Stealing Glances

Jake and Jamison had met sometime in 2006 when Butch had first introduced them while he was producing The Film’s first record. Since the first time they had met, the two had quite often heard they were meant to be friends.

Jamison walked into Butch’s studio to see a group of somewhat unfamiliar faces, she knew who they were but this had been the first time she had seen them in the flesh and not through a computer screen or heard through a stereo of some sort.

“Jae, I want you to meet The Films.” Butch introduced, gesturing at the group standing beside him. “This is Jamison, she’s going to be around helping with everything.”

“I’m Michael.” Michael said, staring the chain of introductions shaking Jamison’s hand and giving her a smile.

“Kenneth. Nice to meet you.”

“Adam.”

“Hi, I’m Jake. Nice to meet you.”

“Jamison.” Jamison said, with a smile mentally putting names to faces.

“Can you help set up and sit in—we might need your objective ears.” Butch asked, looking hopefully at Jamison as she put her bag down and rolled up her sleeves.

“Sure.” She said, immediately walking into the tracking room and getting straight to work.

Jamison had helped Butch set up for a live take to track demos. The band began playing the potential demos, throughout the entire process Jake had been making suggestions on the demos in a technical aspect and it seemed to be working very well.

“What if I start it first and not Kenny?” Jake suggested, as they just finished listening to the take they had recorded.

Butch pondered for a moment playing the suggestion in his head. “That’s actually a fantastic idea.” He said, nodding his head in agreement.

“You have some competition Butch… Jake is—there are no words.” Jamison teased, as everyone laughed. “It seems like Mr. Jake here is better than I… maybe you should hire him Butch. I’ll be more than happy to be Brendan’s right hand lady and be on my way to Nashville. Plus, maybe he can teach you how to play bass like him. I got to say, he’s better than you.”

“I think you and will get along very well…” Jake said, smiling at Jamison who just laughed at his words.

“Maybe we’ll even be best friends.” She said jokingly as a smile began forming upon her face.

Jake laughed shaking his head. “One can only hope.”

Jake and Jamison had gotten home and changed into more home appropriate clothing while lounging on their couch mindlessly staring at the TV screen that wasn’t even turned on.

Jamison had been in her own head since the car ride home, she hadn’t expected to run into John but the world was small and somehow the music business was even smaller. It was bound to happen she just hadn’t expected it to happen when it did. She had been quite grateful to Jake for finding an excuse for them to duck out of the awkward situation and also not asking or talking about it during the ride home.

“I’m actually really surprised we’re not sick of seeing each other…” Jamison said looking over at Jake who turned his head to look at her.

“Who says I’m not sick of your face?” Jake asked teasingly, causing Jamison to let out a scoff before smacking his arm playfully.

“You ass.” She laughed. “But honestly, I can’t think of anyone else amongst my single friends I’d want to get a house with… you’re my first choice Sinclair.”

“So touched.” He clutched his chest in mock happiness.

“You should be.”

They sat in silence for a moment knowing what the other was thinking and wanting to talk about.

“Do you remember when you came to visit me when I was in Australia?” Jamison asked, thinking back to when Jake had unexpectedly shown up at her apartment one night with a suitcase in one hand and a bottle of Jameson in the other.

“Of course.” He nodded. “I just broke up with Liv and needed to have some adult milk and cookies with my partner in crime…”

“So much Jameson that night…” She chuckled while shaking her head.

“Tonight must’ve really shook you up.” Jake said, looking at her sympathetically.

“Kind of. But it’s good to see him happy with a person as nice as Molly.” She said, with an assuring nod as she said Molly’s name.

“So, are you free in the afternoon tomorrow? I just have a morning session and I’m done.”

“I have that photo shoot with Nylon in the afternoon.”

“Right.” He nodded, recalling her schedule for tomorrow. “Look at you, I’m really glad the world is seeing what I’ve always seen in you.” Jake looked at Jamison with a proud smile.

“Thanks for being here in every way possible.” She told him, knowing he was probably planning on cheering her up the next day after the weird night they had.

