Ronnie's POV:
"Alright, so what were you thinking?" Maddie asked as the rest of my team remained quiet, ready to listen to my ideas. We were ready to start working on my sophomore album, but my team wanted to see what ideas I could come up with.
"Well, I thought about it a lot. I think I want to do an album featuring more sentimental and heartfelt songs."
"Even more sentimental?" The voice made me lose my breath. I turned towards it, finding Tanner looking back at me. "I honestly didn't know it was possible! Your songs are already so vulnerable."
"Yeah, but I definitely could be more vulnerable."
"Are you sure? That sounds like it could be both a good and bad idea at the same time." Maddie warned me.
"Well I was thinking about what could make me unique as an artist," I said, fidgeting with my fingers. "And I think, it should be the fact that my songs are so vulnerable, and based on my personal experiences."
"Well she has a point," Maddie said to Tanner. He nodded in agreement.
"Alright, so have you started writing any songs?" Maddie asked Tanner and me.
"Well, we have a couple of drafts, but nothing finalized," Tanner responded, looking back at me.
"That's perfectly fine," Maddie said. "Take your time. Right now is the perfect time for Ronnir to stay quiet and away from the spotlight now that she finished her interviews. It'll have the fans remaining in suspense, wondering what's next."
"Alright," I said. "That sounds good. I'm constantly writing songs so it shouldn't be a problem to have some new ones soon."
"That's great!" Maddie cheered, gesturing her arms in the air. "Well, I think we went over everything," she said, flipping through her notes, making sure she had not forgotten something.
You brush past me in the hallway
And you don't think I-I-I can see ya, do ya?
I've been watching you for ages
And I spend my time trying not to feel it
Ever since the kiss, Tanner and I had been great. He had taken me out for coffee several times, and we had sweet moments. We're getting to know each other. And it really makes me happy, how much Tanner wants to do this right. We both had our fair share of bad relationships and we just want to be right for each other.
But seeing him almost every day at the studio, waiting and waiting for something to happen is frustrating. I desperately want him to make a move, to tell me that he wants to be with me.
But that doesn't seem to ever happen. And I'm scared if I make a move, it'll just scare him off. He wants to take it slow.
But every time I see him, I desperately just want to go to him and tell him how I honestly feel. I want to tell him that we should be together. But something seems to stop me every time. I tried to stop my feelings, trying to convince myself that I'm trying to speed things along too fast. But for some reason, my heart doesn't seem to agree.
But what would you do if I went to touch ya now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?
'Cause I can see you waiting down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you
I headed to my car to get home, it was already dark out. The moon shined on the puddles on the pavement, as it had just stopped raining a couple of hours ago. I had finally begun to start driving, after what happened at the accident.
I opened the driver's door, sat inside, and closed the door, feeling a bit of the water splash on me closing the door. I started the car and began to drive away from the studio.
As I was on the highway, a million thoughts flooded my mind. About my career, my albums, and the bills I had to pay to support my brothers. But the thoughts that affected me the most were Tanner.
And we kept everything professional
But something's changed, it's something I-I like
They keep watchful eyes on us
So, it's best if we move fast and keep quiet
You won't believe half the things
I see inside my head
Wait 'til ya see half the things
That hasn't happened yet
I got worried about what would happen if we decided to start a relationship. What if Maddie disapproves? What if she finds it unprofessional what we're doing? She might make me choose between dating him and working with him. So I either break his heart or cost him his job.
Then another thought crept into my mind. What if Maddie likes the fact that we're dating? That she'll want to use the relationship to promote my career.
I told myself it was ridiculous. Maddie had given me no reason to think so badly of her. But these were just the worst-case scenarios. And I was praying they wouldn't come true.
After driving for around 20 minutes, I finally made it home. It began to drizzle, making me groan, as I had a bit of a walk from my car to the house. I grabbed all my notes and music from work and shut the car down. I walked to the front door, unlocking it with my key. Walking inside, I found my two brothers sitting on the couch in the dark living room, watching a movie.
"Hey guys," I said, closing the door while attempting to not drop anything.
"Hey, Ronnie," Joel said.
"Hey, sis," Luke greeted. "How was work today?" he asked, grabbing more popcorn from the bowl placed between himself and Joel.
"Pretty, good," I said. "We just settled some things for the new album, but haven't finalized any songs yet."
"That's good," Joel said. "Do you want anything to eat? There are some leftovers in the fridge."
"That's fine, I ate at work," I told him, which wasn't a lie. Joel had become more careful with how often I was eating ever since John. He turned his direction toward me and raised an eyebrow in concern.
"You ate at work?"
"Yeah, Maddie treated us to some Olive Garden. She wanted to celebrate working on the new album."
"Okay, but if you get hungry, I left you some food in the fridge."
"Thanks, but I think I'll just go to sleep. I'm pretty tired."
"Alright sis. Well, in that case, goodnight."
"Goodnight guys," I said, as I walked upstairs to my room. I changed into some comfy pajamas, said my nightly prayers, and lay in my bed.
And despite all the thoughts racing around in my mind, it took me only a few minutes to fall asleep.
