a/n: so i know every single chapter before this has been super short- with my last book i always did longer chapters and i wanted to switch it up and see which i liked best. i def like long chapters better lol so i'll be doing those more!! but that means more time between each chapter just so ya know :)) again thank u guys for the support, we hit 3K reads!!!!!!!! and tbh i'm like only halfway thru this book........ 🫣
"Eve?"
I slip off my headphones and step out of the guest room, Wilbur seeing me and smiling as he shuts the front door.
"Hi darling," He says, stretching out and wrapping his arms around me, scattering kisses on my neck and face. Immediately, I smell the alcohol on his breath. "I missed you."
"Did you drive here?" I ask, but I already know the answer. He slips his car key in his pocket as if I won't see it, and I also know he never lets anyone else drive his car.
"No, no, no, I called a cab."
"Are you telling me the truth?" I give him a chance to be honest, but he dismisses it.
"Yes, baby, of course." Will kisses my lips for a second. "Did you set up my recording stuff?"
I sigh and nod, folding my arms over my chest. "Yeah, we need to get the album done. I figured we could speed through it."
"We don't have to have it done for another month."
"I know, but we only have 7 out of 14 songs done." Plus, I'm worried that with how things are going, Wilbur and I won't be together to finish the album. Hopefully, I'm just being paranoid, but I don't want to have to switch to a new producer with a few weeks left to finish.
"The other 7 are already written, just need to be recorded." Will pours himself a glass of water and chugs half of it.
"Then let's record them and get it over with. I don't want us stressing about it for much longer."
Will looks at me with a sigh, obviously just wanting to sit on the couch and get even more drunk.
I cock my head to the side and pout my bottom lip. "Please?"
His lips form a smile as he rolls his eyes. "Fine, fine."
He follows me into the guest room where I've set up all of his equipment and instruments. He sits at the desk while I sit on the bed in front of a microphone.
"Did you already start one?"
I nod. "I started some of the vocals for 'Your Power'."
"Alright," Wilbur scratches at the stubble on his jaw as he glances at the audio files. "Remind me what this one is about again. I don't think I remember it."
"Men abusing their power." I twist my hair into a braid. "Kinda about my dad, kinda about older guys taking advantage of young girls."
He turns and gives me a concerned look. "Has someone done that to you?"
I quickly shake my head. "No, I just didn't want the whole song to be about my dad. He doesn't deserve a full song about him."
"Got it," Wilbur leans over and picks up my guitar. "Let's get to work, then."
With it being yet another acoustic ballad, we finish the song in just a couple of hours. I want to go ahead and start another, but Will begs for a break, so we go lie down on my bed. Or, our bed now, I guess. I'm still a little shocked that he's living with me now, even if it already sort of felt like it before.
"So," Wilbur's head lies on my chest, his arm around my stomach. "When are you gonna tell me about the situation with your dad?"
I let out a deep breath and stare at the ceiling as my hand plays with his hair. I've only ever told Sofia, but to be fair, she's the only other person I've ever gotten close to. "Mom doesn't like talking about him either, so I don't know how they met. I know they were happy at first, though. Had Ryan right after they got married, me soon after. I don't know what switched in him, but his mom died when I was eight. We moved from upstate to Virginia into her old house. They were really close, I think, so my dad was really upset about it. I remember Ryan and me hiding in his room and play games on full volume while they would be yelling downstairs. Like I said yesterday, he was sort of reckless with Ryan and me. Driving crazy, forgetting to get us from school, disappear for days, and he would get really really mad at us if we made a small mistake. We never told mom, though, since he told us if we did, mom would kick us out of the house. One day, when I was 12, when we came home from school, we walked in to my mom with a black eye, and she told us dad was gone. She's never explained everything, but we got the idea and never brought it up. He hasn't tried contacting either of us since and we're fine that way. So yeah, my mother gets on my last nerve, but I still feel protective over her after all the happened."
"Shit, darling," Wilbur leans up and frowns at me. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," I run my thumb over his eyebrow that's in desperate need of some tweezers. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore."
Wilbur stands from the bed and pulls me up with him. "Then let's finish another song. Six more to go."
"It's only nine o'clock. If we hustle, I think we can get it done. The vocals are already done for two of them, instrumentals done for three of them, so only one will take two to three hours. The other five will take an hour each. So, we could be done by the time the sun rises."
"You are insane," Will laughs, kissing my forehead. "If you can get us some coffee delivered, I'm absolutely done."
"Your usual?"
"Yes ma'am."
The coffee eases his drunkenness, making Wilbur work even better. We go non-stop, completely focused on finishing this album. My voice is exhausted after hundreds and hundreds of takes; Wilbur's fingers nearly bleeding from so much guitar playing. We're also on some sort of high right now, dying of laughter from nearly everything that isn't funny at all.
Wilbur plays my final song, and presses pause once the last note is played. He turns in his seat and smiles at me. "Missus Eve Hadley, your debut album full of songs about heartbreak and depression is finished."
I leap up from the bed and grab him in a hug, giggling as I nearly knock him over. "It's finally done!"
"Are you still just calling it Eve?"
I nod. "Yeah, I like when artists do their first albums self-titled."
"I think it's cute." Wilbur plants a kiss on my lips. "I'm proud of you."
"And you. Thank you for all your help."
"Anytime, darling." He gives me another kiss before turning back to his computer screen. "I'll go ahead and send it to David to give to the engineer. They'll contact you sometime soon about when it's done, and I guess you'll start doing photo shoots and promo soon."
"This is fucking surreal." I keep my arms wrapped around him as I watch him press a lot of buttons I don't understand. "I feel like I'm dreaming."
"I think we finally get to actually dream now." Will says, shutting his computer off. He pulls his phone out and gives it a strange look. "The fire department left me a voicemail right before midnight."
I scoff. "Are they charging you, or something?"
"I dunno," He mutters before playing the voicemail, turning the volume up so we can both hear it.
"Hello, I hope I'm reaching William Gold. This is Rachel from the New York City Fire Department. We were just reaching out to let you know the crew at your apartment found out the cause for fire was a hair straightener left plugged in the wall. Have a good night."
I feel my stomach twist as we hear the phone click off, Wilbur staring at the now dark screen. Obviously, he doesn't use a hair straightener, but I do.
Shit.
