by B. B. Hamel
We take an Uber to the studio. It’s a short drive, which is nice, although I’ll miss walking across the street to get to work. The studio is in this renovated Victorian-style house in a residential area.
“You sure we’ve got the right place?” I ask him.
“I’m sure. I’ve been here before.”
“Of course you have.”
He winks at me and hops up the front stoop. He knocks twice then steps inside.
I expect to see a residential house but it’s more like an office than anything else.
“Hello?” he calls out but nobody responds. “Shit, well, I guess they’re downstairs.”
“What’s downstairs?”
“The studio. Come on. I’m sure the session is already going.”
I hesitate before following. “I don’t hear anything,” I point out.
“Soundproof,” he says. “Professional recording studio, remember?”
“Right. Duh.”
He opens a door and we take some stairs down. As we pass into what I assume is the basement, I start to hear it.
Very slight at first. It’s more like a slight thump in the floor, like a rattling along the baseboards. The stairs end in a short hallway with two doors and Cade leads us to the first.
“Be quiet in here,” he whispers to me.
I nod once. He opens the door and we stop into a small control room.
I can hear the music now, although it’s very muted. There’s a large glass window with big mixing panels in front of it. There’s a computer screen, some tape equipment, glowing tubes, all that stuff. I don’t know what any of it does.
Sitting in front of the panel is a single guy. He’s wearing sweatpants, fraying and stained in places, and an oversized black t-shirt. His long hair is pulled back in a messy bun on the top of his head and he has a short, gray beard. He’s thin, but in shape, and he looks like a homeless person.
He glances back at us and just nods once. Cade nods back and leads me to a little couch against the wall. We sit down and Cade just grins at me.
“Jazz,” he whispers in my ear.
I groan a little bit. Nothing worse than jazz music.
The guy at the mixing board doesn’t even seem to notice us now that we’re sitting. He hits buttons and turns knobs sometimes, but mostly he lets the musicians do their thing. Pounding drums, soaring saxophone, tinkling vibraphone. It’s actually kind of nice and hypnotic, for jazz music.
They play for another ten minutes before stopping abruptly. The guy at the board hits a button. “What’s wrong?”
“Broke a string,” someone says to laughter.
“Okay, great. Take a break then.” The guy releases the button and sighs, rubbing his eyes.
“Jan,” Cade says, standing up.
The guy at the board looks back, almost surprised to see us, like he forgot we were there. “Cade.”
The two men shake hands and quickly release. I frown a little bit as they studiously avoid eye contract.
“Uh, this is Lucy,” Cade says, introducing me.
“Jan,” the guy says. “Good to meet you.”
“Are you the, uh, engineer?”
His eyes light up. “You know a little bit about recording studios?”
“Honestly, no. I just know that one term.”
He laughs. “Well, yeah, I’m the engineer. Cade’s dad bought us out like six years ago now and—” He stops suddenly. “Oh, right. Sorry about your dad.”
“No, you’re not. My dad was a fucking prick.”
Jan shrugs. “Yeah. Okay. I’m not.”
There’s a short silence between them.
“Uh, I guess you two have met before?” I ask, finally breaking the moment.
“Once or twice,” Jan says.
“Who are they?” Cade asks, nodding at the musicians in the other room.
“I’m not sure what they’re called,” Jan admits. “Just some jazz band. Not bad though.”
“Huh. I didn’t hate it.”
“Jazz.” Jan just shrugs.
Cade nods knowingly.
I look between the two guys and make a face. “Seriously, how well do you two know each other?”
Cade grins at me. “Some mysteries should always remain a mystery,” he says.
Jan rolls his eyes. “I’m going to go talk to the guys. As always, don’t fucking touch anything.” Without another word, he leaves the room.
I explore a little but I resist the urge to press buttons. I look around for a few minutes while Cade watches me quietly. In the other room, I can see Jan talking with the musicians, just a bunch of straggly-looking guys holding beat-up old instruments.
“Well?” Cade asks finally.
“Well, what?”
“I know you’re going to ask. Just ask.”
“I don’t want to.”
He sighs dramatically. “Come on.”
I turn to him slowly. “Okay. How do you know Jan?”
He grins at me. “Don’t worry about it.”
I roll my eyes. “Come on, asshole. Don’t make me ask then refuse to answer. That’s so lame.”
“I know.”
“It seems like you two know each other from way back or something.”
“You could say that.”
I clench my jaw and walk over to him. “So you’re going to be like this, huh?”
“I don’t know. I think I’ll tell you about it later, but not right now.”
I bite my lip as he sits down next to me again. “Is it that bad?” I ask.
“No, it’s not. It’s just… not a nice story.” He looks away from me, his eyes far off. “Just something I’d rather not relive.”
“Huh. Sometimes you make me think you’re not just some one-dimensional asshole.”
He arches an eyebrow at me. “Don’t get used to it.”
Jan comes back into the control room. He glances back at us then sits in his position and turns on the microphone. “Whenever you’re ready,” he says.
And then the jazz music starts again.
