Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)

When Adam and I woke up the next morning, I decided that I wanted to question him about why he put on a suit. Sleep crystals were etched at the corner of his eyes, his hair ruffled and his suit crinkled. He looked like a regular person for once. I soon realised that my questioning of him wearing a suit would have to wait since we had more things to worry about, which included the fact that camilla was the one that woke us up. I practically jumped out of the bed as she came into the room and slapped me hard across the face.

"Be lucky your little dog is so loyal to you," she said. "I was so close to having him when you and your little friend came along and destroyed the both of us."

"Are you that blind that you couldn't tell that he wasn't enjoying it?" I retorted, becoming instantly awake. "You're a totally different person than I thought you were."

"Be glad, ,then, that you don't have to see me anymore," Camilla said as her attentions turned to Adam clambering out of bed. "Because I quit!"

With that, she spat at my feet and stormed out of the room with Adam saying, "Well, that was a pleasant wake up call.

I groaned and fell back onto the bed, my hands going to my face and holding them there. Adam appeared upon my side of the bed and pulled me from it. I wondered how we were going to do it now without Charlie and Camilla. It would be a longer process now without them to help us. I would have to take over her job as pianist and would have to do some serious editing of the tracks as I scrambled back into the music room to record my tracks. How was I going to record the drum kit without anyone there to help me test it? It would only get even more ridiculous.

"Come on, Kassie," Adam said as he lifted me back up to my feet. "We can do this without them."

"How can we?" I said as Adam dragged me out of the room to the kitchen. "It's going to take twice as long now."

"We'll be able to do it," he said to me as we walked down a flight of stairs to the kitchen. "I know we can."

"Can I ask you a stupid question?" I said as he gave me an expecting look. "Why did you wear your dirty suit when you came to me by the pool last night?"

"It was the only thing that I could find and pull on quick enough to get down there to you," Adam said as he sat at the bench and I began to make some cereal for the both of us. "Now it's my turn, I want you to appear on one of the tracks on my album."

"What are you talking about?" I said, handing him a bowl of cereal and going to sit down at the bench opposite him. "I already am. I'm practically half of the instruments you got in there."

"We will have to find another pianist when we go on tour," Adam said, having a little of his cereal. "But when you sang that song last night, I really want you to be on the album with me. We could do a duet."

"My arse we could," I said. "I'm not doing it, I'm sorry."

"Oh, come on," Adam said. "You know you want to."

"And you think you know me?" I said with a questioning glance. "Says the man who wasn't there for the hardest parts of my life."

"If you had the choice of doing a cover of any song with me, what would you do?" Adam questioned, making me think about a song. "I would do 'I knew you were waiting for me' by George Michael and Aretha Franklin."

"I'm not Aretha," I said, laughing. "And that song is so nineties."

"The what do you suggest?" he said to me, swirling his cereal together.

"I as thinking Alicia Keys' version of 'Empire State of Mind'," I said, taking another bite of food.

"Over done," Adam said. "I still think we should do that George Michael and Aretha song."

"Don't I get a say?" I said with eyes narrowed at Adam.

"You can perform it as my opening act when we tour," Adam said with a smile. "I was looking for someone to start us off and you seemed like the perfect choice."

"So soon?" I said, finishing my cereal. "We haven't even finished recording the album yet!"

"No harm in planning ahead," Adam said as I picked up my cereal and going to the sink. "Besides, was that an acceptance for you to be on my album?"

"We have to see when we finish the album," I said as I washed my bowl out. "Maybe it can be a bonus track."

"Just what I was thinking," Adam said as he put his bowl into the sink along side mine. "Want to head over?"

"I have to face Tommy sometime soon," I said as I joined Adam leaving the kitchen and walked to the studios.