“Your happiness is my happiness, your hardships are my hardships.” Jake said, grabbing her hand. “We’re in this together.” He gave her a reassuring look causing her to break out in a weak smile.

“Thanks…”

“Get up.”

“Why?” She asked, as Jake jumped up from the couch and turned to face her.

“We’re going on a ride.” He put out his hand for her to take. “You need it.”

Jake had always taken Jamison on a motorcycle ride around the city whenever she was feeling down or had a lot on her mind.

“So, where to tonight?” Jamison asked, grabbing his hand and pulling herself up off the couch.

“Let’s see where the road takes us…” Jake smiled, letting out his hand once again for her to take.

The next morning Jamison drove to LA for her photo shoot with Nylon magazine. After an hour in hair and makeup, she quickly got on set greeting Marvin, the photographer for the shoot who was actually an acquaintance of sorts through Jake and Butch.

But despite the fact Jamison’s life shifted a bit featuring the occasional photo shoot. She had always felt a bit out of place always worrying if she was doing well, despite months of promoting and things. It was something she had something to pick up quickly like she did with other things.

“Am I doing okay?” Jamison asked half jokingly, but actually completely worried if she wasn’t getting the shots needed for the shoot.

“You’re doing great Jae.” Marvin assured her with a smile as he kept shooting.

“Thanks.” She smiled sheepishly.

“You’re welcome.” Marvin motioned for his assistant to grab the camera he was holding. “Let’s take a quick break, do a wardrobe change and go back at it.”

Jamison nodded as she began walking off set and over to the designated spot where she had put her things and looked for her phone.

A familiar voice suddenly echoed through the studio yelling, “Delivery for Jamison Song…”

Jamison turned around to see it was none other than Jake Sinclair.

“Jake!” She ran to embrace him. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you, I had the day off.” He answered, like it was obvious. “Of course, I’d spend it coming to your photo shoot with lemonade in hand.” He raised his arm to show the cup of lemonade he was holding.

She chuckled as she took the cup from his hand. “You are the best.”

“Hey Jake.” Marvin said, walking over to the two.

“Hey Marvin, good to see you again man.” Jake said, giving Marvin a small hug as Jamison began sipping her lemonade.

“You too. You’re in luck we were going to go on a little break.”

“How is little Jae doing? Is she doing her model 101 poses and what not…” Jake began doing cheesy model poses.

Jamison punched Jake in the arm causing him to rub it in pain. “I do the opposite of what you would do.”

“Why don’t you guys take some photos together?” Marvin proposed, as he grabbed his camera and motioned the two to go in front of the white screen. “We can do like a pose battle of sorts.”

“Let me just put on my shades.” Jake said, taking his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket and putting them on.

Jamison rolled her eyes, “Such a rock star.” she said over dramatically.

Jake and Jamison began posing ridiculously for the camera as Marvin began shooting the two away enjoying the energy the two were creating. During their impromptu photo session Jake had thrown Jamison over his shoulder and spun her around a few times, Jamison had jumped on his back, and rode on his shoulders. Marvin had made a mental note to sneak a few of the shots into the editorial.

After their impromptu photo shoot, they three went to the computer to over the shots they took and laughing over the ridiculousness that had been captured.

“Aright, let’s get you changed and do a few more shots before you do your interview.” Marvin said, looking over at Jamison who nodded.

“Duty calls.” Jamison said, giving a mock salute to Jake before walking off to wardrobe.

After a few more wardrobe changes and shots, Jamison and Jake were sitting on the couch waiting for the reporter who was going to interview Jamison. She sat quietly next to Jake still in one of the outfits—overall shorts, white blouse, leather jacket, and a pair of chelsea boots.

“You look good.” Jake said half teasingly as Jamison shook her head at his childish antics.

Jamison chuckled, “Thanks. You’re pretty dapper as well Sinclair.”

Just then they were interrupted by one of the staff members.

“Can we just have you do an intro for you video for Nylon?” Jason, the videographer asked. “Whenever you’re ready.” He said, pointing the camera at Jamison.

