The Rockstar's Juliet

Zachary's Demand

Juliet was seated on one of the lounge chairs by the pool, typing away at her laptop while letting the warm sun heat her body. She was focused on her work wanting to publish as many posts as she could today since she had been slacking off. It was her income, she needed to worry about it more. She might have her future set, that didn't mean she was supposed to leech off of Zachary's money. She wanted to feel accomplished as well.

"You're not going to join us at the studio?"

She glanced up, watching as Dustin approached her with a bottle of water in hand. Smiling she focused back on her laptop and continued with her post about her outfit at Chloe's wedding. The pictures the photographer took that day were absolutely gorgeous, she loved all of them. Using the pictures of her together with Zachary made a statement, she didn't think she was that type of girl. But feeling secure in their relationship made her feel more at ease. So she used their pictures together shamelessly. Zachary didn't mind and Adam didn't say anything either, she figured it was alright to use them.

"Nope, I'm going to stay right here." She told him in a cheerful voice, "It's more comfortable and a lot more fun."

Dustin took a seat on the lounge chair at her right, "Recording songs is definitely not as fun as people think it is."

When she glanced at him she could tell he didn't look excited about it. The determination in his eyes did tell her that he was serious about it. It was good that he took his job seriously, she wanted him to focus on other things than the negativity in his life. It would help him stay away from things which would not only ruin his career but also his life. They weren't at a great place right now, but she still wanted him to be safe and happy.

"Zachary mentioned that sometimes it takes ages to get even one song done."

"The ballad took about three days just to get the lyrics perfect."

She looked up from her laptop confused about that piece of information, "Thought recording a song took about half a day?"

"If everything goes perfectly, then yes." Dustin chuckled, "The guitar didn't match the voice, I had to do so many takes before we got it right. Recording that song took a lot of us, I think it was the first time we were so out of sync, but after we finished it and we listened to it together. We knew we wanted to head a different direction."

She narrowed her eyes on him, "Couldn't you give me this piece of information when I interviewed you?"

He smirked at her, "The interviewer is the one who guides the conversation, right?"

"Shut up!"

He laughed. She took in his face, noticing how happy he looked. They didn't talk much anymore because she had been avoiding him. Keeping their conversation light like this made it easier for her to hang around with him. If he stopped chasing after her she could actually consider him to be her new Chloe. She knew in the back of her mind though, that Dustin never wanted to become the new Chloe. He wanted to be her Zachary, but it just wasn't going to happen. So they were stuck in the same place, nothing would change because they weren't changing.

"Sounds like you two are having fun."

They both snapped their attention to Zachary who walked in, wearing his usual bum outfit. She smiled seeing him dressed in his ripped, faded jeans and black tee. His sneakers had seen better days as well. It meant that he was probably going out in public, maybe having lunch or dinner outside. The watch around his wrist betrayed the fact that Zachary did have money though. She watched as he strolled toward her, leaning in to kiss her.

"We're heading out, you sure you want to stay here?" He asked, brushing his knuckles gently over her cheek. He completely ignored Dustin and while he was touching her like that she also forgot about Dustin sitting beside her, taking them in.