There, we found Tommy and Monte in the music room, letting their fingers warm up before we started the recording. I motioned for Adam to go into the music room as I put on the sound desk and set everything up on the other side. I fixed up the sound of the guitars but had nothing to go off for the vocal, piano or drum track so I tried to find something that Charlie might've saved in the desk and succeeded in doing so. No wonder the sound checks were getting quicker and quicker. I set what I had to up before I went into the other room, Adam looking at me hesitantly as I took a seat at the piano. I noticed Tommy looking at me with sorrow in his eyes. He still had his ring upon his finger but I acted as if it didn't effect me. HIs eyes soon drifted away from me as Adam sighed.

"We've lost some of our band and our assistant producer, but that doesn't mean that they won't be accredited or we can't continue the record," Adam said, sounding as if he was continuing on with the conversation and he glanced to me. "Last night I found out that Kassie could sing." Tommy glared at me. "And I've asked her to perform on one of the tracks on the album. A duet between us. You guys up for it?"

"What were you thinking of doing?" Monte said from his guitar.

"I suggested 'Empire State of Mind Part II', but it was suggested to me that it could be a song performed as part of the opening act," I said, helping Adam out. "But I was convinced otherwise."

"How does 'I knew you were waiting for me' by George Michael and Aretha Franklin sound?" Adam asked as Monte pulled a face of agreement while Tommy's didn't change, his eyes flickering towards me.

"We'll make it a bonus track on the album, of course," I said.

"How about we make the album first," Tommy said firmly as he eyed me.

I thinned my lips as Adam said, "Far enough."

"We've only got a few more tracks to go so we will make a decision when we finish it then," Tommy said, his fingers going to the ring upon his finger.

As I walked passed Adam, I paused and held my hand out to him. I asked for my ring back and he eyed me like there was no tomorrow. He continued passed me to his booth and shut the door behind him. I turned to Tommy and went to whisper in his ear, "Adam took it off me. I tried to get it back, but he doesn't think we should be together right now. He thinks we need a break."

"I don't give a shit what he thinks," Tommy said, hovering closer to me. "I still want to marry you, despite how Camilla forced herself upon me."

"I'm just glad that she isn't here anymore," I said. "But it will take sometime for me to get over what I saw happen between you and her."

"Will I be able to talk to you after we finish today's recording?" Tommy said to me as I moved out of the room to press the record button.

"We'll have to see about that," I said as I left the room.

I pressed the record button and rushed into the music room, shutting the door behind me. I sat at the drum kit, counting the band into the song that was one of the last that we would have to record as a group that they had composed. I ran in between the rooms, checking the sound and recording different instruments and creating new tracks. I mastered as we went along, mastering the first track that we recorded before we recorded the second one for the day. Adam halted us after two songs, saying that his voice needed a break so that he could perform at his best. We were still a little a head of schedule and recording at an alarming pace without the people that were the originally to help us move along so fast.

Monte and Adam decided that they would head for the kitchen and make something that they could bring back to Tommy and I so that they could hear the mastering of the song that we had just recorded. I desperately needed Adam's input on his voice in one of the songs since there were multiple tracks of his voice to create a beautiful harmony. We decided that the album was in need of another ballad so it was understandable that I got his opinion.

I began fixing up the rest of the instruments as Adam and Monte left, Tommy taking a seat upon the wheelie chair beside me and watched me at work. I never understood how he saw what I did interesting. It was my work and it was as stressful as trying to learn a new instrument or language. I guess it was just like watching someone play an instrument when they mastered it as much as they could. I was focussing so intensely upon my work that I didn't hear my stomach grumbling or Tommy trying to contact me, trying to tell me that I should take a break for a moment. Take a break? I just started! How could I take a break now when - and then I realised that it had been at least two hours since I had started working upon the track and I had only gotten through the drum kit and Tommy's pace. How slow was I working? Gosh.

"You need to take a break and we need to talk, Kassie," Tommy said as he gripped my arm firmly and pulled me away from the sound desk so that we faced each other. I sighed and refocused upon Tommy. "Sometimes you need to know when you need a break."

"I want to know what happened between you and Camilla last night," I said in a monotone.

