Chapter 7

(Told by Nick)

I pulled up to Sara's house at about 6:30 pm that evening. I took a deep breath as I got out of the car and walked up to her house to knock on the door. After a couple of minutes of standing there I finally heard her unlatching the door. "Hi you." Sara said to me as she opened the door. She was smiling ear to ear. She was dressed in a pair of baggy sweatpants & a tank top; she had little or no makeup on, yet she still looked stunning. She stepped out of the way to let me into her home, shutting the door once I was inside.

"Hey. Everything okay? You sounded distracted on the phone." I told her as I took a seat on the couch in her family room.

She shook her head. "Oh, no.. I'm sorry. Yeah, everything's fine, I just finally put the finishing touches on the song & it's amazing."

I smiled. "I'm sure it is going to sound great."

"There's no issues with you recording it, right? I mean because of the group?" She asked me as she took a seat next to me.

I shook my head. "No, not at all. In fact, they're encouraging it."

She smiled again. "Okay, great. I'm really excited about this."

"Me too." I really was excited about the song, but I was moreso excited about where things were going with Sara. "So...should we talk about what happened last night?"

She nodded. "I think so. I'm sorry about that."

I looked at her with a confused expression. "You're sorry? For what?"

"Kissing you like that. That is so not the person I am. I just.... It felt right."

"Sara, I kissed you first, it wasn't your fault," I told her. "And if I'm being honest, it did feel right."

"So what does this mean? Relationships are not something I'm good at. I may write songs about the perfect relationship, but really I'm an idiot when it comes to that sort of thing."

"It means that I want to take this to the next level and see where it leads us." She smiled at me, "But first I really feel like there's something you should know about me."

The smile faded and she looked a me; a serious expression on her face. "Ok. Tell me."

I took a deep breath, this was it. "I literally JUST got out of a horrible relationship before I moved here. It's actually part of the reason I'm here."

"Horrible how?"

"My ex-girlfriend, Anastasia... Well, she's actual an actress, so therefore she's in the news a lot. She & I had dated for 3 years...One of my longest relationships to date. Things were going great, that was until she was cast in a major feature film about a year into our relationship. She started to become a totally different person than the person I had originally fell for. After 3 years I had decided I'd had enough. She was controlling & demanding & I just couldn't take it anymore so I ended things. She retaliated by releasing statements to the press that I had been verbally & physically abusive towards her. It was a huge media frenzy & really still is. I just felt like I needed to tell you all of this before we could pursue anything because I don't want you to believe any of what you may hear." I realized I had been rambling. I finally stopped to take a breath & let her respond.

She looked at me with concern. "Nick, if you tell me you didn't do it, I'm going to believe you. I don't get that kind of vibe from you. You're a great guy as far as I can tell."

I shook my head. "I didn't do it. I promise you that."

"Nick, I believe you. I can see it in your eyes that you were wrongly accused. I don't think any less of you because of this. So relax..."

I smiled. This girl had to be some sort of figment of my imagination. No girl was this perfect. "Thank you, Sara. You are truly one of a kind."

"I've been told that a time or two. Now enough with this serious talk...do you want to hear the final project?"

I nodded. "Absolutely."

****

(Told by Sara)

Nick stayed at my house until probably midnight again that night. We just went over the song again & talked....mainly talked. We talked about any and everything we could possibly think of. Honestly, by the end of the night I felt like he knew me better than I knew myself. I'd told him all about my relationship with Billy & he'd gone into more detail about his time with this Anastasia girl. I can tell you one thing, if I EVER meet her, she'll wish she were never born. Turns out she had treated him very badly throughout most of the relationship. He was the one that took most of the abuse & that angered me. Nick was by far one of the sweetest guys I'd met in a long time & it hurt me to know that someone took advantage of that to better their own career.

The next few days flew by in a flash. I'd spent a little time with Nick, but not much. He was finishing up some things with the guys & I had been busy writing. Before I knew it the time had come to head into the studio to record my song with Nick. Rick had also told me to bring some other songs I'd like to record to possibly put on a record. Apparently, Rick had made some arrangements for some record executives to be there for the recording process & hopefully they'd want to sign me. It made me slightly nervous because for once I wasn't going to be judged simply on the song I'd written, but also on the sound of my voice. I was scared that they would turn me down & I'd be crushed. At least I'd have Nick by my side to console me afterwards. I just hoped that after today things would be different. I had never wanted to be the artist...only the songwriter, but now, I wanted the other part so badly.

***