We just sit there on the couch while Jan hits buttons and turns knobs. The music keeps going for what feels like an hour, but it’s closer to ten minutes. And when they stop…
They do it all over again.
Eventually, I find myself out in the hall just trying to get away for a second. Cade joins me, leaning up against the wall. “What do you think?” he asks.
“I didn’t know recording music would be so… boring.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I know.”
“I thought this was going to be the most fun, but I’d rather be back at the studio.”
“You get used to it.”
“Are they all this bad?”
He shrugs. “Mostly, sort of. I mean, the jazz goes on for longer than a normal song does, so that’s tough, but yeah. They always do a ton of takes. The final song is a combination of the best versions.”
“Sounds like a ton of work.”
“Sure is. Nothing’s real on CDs these days. Musicians aren’t playing it live in the studio.”
“Did they ever?”
“A long time ago, but no, not really.” He sighs and leans up against the wall next to me. “Look, we can go if you want.”
I stifle a yawn. “I’m not letting you get out of this so easily.”
He grins at me. “You know it’s past midnight, right? They’re going to be here for another few hours.”
“Seriously?” I clear my throat. “I mean, sure, sounds good. I’m down.”
He laughs gently, shaking his head. “You don’t have to suffer through it. We can just go back to our fancy hotel… sleep for as long as you want.”
“Come on.” I stand up and grab his hand. “Let’s go.”
But he doesn’t move. Instead of coming along, he pulls back against me. I stumble and run right into his chest.
I look up into his eyes.
“I’d rather stay out here,” he whispers. “Just the two of us.”
&n
bsp; The hall is quiet except for the sound of the music drifting through the nearly soundproof room.
“Cade,” I whisper. “We should go back.”
“You don’t want to be in there,” he purrs. “I don’t want to be in there. So why do we both?”
“It’s what we’re supposed to do.” And we definitely aren’t supposed to do this.
“Sometimes doing the bad thing feels the best.” His lips are so close to my ear, inches away. “Don’t you want to do that sometimes?”
“Maybe,” I say back, a sheer of excitement running down my spine. “But I know better.”
“Hard work all the time,” he whispers. “Can’t be any fun.”
“It’s not about fun.”
I meet his gaze. He smiles a little and his hand comes up, running along my cheek. I stifle a little groan as his fingers lace into my hair.
“You should try it,” he says gently. “I think you’d like it.”
And then he kisses me.
I know I should pull away, run back into that control room, and pretend this never happened. But instead I melt into his embrace, his hard body against mine. Maybe I’m going insane from that long trip. Maybe I’ve lost my mind from being so exhausted.
But I know what I’m doing.
I’ve wanted this, can’t stop thinking about it. His taste floods my mouth and I can’t help but press myself tighter against him. He kisses me slow and deep and I groan into his mouth, into his lips.
He tastes so good. He feels so good. It’s like heaven, his body against mine.
His hands grip me tighter and he turns me around. He pins me against the wall and kisses my lips, my neck. “We shouldn’t,” I groan.
“Nobody’s coming,” he whispers. “They’ll be busy for hours.”
“But they’re right there,” I groan.
“Good.” His hands move down my body and his fingers slip down the front of my jeans. I gasp, eyes wide. “That makes this better.”
“Oh, god.” Buzzing excitement, pulses of desire, running all over my skin. I’m practically shivering with need for him right now. I can barely breathe as his fingers caress me, so slightly, so gently.
I bite his lips and he grunts with a smirk. He bites me back, fingers flipping down the front of my panties.
I’m dripping wet, excitement shooting down my spine. I can barely breathe with need for him. “Cade,” I whisper. “Shit.”
He teases my wet pussy, fingers sliding up and down my slit. It feels so good, god, it feels incredible. I’ve never done anything like this before… and I know I shouldn’t be doing it with him.
And yet I can’t help it. He’s too gorgeous, too intense. He pins me back against the wall, one hand in my hair, the other down the front of my jeans. He knows what he’s doing and it’s driving me wild.
“Oh, god, Cade,” I whisper again.
“You didn’t know it could feel like this, did you?” he whispers back. “You had no clue. But you’ve been dreaming about it.”
“No,” I groan.
“Yes,” he growls. “You’ve been thinking about me touching your body ever since we first met. I know you have, little Lucy. My darling Lucy. I can see it every time you look at me.”
“Oh, god,” I gasp as his fingers gently press against my clit sending waves of pleasure through my body.
I arch my back, biting down on my own lip to keep from crying out. I’ve never felt this good in my life.
Electricity, intensity. It’s all running through me as he gently works my body, fingers rolling over my clit.
He kisses me again and oh my god.
I can barely control myself.
I’ve never felt this good before, never even come close. His fingers, his lips… his taste.
I know, deep down, that if he can do this with just his hands…
“Go ahead,” he whispers in my ear, so delicious, like velvet. “Go ahead and let yourself feel it, baby girl.”
“Oh, god,” I moan as his fingers work me faster, rolling along my clit. I can barely stand upright but he keeps me pinned there to the wall.
