Chapter 27

Sebastian pulls his truck up in the parking lot to the studio. The sun has barely risen, but we're on a mission this morning.

I slept for most of Sunday, curled up with Sebastian, either watching TV or talking. Turns out I needed to recover after all that sex. Who knew?

I sneakily suspected that Sebastian was just as worn out. Although he looked after me like a queen, doting on me and making sure that I stayed hydrated.

We walk into the studio together, having to scan our ID cards to get in this early in the morning. Because we had such a good rest, we were up especially early. I'm feeling inspired to finish our song today.

The few hours that we spend in the studio flies by.

"I think it's done!" I squeal. I had added the final touches and we had a listen back. There's no other changes I would make to it.

I turn to Sebastian, jumping with joy. He picks me up and spins me around, laughing along with me.

"Wow, I can't believe it's finished." He tells me. "Now I'm going to have to come up with another excuse to spend time with you."

I slap his arm playfully.

"We could always go out to celebrate," I suggest.

Sebastian's phone dings before he can respond. He reads his text carefully, his expression darkening.

"Fuck, Karl wants me to go out of town for the night to do a TV appearance…" He runs his hand through his hair.

"Oh, that's OK!" I tell him quickly, trying to hide my disappointment. "We can go out once you're back. I could probably do with being home for a bit on my own, anyway."

Sebastian sighs. He seems frustrated, more than he should be.

"I'm sorry, Flora." He pulls me close and kisses me. I sink into the kiss and lose myself in it for a moment. "I have to leave now, but I'll text you and we can hang out tomorrow. Sound good?"

I nod, letting him kiss me one last time before he leaves the studio.

I'm happy that we finally finished our song, but I'm sad that we won't get to celebrate properly together in the moment. Karl's timing was pretty shit, but this is the lifestyle that we both live. Things like this are bound to happen.

I take out the flash drive with our song, and pop it into my purse.

Alex should be here soon, so I go to the break room to make a coffee. I set my purse on the couch, and take on the task of waiting for the world's slowest coffee machine.

Addison comes in and we chat a little bit, I tell her that Sebastian had to leave. She's bummed because she only got his text after coming all the way in. We chat for a bit, but then I join Tabitha at a table to have a good gossip.

Eventually, Alex and Hyacinth are ready to get to work. I grab my purse from the couch and join them.

After a long day at the studio, all I want to do is curl up on my couch. All the rest from the weekend still hasn't fully made up for how much I exerted myself. Sebastian says that's normal for a heat though, so I'm not too worried.

I order takeout and watch shitty reality TV for the evening. Although, I'm hardly watching it. Sebastian and I have been texting all evening. Texting is great and all, but I miss him more than that.

I feel so needy, but my couch isn't the same anymore. I wish he was here so I could snuggle up on his lap. This weekend was crazy, it's hard to believe that it's only been a few days since he kissed me. Everything has moved so quickly, and I'm finding it hard to navigate. It's so intense with him, and I don't know where we are to go from here. I'm scared to push him away, but I think my feelings are much stronger than they should be by now.

Plus, there's his Human-hating family… What are they going to think about me? I mean, surely they have an opinion on it already, what with our already ‘dating'. I'm guessing by the fact that he hasn't brought it up that it's probably bad anyway. I want to talk to him about it, but is it too soon?

I switch off my TV, I'm not watching it anyway. I go to bed more confused than anything. But the one thing I do know is that I want to be with Sebastian, and that I will overcome whatever barriers we face.

I wake up with the sun shining through my window, it's warm and snuggly in my bed. I decide to spend the day writing, so I text Sebastian good morning and let him know I won't really be on my phone today.

Turing it to silent, I place my phone in my nightstand drawer.

My day is easygoing and relaxed. I eat delicious food and play around on my instruments, switching between my guitar and my piano. I even end up writing some things that I'm really proud of.

It's late in the day now and I should probably start thinking about dinner. I go and grab my phone to switch off a bit from the music. Opening my drawer, my phone is lit up with hundreds of notifications. What the hell?

I sit on the bed, crossing my legs and unlocking my phone. I open my main social media app, where most of the notifications are from. The home page shows a post from Sebastian, about the release of a new song.

He didn't mention anything about a new release… that's so weird. I click through the link to the Fortune Records app to listen to it. My heart stops when I hear the opening chords. I scroll down past the image and there it is, in black and white:

Home Again - Sebastian Orville feat. Flora

The phone falls to the floor, the song still playing quietly from it. How could he do this? We said we weren't going to release it, and what the hell is with the artist listing? This was my song to begin with!

I seethe, my breath coming quickly. We said that this was just for us. We wanted something that was separate to the label, something for our own. Did he lie to me?

I run through our time together in my mind. I thought I could trust him…

No, I can. I can trust Sebastian. He wouldn't break my trust like this. There has to be an explanation.

I pick my phone off the floor, pacing my bedroom while I check my texts. The one I sent this morning still sits in our chat, unread. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my heartbeat. I need to give him the benefit of the doubt, until he can explain himself.

Clicking through to his contact, I hit dial. It rings, and rings. I get put through to his voicemail.

"Hey Sebastian," I try to sound calm. "So listen, I saw that our song was released today… I thought we were clear with each other on not releasing it, but maybe there was a misunderstanding? I'm upset about it, so it would be good to talk. Can you call me back when you get this?"

I hang up.

Fuck, that was too nice, wasn't it? I don't want him to think I'm a pushover. But I also wanted to try and be understanding, getting angry wasn't going to solve anything.

I was going to order dinner, but my stomach turns at the thought of food right now. I sit on my couch and try to watch reality TV. My thoughts keep going back to Sebastian and the song. I force myself to wait a full hour before calling him again. Then it will be after 8 pm, he would definitely be finished working or due a break by then.

When the time comes, I try calling him. It rings out again, do I leave another voicemail? The beep sounds so I go ahead and say something.

"It's me again. I know you're working but I'm really upset about this, which I think is understandable. I just…" I sniffle, a few tears starting to pool in my eyes. "Nothing. Just call me please."

Fuck, now I was crying. I was doing so good until now.

I'm all alone in this, there's no one I can call. The label will still want me and Sebastian to play happy families, I'm sure. So I can't talk to my friends and family about it. I can't talk to Rosie. Frank wouldn't be much use either, he'd only talk business, I've never really spoken to him about my feelings.

I start to sob, curling up and wrapping my arms around my knees. I didn't want to think that Sebastian was at fault here. But he's clearly avoiding me, which is stupid because we'll probably have to go on a date again soon. Unless he plans to get out of the dates… He could, he did tell me that he didn't care about the cause.

He's a self-admitted Human hater! Fucking hell, he literally told me he didn't care. And did I listen? No, I went straight to his bed. I shiver as another sob takes my breath away. Maybe it was a bet? Was I a joke to him? Some game to play, how far can he trick a stupid Human? I knew that it was all too good to be true.

I ring him again, giving him one last chance. His phone doesn't even fucking ring this time, going straight to voicemail.

"You know what? I'm done being understanding about this. Clearly I was some sort of joke to you. Well, fuck you, Sebastian. I'm done. I'm done with this. I'm done with us. I'll speak to the label, get them to shut off this stupid PR shit. Or even better yet, maybe I'll get them to set me up with some other stupid fucking Monster!"

I hang up, switching off my phone and tossing it on my dresser. Stripping off my clothes, I stomp into my bathroom. I turn on the shower and scrub myself, trying to get rid of any trace of Sebastian still lingering on me.

Sinking to the floor, I rest my head back against the tiles and let the water stream over me. I stay there until it becomes unbearably cold.

I barely dry myself off before getting into bed.