Chapter 26
Zara was browsing social media and had her head down when someone entered the door. They didn't have any bookings for the rest of the day, and Aaron and Leon were editing currently, so she wasn't sure who it would be. It was a young man, probably a few years her junior, and she got up from the desk to greet him.
"Hey, how are you?" She said with a broad smile.
"Hi, I'm good. You alright?" He responded in a typical English manner.
"Yes, thanks. What can I do for you?" She smiled at him.
"I was wanting to inquire about pricing." He answered as he casually looked around the studio.
"Of course. Please have a seat. I'm Zara, by the way."
"James."
Ducking behind the desk quickly, she grabbed a notepad and pen to write down what he was after. The notepad was designed by Carla, who, with Leon's permission and encouragement, helped her get a whole stack of branded things to use at the studio. She sat across from him and started asking the standard questions.
"How did you hear about the studio, James?" This was always her first question, to see what form of marketing worked best.
"Instagram. I saw the post you did about the album with Broken Phase. I'm a big fan of them." James answered with a smile.
"Awesome. The new album turned out great. So, are you thinking about rehearsal space hire, recordings or both?" She asked, ready to write it down.
"Both."
"Perfect. We have a rehearsal room hire block, so you can use the space several times, which is a bit cheaper. I'll write down pricing for that if you like." She glanced at him, and he nodded in confirmation. "What about recordings? Is it just yourself or a band?"
"A band. There's four of us." James answered, and he sat forward in the chair.
She asked, "Are you planning an album, single, or EP?"
"We've been working on an album, but likely a short one. Maybe five or six songs. We've talked about it heaps and never pulled the trigger, so not quite sure where to start."
"Okay, perfect. I'll write down a slight overestimation so that we can cover our bases. If you want, you could start with some consultation from our producers about the recording process. That's a good way to get a picture of where you're at, and we can organise that for when you're here to use the rehearsal space. It's not too pricey either and will help you to develop some direction." Since Leon usually recommended it for most independent artists just starting out, Zara suggested it.
"Fantastic. That sounds good." James nodded in approval and smiled.
"No worries. That's what we're here for. Gotta start somewhere." She said as she started writing down some information about the consultation.
"Is there any particular day that the producers are here that we should book that in on?" James inquired, doing his best to be polite while tapping his phone, likely taking notes or telling his bandmates.
"Not in particular. At least one of them is here daily, but it's quite flexible. Leon Salter is the owner, head producer, and sound engineer, and Aaron Grayn is the other producer. They are both here five or six days a week, depending on our schedule. Since they are here based on that, we can work it out and book something for a day that suits you, and they can both be here." She explained as she jotted brief details down for ease of reference later on.
"You rang?" Leon's voice sounded from the back of the hallway, and she smiled, glancing over her shoulder at him.
"Speaking of, this is Leon. Leon, this is James. His band would like to use the rehearsal room and have some consultation about recording a few tracks." Zara gestured her hand towards James while looking between them.
"Good to meet you, and thank you for coming to see us." Leon shook James' hand before sitting next to Zara on the couch. "So, I'm sure Zara has handled everything since she does all the work around here, but any questions I can answer for you?" Leon smirked and glanced at her sidelong while Zara rolled her eyes.
"No, she's been great. I can't think of anything for now. I'll chat to the others, and we'll book a time to use the rehearsal room to finalise our tracks." James smiled and nodded at them both, and his phone vibrated in his hand.
"Perfect. You can contact us anytime if you have any questions." Leon nudged Zara subtly with his elbow while James focused on his phone.
She grinned at him being playful, enjoying his casual way of complimenting her. It reinforced the reasons why she enjoyed working at the studio so much. Being side by side with one of her closest friends, whom she got along with brilliantly and someone she admired and genuinely liked being around, made it even better. The only downside was that she had to see Leon's ridiculously handsome face all day and not be able to run her hand through his hair, put her hands on his muscular chest and kiss him. James' voice, thankfully, distracted her from getting lost in her thoughts.
"Would we be able to book a session for next Friday? Everyone should be free, so I'll do it while I'm here." James asked, and Zara hopped up to go behind the desk to book him in right away on the computer.
"What time works for you guys? We open at 9am on Fridays." Zara asked and looked over at James.
"Afternoon would be better. I finish work at 12 p.m., so maybe 1 p.m.?" James suggested, and she nodded, quickly entering it into the calendar.
"Can I grab some details to send the confirmation to? I usually suggest both a mobile number and email." Zara entered the details once James relayed them, and she gave them a thumbs-up once it was done. "You should have the initial confirmation now with a link to pay the deposit for the room hire. The next one will come the day before and will have all the details about parking, as well as other bits and pieces you need to know."
"Thank you so much. I'm really looking forward to it." James stood up from his seat, and Leon copied him.
They shook hands, and Zara came over to do the same, smiling at James before she handed him the note on which she'd written some details.
"Contact us if you need to make any changes or have any questions. The details are at the top of the note." Zara shook James' hand, and he said goodbye and headed out through the front door.
Once he was gone, Leon turned to her with an impressed expression. She tilted her head in question.
"Look at you go. You keep telling me that you don't need a pay rise when you clearly deserve one." He sighed in mock frustration at her.
"That's because I don't need one. I'm not doing anything super complicated." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at him in a challenge.
"And yet, you are booking people in for recordings without any help. You're much better at that than I am." He smiled cheerily down at her, even while trying to convince her to accept the pay rise.
"You can pay me more when you're a millionaire, okay?" Zara knew this would never happen since Leon was far too generous to become a millionaire.
He ran a hand through his hand while sighing loudly in defeat. "Why won't you let me take care of you?"
