Dark Roze

Chapter 7: Afterglow

Tony sat in his bed wide awake with the album on his mind. Next to him, was Angel, who he shared a bond with over the years. She was asleep ... and naked. The two weren't romantically involved with each other at all, but they couldn't keep their hands to themselves whenever they've seen each other in person.

Tony used that as motivation for his new album, Dark Roze, which only had one song to it ... Darling Nikki. He sat there, on his phone, coming up with names for tracks he could work on in the morning.

The first track he typed down, was named Red Lights. Darling Nikki served as the 2nd track, followed by Velvet Chains, then the topic of sex hits his mind.

"What's the feeling called after sex?" He asks himself quietly, trying not to wake Angel up next to him. But, to his surprise? She was awake.

"Afterglow." She answered his question as she kisses his cheek "Why are you still up crazy ass? Go to bed." She says

"I can't sleep." Tony responded while typing the word "good catch on the name by the way."

Angel then pushes his phone to the side and he rolled his eyes.

"The music can wait, you need to get some sleep." She kissed his cheek and turned over. Tony wraps his arms around her and gently kissed her neck before drifting away to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up and saw that she wasn't there and that there was a note where she slept reading:

"I had fun. Call or text me whenever you wanna do it again."

Tony stretched and pulled the covers off of his naked body, going to the window and overseeing the city of Los Angeles as the sun peered through the buildings. Hours later, he was in the booth with his best friend Louie at the helm of the soundboard. Tony sat on a stool, headphones snug around his ears, his fingers loosely gripping the mic stand, the track was almost done, a sensual blend of synths, ambient strings, and a deep, resonating bass that pulsed like a heartbeat. It was moody, intimate, and raw. Perfect.

"Let's run it again," Tony says into the mic, his voice low and steady as he takes a pull from his weed pen.

"Whenever you're ready." Louie responded, his tone calm but encouraging.

Tony closed his eyes as the instrumental began to play through his headphones. The beat washed over him, pulling him into the space he always found when creating. But this time, his thoughts were filled with something, or rather, someone unexpectedly.

Camille. The day he saw her briefly at her photoshoot, the way she posed and commanded excellence, the way her gaze met his, the faint scent of her perfume lingering as she walked away. Tony hadn't been able to shake her from his mind, even when Angel came over his house.

The lyrics came to him naturally, each word dripping with the vulnerability and longing she seemed to have stirred in him.

"In the quiet of the night, I see you, a silhouette in the glow.

Fingers tracing, memories I've never thought I'd hold.

Paris lights in your eyes, they burn so slow.

Every touch, every fuck, feels like home I'll never know."

Tony's voice carried through the booth, smooth and haunting, each note steeped into emotion. His mind lingered on the way Camille smiled when she spoke, how she seemed both untouchable and entirely present.

"In the Afterglow, where the silence speaks.

I'm lost in you, drowning deep.

Your shadows dance, your whispers keep.

In the Afterglow, I'm yours to keep."

Louie glanced up from the soundboard, his brow furrowing slightly. He didn't interrupt, he never did when Tony was in his zone, but he could tell this track was different. Tony was tapping into something deeply personal, something that wasn't just for the fans or the charts.

"Your ghost lingers, a touch I can't erase,

In this empty room, I still see your face,

Every second, every breath, you take your place,

In the afterglow, I'm caught in your embrace."

The song swelled, the layers of sound building into a lush, sensual climax before falling away into an ethereal fade. Tony held the final note, his voice soft but unwavering, before the track dissolved into silence.

He pulled off his headphones and leaned back into his chair, exhaling deeply.

"That was ... Something else." Louie said through the intercom.

Tony took a sip of water, his gaze drifting toward the city lights outside the studio window. Camille's face flashed in his mind again, unbidden but welcome.

"Let's tighten the mix tomorrow," Tony said, setting the bottle down.

Louie raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow? You're not usually one to leave a track alone overnight."

Tony gave a small shrug. "Gotta clear my head first."

As he left the studio, the melody of Afterglow still hummed in his mind, intertwined with the memory of Camille. This track wasn't just another song- it was a confession, a quiet admission of the hold she already had on him. He then called Angel and she answered the phone, happy that he had called.

"Hey you-" She answered

"It's over. We're finished." Tony cuts her off and her end goes silent.

"... Are you sure baby boy?" She asks evilly

"Don't call me that, and yes. I'm done."

And with that? He hangs up. This was the start of a new era in Antonio's life. The era .. of the Roze.