“Hi Nylon TV, I’m Jamison Song and we’re here at Milk Studios on set for my photo shoot. My friend Jake here has joined us. This should be fun.” Jamison said into the camera as she gestured to Jake who waved to the camera.

Jason smiled in approval. “Perfect.”

Moments later a girl holding a digital recorder and small journal of sorts had appeared in front of them.

“Hi, I’m Karina—I’ll be interviewing you.” Karina said, introducing herself as she let out her hand for Jamison to shake.

“Jamison, nice to meet you.” Jamison smiled, shaking her hand. “This is Jake. Do you mind if he sits in with us, I assure you he can tell you some embarrassing things about me.”

“He is more than welcome to join us.” Karina said, reassuringly as she gave Jake a smile.

“Super.” Jake said, giving a thumbs up before draping his arm over the couch.

Karina took a seat on a stool across from the two, she placed her digital recorder on the table in between them and notes while Jason began recording the interview.

“So, how was the shoot?” Karina asked.

“It went great. I’m still not used to being in front of a camera and posing but luckily everyone put up with me for a bit and we got into a zone. I think we got the money shot.” Jamison chuckled. “But the entire team was amazing to work with and they picked some amazing pieces.” She nodded gesturing behind her where wardrobe was.

Karina nodded as she looked at her notes filled with questions. “What would you say is your personal style?”

“I’ve said this before and I find it true upscale uncle or grandma depending on the day.” Jamison laughed. “I wear a lot of t-shirts and jeans, it’s an easy go-to kind of thing to throw on but I’ve always had an interest in fashion—I really like buying jackets and sweaters. I think that’s a big fashion addiction of mine.”

“I feel like over the years instead of just picking shirts off the floor and being only focused in the studio, you’ve taken a lot of interests in things like fashion. Hence why our place is slowly looking like an outlet mall.” Jake teased, causing Jamison to laugh in a bit of embarrassment.

“Right before I got into that, it was just all your shit.” Jamison said, as Jake laughed then playfully smacked her arm.

Karina laughed at the banter between the two. “Are you a big fan of makeup?”

“I like makeup, the process of putting it on is fun. But I have no idea how to put on eye shadows and do like smokey eyes and things like that. I’m usually just a winged eyeliner kind of person. I really like lip products though. I think it’s cause I don’t know how to put on makeup.” Jamison answered with a chuckle.

Karina smiled at the honest answer before looking back at her notes. “So, the title for your album, “Your Favorite Song” was it meant to be a pun or did it just happen?”

“I guess, it kind of was… kind of wasn’t.” Jamison said, squinting her eyes unsure of her own answer. “When I was brainstorming titles Jake had come back home from the studio and he calls me his favorite song and I don’t know, it didn't sound half bad at the time when I thought of it. It just stuck.”

“What’s something people would be surprised to know about you?” Karina asked.

“Something that would surprise people about me? Hmmm…” Jamison mused over the question. “I don’t know…” She looked over at Jake who was also mulling over the question.

“This is the longest you’ve grown out your hair.” He said, grabbing a piece of her hair.

“That’s true.” Jamison nodded. “I’m due for a haircut. I can’t maintain long hair.” She said with a laugh touching her hair that was going a little past her shoulders.

Karina smiled before glancing over at her notes. “What music have you been listening to lately?”

“Gosh… so much.” Jamison let out a sigh. “Cop out answers would be always listening to anything Butch Walker and Brendan Benson related. But honestly, despite my biasness for them—they both are phenomenal musicians. However, Beck is great… Ben Kweller is also great. Lauryn Hill can do you no wrong.”

“What kind of music did you listen to growing up?” Karina asked, curiously following up from her previous question.

“I grew up listening to pop and a lot of R&B and hip-hop. I didn’t get into rock music until later in life… I guess that’s something that surprises people.” Jamison answered, looking over at Jake as the two nodded their heads in agreement.

Karina had a look of surprise by Jamison’s answer before asking her next question, “If you weren’t a musician, what would you want to do?”

Jamison thought for a moment before chuckling unable to think of an answer. “I don’t know…” she looked over at Jake hoping for an answer of sorts.

