.

"Yeah, yeah. Can't get you discovered."

"Not if you want me to stick around that is."

I sighed inwardly; the implications…