"And I want to know what happened between you and Adam last night," Tommy responded, motioning towards the ring that was missing upon my finger. "And why Adam took the ring from your finger apart from the fact that he didn't think that it was a good idea that we should be together."

"Maybe he was right in the fact that we were moving to fast," I said, really trying to be careful about my words so I didn't hurt him. "I mean, look what happened to Charlie and Camilla!"

"That was bound to fail," Tommy argued. "You don't know how controlling and wanting she can be."

"She woke Adam and I up this morning, yelling and screaming about how I ruined any sort of relationship that could have formed between you and her," I said, recounting the events from this morning. "I think I have more right to be shocked about what happened between you and her than you about me and Adam."

"Before we met you, we were so close to going out," Tommy explained. "She was forcing herself upon me like what you saw her doing to me last night. I was having sex with her without my consent. I never enjoyed it, it was meaningless and disgusting. She used me because she lusted after me like how Adam lusted after you."

"And you didn't want Adam and I to get together because you didn't want the same thing happening to you," I said as things fell into place. "You experienced what happened to me, but in reverse - if you get my meaning. I just really hope that you didn't get her pregnant, Tommy. That would really be the icing on the cake."

"We used contraception to avoid any unwanted results," Tommy said. "It as the one thing that I managed to convince her to do if she was going to continue doing what she was doing."

"How long was this happening before Adam introduced me to you guys?" I questioned.

"About six months," Tommy said, his hands taking mine. "I had to suffer under her for six months and thats why when I met you, it was like meeting my saviour, my angel, and when you met me, I knew you were meeting yours too. I could see you were becoming attached to me as I was becoming attached to you."

"Adam keeps on trying to convince me that the only reason I fell in love with you, that I still want to marry you, is because he practically forced us together," I said, not wanting to believe a word Adam said. "And I don't wait to believe that."

"My love for you was further deepened by Adam bringing us together," Tommy said, kissing my fingers. "Wasn't yours?"

"Sometimes I don't even know anymore," I said, taking my hands from Tommy's expectant fingers. "But I can tell you that nothing happened between Adam and I. I took him to my mother's old room that I hardly visited because it pained me so. I sang for him a song I always used to sing for my mother as it was one of her favourite songs, as well as one of mine. That was how Adam came to the idea that he and I should do a duet, despite my protests."

"You never played for me," Tommy said, hurt.

"I never found the right moment for it," I retorted with a sigh. "Besides, it's not like you played guitar for me either."

"It's not like Adam has ever sung for you and you did for him," Tommy said, getting up from the wheelie chair and walked into the music room.

"What are you doing, Tommy?" I asked him as he returned from the room with one of my acoustic guitars that was worn down but sounded beautiful.

He steadied himself upon the seat before he began to play 'Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin. I didn't expect him to play the guitar as well as he did but I was learning a lot about people lately as people were learning about me. Tommy played every single note perfectly and I just couldn't help myself but going back into the music room, grabbing another one of my favourite guitars to start playing along with him.

Although I didn't know the words to the song that well, I hummed what I didn't know and sung what I did. As we played, Adam and Monte returned to the room with what food they had made, which made my stomach rumble in hunger. We finished the song not long after that, playing the last chords together and set down our guitars to grab our food of Monte and Adam.

"What instrument don't you play?" Monte joked.

"I play too many instruments," I said, laughing.

"I think that definitely should be a secret track," Adam said as we all began to dig into our food. "Along with out duet."

"I agree with this song," Tommy said. "I'm not sure about the one with Adam, though."

"Just because it isn't you," I joked up but Tommy's face was serious as mine grew. "Come on, Tommy. It's just a song."

"Sometimes songs can mean a lot of things to people," Tommy said. "Like the song that you and you're mother shared."

"I see your point," I said. "But that shouldn't prevent Adam and I from singing this duet."

Tommy bit down upon his lip as he turned his attentions to the food he was given, Adam filling the silence by asking, "Can we see what you have done so far?"