Rylee wasn’t surprised to come home to an empty apartment.  Christina had a tendency of disappearing for a few days but eventually she would show up with lots of stories about whatever boy she was seeing that month. 

Rylee and Christina had been best friends since high school, and after they graduated they headed out to LA.  Rylee enrolled in college and Christina tried it for a while before deciding that school wasn’t her thing.  She had a rich uncle that adored both girls, so they didn’t have to worry about money, which gave Christina all the excuses she needed to not do much with her life.

It was hard for Rylee.  She loved Christina, they had been through a lot together, but she felt as if they were headed in completely different directions.  Rylee had a career ahead of her and Christina seemed content to settle.

The other glaring differences between the two girls were relationships and men.  Rylee had been single for over two years, and while she did want a relationship, she was content to wait for the right guy to come along.  Tina, on the other hand, had a new man every few months and she never really settled down.  Her reasons were that she was young and didn’t want anything serious, but Rylee just thought it was because she was scared of committing to a guy and then have him leave her.  Christina would prefer to be the one doing the leaving.

Throwing her broken heels into the trash can, Rylee stripped out of her clothes as she walked down the hallway to her bedroom.  She couldn’t wait to get into some sweats and relax.  

Today had been amazing, but it had been stressful too.  She had a lot prove, especially since everyone had been expecting a man.  She was excited though, because she felt that she had a lot to offer and this studio was the place where she could really get creative and make something spectacular.

It didn’t hurt that her boss was one of the sexiest men she’d come across in a long time, and Rylee hoped that maybe something might come of working with him.  Although, now that she thought about it, he probably had some hot model of a girlfriend and wouldn’t waste his time on some studio-rat like Rylee.

Her phone chirped from the purse she’d throw on the floor indicating that she’d missed a call.  Rylee pulled a t-shirt over her head and stepped into a pair of sweats before grabbing her phone and discovering she had a missed call from Tina.  Of course, Christina didn’t pick up, so she left a message.

“Tag, you’re it.  Hey chica, just saw that you called, wanted to call you back.  I’m home now, but I’ve got to be back at the studio tomorrow morning by 8.  I’ll try and call you on my break.  Love you, Darlin’, hope you’re doing OK!”  She hung up the phone and turned it off.  After a certain hour at night, Rylee just didn’t want to be bothered, even if it was her best friend calling.

~*~

She got to the studio early today to make up for yesterday’s blunder of an introduction.  Apparently, though, she was really early.  The only person there was Brett, the sound guy.  He said that he likes to get there really early because he knows that no one will bother him, but he seemed impressed that she was so dedicated.

“So, do you remember the stuff I showed you yesterday?”  Brett asked as he queued up a track and started pushing buttons.  Rylee threw him a fleeting glance and smirked.

“I have been in a recording studio before, and I have worked with sound boards.  In fact, I’ve used most of this equipment.”  She grinned and added, “I know I’m just some silly little female, but I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing.”

Brett laughed and shook his head.  “Whatever you say…do I call you RJ?”

“RJ, Rylee, Ry…you can call me just about anything you want.  Just don’t ask me about my high school nick names, you can’t call me those.”  Of course, by saying that she had piqued his interests and started to bug her about what her nicknames were.  She just smiled and shook her head.  “I’ll never tell.”

Brett left her alone for a while as he finished up the track that he’d been working on and Rylee was left to mess around with other equipment in the room.  She spotted a set of guitars in the corner so she grabbed one and took a seat away from Brett so she wouldn’t disturb him.

Her fingers stroked the strings and she plucked a few to check the tuning.  The rosewood shined as if it had just been polished and Rylee was impressed with the guitar.  The tips of her left hand fingers had been calloused after years of playing, so she felt little as she pressed on the strings and formed random chords.  The strings echoed as she touched them; a power she couldn’t really explain surged through her hands.  This is what she lived for.

Rylee had loved music as long as she could remember.  She had taken piano lessons as a young girl, and then she’d asked for a guitar for Christmas and proceeded to teach herself how to play.  It was her outlet; her escape.  She loved the way music could express any emotion and she loved the control she had over how things could sound.

