The Seventh Year

. 25 .

"Sorry about all of this." He laughed awkwardly and gathered up his sheet music only to dump them in one corner. All he had done was clear up a place for me to put my feet as I sat on a beanbag. "I'm really disorganized. This will all be cleaned at some point, I promise."

"Because I'll...be cleaning it?" I guessed.

Darien just smiled. I took it as a yes. I sighed and smiled, and yes it was sincere. I stepped over some cords and plopped down on the beanbag next to him. It was comfortable and I could tell it was a high class brand by the way my butt sank into it.

Darien set the sheet music at my feet. I noticed the piece of paper on top and picked it up. The title of the song was written in Korean. All I could understand were the notes. It amazed me how neat his handwriting was for someone who was a cluttered mess.

"There's an English version of that." He told me. "Actually, the English one came first. I translated it to Korean while I was a trainee."

I hummed the first several notes. It sounded familiar. Cara would have recognized it faster than me. Darien pulled up his phone and started playing one of the songs his boy group sang while he was a part of it. I nodded in realization. It was one of the songs in their debut album.

"I didn't know you wrote this one." I said. I took his phone and checked the writing credits. There, next to two other unfamiliar names, was his. Darien. His alias. I handed him the phone and looked at him, in awe of the fact that I had come to work for someone like him.

"I wrote a lot of our songs." He replied and turned the music off. "I feel bad for having left SILV-R at the peak of our career. Everyone was understanding of it though. They held nothing against me for walking away."

"I wouldn't say the same for the fans." I joked and he laughed. "You broke a lot of hearts when you left. It was like Zayn leaving 1D."

"People act like I died. I'll make a comeback eventually." Darien sighed and handed me more sheet music. "You can start by sorting through all of these."

Without a word or complaint, I set my bag aside and got to work. Darien put his headphones on and worked on mixing while I was left to look through his files. Every now and then, I would tap on his shoulder to ask which pile a sheet of music would go in. Without seeming annoyed by my interruption of his work, he would answer.

Most of the music I dealt with was in Korean. One small stack was reserved for songs written in English. I didn't want to be nosy, so I didn't look through them. The titles caught my eye and my curiosity, but Darien sitting right next to me prompted me to resist the temptation to read the rest of the lyrics.

I was done sorting in about forty-five minutes. Darien was still busy by then, so I took initiative and cleared up the rest of the area. I gathered his cords and moved them out of the way so we wouldn't trip over them. I picked up his used mugs and plates and took them to the kitchen. I did his dishes and cleaned his counters. Afterwards, I swept the floor. Doing chores at home is boring. Doing chores for a celebrity is an honor.

I took the trash out and returned to find Darien in the kitchen making coffee. He looked up as I took my shoes off and smiled at me. "Want some?"

"I'm good." I replied. "My boyfriend works at a coffee shop. He'll bring me some."

"Ah." He nodded and poured himself a cup. "Was he that really cute brunet barista you were talking to at the cafe we met that one time?"

I lifted my eyebrows and laughed at his choice of words. "You think he's cute?"

"Sure." Darien shrugged and leaned against the counter, taking a sip of his beverage. "Have you written songs about him? Surely you have. We've all been there. Songwriters practically thrive off of their emotions."

"Who have you written songs about?" I asked.

Darien smiled to himself and looked into his steaming cup. After taking a few more sips, he made his way back to the bean bags. "You looked through my music. Surely you've seen a certain name pop up somewhere."

I had. There was one song named after a girl. I thought the name he used were just there for the convenience of rhyming or because her name meant "free," which is quite poetic. I hadn't realized that it was the name of someone who had a clutch on his heart.

Francesca.

~~~

Two chapters to compensate tehe.

Also I probably should've explained this before, but when the chapter doesn't have Bea's name above it, it just means it's being told from another character's side. But she's still the one narrating it. Bea narrates the entirety of the novel. It'll make a lot more sense at the end...

v o t e a n d f o l l o w f o r u p d a t e s :)

~ Sharmi