The band is feet away, Jan is feet away. But I don’t care. I can’t stop this, I don’t want to stop this. I can feel it building. It’s been building for days, ever since we first met.
“Fuck,” I gasp. “Cade. You asshole.”
“I know,” he purrs. “You love it, don’t you? You fucking love it, you dirty girl.”
“God, yes,” I gasp.
His fingers keep going, faster, faster. I’m dripping wet and rolling my hips, breathing fast, gasping. I can feel sweat beading down my back with ever new thrust.
He keeps going, his strong hands controlling me.
“Go ahead,” he growls. “Feel it, you dirty girl. Feel it all over your gorgeous fucking body.”
“Yes,” I gasp, back arching.
I come like lightning. It strikes through my body and he doesn’t stop, fingers doing their delicious dance along my clit. I gasp and arch my back and dig my fingers into his shoulders. I bite his arm and that doesn’t stop him, doesn’t slow it down.
I don’t care about anything as the orgasm rips me into a new level of pleasure.
“Oh, fuck, Cade,” I gasp, half laughing, body out of control. He growls and slowly finishes. I collapse back against the wall and slide down to the floor, gasping for breath.
He licks his fingers clean.
“Delicious,” he says, cocking his head.
“Fuck,” I groan. “Oh my god, that was so good.”
He smirks. “Good. Come back to work when you’re ready.”
Without another word, he slips back into the control room.
“Fuck,” I whisper to myself, grinning like a moron.
That felt so good, I don’t think I’ll ever stand again.
But eventually, I do. And I go back into that control room. And I sit next to him like nothing happened.
Jan is clueless. And Cade keeps grinning at me.
I don’t know what I just did. Made a huge mistake, probably. But I’m still floating on air, too happy and high to care. I just had the best orgasm of my life…
And I think there’s more waiting for me, if only I can risk being bad enough to take it.
10
Lucy
When we do finally go home for the night around three in the morning, I can barely sleep.
I just keep thinking about Cade’s hands on my body, his fingers teasing me, his lips against mine. I didn’t know I could feel like that so easily and so quickly and yet he pushed me there with such ease…
It’s almost terrifying to know that someone can make me feel so good.
Every time I close my eyes, I feel him again, his lips against mine, his hands rolling along my skin and driving me wild.
But eventually the morning comes and I do get some sleep. I meet Cade out in the hallway like usual and we go out to the studio together.
“Ready for more jazz?” he asks as we head inside.
“I guess so,” I say.
There are more people in the studio today compared to last night. Cade introduces me to a few of them and shows me around a little bit.
“A lot more going on during the day,” he comments as we head down to the studio.
“I know. It’s almost like this is a real business.”
He laughs. “Before my father bought this place, it wasn’t really.”
“You knew it back then?”
He nods once, eyes going far away briefly. “I was here from the start.”
We reach the bottom of the steps. “Really?”
“Helped open it.”
“I didn’t know that. This was before your dad owned it?”
He nods, glancing at me. “It’s ancient history. Anyway, come on, let’s get in there and do our thing.”
“What, exactly, is our thing?”
He shrugs. “Sitting there and doing whatever Jan tells us to do.”
I sigh and follow him into the con
trol room. The jazz guys are already warming up in the rehearsal space and I swear they’re all wearing the same stuff and they never left at all. I bet they just slept on the floor, huddled together around their instruments for warmth.
Jan barely glances in our direction as we sit down on the couch. He’s too busy fiddling with his control panel and typing on the computer to care much about the two of us.
“This is going to be another long, boring day, isn’t it?” I whisper to Cade.
“Yep, pretty much. This is what recording is actually like, just a whole lot of work and lots of down time.”
I sigh and lean back. “Maybe I’ll catch up on some sleep.”
Cade grins at me. “Jan won’t like that.”
“Does it matter?”
“He’s the boss.”
I groan. “Okay, okay. Fine.”
“If it helps, I know something we can do to pass the time.”
I blush a little bit. “I don’t think he’d like that, either.”
“Oh, I don’t know. He’s very progressive.”
“How well do you two know each other again?”
He winks at me. “Nice try.”
Jan shoots us a glare. “If you’re going to talk about me like I’m not here, at least try and be quieter.”
I blush even more as Cade lets out a genuine laugh. I sink back into the couch and try to pretend like I don’t exist as the session starts.
It’s just like last night, except they’re working on a new track this time. I’m actually starting to like what they’re doing, or at least starting to understand it a little bit. Jazz has always sounded like random honks and shrieks to me, but the more I listen to the same song played over and over, the more I can start to notice little variations on the same theme popping up.
There’s structure, it’s just hidden. They’re improvising over top of it and messing around all the time, so sometimes it’s hard to hear, but it’s there.
A few hours pass like that and I swear I nod off once or twice. Jan has me fetch everyone coffee, which would normally insult me but I’m actually glad to have something to do.
When I get back, Jan and Cade are glaring at each other.
“You fix it,” Cade barks at him. “You’re the owner here.”