MASTERMIND - H.S

Chapter 33

"Idiot," Addie muttered to herself as she hugged her pillow, feeling completely and utterly alone, with only her fear to accompany her.

***

Addie came into the studio, holding Cheshire on one arm and a Frappucino in the other. She wasn't sure why, but she'd started getting Starbucks every day before going to the studio. It just felt nice to do something a little special for herself.

Somewhere between a reward for getting up in the morning and something good to try and start the dat on the right foot.

Cheshire struggled against Addie's grip, wanting to worm her way out and run off to god knows where. But she didn't manage to escape until they were locked inside the studio room and all Cheshire could do was run underneath the couch and then jump on the coffee table, knocking over a closed water bottle.

"Cheshire!" Addie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Karl laughed as Cheshire weaved in between his legs, almost running in the shape of an infinity around him. "So this is the beloved Cheshire, huh?"

Setting down her bag on a chair, Addie chuckled. "Yup. The one and only." Cheshire jumped and leapt into Addie's lap the second she was sat. "I woke up at like 3am because she was throwing up, and I took her to the vet. Looks like she ate something she shouldn't have. She's going to be fine, but I have to be with her for the next 48 hours to make sure she doesn't get worse."

Waking up find Cheshire vomiting non-stop was not the best moment of Addie's life. She was crying as she tried to calm Cheshire down, trying to figure out what to do.

She'd sworn she'd done everything right, and there was no reason for Cheshire to be sick.

But her hands had shook as she picked Cheshire up and put her in the car, driving her to the vet. Waiting for the doctor to check her up was the most anxiety-ridden moment of Addie's life.

Cheshire had been in Addie's life for less than a month, and already she was incredibly attached to the cat.

And if something had happened to Cheshire, Addie could never forgive herself.

"Aw, well it's nice to have a little bit of company in the studio," Karl cooed as he pet Cheshire's head. "She's fluffy."

Addie nodded, grabbing her notebook from her bag. "Yeah, she is. So, I wrote a lot of stuff last night."

"Yeah?" Karl prompted, grabbing the notebook Addie offered him. He flipped through the pages she'd scribbled on last night with all the ideas that came to her mind. "Oh Lord, I have dreams, of jumpin' off of very tall somethings, just to see you come running." He looked up from the notebook, tapping the words scribbled with black pen. "What's that melody like?"

Addie sang the words with the melody she had in mind. And then she said, "I'm not sure about the line though. I don't think SyCo will like it much."

"Suicidal thoughts?" Karl mused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Highly doubt it. But I want to work on it anyways."

They started working on that song, only to leave it untitled because no name sounded right for the song. They wrote more of it, and then jumped to another song Addie had come up with. She mostly just had the concept.