Controlled By The Billionaire

Chapter 9

“And this is the stage where you will perform a few songs from your album,” The PR woman, Janice, gestured towards the stage before turning to walk back towards the exit.

Mel looked around. It was a nice size place; upscale, unlike the place she worked for. The lighting was dim, but she was still able to see, there was dark wood and plush pillowed seating with deep purples and reds. It felt like a place you would take your friends for a night out to relax and listen to music. The perfect place for Mel to have her album release party.

She turned to Janice, a question on her mind. “Would I be able to play a song that wasn’t on the album?”

Janice looked thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t see why not. Maybe a teaser for a future album. If the song is good it will generate more publicity. Why not?!”

Mel nodded in agreement. Her plan was coming together. She wasn’t going to let Tristan walk away without a fight.

*****

Mel tapped the paper with her pencil once more, unable to concentrate. She was thinking too much into it, the song writing process had never been so difficult for her. Frowning she stood, stretching the kinks in her back by raising her arms over her head and reaching up. Moving into her tiny kitchen she glanced at the microwave. It was past midnight. She had been sitting in her chair for three hours agonizing over this song. It was no wonder her back was stiff. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, Mel walked back to the desk chair. Shaking her head she turned and sat on her bed. She had enough of the chair for one night. Maybe if she lay down for a bit the song would come to her.

Mel woke up with a start, her room bathed in shadows. How long had she slept? Wasn’t the light on when she laid down? Glancing at her cell phone on the bedside table, Mel realized it was four in the morning. She sat up looking around, thoughts of Tristan running through her head; his pitch black hair and icy blue eyes. Mel smiled as it suddenly came to her. She jumped up, switching the desk lamp back on and snagged the pencil from where it had rolled to the floor. She knew exactly the words to write in her song for Tristan.

*****

Tristan watched the light go on in the window of Mel’s apartment. He felt like a stalker waiting in the shadows on the street next to where her building was. It didn’t matter, he had to see how she was doing. Tristan wanted to lie, even to himself, about how he was doing since he parted ways with Mel, but instead he admitted for once that he felt like sh*t. Being lonely and angry were never a good combination and Tristan had drank way more than he’d like to admit in the last few weeks. Tonight he decided he would see Mel, see how she was doing, if she was as miserable as he was.

Surprisingly the super lived on the first floor and he didn’t hesitate to give Tristan a key to the apartment. Maybe it was his commanding presence or the fact that he looked like he had money. Whatever it was he had the key to Mel’s apartment, as stalker like as it may seem, and he was going to see how she was doing. It was well after midnight and he figured, even though a light shined from the window, that Mel would be asleep.

He listened outside of her door for a minute but didn’t hear any movement. As quietly as possible he opened the door, the squeaky hinges almost giving him away. Gritting his teeth at the sound Tristan peeked into the apartment. It was a studio so he could see the whole apartment, and Mel lay clutching an unopened bottled of water sideways on the bed. Her breathing was steady and he could tell that she was asleep. Moving slowly so as not to creak the old floorboards, Tristan moved towards the bed. He gently removed the water bottle, setting it on the desk next to the bed, switching off the lamp and pulled the comforter back enough to cover Mel against the air conditioned chill. He watched her for a moment, her brow furrowed in sleep, giving away her emotions even while unconscious. His heart ached, but he knew this would be the last time he saw her. Pressing a light kiss to her mouth, the creepy stalker feeling making him want to flee, Tristan backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

*****

The next morning Mel bounced around her tiny apartment with a joy she hadn’t felt in over a month, but she also felt extreme anxiety at the prospect of Tristan rejecting her.

Today was the day her album was released. That and the knowledge of what she had planned for her release party had her hopping about with nervous energy. The PR company had a stylist choose a few outfits for Mel to preview for the event. After she had her coffee and some toast, she pulled open the closet to choose one of the three outfits to wear. They had wanted her to choose in the stylist’s office; to try them all on and parade around for everyone to choose. Mel told them no, chose three outfits she liked and brought them home to decide. She modeled each outfit before her full length mirror. One was a long, flowy maxi dress in red. It was Mel’s style but she didn’t like the color. The next one was a mini skirt and flowy top. That one looked even worse. Sighing, she tried on the last outfit; dark skinny jeans and a silver sequined tank top. She was pleasantly surprised and decided this was the outfit she would wear. After finding a pair of black stilettos and a matching bag inside of her tiny closet, Mel was ready for tonight. Now she just had several hours to kill while the butterflies assaulted her belly.

*****

Tristan looked around the bar with surprise. It was a nice place. A little trendier than he cared for but not a dive like he expected. Janice told him that the vibe of a bar fit Mel’s folksy image and he had to agree with her. If they had the party at a club it just wouldn’t be Mel. Shaking his head at the way images of her made him feel, Tristan walked back to the door where Janice waited for him.

“What do you think?” She asked, her voice high and perky. Tristan resisted the urge to wince.

“It’s not what I expected. I think it’s perfect for Ms. Fairbank’s release party.”

Janice nodded. “Will you be attending?”

Tristan didn’t answer right away because he didn’t know the answer. He went back and forth about whether he should attend or not after his lapse-in-judgement-stalker moment last night. He wanted to see Mel and he wanted to support her album but he wasn’t so sure he could take much more of seeing her and not being with her.

“I’ve never seen you miss one yet,” Janice’s perky response pierced his skull.

She had him there. It would look odd if he didn’t show up, considering he was always there to show support for his talent.

“Of course I’ll be there.” He snapped, as if Janice were insinuating something ridiculous. When in reality he was just feeling guilty for thinking of bowing out because of his history with Mel.

Tristan exchanged goodbyes with Janice and exited the building. Tonight would be the last time he saw Mel in relation to her album and he hoped he could make it through the party without doing something stupid.