melodies at midnight (a.g x m.j)

unexpected

Ariana ~ March 1st, 1978

I tap my foot up and down as the elevator music plays, my anxiousness has now morphed into excitement. I'm never gonna get over the fact that I was blessed with this opportunity out of nowhere.

The classic elevator ding rings in my ears as the door slides open, I step out and follow the directions I was told. Once I get to the frosted glass door, I see a *Session in progress!* sign. I can make out 2 figures in the room, one must obviously be Quincy and the other is the unknown artist.

I raise my fist up slowly, exhaling a rapid breath and knock on the door gently. As I hear footsteps get closer to the door, I back up and quickly fix my hair.

Quincy opens the door, he's smiling brightly. "Ariana!"

I grin kindly. "Sorry if I'm a bit early, the secretary downstairs told me you're still up here with another artist. I can wait out here if-"

"No, it's absolutely fine." He motions me to come inside. "Michael and I are practically done anyway."

I furrow my eyebrows and look behind Quincy, the familiar Jackson prodigy stands tall with his hands in his pockets. His mouth opens slightly, clearly surprised as to why I'm here. He then gives me a half hearted smile. I haven't spoken to Michael since the whole Stephanie thing, not because I was trying to be petty but I genuinely just haven't seen him around. I know he was at the club on New Years but it was so tight in there, I barely saw anybody I knew of.

"Hello, Ariana." Michael bows his head respectfully, he looks so handsome.

I clear my throat, stepping into the room awkwardly. "Hi, Michael."

Quincy looks at myself and then at Michael with a smirk. "I didn't know you two knew each other."

I shrug as I let out a quiet laugh. "We've spoken a few times at 54. That's it."

"Oh." The smirk doesn't leave Quincy's face, he then looks at his watch. "Okay, I think my photocopies are ready so I'll be back in a few minutes." He pats me on the shoulder. "Make yourself at home."

I don't have any time to respond due to him rushing out of the room, it now just leaves Michael and I in a very uncomfortable silence.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asks, his face littered in confusion.

I grin shyly. "I'm actually recording a demo today. If all goes well, Quincy and I are gonna pitch it to Epic records."

An exasperated breath escapes from Michael's mouth. "That's amazing. Is it an original?"

"It is." I admit, not being able to hold back my smile.

"You write music too?" He questions.

"I do. If I couldn't sing, I would just write all day." I answer honestly.

He holds his finger under his chin as he continues. "How did you score this? Did he see you sing?"

"Believe it or not, Diana was raving to him about me." The second I mention Diana, it's like the air in the room went tense. I could tell hearing her name bothered him and I can only imagine what the reasons for that would be.

He breaks our eye contact and becomes quiet. "Uh, what are you doing here though? Are you guys working on an album?" I question, hoping to fix the vibe.

He shakes his head quickly. "No, no. We're just brainstorming for potential work in the future. I'm actually on tour right now with my brothers, we've had few days off so I decided to come here and take advantage of the time...my flight back to California is in a few hours."