Page 66 of Everything After

“Hey, Lily, sorry your London trip got cut short, but I hope the production on this album will make it worth it,” Lennie muttered as he stood. “Oh, Alfie, I didn’t see you there, buddy. Is this a visit or are you staying?”

“Nothing better to do, so I figured I’d accompany my beautiful wife and maybe take her to lunch when there’s a short break,” Alfie replied.

“Ah, we don’t usually take a lunch… just grab a sandwich on the go while we’re recording,” Lennie informed him.

Alfie frowned and eyed me, and I guessed exactly what he was thinking.She’s pregnant, she needs to eat.

“Guys, Lily and I have already been apart too much this year. Surely you can spare a half hour at some point during the day,” Alfie insisted.

Lennie glanced toward me as if to say, ‘What the fuck’, but he shrugged his shoulders and gestured toward me. “Alright, it’s your call, Lily.”

Digs came out of the sound booth and shook Alfie’s hand. “It’s been a while again, man,” he muttered. “Are you staying?”

“That was the plan,” Alfie responded.

“Awesome. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the new bass composition I made up to go with the first song we’re recording.”

Alfie grinned and slapped Digs’ back. “Honored to be one of the first to hear it,” he agreed.

Maz, the producer, shook Alfie’s hand. “Hey, Alfie, good to meet you,” he said before he turned his attention to us. “Okay, guys, are we ready to start? Time is money,” Maz muttered as he took his seat at the mixing board, tied his long blond hair in a manbun and nodded toward the recording booth.

Lennie and Digs headed toward the booth where Shawn was already beating out an arrangement on his drums. Alfie grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. “Breathe, baby. You look magnificent today,” he offered and pulled me in for a small kiss.

“Lily,” Cody muttered still holding the door to the recording booth open.

“She’ll be there in a minute. I just want a moment with my wife,” Alfie insisted. I had guessed he’d been about to let me go until Cody had uttered those words, but instead he gave me another long and lingering kiss. While he did this, he untied my hair and sifted his fingers through my long damp hair.

Eventually, I pulled away and noted that Cody had gone inside the booth, and when I caught Alfie’s satisfied smile in the booth window, I knew he had noticed it too.

Turning to face Alfie, he pressed another small kiss to my nose and winked. “Go. Knock ‘em dead with that husky voice.” The playful tone in his voice did nothing to calm the growing tension in my body.

As I walked into the recording booth, I considered that it might have been day one of our time in the studio, but it wasfar from the first time that tensions brewed between the two men that were essential to my identity for completely different reasons.

All I could do was pray that someday my bandmate Cody would find a woman that took his breath away, and in turn, would alleviate the frustrations that Alfie felt about his fascination with me.

CHAPTER 39

ALFIE

The first twenty minutes of XrAid’s time in the booth had been mostly about bass levels, voice tones and technical mixes with their producer, and for most of that time, I’d scrutinized Cody’s behavior toward my wife. Once I felt comfortable that he was being mindful of her, I began to relax and poured myself a coffee.

Being used to better blends and richer tastes in my coffee, I grimaced at the offering and set my cup down. Tapping Maz on the shoulder, he turned and pulled his headphone off one ear with a questioning look.

“That stuff’s gonna strip the skin from my tongue,” I said, gesturing toward the black liquid that swayed inside the glass pot I’d put down on the ancient coffee maker.

Just as I said this, Oscar arrived. “Boss, you need to stop leaving without me. You didn’t arrange a leaving time this morning. How can I protect you if you don’t keep me in the loop?”

“We were only coming here. I didn’t think it was necessary that you came along,” I said dismissively. “Besides, I like drivingmyself places, it makes me feel normal for a change.” I turned my attention to Maz. “I’m gonna nip next door to the coffee house. Want anything?”

“A large Americano, plenty of sugar, since you’re offering,” he replied, smiling. He dropped his headphone back in place and pressed a button on his mixing board to talk to the band in the recording booth. “I think we’re ready to do a run through for the levels before you record the first track.”

“I’ll get the coffees what do you want?” Oscar said.

“Nah, I like to do normal stuff myself,” I insisted.

Leaving the studio with Oscar in tow, I sauntered to the coffee house. Thankfully, it was pretty quiet, but I’d still had to sign four autographs and pose for two selfies with fans before we’d headed back.

As I re-entered the studio with the four-cup cardboard holder containing two drinks for me, one for Maz and one for Oscar, I was met with complete silence because recording had begun.