Chapter 12

I restlessly roll over in my bed. I hardly slept a wink, but the sun shining through my window tells me that morning has come, yet again.

It's been a week since my sleepover with Sebastian, and no one has been in touch to schedule another date for us. We never exchanged phone numbers either, so it's not like I could text him. But also, we're not exactly on texting status anyway. I don't even know what we are.

I turn over, pulling the cover over my head to block out the sun. I wish I could hide from myself that easily. All of my thoughts have been trailing back to Sebastian lately. I keep replaying different moments in my mind, but the one I keep coming back to was how it felt to be wrapped up in his arms in bed.

Oh God, I'm so fucked.

I'm going to see him today, too. Against all odds, Fortune Records has set up their new studios in a week. Which makes me think that they've had all this in the works a lot longer than that. Today, we're having a grand opening, along with a little showcase of our artists.

Which means I'm going to have to perform in front of Sebastian. I gulp as I think about it. I'm not normally one for stage fright, but this is terrifying. To top it all off, we're to have ‘get to know each other' games to break the ice with our new colleagues.

I am excited about the studio though. I'm supposed to be writing my album at the moment, and I think it will be a fun change of pace to work there. Besides, I'm curious to see the Monsters in a normal work setting. I imagine it's kind of like when you see a teacher outside of school, doing something completely normal.

I've been working on the early stages of my new music recently, so it will be good to get back into the studio with Alex again. Alex is amazing, they have produced all of my work until now and I wouldn't be able to create my sound without their collaboration. They'll be there today too.

So will Daisy and Cleo, I'm doing a full out performance, so I have to have my dancers. I'm actually going to pick them up on the way there.

I'm trying to shift my thoughts to be more positive. It's almost working, until I remember that I'm going to see Sebastian and his band play today. Or at least I assume I am. I haven't actually considered if every artist under the label will be playing. I hope he does, I've been listening to his music on repeat all week.

The label released a new music app to feature both Human and Monster artists. I've been listening to so much cool new music, and it's been inspiring for me. Sebastian's music, especially. I've been sharing some of it with Alex, and even they can't figure out how some of the technical layering works. So they're excited to try and meet Sebastian's producer today.

I sigh, rolling out of bed. It's time to get ready and get to work.

I pull up into my space in the lot, then double check that my parking card matches the number.

"This is a good spot." Cleo calls from the back seat.

It is a good spot, too good a spot. Since when do I get to park this close to the building?

I switch off the ignition and turn to look at Daisy and Cleo.

"Are you guys as nervous as I am?"

Daisy nods as Cleo declares, "I'm excited! I want a Monster boyfriend like you, Flora." She sticks out her tongue at me, teasing.

I look away quickly, starting to pack up my purse properly and then checking my hair in the rear view mirror. I hate having to lie to my friends about Sebastian, but I would hate having to break that airtight NDA even more.

Lucky for me, apparently we're very convincing at being together. Even my friends don't really see through it. Well, that's a lie. Rosie can tell that something's up, but she also knows that if I could tell her I would. So she doesn't ask.

"Come on, let's go in, already!" Cleo whines. I make eye contact with Daisy in the mirror and we share a look. Cleo was going to be a lot to handle today.

"Hang on a sec." I say. "Alex said that they'd be here in a few minutes. Let's wait for them and we can all go in together."

I take the time to look at the building. It's huge, looking more like a corporate office building from the outside. I guess they didn't need to worry about space in this part of town. It's located right on the border between the Monsters and Humans.

There's a Monster making his way down the sidewalk right now, heading towards the building. He is dressed in a suit, well, his top half is. Instead of having legs, the rest of him is a giant snake. He carries a briefcase, so I assume that he's an important executive for the label.

"Still sure you want to get with a Monster, Cleo?" I tease, seeing her jaw drop as she also notices him.

We're staring at him so intently, that we all jump when someone knocks on the passenger side window. I unlock the doors when I see it's Alex and they come and sit with us.

"Hey, love," I lean over to hug them in greeting.

"Hey girlies," Alex replies. "I'm incredibly nervous right now."

"Us too," Daisy quips.

I've done this before, I've met quite a few Monsters now, and I know I can handle this.

"OK. Let's rip off this band aid." I open my door and walk around to the trunk, popping it open. The girls join me and we all grab our dance bags. We're already dressed for the performance today. I'm wearing my teal blue wig that's tied up into a pair of high bubble braids. I've paired it with white combat boots so I'm comfortable for the day. My outfit itself being a lavender baby tee and a teal mini skirt. I wanted to represent my onstage persona, but also go a little more casual for comfort more than anything else.

Not that this wig is comfortable at all. Sometimes I regret the wigs, but then I see the photos and video clips from performances and I'm so happy with them. I tasked Daisy and Cleo to wear their teal baby tees and lavender cargo pants, slung low on their hips. They can pull that look off so much better than me, my pants would literally fall down if I tried to wear them that low.

We make our way to the building and step inside. Cleo is first through the door, always the eager one. A female with snakes for hair meets us on the other side, a clip board in hand.

"Hello to you all," she says. She checks us in and has us move to get in line to get new ID cards created.

I'm sitting across from a young Orc woman, Tabitha. She's pretty nice, and we've been chatting about wigs for the past ten minutes. She was fascinated by mine and wanted to try out something new. I didn't blame her after she told me that her black hair can't be bleached or colored.

The bell dings, and I promise to bring in a few products for her to try tomorrow.

