ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ˡᵒˢᵉ ᵐᵉ, ᵈᵒᵐⁱⁿⁱᶜ ᶠⁱᵏᵉ

01

NEW YORK STREETS
new york, new york
june 18, 2024
tuesday
3pm

together marina and i walked from my studio apartment to our favorite pizza place. walking past busy strangers talking to each other, couples enjoying their time together, street artists doing their own thing for money, we finally entered the restaurant.

i ordered two pepperoni slices while she ordered one cheese. after being handed our slices, we both took a seat at a booth towards the back of the place.

"anyways, so then i saw this guy in this store, he was so fine. but like, he wasn't even noticing me." she went on, and i chuckled, rolling my eyes.

i shook my head, "run it back. this happened when?"

"literally, like today." she answered, taking a bite of her pizza, and i nodded.

"and you didn't talk to him?" i asked before taking a bite of my own pizza.

"no," she said sheepishly, and i laughed shaking my head.

"you're too scared to talk to him then?" i teased, knowing her personality all too well. she was shy and awkward which didn't help her. she was pretty, she could talk to any guy she wanted to, but was too damn insecure.

"you shut up," she said softly, throwing a piece of pizza crust at me in a playful manner. i chuckled, shaking my head.

"you're gonna remain single forever if you don't get past this bullshit of yours," i replied, and she rolled her eyes. "you're gorgeous and an influencer! so not only do you make bank but you're known...it's the best of both worlds." i said with a nod.

"i just don't know what to say to guys." she said, and i sighed softly.

"they're just as nervous as you, marina. you need to stop overthinking it. literally just say something to them," i replied, and she nodded.

"yeah, yeah i know." she said before she smiled at me. "enough about me, what have you been up to? still with evan?"

i nodded. "yeah..." i said, clearly not wanting to say more.

she shrugged and nodded, knowing how bad evan was.

my phone then started ringing but i quickly silenced it. "just a girl lunch." i said with a small smile.

°˖✧✿✧˖°

JODIE'S LOFT APARTMENT
new york, new york
4:30pm

as marina and i sat on my couch my phone rang again. this same number had called three times today, it was a no-caller id.

"you know, my manager said not to answer these no caller id numbers because they could be like crazed fans." i said whilst holding up the ringing phone to marina.

marina shrugged. "but it could also be some important person," she said with a small smile.

i groaned in irritation. with a roll of my eyes, i answered the phone reluctantly. "hello?"

there was a few seconds of silence before someone spoke up. "is this jodie zada?"

i raised an eyebrow, slightly confused by the question. "and who's calling?"

"this is jason johnson, manager to dominic fike," the man responded.

immediately, i felt my heart skip a beat. why the hell did dominic's manager want to talk to me? "oh, okay. yes this is she...what's up?" i said before clearing my throat.

"well, dominic has a project for his next album...and after doing some extensive tweeking to a specific track, the team and i figured your vocals would sound perfect on the track." jason explained, and my eyes widened.

"...you want me...to feature on his album?" i asked, "actually wait. dominic wants me to be featured on this album?" i reworded, the surprise in my voice couldn't go unnoticed.

"correct." jason responded. "well, not so much a want but a need." jason added.

"a need?" i repeated.

there was a sigh heard on the other side. "a need, yes. we firmly believe that this track is missing vocals and you...we need you." he said.

i looked at marina, and she mouthed, "what's going on?" i just mouthed, "dominic" and she widened her eyes, obviously in shock.

"well if i'm needed that badly..." i said jokingly and was met with a warm chuckle by jason. "yeah, i'm down."

"that's the answer we were looking for," he said, sounding pleased before he spoke again. "i'm glad to hear you say that. could you stop by dominic's studio tomorrow afternoon?"

my breath hitched in my throat. "yeah of course. what time?" i asked.

he replied with, "around 2pm. i'll text you the address."

"okay. i'll be there." i replied and he hung up. i sighed softly, slowly setting my phone down.

"so?" marina asked, an expectant look on her face.

i ran a hand along my face before nodding softly, "dominic's manager needs me to feature on his album." i said, shaking my head in disbelief.

~~

a/n

bit of a filler just to introduce what's to come