Chapter 14

I zone out, watching the coffee machine drip little drops of my sanity into a cup. Drip by drip, it falls so slowly.

I run through last night again. It was so good to work through that song with Sebastian. I think even he enjoyed it. When we finished up for the night, he asked me for my number and we've been exchanging the odd texts here and there today. Different ideas for what we could do with the song.

I take out my phone, leaning against the counter as the slow ass coffee machine continues it's hard work. I scroll through the texts we've sent so far, a little smile playing on my lips.

The song was in pretty early stages when Sebastian came to me, so it will still be a bit of time before it's actually finished. I wonder if he will want to keep working on it together. I decide to be brave and text him to ask:

I don't feel like it's only my song anymore. Do you want to keep working on it with me?

I slip my phone back into the back pocket of my strawberry embroidered jeans. I grab my coffee cup and add a little creamer before turning to assess the break room.

One aspect of the new studio has been getting to learn a new routine. And I still haven't decided where the best place to take my coffee break is yet.

Oh, there's Tabitha, her lovely long blond wig on full display. It took a bit of finagling to get it to fit her head properly, but I put time into helping her out and smuggling her products from Human territory. She looks great, the blond making her green skin pop.

I move over to her and we chat a bit. She tells me the latest gossip about a pair of Orcs in finance who have been fighting over the affections of one of the Human administrators. Neither of them have seemed to have caught on yet that the Human isn't into either of them at all, but a quiet little Deer Shifter.

"Oh my God, stop! They're going to freak when they realize," I laugh with my new friend. She works in admin, so she kind of does a bit of everything for everyone. Which suits her perfectly, being the huge gossip that she is.

I take a sip of my coffee, and then nearly spill it all over myself when my phone vibrates on my butt. Setting my coffee down, I whip out my phone quickly, hoping it's a message from Sebastian. It is:

I'm glad you asked, I was hoping you would. Do you want to stay late tonight and work on it?

"Ugh, let me guess, Sebastian is texting you," Tabitha giggles. "You have that lovesick little grin on your face."

I blush a little, choosing not to reply to her on the matter. I text back:

Meet you in Studio 1 again? Say 7:30 pm?

I hear the sad coffee machine again and turn to see who it's next victim is. It's Sebastian. I watch his face light up as he smiles at his phone. I wonder if it's me he's smiling like that for.

He turns and catches my eye. He holds up a finger, and a moment later he's bringing his coffee over to join Tabitha and I.

"I assumed you'd be busy right now, that's why I had suggested this evening. But if you're free I can see if there's a free studio for the afternoon?"

He gives me a courtesy side hug in greeting, to keep up appearances. When his lips brush my cheek, I certainly do not squirm a little in my seat.

"Yeah. Alex isn't around today, so I was going to work on my own. I actually already have Studio 1 booked for ten minutes from now."

"Perfect."

"Well, I actually have to head back to work now. But you two lovebirds enjoy each other's company." Tabitha calls as she walks away from the table.

"It's nice to see you've made friends with some Monsters," Sebastian says, taking a sip from his coffee. "You're settling in well with the changes?"

"Yeah, it's really nice actually." I look around the room, observing how all the different groups are a mix of Humans and Monsters. All it took was a bit of open-mindedness and a willingness to look past our differences. All it took was that and now they have all integrated so well together. Even with some new office romances in tow. Maybe soon they won't need fake couples like Sebastian and I.

For some reason, I find that I really don't like that they could just call the whole thing off.