ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ˡᵒˢᵉ ᵐᵉ, ᵈᵒᵐⁱⁿⁱᶜ ᶠⁱᵏᵉ

14

JODIE'S STUDIO
new york, new york
july 14, 2024
sunday
8am

i sat at the studio as i was ready to freestyle my newest song, 'shadows.' a thing that again, leah, was pushing me to do. it was like a breakup song. i sat as i got ready to rap into the mic.

leah was hovering nearby, watching me with excitement in her eyes. she was really pushing hard on the heartbreak song idea. even to the point of sitting in my studio and demanding that i write one.

"you ready?" i asked as i glanced over her, my voice sounding more irritated than i intended.

"oh don't be mad, i'm just doing what's best for you." she said with an annoyingly reassuring tone. "this song is gonna go viral, i already know it."

"yeah, but i don't like that i'm using my break and dominic for clout, i'm already famous." i said with a sigh.

leah let out an impatient scoff as she heard my complaint. "i'm not making you use dominic for clout. i'm encouraging you to use what you're going through to write some banging music." she said, her voice almost reprimanding.

i rolled my eyes, not liking her tone. "can you at least like....go wait in the other room?" i asked as i gestured over to the control room. "stop giving your unwanted criticism every two seconds."

leah shot me an annoyed glare but she didn't object, and walked out of the booth into the other room. i let out a sigh of relief. now i could finally work in peace.

as soon as leah was gone, i began to relax. i let out a small breath and closed my eyes, the lyrics dancing around in my head.

i sat for a while, trying to let my mind go completely clear, letting my emotions rise in my chest. when i could feel myself start to feel overwhelmed, my eyes shot open and i started speaking into the mic.

my voice was raw and emotional. the words were coming out fast as i let my thoughts and feelings out.

i let my mind wander back to dominic. the way he looked at me every day, the way we laughed together. a pang of pain hit my chest as i thought of the break we were taking. i felt like i was losing my mind at the thought of him not in my life. i couldn't fathom us not fixing things and being together again.

~~

i sat back and listened to the playback of my rap. i couldn't help but feel a wave of guilt in my chest. as much as i didn't want to admit it, it was a good song. and i knew leah was gonna love it. i knew the world was gonna love it.

with a tired sigh, i trudged out of the booth and into the control room. leah's face immediately lit up as soon as i walked into the room. i could tell just by her expression that she loved the song. she had a wide smile on her face as she glanced over at me.

"i knew that was gonna be good." she said, her voice practically brimming with satisfaction.

i tried not to show that i was feeling guilty. i knew leah was only encouraging the song because she knew it would be good for me but i didn't like the fact that i was using my painful emotions over dominic for the song. but i'm sure everyone would think it was written perfectly.

leah continued, her tone practically bubbling with excitement as she spoke. "i've already got promotion ideas for you. we're gonna release this on your social media tonight. i feel like this could go really big if we play it right."

i let out a sigh as i listened her start to ramble on. i wasn't listening to what she was saying, i was just thinking about dominic. i wanted to show him this song. i wanted to hear what he thought. hell, i just plain out wanted to talk to him.