At No Time || Bruno Mars

5

"Damn it," Trystan cursed as she reached into her bag to grab a tissue. She dabbed at her forehead to rid it of the perspiration that had formed in her celerity. She was sure she would receive a snide comment about her tardiness from Peter now.

Taking a deep breath, to ready herself for any reprimanding more than anything, she entered the melodious chamber.

Before she could conjecture a greeting or even an apology, Peter, unfailingly japed, "For someone to be so vehement about their material being used, you would think they wouldn't be almost an hour late."

Trystan muttered a sorry but didn't elucidate that the reason she hadn't arrived on time was because she had gone searching for Bella, who'd figured out a way to escape out the backdoor during the night, and it took Trystan almost an hour to find that the piglet had somehow managed to get herself stuck--headfirst--in a thorn bush in the neighbors backyard. After another half-hour of aiding to Bella's minor injuries, Angelique had called and told her that she wouldn't be able to give Trystan a ride to the studio. It was too long and batty of a story to be repeated.

"Trystan you're fine; we just got started." Neal gave Peter a side glance as he alleviated Trystan's abashment.

"And it's not like P adding anything new either," Roger added from behind his laptop screen. Trystan grinned inwardly at their taking up for her, but humbled herself when she realized Peter had barely flinched at their siding words.

Setting down her backpack and retrieving her notebook, Trystan offered, "Did you guys come up with anything new yet? I did some revisions on the lyrics I proposed last night--,"

"I told you we weren't going to use those, Trystan." Peter didn't look up from the sound system as he recited what he'd said the session before.

Biting her tongue from saying something that would surely get her removed from the project, Trystan replied as easily as she could, "I know, and that's why I revised them. No offense, but there are two other people in here with opinions that matter. If no one likes it, then I'll start from scratch. But if not, you'll be outnumbered."

Neal and Roger exchanged glances, then looked at Bruno, who, behind his hollow expression, was probably fuming. Instead of countering Trystan's response, he shrugged, and content, Trystan turned to Neal and Roger. "So guys, what do you think of this . . ."

It had been the easiest session they'd had since Trystan arrived. Neal especially, seemed to enjoy her lyrics, even singing along to them to find the right rhythm and melody. Roger, who was more into the visuals of the songs, was already attempting to put together a music video. For the first time, Trystan was genuinely enjoying herself amongst the energy of her music partners. She hadn't even noticed it was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. It wasn't hard to assess that it had been Peter's sour attitude that reigned solemnness over an area that was meant to be fun.

In the midst of their amusement, Trystan glanced at Peter, whose face had not partaken in any of the joy that had been going on in the entity. In effort for him to join in on the merry session, Trystan coaxed, "Come on, Bru-I mean Peter. Everyone's putting in great ideas. The song won't be complete without your input."

"I'm just not sure why everyone's so jovial. This isn't going to impress Lance or your boss." Peter remained dead-panned, and just as Trystan feared, the dark cloud that had loomed over the room previously began to reappear.

"Peter, seriously, the song is sounding good. Everyone else is enjoying it. Isn't that what makes a song good? Everyone having fun with it?"

"Music is a business; not an amusement park. You can like it all you want, but what use is it if it's not bringing in any profit?"