We've been sort of playing a speed dating game, except it's for us to meet our new colleagues. I move to my next table, a female with dark purple hair sits across from me. We shake hands and a little spark zaps me.

"Oh, shit. Sorry!" She exclaims. "I normally have a bit more control over that, I promise. God, this is so embarrassing."

I laugh, trying to lighten the mood. "No, don't worry! It woke me up a little, that's all. I'm Flora, it's nice to meet you."

"Flora?" She looks at me closer, "Shit, I was expecting you to be blond. Sebastian's going to kill me. Oh God, please don't tell him I zapped you, he'll have my head!"

"Woah, it's OK! I promise, your secret is safe with me." I study her a little, wondering who she might be to Sebastian. She's beautiful, purple eyes to match her purple hair, with the palest skin. I try not to be jealous.

"Umm… so… what's your name?" I ask her.

"Oh! I'm Addison."

"Sebastian's producer?" she nods. "Oh, I am obsessed with you. Actually my own producer might be more so. They're Alex."

I point to a couple heads behind me, "you'll meet them soon. We've been trying to figure out some of the things that you've been doing on Sebastian's tracks and we literally can't. I would love if you sat down with us both some time. I'm working on a new album at the moment, so it would be so cool. Sorry, I'm totally commandeering the conversation!"

She grins at me slowly, a mischievous look on her face. "Firstly, thank you, I would love to sit down with you guys. Secondly," she leans forward, lowering her voice, "you are so different than I thought you would be. In a good way, don't get me wrong. I actually can't wait to see you and Sebastian together."

She glances to her right, and I realize that Sebastian is next in the line for me to talk to. I look away before he catches me staring. That means he's chatting to Cleo right now. Oh, I hope she is keeping it cool.

I shift my focus back to Addison, "Why? Because he's so chatty?"

Addison burst out laughing at my sarcastic remark.

"Oh, I am glad that Sebastian finally has someone to keep him on his toes. He was getting far too comfortable."

I try to keep a happy mask on my face, but this is difficult. "I'm so sorry, Addison, but I need to excuse myself. I know we're going to chat lots soon anyway."

With that, I leave the table and head to the restroom. It's quiet, with everyone participating in the icebreakers. I turn on a tap and shove my wrists under, I feel far too hot all of a sudden. My chest heaves and I try to take in a slow, deep breath.

I look at myself in the mirror and I feel like I don't recognize her. I'm not a liar, it's not something that I've ever liked to do. And yet here I am, meeting a whole new group of people and trying to form connections. They're all based on lies, it's all just one big lie and I can't stand it.

I only need to stay here until my turn with Sebastian would be over, and then I'll go back in. I hear the ding. Perfect, my time with Addison would be up now anyway. I'll wait until the next ding and I will go back in and pick up with the next person.

Yeah, that'll be fine. I lean against the counter, taking another deep breath.

The door to the restroom opens, and I grab a paper towel, pretending that I was finishing washing my hands.

In the mirror, I can see that it's Sebastian. He moves forward, looming over me. I want to lean back, I really do. I want to press myself against him and let him hold me.

"Are you OK?" He asks, he toys with the end of one of my braids.

"No, I'm not OK." I sigh, pulling my braid out of his hand and stepping away from him. "I hate that we're lying to everyone, to my friends. I've met so many people today and had to lie to their face and I'm sick of it."

"Flora, I know. I don't like doing it either. But we signed that—" The bell dings again, cutting across him.

"We should head back." I slip past him and move back into the room again.

I'm panting heavily, sweat dripping down my back. The wash of adrenaline flows through me and I relax a little. This was exactly what I needed.

Daisy, Cleo, and I just finished our set, and the staff of Fortune Records loved it. Or at least they applauded really loudly, with hoots and hollers for the girls. Who seemed to have made a few new friends with our ice breaker games earlier.

I laugh with them now, going to grab a drink of water. We move back out into the audience to watch whoever is next. I rest my head on Alex's shoulder as we join them in the seats.

"Eww, you're so sweaty, Flora!" They exclaim, but I giggle, switching to Cleo's shoulder instead. She wraps her arm around me and we enjoy the next few artist's performances.

When it's announced that Sebastian's next, I sit up a little straighter. I had gotten so wrapped up in my own performance, that I had forgotten all about his.

His band come on stage. A tentacled male comes out first, drumsticks in his two hands, as well as four of his tentacles. That was going to sound so cool. A giant Minotaur, I learned what the bull-like creature was earlier, comes out next holding a bass guitar.

The crowd goes wild as Sebastian comes out, his guitar in hand. His hair hangs loose around his face, he wears faded and torn jeans with a vintage looking band t-shirt. He looks every bit the rock star. He also has his wings out.

I didn't look at them in too much detail last week, but they have a fascinating membranous quality, the black reflecting green under the lights.

I have to cross my legs, squirming in my seat a little bit. He looks far too attractive up there like that. All of my pent up horniness from the past week is letting itself be known. Then he smiles at the crowd with a cheeky grin. His eyes are searching the audience, until they find mine. He winks at me, before turning and strumming the first few bars of the song.

Holy shit, that did things to me. My pussy is throbbing with need. This is not good. I remind myself that it's all just for show, it's not real.

Daisy squeals, slapping me on the arm. "He winked at you!"

Daisy and Cleo both rock out a little too vigorously, but I can't help but laugh and join them as Sebastian plays and sings his song. His voice is somehow even better live than in his recordings. I am in awe of him.