The Perfect Gift

Ch. 24

Nini had spent the better part of the last hour anxious as hell as she waited for her boyfriend to get off the phone with his boss.

Sure, she could've walked to the closed bedroom door and eavesdropped, but in all honesty, she was having an internal panic attack.

What if the song isn't good enough? What if the chords are wrong? What if the lyrics don't make sense? All these ridiculous thoughts ran rampant through her mind.

She decided she couldn't sit still anymore, so she got up and started pacing around the living room, muttering incoherent things to herself.

She was currently staring out the living room window, watching the snow fall. Another thirty minutes went by and she still hadn't seen her curly-headed beau. It took a couple of minutes for her to work up the courage to walk into her bedroom, but she couldn't wait any longer. She could only assume it wasn't good news since she hasn't heard anything.

With that, you can imagine her surprise when she turned around and saw Ricky leaning against the living room wall with the biggest grin on his face.

"Well?! What did Dan say?! It sucked, didn't it?" She rambled, nervously.

Ricky rolled his eyes lightly and shook his head.

"If it sucked, why would I be grinning from ear to ear?" Ricky told her as they walked towards each other. Nini shrugged as she reached up and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck- his going around her waist.

Before Nini could say anything else, Ricky spoke. "So... what would you say if I told you that Dan loved your song and wants you to come to the studio to demo it?" He asked calmly.

She froze in his arms and pulled back in shock.

"Holy shit, Ricky! Are you serious? Am I being punked right now?!" He nodded his head. "He thought the lyrics and chords were great, but he wants to hear what it sounds like when you sing it. I know you're not big on performing, but Neens, this is huge. If he likes it enough, he'll let you make an EP." Ricky told her excitedly.

Nini thought about it for a minute. What Ricky said is true... if it was good enough then she clearly had the talent. Plus, she could get out of working countless hours with her mom at the music store.

"I'll demo it on one condition." She told him.

He furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. "And what would that be?" He questioned.

Nini looked at him with a glint in her eye and smirked. "You perform it with me."

******

It took Nini more convincing than she would have thought. Ricky kept telling her that he didn't want to steal her spotlight and that this was her time to shine, but she kept telling him that none of that mattered if he wasn't there doing it with her, so really, how could he say no to that?! Ricky had quickly called Dan back to let him know that his girlfriend would demo the song, and they set the recording session for noon the next day.

That's how they found themselves currently standing in the recording booth. "You ready for this? Because you look nervous. Like... yack in a bowl nervous." This comment earned him a hard glare from Nini, and he quickly put his hands up in defense.

"I love you?" He tried before she yelled at him.

She just responded with an eye roll.

"Look, Nini... I know what you can do and he's heard you sing at the Christmas party. The audience loved you, so there's no reason for you to be nervous. Just feel the music and you'll be great. I'll be here with you every step of the way." He told her, gently.