But what would you do if I went to touch ya now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?
The next morning, I had quite a bit of free time before I had to leave for work, so I slept in for a few hours. By the time I finally woke up, Joel had left for work and Luke had left for school. Although, when I got to the kitchen, I found a note on the kitchen table from Joel.
I left you some breakfast on the counter :) - Joel
I smiled at the note, as I glanced at the counter, finding some scrambled eggs on a plate left for me. I grabbed the plate, put it in the microwave, and waited for it to heat.
After eating breakfast, I spent some time brainstorming song ideas and writing a few melodies and lyrics down for later. After having a very productive morning, I was feeling very good about myself. and was even excited to go to work.
After having another hour of free time, I eventually headed out to my car to drive myself to work. After I arrived, I walked into the studio, already seeing Tanner there.
"Hey Tanner," I said. "How are you?"
"Pretty good," he said, handing me a coffee. "I got coffee for you."
"Aww, thanks!" I said, appreciating the gesture.
"So," he said, clapping his hands together. "Got any new ideas?"
"Actually, yeah, I've had quite the productive morning and got a few lyrics and melodies sorted out. We can try and finalize something so we can make a meeting with Maddie."
"That's great!" he said excitedly. "Do you think you'll be able to record something today? Everyone's already here and ready," he said, gesturing towards the sound engineers and technicians, reminding me that we are not alone. To my disappointment, at least.
"I think so, but we'll have to see for sure. Let's work on something first."
"Alright, sounds good."
And so we spent the next few hours going over my ideas, and figuring out which ones would be able to be pieced together.
"Alright, I could use a break," I said. "I'm going to head outside for some fresh air." I always loved to spend a few minutes outside on my break. It helped me calm down, and also gave me a few minutes alone, which I appreciated.
"Alright, sounds good," he told me. I just wish he instead would've said, "I'll join you."
'Cause I can see you waiting down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew
Woah, oh-oh
That I can see you, throw your jacket on the floor
I could see you, make me want you even more
What would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you
I headed outside, the sun shining bright on my skin. I felt the warmth as soon as I exited the studio. I took a few deep breaths, turning to a calm state, which was also supported by the nice breeze of the wind. Just then, I heard footsteps behind me.
"Tanner?" I asked, noticing it was him.
"Sorry, I forgot something in my car," he said, despite not making any effort to head there. "And, I wanted to tell you something."
"Yeah?" I asked, desperately wanting to hear what he had to say.
"I know we've been taking it slow, and I love spending time with you, but," he paused, looking for the words. "I want us to be together. I want to be able to know that you're mine. I want to be able to spend time with you without being at work."
I smiled at him. "I would love that," I said. He smiled in return. "But, some things are bothering me," I admitted, causing his face to show concern.
And so I told him about my concerns about Maddie. How I'm worried about having a relationship with someone I'm working with.
"Oh," he said, seeming to be thinking of a solution. "Well, we could remain in secret."
"Really? You would do that for me?" I asked him, with a huge grin on my face.
"Anything to call you mine."
I could see you in your suit and your necktie
Pass me a note saying, "Meet me tonight"
Then we kiss, and you know I won't ever tell, yeah
And I could see you being my addiction
You can see me as a secret mission
Hide away, and I will start behaving myself
So we decided to make it official: we were dating. But in secret, that is. And the next few days at work felt like a dream. Despite the crowded room, we would have a few secret moments together. They had no idea they were together. And I loved it that way.
While we were in meetings, Tanner would occasionally hand me notes, either complimenting me or asking me out.
Today, he handed me another one of his notes while Maddie was discussing some upcoming interviews.
"Meet me tonight," it said. I looked back at him, smiled, and nodded my head in agreement.
And after having our usual meetings, qw would usually meet in secret. Tanner would leave the room first, while I stayed for a few minutes to "look over" a couple of notes I had taken. And once I was the last one in the room, I would finally leave, meeting Tanner at the end of the hallway.
I can see you waiting down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew
Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh
That I can see you, throw your jacket on the floor
I could see you, make me want you even more
What would you do? Baby, if you only knew
"Hey," I said, with a gigantic smile.
"Hey," he responded, smiling the same. He wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing his face closer to mine. "That meeting was pretty boring."
"Oh?" I asked sarcastically. "You know that whole meeting was basically about me?"
"Okay, when you put it that way," Tanner quickly tried to defend himself, but I smiled the whole time.
"You know I love you, right?" I told him.
That I can see you, oh, I can see you
Oh, I see you, I see you, baby, I see you (I-I-I-I)
I see you, I see you, baby, oh, baby
"I love you too," he said smiling, as he leaned in, and we shared a passionate kiss.
Out of nowhere, I heard my phone's ringtone and searched the room for it to pick it up. I had woken up, realizing I was still in bed with my pajamas.
It was a dream?
I knew it was too good to be true.
As I became annoyed that I had just been dreaming, I searched for my phone, which seemed to be missing.
After finally finding it, I smiled to myself as I tapped on the screen to reveal the caller. And it shocked me when I discovered who it was.
John?