JC clicks out of the browser on his laptop and leans back in his chair. He can’t help the grin that’s been on his face for the last ten minutes as he’d been watching Jax’s episode of Carpool Karaoke with James Corden off of Youtube. He’d heard that she’d done a great job and now that he's seen it, he wholeheartedly agrees. There had been some truly funny moments where he’d actually laughed out loud and she’d looked great, sounded even better. If he didn't know her personally or hadn’t spent quite a bit of time with her in the last two weeks, he would compliment her PR team or whoever was guiding her media wise, because she always does such a great job. She always comes off as honest, funny and totally relatable. But thankfully he does know her personally and he can honestly say that the way she acts on camera is the way she is in person. Having been in Hollywood for a long time, he finds that refreshing.
He reaches for his coffee, the throaty laugh he’s come to associate with her still resonating in his mind when the door to the studio flies open and she walks in amidst a whirlwind of clinking bangles and her now familiar perfume.
“I’m so sorry, I know I’m a shitty person,” she says as soon as the door shuts behind her and before he can speak. “My meeting went long and then Beats wanted to talk to me privately..and then this whole Mission Impossible shit is getting old…” She trails off with a huff as she drops her cavernous bag onto the floor before she unceremoniously drops to a sitting position on the couch.
When she finally looks up and catches his eye, he chuckles. “You done?”
She rolls her eyes and laughs. He loves that laugh. He’s going to miss hearing it almost every day. “Yeah, I’m done. Sorry, just having a moment.”
He chuckles again and leans back against the chair comfortably. ‘It happens. Did you have to lose the paparazzi again?” He asks as he watches her take her extremely large black hoodie off as well as the dark beanie on her head before she tosses both beside her on the couch.
He remembers those days and feels badly for her. Especially since they’d agreed to meet at a more neutral studio space, so as not to risk her being glimpsed going in and out of his house or him having to use her usual space which belonged to Beats, she’d had to bear the brunt of making their meet-ups secret. These days paparazzi follow her around like gnats and she often has to disguise herself and/or take several detours before she’s able to get out of her car without being noticed. And for him,well...that's not such an issue nowadays.
She sighs and nods before running her colorfully painted fingers through her long dark hair. She quickly ties her hair up into a hurried ponytail and adds,“Yeah. It’s ridiculous. I wish we could work somewhere else...but whatever. I’m here now.” She seems to shake the frustration out of her face and body, then she looks up at him again with clear eyes and a now familiar smile.
“That you are,” he answers with a matching smile.
They smile at each other for a few beats until she laughs again and lifts a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “What’s with you? You look like you’re up to something.”
He point to his chest in an mock offended ‘Who me?’ manner then laughs and shakes his head. “Nah,I just finished watching your carpool karaoke. It was pretty funny. You sounded great, by the way.”
“Oh,” she chuckles and grins. “That was a lot of fun. He already asked me to come back when the second album comes out. I look forward to it; he’s hilarious.”
Her phone starts ringing and she apologizes quickly as she reaches into her bag and fishes around in it for a few seconds before finding it. “One sec,” she says as she looks up at him and answers as he nods.
He turns back toward the soundboard and then starts opening a few programs on his laptop, trying to give her some semblance of privacy while she takes her call. And though he tries to block out her conversation, he deduces quite quickly that she’s talking to Beats and that he’s asking where she is.
Even though he knows that Beats is now well aware of his and Jax’s working relationship, he still feels uncomfortable at the fact that Beats seems to have so much influence over Jax. He gets the whole Master and Protegé thing but he sometimes wonders if she’s letting him have a lot more say in her personal matters than he probably should. Whatever, it really isn’t any of his business anyway. But ever since he’d seen how disrespectfully Beats had acted toward her when he’d found out about him hearing their music, he’d lost a lot of respect for the man.
For now though he tells himself that he’ll keep being the nice guy, but if Beats ever oversteps in front of him, he’s not sure he’ll be able to keep himself from saying anything. He doesn’t owe Beats shit and he’s come to care for Jax: she still has stars in her eyes and the industry hasn’t broken her yet. The protective instinct that has slowly started to rear itself inside of him when it comes to her would be ready to roar anytime if provoked.
“JC?” He turns back to face her and raises his brows in question. “Would you, um. Would you mind if we met with Beats around lunch time? You and me, I mean?”
He frowns in thought for a moment then lifts a shoulder. “Yeah, sure. What does he want?”
She shrugs her narrow shoulders once and shifts her hold on the mic of her large Iphone. “I think he might want to make amends?” Her sentence ends in a tone that sounds more like a hopeful question instead of an answer.
He scratches the back of his neck quickly. “Uh, yeah. Okay, whatever.”
He sees the flash of straight, white teeth as she captures her glossed lower lip between them for a quick moment before she returns the phone to her ear. “Yeah, sure. We’ll be there. I’ll call Ana to have her...yeah,” she pauses as he seems to finish the sentence for her. “We’ll see you.”
He clears his throat and absently tugs the sleeves of his shirt up onto his forearms as he hears her sigh and then make another call. She gives him a grimace and then rolls her eyes as she holds up a finger as if asking him to hold on only one more moment. She connects with someone and starts telling them about changing plans and needing to order lunch to be delivered at Beats’ studio. She pulls her mouth away from the phone and speaks to him again. “What do you want me to order you for lunch? You probably don’t want what I’m having,” she chuckles and he licks his lips.
