Unexpected Connection (Sequel to Imperfect Attraction) (EXCERPT)

Chapter Three

MELANIE

Ignoring Zamir while we're in New York is easy. Avoid Miguel is not. Both of our groups are busy with work. Although we don't have to work any events together, Miguel still finds the time to come around.

"Have you traded one bandmate for the other?" Erin teases as we get ready for an acoustic performance in the theater of a radio studio.

There's a small live audience, so we're dressed for the occasion. Erin is wearing a powder pink t-shirt dress with off-white open-toe chunky heeled boots that come up to her mid-thigh. Her hair is styled into a ponytail. Her makeup is light and natural. Ava is dressed in denim bell-bottom pants with a red corset top. Her hair is straightened and parted in the middle with extensions that grace the top of her round booty. She's also wearing red thong pumps. Kaylee is dressed in turquoise Bermuda shorts with an off-white bralette top and an unbuttoned off-white cardigan. Her hair is in its natural curls with a jeweled headband pushing the hair away from her face. Her shoes are multicolored open-toe pumps. I'm dressed in black leather pants with a jean corset top that has sheer purple virago sleeves. My shoes are black leather booties. My hair is straightened with extensions that bring the length down a couple of inches below my breasts.

As Megan does the finishing touches on my makeup, I respond to Erin. "It's not like that. Miguel and I are just friends."

"Well, your friend seems to be around you a lot." I contemplate telling her the reason why. I'm three weeks away from being out of the first trimester. I haven't had any unusual or concerning symptoms. Everything seems to be fine. Still, I hesitate to say the words to her. It was easy to tell my family. Probably because my unplanned pregnancy doesn't directly affect them. That's not the case for Erin, Ava, and Kaylee. We're a quartet. Our careers are intertwined. We had an agreement, whenever someone is ready to slow down to have a baby or something along those lines, we're supposed to tell the other three at least six weeks in advance. We're supposed to give advance notice so we can all decide how to handle the change. I didn't do that. There was no notice given but that doesn't mean that they'll be any less affected.

"It's ... complicated. I'll explain it all later," I tell Erin. That buys me a little time.

The radio host, Candace, announces us one by one. We walk on stage to applause and cheers. There are four black stools placed behind the microphone stands. We take our seats and adjust the microphones. There's a brief interview with the host before our performance begins. We start with a single from our second album titled 'Thunder'. It's an acoustic guitar-centric song so it doesn't take much to arrange it for a performance like this.

"Uh, DC. You got me," Ava says during the intro.

"There's no way I'm letting go. Boy, you were meant to be mine," Erin sings in her soft soprano voice.

"Can you make me lose my mind? One more night. Hit me baby one more time," Ava rap-sings.

"With you, I'm in paradise. The sun can't help but to shine," Kaylee sings. Her singing voice is more nasal than the rest of us, but that's how it sounds naturally. She doesn't force it and it's perfect for certain lines and songs.

Ava has another rap-sing part. "Uh, I'm feeling mighty fine. Give us one more night. Hit me baby one more time."

I grip my microphone. "It's such a rush. What a rush. A love coma. You're touch. It's too much. Hot like summer. Beam me up. Beam me up. I think we got something. From the club to the tub. Caught in the storm. Yeah."

Erin takes her microphone from the holder. "Hit like thunder. Hit like thunder. You hit me. You hit me. Feel like no other. Hit like thunder. Hit like thunder." The cool thing about this song is we trade lines a lot, so no one person's solo part is substantially longer than the other.