Zara laughed at him, focusing on the literal meaning of his words rather than the one she wanted them to be.
"You do recall you basically saving my life that day ages ago when I had horrible period cramps? Or when you paid for dinner when we got Thai, and the million other times you've shouted me food and coffee? Or when you gave me a bonus after Broken Phase's invoice got paid? I'm pretty sure you take care of me better than I take care of myself. Actually, scratch that. You definitely do." She lightly tapped his shoulder playfully and squeaked in surprise when he grasped her arm.
Leon tugged on her arm, forcing her to step forward, landing against his chest. He laughed melodically as he hugged her tightly, patting her on the back. Zara's eyes were wide, and she wasn't aware that she wasn't breathing until he finally released her after a few seconds. He stepped back and gave her a beaming smile.
"If you're happy, I'm happy." He said simply, his hands still on her upper arms.
Confident that her face was as red as her hair, she laughed and dropped her chin to her chest to try and hide it. His genuine kindness was completely wrecking her, and her heart was thudding so loud that Aaron could probably hear it in the control room with his noise-cancelling headphones on.
"Can you stop being so ridiculously nice? You're killing me here, boss man." The use of her nickname for him was primarily to remind herself that he was her boss.
"What do you mean?" He asked with an amused huff.
"Normal people aren't so nice! I consider myself a nice person, but next to you, I'm an absolute wanker." She blurted out in a scramble to figure out something to say aside from 'Because I am falling ass over head in love with you'.
"I think you might be exaggerating." He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a roguish smirk that melted her insides.
"Me? Exaggerate? I have no idea what you're talking about." She gasped and put her hand on her chest.
Leon's hands fell off her arms as he put them on his stomach while he laughed at her joke, his head falling backwards.
Zara took the chance to shuffle away from him, picking up the notepad and pen before returning behind the desk to give herself some space to recover. He'd never hugged her like that before, and the combination of his ridiculously handsome face, sweet smiles and complimentary words made it harder to keep her distance from him, at least romantically. At least she was able to be his friend and employee.
Leon smiled broadly at her as he headed past the front desk, returning to whatever he was doing when he emerged from his office before, leaving Zara to mull over the racing emotions in her head. She took a few slow breaths, willing her heart to slow its incessant, vigorous beating so it didn't implode within her chest. Returning to what she was doing before James came in, she continued with the rest of her day despite occasionally being distracted by her thoughts…
Leon had undressed in his bathroom, turned the shower on, and stepped directly under the cold stream of water. He groaned as it hit his chest, but it didn't have the desired effect. As usual, his mind was racing with thoughts of Zara, but they had a twist today. Today, she had worn black denim jeans and a t-shirt with a low-cut V-neck that had driven him mad all day. The second he'd seen her, he had known that it would be a long day and he would need to hold himself back with force. He'd done his best to hide his glances and gazes at her today. She had walked into the control room and emptied the rubbish bin, and he watched as she bent over. The shape of the muscle in her thighs, the curve of her rear and the way her hair fell across her back.
Later in the day, she'd been trying to get a box down from the overhead cupboards in the kitchenette, which was just a little bit out of her reach. He'd noticed her struggling and assisted, standing behind her and getting the box down for her. When she'd turned around, she smiled at him brightly and thanked him before accepting the box. Since he was so close, he had been able to smell her hair and had been near enough that his chest had brushed against her back ever so slightly. Given half a chance, he would have ripped her clothes off and fuck her on the counter. When someone had come in to enquire about using the rehearsal room and recording, Zara had handled it, but in his excitement he had pulled her into a brief hug, which had sent him over the edge. He'd had a stranglehold on his desire for her, and not even the spray of cold water could stop it.
Giving up, he turned it to warm and reached between his legs to where he was half-hard already. Not knowing how else to relieve the tension, he began stroking himself. In his mind's eye, he imagined Zara beneath him, panting and begging for him to fuck her harder and saying his name in the height of pleasure. Her red hair splayed out on the bed, cheeks flushed, and bright hazel eyes full of lust for him. She would beg him for more and let him worship her body endlessly. He thought about how tight she would be and how she would moan so perfectly when he first pushed his hard cock inside her. Wondering how beautiful she would look and how she would sound, moaning as she came while he was inside her. Surely, there couldn't be a more divine sight, but unfortunately, Leon could only imagine it.
Speeding up his strokes, he thought of her sitting on his face, shivering and shuddering as he tasted her sweetness. Her ass bent over for him, and looking at him over her shoulder as he buried his cock in her over and over again. He thought of how good it would feel for her to ride him and how much he'd love to thrust upwards into her as she rolled her hips against him.
His knees buckled for a second, and his free hand braced himself against the tiled wall as he neared release. Just thinking about her made it hard for him to hold back, and his hand moved faster again. He relied on his free arm to ensure he didn't collapse when he came. It felt ridiculous as Zara's name fell from his lips amongst gasps and moans. He'd certainly masturbated to the thought of someone in particular before, but he just felt strange somehow. She just looked so fucking beautiful today, and he was confident that he'd gotten barely any work done since he was too busy fantasising about her. In his office, he had thought about touching and squeezing the breasts that he could see the perfect curve of and unbuttoning her shorts so he could fuck her with his fingers until she screamed.
After all of that, he wanted nothing more than the chance to curl up next to her in bed. They could wake up together, make breakfast and coffee together, and spend their free time being as lazy as they wanted. To have her close enough to inhale her scent, touch, and taste her.
Even after his release, he still couldn't stop the racing thoughts. It was very likely that he wouldn't get much sleep tonight…