The Perfect Gift

Ch. 24

She nodded, about to respond when they heard Dan through the booth mic.

"Alright, Nini, are you ready?" Dan asked.

She glanced at Ricky and he gave her a warm smile and a quick nod.

With that, she gave Dan a thumbs up. She heard Ricky's prerecorded guitar through the headphones and Ricky began to sing his verse. They did about six takes, and like Ricky promised, he held her hand the entire time. She watched Dan talking to the producer through the glass on the wall. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear what they were saying but the two men seemed to be deep in a conversation.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Nini asked, turning to face her boyfriend.

Ricky glanced in the direction his girlfriend was previously looking in and shrugged his shoulders. "Probably about how amazing you are and how I'm gonna get a raise for bringing this record label their biggest star to date." Nini smiled and laughed.

"Ricky's right, Nini." They heard Dan say through the speaker. "You've got a true talent and we'd love to have you record an EP if that's something you'd want." He said.

Nini grinned and jumped into her boyfriend's arms, peppering his face with kisses.  "You did it, baby girl! Just like I knew you would!" He told her excitedly as he set her back down.

"Thank you for invading my privacy and giving me this opportunity." She told him, sincerely.

LRicky smiled and leaned in to kiss her, only pulling back when they heard Dan's voice again.

"Oh, and Ricky... you're still not getting that raise. Good try, though." Ricky grinned and went back to kissing the woman he loved with his whole heart.

******

"Wait... so you're actually deciding to pursue your music?" Kourtney asked as her and Nini walked around the mall.

Nini smiled and nodded her head. "I am. Ricky's been really great in helping me with my songs. I still can't get over the fact that Dan Warner, one of LA's greatest producers liked me enough to give me an actual shot." Nini told her friend in amazement.

Kourtney chuckled and rolled her eyes lightly as they walked into Bath & Body Works. "Girl, believe me when I tell you it's no surprise. You're one of the most talented people I know and I'm sure you'd be a huge star by now if you didn't hide your talent from the world!" Kourt said.

"I'm not sure that's true..." Nini started, "but honestly, Ricky deserves the credit for this. He's the one that pushed me to put myself out there in the first place." She told her best friend.

"Yeah, how did that all go down? You only told me that he was the one to make a phone call, so spill, girlie." Kourtney said as she sniffed the candle she was holding, grimacing at the scent.

Nini laughed at Kourt's expression and shrugged her shoulders. "Long story short... he found my song journal when he was moving in and he added chords to a song I was working on. He performed it for me when I got home from work, made the phone call to Dan, and the rest is history." She smiled, thinking back to that day just a few short weeks ago. Kourt nodded.

"How's the EP coming along?" She asked.

"It's going great. Not only do I love being able to record, but I'm also so intrigued with the behind the scenes of it all, you know? I can see why Ricky pursued a career in producing. It's amazing." Nini said.

While what Nini said was true, she'd also be lying if she said she wasn't exhausted. She hasn't been sleeping well the last couple of weeks, always stressing over which songs should be on the EP, whether or not it was gonna be a hit, and ultimately if she was just wasting her time. She never let it show, so Ricky didn't see how stressed she was but those thoughts were constantly consuming her thoughts at night, making her toss and turn.