“I could see you as a therapist of sorts. I think you’d be good with that. You basically do that when you’re in the studio.” Jake said, “Using your mind voodoo to control the people in the room.” He joked, causing Jamison to punch his shoulder giving him a smirk.

Karina looked at the two and smiled, enjoying the banter between the two. “So, how did you and Jake meet?” She asked.

“Jake was in a band called The Films and Butch was producing their first record. That’s how we met. But ever since then, Jake somehow stuck around— he’s actually Butch’s life partner of sorts, his right-hand on stage and in the studio.” Jamison explained with a smile. “It’s also cause he’s the best at what he does.”

“I don’t know if this is presumptuous of me to ask…” Karina said, cautiously. “But are you two dating?”

“Oh no. We live together and work together. But we are not dating.” Jamison said, chuckling as Jake nodded his head in agreement. “Jake is my partner in crime. He is the brain to my heart in the studio and one of the very few people in my life who has been there through the best and the worst times in my life. I always say he has a sixth sense in the studio and seventh as well when it comes to me.” She chuckled, touching the back of her neck.

Karina looked at Jamison curiously by her latter statement. “How so?”

“Like Jake bringing me some lemonade, I didn’t realize I wanted one till he brought me one. I don’t know if it’s inception or whatever, planting ideas in my head.” She joked, looking at Jake who just smirked at her. “But he’s always been very intuitive with and of me since we’ve met.”

“That is our very long winded way of saying we are not dating.” Jake said, causing everyone to laugh.

“I just thought with the whole ease and vibe between you two. Not to mention that you two are quite a cute looking couple.” Karina said, as she gestured between the two.

“We get that quite often…” Jake chuckled looking over at Jamison who gave him a smirk. “We know we’re cute together.” He joked.

“Hence why I have him around.” Jamison said, sarcastically as Jake gave her a playful shove. “That and to reach the top shelves.”

Everyone began laughing hysterically. They all took a moment to gather their wits before proceeding back to the interview.

Karina glanced at her notes. “So, another tour, more music, back as a producer? What are your plans?” She asked.

“As of now, producing… no tour opportunities have come up yet.” Jamison answered. “Jake and I also talked about doing a side project together.” She looked over at Jake who nodded in agreement.

“Oh really? What would it be like?” Karina asked, curious on the exclusive piece of news.

“I really wanted it to be a hair metal band that did 90’s hip-hop covers. But Jake doesn’t have enough street cred like I do so we had to nix that idea.” Jamison joked, as Jake chuckled at her response. “But I don’t know what it would sound like, we write a lot together, we work together, so we thought we’d do something together. That’s all we really have—“

“The name…” Jake said, as the two looked at one another knowingly.

“Oh and we’d call it Sin & Song— based off our last names, well half of Jake’s last name.” Jamison smiled. “We even got matching tattoos for our anniversary for being friends for a decade. Which I guess is a bit early since we met back in 2006…”

The two began showing the inner side of their wrists that respectively had “SONG” and “SIN” tattooed upon them.

“I think if we did Sin & Song, it would involve lots of our roots. So a weird mix of country and city vibes…” Jake said, looking over at Jamison who nodded in agreement.

“True, especially cause Jake is from Idaho but grew up in South Carolina moved to Michigan then New York now lives in Santa Monica. For the most part, I’m a city kid.” Jamison answered, “We’d probably be very White Stripes and do matching outfits too.” She looked over at Jake with a smile who laughed in agreement.

“I’m down with that idea.” Jake said, nodding his head in agreement.

“That’s all I have question wise. Thank you so much for such an entertaining interview.” Karina said, standing up from her seat.

“No, thank you. Also, thank you for letting Jake sit in. Come to think of it, I haven’t done an interview alone yet.” Jamison said, doing the same as she and Karina shook hands.

Karina looked completely shocked by Jamison’s confession. “Really?”

“I’ve been very fortunate.” Jamison joked, as every laughed.

“I wish you all the best and I’m really excited to write this feature.” Karina said, as she shook Jake’s hand.

After changing back into her own clothes but make up and hair still done. Jamison walked back out of the dressing room to see Jake sitting on the couch fiddling on his phone. He looked up and smiled, getting up from his seat and walking over to her.

