The Billionaire's Authentic Daughter ▶️

6 4 | J U L I A

"You look happy," Braxton remarked and I wiped the smile on my face which had unknowingly made its way to my lips.

"And I have you to thank for that. Mr. Bennett is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher."

"I'm happy to be of help."

It had been a week since my sessions with Mr. Bennett and I was positive things were going to start looking up for me. Mr. Bennett had a unique way of teaching me. Instead of giving me theoretical or practical knowledge of a topic or an instrument, he gave me tasks which ensured I'd stumble upon it and try to understand it and get my way through it. If I failed, that was when he stepped in. Thankfully, he had said I was a quick learner.

"Do you have work today?" I asked.

Braxton let out a big yawn, covering his mouth and his eyes watered as a result. "Yeah, I'll need to go in a few hours."

"Did you not have good night's sleep? I noticed you didn't come home until way later."

"We were all brainstorming for our next album. It's gotten a little hectic as Imani and Darius both have got collaboration offers with other artists and they're going to accept, so we had to stay back late last night," he sighed.

"Do you also have plans for a collab?" I couldn't help but ask, seeing his wistful eyes.

"I'm a drummer, Julia," he said as if that should tell me something. "I'm not the main attraction although drummers are said to be the backbone of a band so if someone is looking to collaborate with a member, I'll be the last one they'll consider."

It saddened me how much it was true. Drummers were often underappreciated. "If I'll ever become a successful singer, you'll be my first preference to collaborate with."

"You mean when you will become a successful singer? That's great. I'm going to hold you onto that promise. You better not back off if I go downhill by then."

"Don't say that!" I said. "And I'd never do that. I think it will be another dream come true if we ever work together."

"You think too highly of me. I'm not all that great." I was taken aback by his somewhat snappish tone. He sighed. "I–I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude."

"Are you okay?" I asked, worrying over his tired face.

"Yeah."

"If you ever want to talk about anything, I want you to know you can tell me. And if my presence is being an annoyance, tell me and I'll leave you alone. I know that me having intruded upon your space since the past few months must have aggravated you and I'd like to apologize–"

"Jesus, Julia. It's my fault, why're you apologizing?"

I stayed silent, not sure what I should do.

He leaned forward, his head in his hands. "I've not been in a good mood since last night. I'm tired and I feel like everyone is doing great in their career except for me. Even Geun is in talks with a fellow Korean artist and I just feel like the band might drift apart. Our next album has been put on the backburner to make way for their individual projects and even the company agrees that it will be good indirect publicity for the upcoming album." He raised his head and looked at me with panic stricken eyes. "I'm happy for them but I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried that it might cause them to want to go solo. And if that happens, I–I don't know what I'll do, Julia. This band is everything I have and once we disband, I might get some small and big offers but I doubt I'll survive for long."

"I understand it must be stressing you out too much but at times like this you must remember that there are people out there and in here who love you for your talent and that we'd root for you no matter what. A fanbase like that doesn't just disappear even if the band breaks up."