[[[all of your flaws]]] [[[part i]]]

19.

I'd had the shock of my life when we entered the studio and Dan introduced me to his producer, who was the image of Steven. For a split second I had thought it really was him. I'd been ready to run when I dawned on me that of course it wasn't him. This guy was dressed nicely and upon a longer glance, was nothing like Steven. It must've been the paranoia in my brain.

I sat down on a sofa in a dark little room, with only a window to a booth, various computers and a desk full of thousands of buttons and sliders. I could see Dan on the other side of the glass, his ears covered with massive head phones, singing perfectly into a microphone. I'd heard him humming as he'd been working by the piano the night before but I hadn't heard him sing yet. And he had this amazing, powerful voice. I knew right away that he was going to be very big one day.

'Lily, would you like to help me?' Mark asked. Now I'd gotten over the shock from earlier, I needed to show Dans friend that I wasn't rude and ignoring him. He stood up from his chair and let me sit down. I could see Dan laughing as he tried to sing. Mark placed a set of matching headphones over my ears and instantly Dans voice filled up my head. He was pointing to buttons, indicating up and down and I could hear the pitch of Dans voice changing with every adjustment. When I thought it sounded best, I put up two thumbs. Next, I was allowed to play on a computerised drum machine. I'd never touched an instrument in my life so I had no idea what I was doing. The drum track was already set up but I added some more bangs and crashes here and there. I was having so much fun!

Dan emerged a while later, beaming.

'You having fun there?' He asked me, leaning over me and looking at the computer. I liked how he smelt, like a mixture of aftershave and coffee.

'Lots!' I replied.

'Thought you said she was tone deaf? She's done a good job here.' Mark told him. I swelled with pride. I'd found something I was good at.

'I am, honest.' I hadn't been lying. I couldn't sing to save my life. I liked singing, but I don't think the world did.

There was a few hours where Mark was busy and Dan wasn't needed, so we hung out in a room full of games consoles, board games and magazines. This place was a child's dream.

'Monopoly?' I held up the game and I watched his blue eyes light up.

'Thats my favourite game.'

'Mine too.' I told him. It had always come out at Christmas with the family and had gone on for hours until someone fell asleep or a fight broke out. It made me think about what my parents, my sister and brother were up to right now. I wondered if they still lived in the house I grew up in. I wondered if they ever thought about me. A mixture of sadness and fondness washed over me. Maybe once I was back on my feet I would be able to make the first steps to getting in touch with them. I couldn't yet. Not when I was still at rock bottom.

I set up the board and declared I was the banker. I soon found out he was a ruthless cheater.

'You can't just buy a utility if you're not on it!' He'd reached over to pick up the electric board card.

'Sure I can! Otherwise it'll take me forever to own the board.'

'Oh I see!' I giggled. 'You wanna bankrupt me? That's how you're gonna win?'

'Yes.' He flashed me a toothy grin. I noticed how one of his top teeth was slightly wonky and it was kind of cute. I watched as he rolled the dice, his face full of concentration as they bounced across the table. 'YES!' He shouted, having rolled a double six. 'Free roll!'

'Wait, what?' I laughed. 'Thats not a thing!'

'Sure it is!'

'Oh my god, no it's not. You, sir, are a cheater.'

'Thats the rules!'

'You can't just make up rules!' It was hard to be mad at him. I was normally such a competitive person but it was too funny to argue. After two hours of him declaring rules I'd never heard of, he won with four hotels on Pall Mall and taking my last £1 note.