Loving You

XXXIII. Shaken

Saturday, April 2nd, 2016

Casper's apartment was huge. He wasn't lying. There were four bedrooms, two levels, and a large balcony. He had turned one of the bedrooms into a fabulous music room, filled with priceless instruments. The unit was on the 22nd floor of a luxury apartment building, with a doorman and a concierge. I was a little surprised he only used the apartment occasionally. It looked more comfortable than the two other apartments he owned that I'd been to.

Instead of having our movie night last night, we'd decided to fully clear out of the townhouse and move to Casper's. It was easily the best night sleep that Bexley, Duke, and I had experienced since leaving Crystal Falls. We all woke up in good moods. Well, I was in a good mood until I got a call from Kelsey while I was cooking breakfast.

"Hey, Kels. How are you?" I answered, while I tried to avoid getting burned by flying olive oil.

"Aspen." Her voice was cold and I knew instantly that I was in trouble.

"What'd I do this time?" I grumbled, tucking the phone between my ear and shoulder and scraping the ground sausage off the bottom of the pan.

Kelsey tsked. "Well for one, making waves being caught with Isla Moon by the paparazzi last month. And now this. Can you please convince Casper that the album cover art is shitty? He turns down every other option except the one that I hate the most."

"What did Benny and Ari have to say about it?" I asked, pulling the sausage off the stove and mixing it in with the large bowl of scrambled eggs and hash browns for the breakfast burritos I was making.

Kelsey sighed loudly. "Benny's been MIA since his birthday last week, and Ari always goes along with whatever Casper bullies him into."

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe he just likes it too."

"Doubt it. So, I need you to get him to change his mind." She was completely serious. "The album drops in just fourteen days. That means the cover art has to be finalized and we have about five or six different interviews scheduled to promote it. Which I've already spoken to Isla Moon about, by the way. My point being, there's too much to do to be dragging our feet about this."

"Kels, we're friends, and all. But you're crazy if you think I'd argue with Casper about something I've never even seen. Send me the options, and the guys and I will choose. You gotta remember what creative control means. Sometimes I genuinely wonder if it escapes you." I was being completely sincere when I said it.

Kelsey actually laughed. "Fine. Fair enough. I guess I'll just focus on finding Benny and sobering him up." It sounded like it wasn't her first time. "Alright, girl, enjoy your weekend. These'll probably be the last free days you're gonna have for a while."

"Wow. Thanks for the reminder. See ya." I hung up the phone and got back to making breakfast while Casper and Bexley played at the park across the street.

I'd been off the phone with Kelsey for all of five minutes when I saw a new notification pop up on my phone. She sent the different options for the album cover art, most of which looked like Casper's handiwork. One more so than all the rest.

It was a picture of Cas, Ari, Benny, and I as teenagers with Arkhan City's skyline in clear view. Likely, we were probably at the top of Jackass Hill, from the angle of the photo. We each had our arms around each other's shoulders. It was a cute picture, except that it looked like I was fading. In big letters above the image was the Cloak Spire logo, and below the image was the album title. Never Remember.

I kind of gave the other images a cursory look, but I liked the one of the four of us the best. For one, it was a good picture, and two, I liked the symbolism.