5. Noree Marcell #3
“I’m not trying to get put on anything,” I said quickly.
Ozy looked over at Ginger. “Nobody said she was getting put on the song.”
“Then why are you bringing her in the booth?”
“Because I want her to help me finish it.”
Ginger stared at him for a few seconds. “So, I’m standing right here, but you need her to help you?”
He let out a breath. “Don’t do that.”
“I’m not doing anything. I’m asking a question.”
“And I answered it.”
The whole room felt different now.
“I can stay right here,” I told him. “It’s really okay.”
Ozy looked at me. “Nah…come on, love.”
There was something about the way he said it.
He reached for my hand, and I hesitated for a second before placing mine in his. I stood up and walked with him while every camera in the room followed me.
Ginger shook her head and walked back toward the couch.
“This is so unnecessary,” she mumbled.
Ozy held the booth door open for me. “Ignore her.”
“I don’t think she wants me in here.”
“She’ll be all right. This is my studio.”
I stepped inside, and he closed the door behind us.
His phone was propped up in front of the microphone with a live video going. The comments were moving so fast that I could barely read them.
The booth felt a lot smaller with him standing beside me.
He handed me a pen and the notepad. “Write that line down before we forget it.”
I took the pen from him, and our fingers grazed. A spark shot through me; one I couldn’t explain.
The page had words written all over it. Some were crossed out, some circled, with arrows pointing in every direction.
“This is a mess,” I said.
He laughed. “I know where everything at.”
“Yeah, okay,” I teased.
“Write it under the second verse.”
I leaned forward, but I couldn’t tell where the second verse even started. “Where?”
“Right here.” He stepped closer and reached around me to point at the page.
His arm rested across the back of my shoulders for a second, and his chest pressed lightly against my upper arm.
I stopped breathing again for the hundredth damn time.
He was just showing me where to write. Still, my brain had completely stopped working.
“Right there,” he said, his voice close to my ear.
“Oh.”
I wrote the line down, and he took a pair of headphones off the stand before handing them to me.
“Put these on.”
I looked at him. “Ozy, I don’t know about this.”
“What you nervous for?”
“Because there are cameras out there, your girlfriend looks like she wants to fight me, and I haven’t sung in front of people in forever.”
His smile faded a little. “Why’d you stop?”
I looked down at the notepad. “Life.”
He watched me for a moment, then nodded.
“Just vibe with me,” he said. “And keep your eyes on me.”
I slowly put the headphones on, and the beat started again.
Ozy stood beside me, moving his head to it before singing the hook.
“Is she the one for me?
The one who sees past the fame?
If I gave her all of me,
Would she love me the same?”
He pointed toward me, and I started singing almost immediately.
“Is he the one for me?
Or just another mistake?
If I give him all of me,
Will he give or will he take?”
We bounced off each other and after about ten minutes of us making straight magic, he nodded hard and turned toward the glass.
“That’s it. Keep that.”
The engineer gave him a thumbs-up.
It felt natural, too natural.
Ozy pulled one side of his headphones off and laughed. “Okay, now you showing off.”
“I am not.” I smiled.
“You caught that way too quick.”
“I listen.”
“Nah, you do more than listen.”
I looked through the glass, and everybody was still watching us.
Ozy leaned forward and read some of the comments before grabbing his phone. He placed his arm around me again and pulled me into the frame with him.
I saw people saying I was pretty, asking who I was, and wanting to know how good he smelled.
It was hilarious.
Before I could even respond, the booth door opened, and Ginger stepped inside.
“Uh, are you done playing?” she asked. “Because I’m ready to really lay the track down.”
Ozy gave her a long look before saying, “Actually, I think it’s time for a break.”
Then he looked at me. “You hungry?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I could eat.”
Ginger scoffed and looked me up and down. “Yeah, I bet you could eat a lot.”
The insult hit me immediately.
Clearly, she was taking a dig at my weight, but I wasn’t about to stoop to her level, especially with cameras everywhere.
I stood up and gave Ozy a small smile before excusing myself.
“Aye, chill the fuck out,” I heard him say behind me.
The booth door closed, but when I glanced back through the glass, I could see them arguing.
“Girl, not you got his bitch mad,” Veronica said when I walked over.
She gave me a high five.
“You sing really good too. I’m low-key jelly.”
“Thank you, but it was just for fun.”
Ky walked over and started ushering the winners out of the room toward the break area.
Except it didn’t look anything like a regular break room. It looked more like a luxury restaurant, and they had everything set up real nice for lunch.
Even with thoughts of me filling my belly on my mind, so was Ozy and how he looked at me in the booth.