“Thanks for always making it out to my shoots and things. You never have to come out all the way just to do that.” Jamison said, as Jake put his arm around her should.

Ever since she had started doing promotions and things as a musician. Jake had made it out to most of her shoots. If it had been an hour and a half away or less—he was there.

“I always want to.” He assured her. “Come on, let’s go get some food. You deserve it with all those wardrobe changes.” He teased causing Jamison to poke his side.

She chuckled. “You ass.”

Jake laughed; loving the fact they could shit around with each other. “We can even talk about making Sin & Song a real thing.”

---------------

John was sitting in the 8123 studio as he and the guys were going through a few potential songs for the 5th studio album. He had written out a few of the songs he thought would be potential demos for the new album. Everyone had been going through the stacks of paper and were weeding through them.

But more than anything, John couldn’t believe just a week ago he had run into Jamison Song.

He remembered feeling an array of emotions—anger, shock, hurt, shock, surprise, nostalgia, and a slew of other things. He wasn’t completely sure how to process the situation. So he had decided—pretend it never happened.

However, the timing of it had thrown him off more than anything. Just days before he had attended Molly’s work event, they had made it official—being a couple.

John was packing his things for his trip to LA to see Halvo and Molly. A week with his best friend and the girl he was dating, it was a much-welcomed vacation of sorts.

Suddenly his phone began to ring, John looked to see it was non other than Molly Jones herself. He smiled to himself for a moment before picking up.

“Hello?”

“Hello you.” Molly greeted, causing John to smirk.

“What do I owe this pleasure?”

“I actually have something to ask you…” She began, sounding almost a bit panicked. “A favor of sorts.”

“Proceed.” John chuckled.

“I have this work thing—charity event. It’s a big deal kind of for our company and it’s you come here. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me as my date.” Molly rambled, “My boss keeps asking every year why I don’t bring a date and this year I want to show him I’ve brought my boyfriend—“

Boyfriend?

The term had thrown John off a bit; they had been dating for a few weeks. But they never had talked about where they stood. He was actually hoping to have a talk of sorts when he had gone to LA. But this had taken the burden off him.

John smiled to himself as she continued to ramble. “Boyfriend you say? Is this your way of asking me to go steady Molly Jones?” He asked teasingly.

“Oh god, did I say the word ‘boyfriend’ out loud?” She asked completely mortified.

“You did.”

“I didn’t mean to drop that on you, I just—wow, I have nothing to say besides I am embarrassed for saying that out loud.” She said feeling completely embarrassed by what she had just said, unsure if she should hang up and crawl into a cave.

“Does this mean you don’t want to go steady with me?” He continued teasing only causing her to blush profusely.

“I—I was hoping we would have talked about this in person.” She explained, as she was silently thanking whatever Gods that John couldn’t see her face. “Wow, this sounds very middle school.” She chuckled, feeling a bit speechless.

“Ask me.” John told her.

“Ask you?” Molly crinkled her face in confusion.

“To be your boyfriend.”

She covered her eyes with her hand. “John—“

“Ask me.” He repeated confidently, unfazed by her embarrassment.

Molly sighed before taking a deep breath. “John, will you be my boyfriend?” She mumbled, feeling like she was dying a little bit inside.

“I thought you’d never ask. I’d be honored.” John said, happily with a smile. “As for your work function thing, being your boyfriend now. I guess I have to attend as part of my duties.” He said with a dramatic sigh.

“Thanks.” She mumbled, still feeling completely embarrassed by the entire situation that had just happened.

“Hey Molly?”

“Yeah.”

“I was hoping to ask you anyways, so thanks for taking that burden off my shoulders.” John said, reassuring her hoping it would comfort her a bit.

Molly smiled to herself, feeling her embarrassment wash away a bit thanks to John’s words. “You’re welcome.”

“I’m glad you asked… cause I do quite like you.” He smirked, staring at his luggage.

“Likewise.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, we’ll go on a date and make this boyfriend/girlfriend thing official.” He said, jokingly causing her to giggle.

