A month had passed and Aston and I had settled down to truly living together. Granted it took the better part of an afternoon and the subsequent night to sort everything out and get my things moved into his room. I’d made Aston give me half the space in his walk in closet, which meant he had to do a fair amount of cleaning out what he had. I could not believe how much clothes that boy had. He denied that he bought most of them, arguing that they’d been given to him for free from various clothing companies and at events.
He’d also agreed to let me redecorate the room so that it seemed more like ours. While I generally didn’t mind the furniture and paint, I decided to purchase a new duvet cover and matching sheets. Just to give it that more special feel.
It was a Thursday afternoon and I was sitting in my studio working on cleaning up a track that I’d recently recorded with an up and coming hip-hop duo when my phone started buzzing. Engrossed in what I was doing I ignored it, only to have it ring again a moment later.
I looked over at it to see the caller ID, [Ast x].
I snatched up my mobile and clicked on the call. “Hey,” I said.
“Why you ignoring me?” asked the voice on the other end.
“Sorry Ast,” I giggled.
“What you up to?”
“Just working on this track a bit, gotta have it ready for next week and there is still some work to do on it.”
“Good so you’re at the studio?”
“Yup!”
“Great, come let me in,” he said into the phone.
I quickly skipped to the back door and unlocked it, flinging it open to see Aston stood there with his phone to his ear while balancing a tray of coffees.
“Hey,” he grinned slipping his phone in his pocket and leaning in to give me a quick kiss.
“Hey baby,” I smiled as I lead him back into the studio.
“Brought you a treat,” he said, passing me a coffee.
“This is such a nice surprise.”
“Only the best for my girl,” he said slipping into a seat and throwing the bag that had been over his shoulder on the floor. “Mind if I hang out with you for a bit? Only I’ve just finished up at the studio and I can’t think of anything else to do…”
“Yeah sure,” I replied. “I’ve got to get some work done though, so no distracting me!”
“No worries babe,” he grinned, pulling out his iPad.
I turned back to the mixing boards and put my headphones back on, getting back to work on what I’d been doing before. It didn’t last long as I heard a giggling sound and some ridiculous cartoon character noises. I spun in my chair and looked at Aston to see him sat playing some game on his iPad.
“Ast…” I hissed at him, pulling my headphones off again.
“What babe?” he asked, not even taking his eyes from the screen.
“I said no distractions!” I replied, placing my hand over the top of his iPad. “Haven’t you got some earphones to put in or something?”
“What?” he asked, confused. When I nodded my head to the game he smiled sheepishly and then dug some earphones out of his bag.
“What is that anyway?” I asked him.
“This new game JB showed me, it’s really funny.”
I looked at it for a second, not really understanding the appeal. Of course Aston would love something like this, he was just a big kid at heart.
“Keep the laughing to a minimum,” I warned.
“Yes ma’am,” he grinned.
“Gosh, I feel like I’m babysitting you right now,” I mumbled as I turned back to what I was doing.
Another half hour passed and while I could hear Aston giggling away next to me, I actually managed to get some work done. Until I was interrupted again.
“Babe!” said Aston loudly.
“Hmmm?” I asked, peeling my headphones off of one ear.
“The phone in the office is ringing off the hook.”
“Just let it go to voicemail,” I sighed.
“But it’s literally gone five times in five minutes. What if its important.”
Just then the phone started to go again. “Ok, let me go see what it is…”
I got up off my chair and wandered over to the office, pushing the door so it was cracked shut and grabbing up the receiver on the office phone.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Hi is this Jess Rego?”
“It is,” I replied, sitting down in the desk chair.
“Excellent,” said the voice. It was sort of nasly, American maybe? With something else.
“Sorry who is this?” I asked.
“Oh right, this is RedOne…”
“As in the producer RedOne?” I clarified.
“Yup!” laughed the voice on the other end.
“How can I help you?” I asked, slightly nervous.
“While first of all I just wanted to congratulate you on the Tinie Tempah record,” he started.
“Thanks,” I breathed. The record had shot to number one upon release. Aston had claimed that it was all to do with me, but I denied this, saying that it was probably because Tinie hadn’t put out a track in ages. We’d had a little party to celebrate regardless, and my phone definitely started to ring more after it charted.
“It’s a great track, very different, which we like.”
“Thanks,” I said again.
“So I’m going to cut to the chase Jess, we want you.”
“Whaaa??”
“We want you on our production team. We need someone who can bring us a slightly more London edge, it’s becoming all the rage right now. We think that you’d be perfect for that.”
“Wow, thanks…” I said.
I listened for a while as he laid out all of the details. I’d have my own massive studio at their production house. They’d sort out a place for me to live, and they already had a list of artists that they were hoping to put in the studio with me, including Usher. The kicker though, I’d have to move to New York….
I couldn’t believe that this offer had come up. RedOne was my production idol, had been for years. Everyone who knew me knew that I was obsessed with his tracks. Having the chance to work with him was a dream, and it wasn’t just a little offer, he’d gone out of his way to track me down. This was the real deal.
I sighed as he continued to talk about all of the amazing things that this opportunity entailed. But I was stunned out of my thoughts by a loud laughing in the room next door. I couldn’t help but let my mind wander over to Aston sitting in my little studio playing that stupid children’s game on his iPad. I felt the phone slipping slightly out of my hand as a grin splashed across my face as I pictured exactly what Aston was doing.
“So Jess…” said the voice in the phone, shocking me back to reality. “What do you think?”
“I… uh…” I started. What did I think?
“You know what… Take a day or two, think about it, and then give us a call back, no rush,” RedOne said on the other end. “We’ll literally do anything to have you with us.”
I took a deep breath, thinking over the possibilities in my head…
