Culture Vibe

4. Studio Flare

Kira was impatient to make it through the London traffic, but she refused to press her horn, knowing the backlash she'd receive from one simple impatient action. In a long distance relationship, she had precious few hours with her boyfriend, but they made it work. They always had. However, that didn't mean she was prepared to waste a single one of them sitting in the car when she could be at home with him.

Marcus had played for England that evening at Wembley stadium in London, which was the reason he was in London in the first place, and not in Manchester. Kira knew that he'd be just as keen to see her as she was to see him, and for that reason, she had to reach her house before he did. She wanted to do something special, since he'd scored a goal. Being half Vietnamese, half Irish, meant that Marcus was the only reason she ever cheered for England at all.

When she finally pulled into her gate, and drove up the driveway to her house, she noticed Marcus' car was already parked there, and she pouted. Damn London traffic would be the death of her, she was sure. She parked her car in the garage, and entered the house, still pouting. However, her face cleared as soon as she saw Marcus sitting on the couch on his phone. He put it away as she entered, however, and the two of them beamed at one another.

"Can't believe I missed your game," Kira complained, walking over to kiss him.

Marcus put his hands at her waist, and returned the kiss, moving his lips gently against hers. Kira's eyes fluttered shut, and she felt as though she was melting. She always did, whenever he kissed her, and she knew she would never grow tired of the feeling. They eventually pulled away, and smiled at one another.

"Can't believe I missed your show," he murmured, and Kira giggled at him.

"It's whatever. I wanted to do something nice for you coz you scored, but then you got here before me. So I guess that idea's out the window."

"I can leave and come back?" He suggested, smirking.

Kira glared at him, and grabbed both his hands.

"Don't you dare."

"We can still do something nice," Marcus told her. "What were you planning?"

"Well, I was gonna cook dinner," she pondered. "Maybe..."

"Maybe we could do it together?" He suggested.

"Sure, if you want to," Kira beamed at him. "That could be fun."

"Alright then chief. What are we making?"

"I bought steaks," said Kira, "And I was gonna do some veggies and jacket potatoes to go with them?"

"Sounds great," Marcus nodded.

He followed her into the kitchen, where Kira opened the fridge, and pulled out the meat she'd bought the day before, along with some vegetables.

"Alright, you can chop these carrots and things up if you want," she told her boyfriend. "There should be a good knife in the knife block on the bench over there." She nodded in its direction.

"You sure you trust me with this?" Marcus chuckled, taking out a massive knife from the block, and waving it around.

"No, not that one," Kira rolled her eyes at him, and took it off him, replacing it in the block before pulling out a much smaller one.

"Oh," said Marcus, in realisation.

"Yeah, oh," Kira teased him. "You might wanna wash and peel them first, though. But other than that you can cut them in whatever shape your heart desires."

Marcus chuckled, but did as she said, picking up all the vegetables and going over to the sink to wash them.

"Look at us being all domestic and stuff," he grinned.

"I know right," said Kira, as she began to season the steaks. "Who would have thought?"

The two of them spent a relatively quiet evening at Kira's house, and after sharing the events of their day over their steak and vegetables, they spent the rest of their time curled up on the lounge together to watch Brooklyn Nine Nine. Kira had a busy week ahead of her, and Marcus would have to return to Manchester early the next morning. But for the moment, they were content to exist in the same space together and pretend they could stay there for as long as they wanted.

The girls arrived at the studio the next morning full of energy. Even River, who'd probably had the latest night of them all, was smiling happily, and ready to get to work on the production for the next song on their list for the world tour.

"Look at you, River," Josie, their PR rep beamed at her. "You are glowing, girl!"

"She actually is," Naia grinned at her, and River smiled, but shrugged her shoulders.

"Thanks," she said. "I guess I'm just in a really great mood today. I'm excited to hear the new song."

"I actually haven't even heard the full studio recording of it yet," said Shensea.

"Neither, that's what I'm saying," said River. "Let's play it before we start trying to choreograph anything, I'm keen to get it stuck in my head for the rest of the day."

"I'm excited to hear my verse with the rest of the song," said Shensea. "Also keen to hear River's 'not rapping.' Gonna be good."

"I'm absolutely not rapping, I'm just singing fast," River rolled her eyes playfully. "YOUR verse is rap, and it's fire."

"Your verse is fire too, River," Kira chuckled at the two of them. "I think the whole song's gonna sound awesome. This one's a big River and Shensea vibe, and I'm so here for it."

"Where's Jasmine at, then?" Wondered Naia, glancing around for the dance choreographer. "She's got the recording, I believe."

"She'll be here in a sec, I think," said Josie. "She was rounding up the dancers. I think you're just working with the four main girls from the crew, and the rest will jump in when you've got the routine sorted out."

"Can confirm," said Jasmine, entering the room with the dancers as if on cue. "Did someone say they wanted to listen to the full song first?"

"Yes please," nodded Kira.

"Alright," said Jasmine. "Wanna turn on the Bluetooth speakers then? And I'll play it from my phone."

A/N: thank you all for reading!

Which of the couples is your favourite so far?