ON THE RISE, star

six

"It's still missing something," Roland shook his head, listening as his song played in his studio. "It needs something else." Him and his crew have been in the studio for a little over six hours. All of them were tired and wanting to take a break, but they couldn't until Roland was satisfied with where he was.

"Maybe if you added the bass like I suggested, we wouldn't be having this issue," a woman spoke up, turning to face him with a smile. She crossed her legs, propping her head up on her fist. Her hair was cut short. She wore a Nirvana tee shirt that was tucked into a black pantsuit. Sunglasses sat atop her head, sliding down to her forehead every now and again.

"Who asked you?" Roland asked, looking at her over his own sunglasses. He looked back at the sound board as the woman chuckled.

"You did," the woman said. She folded her hands in her lap, sitting up so Roland could see her out of the corner of his eye. "It's my job. You know, the one you hired me for?"

Roland smirked, dropping his head. She was right. He specifically hired her for music input. Gale Winters was one of his oldest friends, and she loved music as much as he did. She was also one of the only people he hasn't slept with that he worked closely with. Mostly because he knew Gale would beat his ass for even attempting to cheat on Rose with her.

"Fine," Roland sighed. He gestured to the sound board. "Work your magic." He stepped back and Gale turned back to the board. After pushing a few buttons, Gale turned back around, looking at Roland and the other people in the studio.

Roland pushed his glasses to the top of his head, expressionless. His face didn't show it, but Gale was right. "I don't like it," he put his hands on his hips.

"Lie again," Gale stood from her chair. "You like it, you just don't like that I was right." She grabbed his chin before pushing his face away. She looked to everyone else in the room. "Go home. He's fine."

"How are you just gonna dismiss my crew?" Roland asked, watching as people started heading to the door.

"Just like that," Gale smiled. "You know, you should really start listening to people other than yourself. We would've been done hours ago."

"Yeah, yeah," Roland waved his hand, dismissing her. He pulled his ringing phone out of his pocket.

"I wonder which ex-assistant is calling you now," Gale commented, sitting down on the leather couch.

Roland shot up a middle finger at her, looking at his phone. "It's my daughter, thank you," he rolled his eyes. He accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, Dad. Um, sorry to bother you. I know you're at work, but I just came home and I realized I left my keys in the house and I've been standing outside for like, I don't know, fifteen minutes now? I was knocking on the door and no one answered and I called Ashley and Alexandra, but I think Alexandra blocked me—" Mariah didn't even give the man a chance to respond to anything with how fast she was speaking.

"Slow down, kiddo," he told her with a chuckle. "What's wrong?"

"I'm locked out, and Alexandra and Ashley are gone," Mariah said.

Roland furrowed his eyebrows. "What?" Gale noticed his tone and look up at him. "Okay, I'm gonna pick you up. Stay at the door."

"What's wrong?" Gale mouthed. Roland put up a finger, telling her to wait.

"I'm on my way, baby," Roland told Mariah.

"You sound upset," Mariah said. She never meant to make him upset.

"I am, but not at you, I promise. None of this is your fault," he told her.

"But, I left my keys inside—"