Searching for Light

Chapter Five: Soft and Fragile

"Thank you so much for coming," I said in disbelief, shaking his strong, warm hand.

"Please. It's my pleasure to be here on your special day. Each day is special, though, right?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I guess."

God, his accent is amazing.

"Let's get started then, eh?" Torrey pulled her headphones over her ears. "This is gonna take us a while."

I smiled and followed Jason back into the decorated studio. I pulled my headphones over one ear and sat on the tall chair, across from Jason. I adjusted my fancy-looking microphone and started to warm up my vocal chords with some strange-sounding excersises. After a few minutes Jason gave Torrey a thumbs up and I scanned over the lyrics to make sure I had it all memorized. I started to hear the vague sound of music, and slowly pitched my voice at the right octave to sing.

Once Jason started singing my heart pounded. His voice was soothing and soft, yet it made you want to get up and dance like a maniac. No wonder his first single was an absolute hit.

We sang the duet section and did our own parts as I tried not to make any expression when I'd see Jason smiling at me.

By singing with J.J. I learned smiling messed up your pitch.

We re-sang the song over and over again, spending hours just waiting for Torrey to listen to it over again and edit it, just to realize it wasn't good enough. She eventually became satisfied, and my voice was died out. I was exhausted and wanting to hit the sack by six o'clock. I thanked Jason sincerely, so happy I could meet him and sing the song with him. He gave me his phone number, email, and other ways to contact him before thanking Torrey and rushing out to try and catch his flight.

"That was wonderful," Torrey exclaimed, closing the door.

"Thank you so much for all this," I said gratefully. "It's the first I've heard of my birthday today."

"You don't have any family that called you?" She frowned.

I shake my head. "It's just me and my sister." J.J. probably should've called me, but I guess I understand because he's probably too busy with work to remember. Besides, I had never had a birthday party before with anyone since my family tree was so small, and had shrunk even more over the years. All that was left of it was me and my sister.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time. You and Jason seem to get along well."

"He's a really sweet guy," I said. "I was surprised how he acted less of a celebrity and more of a friendly stranger."

"Most celebrities are less "celebrity-like" in person. People tend to see their social media and assume they just keep to themselves and act smug."

I nodded. "Thanks again. Tonight was great."

She smiles and hands me my papers as I walk out the door. I head back down the set of stairs and outside. A warm breeze blows against me, and the smell of fast food flows through the air.

Food. I was so hungry, and I had forgotten all about dinner. I didn't pack myself anything, and I was really craving some fries. I approached my car and unlocked it with my keys, before climbing in and sticking them in the ignition. My phone rang, and I dug through my black purse to find it. My hand got ahold of it and I answered it immediately to silence the obnoxious ringtone.

"Hey, J."

Hey, Loon. How's it going?

"Great," I said, happy to talk to him again. "I just recorded a duet with Jason Dunhamm."