“Sounds good. I’ll pick you up at the airport.”

“Bye girlfriend.” John said, in a mock falsetto causing another giggle to erupt from Molly.

“Bye John.”

“So, how was Molly’s work thing?” Jared asked, as he was skimming through one of the lyrics sheets John had made.

“It was… good.” John nodded, shifting his thoughts away from the weird encounter that had happened during the event. “A bit stuffy, but alright. We had a good time.”

“Good to hear.” Kennedy said.

“So, how about this song?”

John scanned through the song and realized it had been the song he had written Jamison for Christmas. He didn’t know how that had gotten into the pile. He quickly shoved the paper into his journal and shut it.

“Not that one.” John said, unemotionally tossing the journal into his bag.

“Why not?” Garrett asked, looking at John completely confused with his reaction

“It was played once and just not something that’s meant to be played again…” John explained, not wanting to explain anymore.

Everyone quickly knew what that had meant without any more words needing to be said.

“Oh…” Garrett said, averting his gaze elsewhere.

“I did write a song the other day…” John said, in a hopeful tone shifting the mood back.

“Let’s hear it.” Pat said, as everyone dropped what they were doing and gave their attention to John.

John grabbed his acoustic guitar and began strumming a few chords before playing the song.

The smell of this place without you
The thought of your voice not here
The look in my eyes as I'm telling myself
that it's all been worth it

So come on don't let me down
There's plenty of time left now
To tell myself that it's all in my head
and it's all been worth it
It has all been worth all the way.

The smell of this room without you
The thought of you laying here
The look in my eyes as I'm begging myself
to be all this with it.

So come on don't let me down
There's plenty of time left now
To tell myself that it's all in my head
and it's all been worth it
Yea it has all been worth all of it.

Nothing but great lines define my life.
I've got these great lines defining my life.
But it's all been worth it.
Yea it's all been worth it.
Yea it's all been worth it.

Everyone stared at John in a bit of awe, not expecting that out of him for various reasons but more than anything because it had seemed he was creatively tapped out. But then to make such a turnaround, that had been unexpected.

“Wow.” Jared said, looking at John in a bit of surprise. He hadn’t excepted that out of him, he wondered where the sudden change had come from.

“It’s good.” Pat said, “Real good.”

“So, how did that one come about?” Kennedy asked curiously.

“We have to head out cause of work tomorrow but thank you for tonight. We had fun.” Jake said, pretending to sound sad about ducking out early.

“Do you guys have to go? I thought it’d be fun if we all caught up and hung out…” Molly said, looking at the two with pleading eyes.

“We would but we’re getting old.” Jake said jokingly, as he pulled Jamison into his side.

“You are…” Jamison teased, looking at Jake then giving Molly an apologetic look.

“But thank you once again Ms. Jones.” Jake said, giving a small bow.

“You’re both very welcome. Get home safely.” Molly said, looking at the two happily then pulling John closer to her.

“It was good seeing you both…” Jamison said, giving the two a weak smile.

“Same.” Molly said, not even realizing John hadn’t stopped staring at Jamison.

“Bye.” John muttered, as he watched Jamison and Jake walk off into the crowd.

John hadn’t expected to run into Jamison. He knew it might have eventually happened since the world they lived in was so small—especially the music world. But after 2 years in the clear, one night had hit him like a ton of bricks.

Jamison Song had reappeared in front of him.

He had thought of what it would be like if they had ever met again, what the circumstances would be and so forth. But he hadn’t expected their encounter to be the way it was—meeting his significant other (and let alone know her) and vice versa.

John hadn’t excepted Jamison to be with Jake, she had always assured him they were just friends. But after seeing them linked arms and Jake’s jacket draped over her shoulders and even hearing Jake say, “head back to our place” it seemed like Jamison had moved on.

He was sure she hadn’t expected him to be with Molly.

At that moment, he wasn’t sure what to feel. But John knew one thing, it seemed they had both moved on.

“I don’t know but I know I need to stop avoiding the past and just move forward…” John answered with a nonchalant shrug. “No more holding back, let’s make a record.”