“I uh, I don’t care. Not picky really...just nothing that’s mainly tofu or whatever,” he stutters out, sort of taken off guard.
She grins and returns to the phone. “Just get him the same at Beats. Yeah, the usual.” She nods and then seems to receive a few more instructions. “Yeah, I’ll still be able to make it for that. Can you have someone be there to fix my nails? I broke two this morning. Yeah, thanks.” She looks about to hang up but then sits up straighter. “Oh crap, you’re right. Wait a sec,” she says then lowers the phone again. “Did you drive here yourself?”
He nods. “Yeah, why?’
She bites her lip again and then returns to her phone. “I’ll text you when we figure out what we’re doing okay?” She nods, thanks whoever is on the line and hangs up.
“What’s up?” He questions as he grabs his coffee and takes a sip.
“Just logistics of getting me from point A to point B,” she says and shakes her head as if it’s a waste of time. “Did you want to get in with me or drive yourself?”
After she explains where Beats’ home and studio is located he pulls out his own phone and double checks his agenda for the day. “Actually, I think it would be easier if I got in with you and then got a ride back here to pick up my car. I’d have to double back to go all the way the other direction if I take my car and I won’t have much time to spare as it is if it takes a long time at Beats’.”
She nods and smiles, then taps a few things into her phone before she tosses it back into her bag. “Should we get to it? We only have a little more than two hours left now.”
“Get at it, Mama.” He grins as he motions her toward the sound booth where he’d already set her up with everything she’d need when he’d come in earlier.
He watches with a private smile as she pulls a notebook and a handful of pens from her bag before she heads in. When she gets to the lectern where she usually sets down her things she lets out a laugh that he can’t hear, but he can certainly imagine, when he knows she’s seeing the tiny, ugly troll with bright pink hair he’d placed there. He flicks the mic switch just in time to catch her calling him a very inappropriate name, still laughing though, before she places the headphones on her head and flips her middle finger up at him from the other side of the glass.
*
Jax smirks to herself as he slides her hands into the pocket of her hoodie and her fingers touch the tiny figurine she’d slipped in there right before she’d left the studio. She remembers telling him off the cuff while they were working one day that she hated hitting a certain note when singing because she’d seen a video of herself doing it once, and she’d had what she could only call her ‘troll face’. He’d thought that was hilarious and had teased her for the rest of the day about it, but she thought he’d forgotten about all of that. Apparently not.
She smiles and shifts down the slippery leather of the bench seat as he pulls himself up into the Escalade next to her. When he shuts the door and settles in, she takes a moment to privately take in the now familiar musky scent of his cologne. They’ve been working together quite a bit for the last two weeks and the added time together definitely hasn’t changed the way she’d perceived him when they’d first met. It had only added to the personality she’d guessed and observed beforehand because he’s actually even more than she’d ever imagined. He has this sort of self deprecating type of humour that he lets slip when he’s relaxed around someone, and it becomes even more obvious that he doesn’t take himself all that seriously. And she likes that; she likes him. But she knows she’s walking along a slippery slope there, so she tries her best not to think about him too much..which gets harder to do every time he does something silly like he’d done this morning. Or when he barks out a loud laugh and his eyes light up and crinkle at the corners like they had this morning.
“You know what, I think we’re pretty much done with that song now,” he says softly taking her out of her thoughts.
She turns to him and even though there’s a few inches between them and he’s leaning back casually against the seat while scrolling through his phone, it feels much closer. “Yeah, you’re right. I like what we did. I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks.”
He looks up from his phone and smirks. “Yeah, me too. We’ll see when it gets to the chopping block.”
She laughs softly and shakes her head. “I doubt very much that it won’t be what they’re looking for. And even if it isn’t, I will fight for it because I love it.”
This time his lips form into a smile and she returns it. The mood shifts slightly to being uncomfortable and they both seem to feel it and return their eyes to the phones in their hands.
Most of the ride to Beats’ place stays quiet until she slides a little closer to him to show him some pictures on her phone. She’d been meaning to show him some of the options for the album cover but hadn’t had a chance to yet. He makes a few comments about some of the pictures until she slides her finger across the screen and then he goes quiet again. She’s seen this reaction before so she turns her head to look at him and is taken aback at how close they actually are to each other. Again, the scent of his cologne floods her senses and she’s close enough to see the very short stubble that has started to darken his chin and the area above his lips. His lips. The smile that had been adorning them a moment ago has vanished and she physically feels herself force her eyes upwards to meet his. But he’s noticed and she can’t stop herself from looking again just in time to see the tip of his tongue peeking out to moisten them quickly. Unknowingly, she mirrors his action and slowly, so slowly his head tips slightly to the side and she leans forward just a little bit-
Flash!
Jax moves away quickly, blinded by the sudden torrent of camera flashes assaulting her eyes as she tries to shield them.
“What the fuck?” She hears JC mutter as he looks around and she does the same, seeing paparazzi on both sides of the vehicle and in the front windshield trying to get a picture of her.She looks around wildly seeing that they are at Beats’ gate and she yells for the driver to get her through the gate. Just get her through the gate.
Goddamn it!