She was so caught up in her playing that she didn’t notice the new addition to the studio room.  Intense blue eyes watched as she picked out an old Johnny Cash song.

“…because you’re mine, I walk the line…”

The soft words caused Rylee to stop abruptly and her head shot up, a blush staining her cheeks as she realized she was caught.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”  She gently placed the guitar back on its stand and stood from her spot.  Her eyes flickered around the room and her hands slid up and down her pant leg nervously.  Justin Timberlake intimidated her.

“Don’t apologize, that was good.  I didn’t know you could play guitar, I don’t think it was on your resume.”

“Oh, I don’t really play; I just do it for fun.  I’m not that good or anything.”  Why the hell was she so jittery all of a sudden?  It’s not like she hadn’t been around producers before, and she was more than qualified to be in this studio with these people.  She didn’t know why she was belittling herself to this man.

Perhaps it was the concentrated gaze that he kept on her, or the way he licked his lips slowly and unconsciously.  Or, maybe it was the slight grin that sat on his mouth as he looked her over.

“You’re better than a lot of other people I’ve heard, and that’s saying a lot.”  He shot her another grin before turning, and whatever quasi-moment they’d been having was over.  “If I knew you were going to be here too, I would’ve picked you up some coffee.  I just didn’t expect you here until a little bit later.”

“It’s OK.  I wanted to come in early, make up for yesterday’s blunder of a meeting.”  Justin waved his hand at her comment.

“Don’t worry about it.”  He handed Brett a cup of coffee and took a sip of his own.  “For future reference, how do you take your coffee?”

“Oh, I don’t really drink coffee.  But thank you.”  She stood awkwardly and mentally chastised herself for being so nervous.  She needed to get over whatever crush she had on this guy or this year was going to be really uncomfortable.

“Oh, well, do you drink tea?”  She shrugged which prodded him to keep going.  “Cocoa? Water?  Come on, there’s got to be something.  Really, I get something for everyone that’s here in the mornings, just makes things start a little smoother.”

Rylee was about to shrug again but she realized she was still being stupid.

“OK, you can get me a hot cocoa.”  She returned Justin’s grin as he clapped a hand on her shoulder and led her over to one of the chairs in front of the sound board.

“That’s more like it.”  He sat next to her and listened for a second to the song that Brett has started playing with.  “Oh, hey…I meant to tell you that we’ve got something in common.”

The sparkle in his eyes made her heart skip a little in her chest and she found herself getting nervous again.  It was going to be a bitch getting over this crush.

“What’s that?”  She licked her lips and had to smile with him as he shot her another bright grin.

“Christina.”

That one word was like ice water down her spin and any tingly feelings she had been previously having stopped abruptly.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to get over this crush.

“Christina?”  Rylee’s heart sank in her chest as Justin explained that the two had been dating for a little while now.  It never failed, really.  Christina always got the guy and Rylee was always left watching.  Always the bride’s maid and never the bride.

“…she tried to call you last night but only got your voice mail.  She’s been staying at my place because she got sick.”

“Well isn’t that something.”  She tried her best to keep her face void of any negative emotions.  “It was nice of you to take care of her, I was worried when I hadn’t heard from her in a couple of days.” 

Justin noted the difference in Rylee’s tone but he decided not to push it.  He thought she would be a little more excited to learn that they had a common bond, but maybe it was something else that was bothering her.

“Yeah, she told me to tell you that she would be home tonight.  She said something about movies and junk food.”  Rylee plastered on a smile and nodded.

“Thanks.”

She thanked whatever gods were watching over her when Brett interrupted their conversation to start talking about the tracks they’d been working on.  A new artist was coming in this afternoon and they wanted to have some tracks ready to go.  The distraction seemed to work because Christina wasn’t mentioned again and the rest of the day was focused on music, something Rylee was very happy about.

She was in her element here, and she was surrounded by people that felt the same way. 

She just needed to get over the crush she’d developed on her boss.