Erica Clifford - Completed

Thirteen

"And she just broke it off? Just like that? No explanation?" I looked at him with an eyebrow raised and sitting back in my chair. He nodded. "Sorry. That must have sucked." 

"It did. I'm over it though. It's whatever right? Shit happens." I nodded in agreement. 

"It definitely does."

"Okay, my turn to ask a question." I looked up at my eyebrows and smiled slightly. "Who do you write about?" 

"You can't just ask me the same question I asked you." I chuckled. 

"Why not?" 

"Because there is absolutely no imagination in that whatsoever." 

"I think you're wrong. I think you're just saying that so you don't have to give an answer and then explain it." I shuffled in my chair and he snickered. "I'm right aren't I." 

"I can answer that but that's your question." I looked up at him, jilting my head slightly with a hint of an attitude. 

"Answer my first one. Who do you write about?" 

"People." 

"Which People?" 

"That's you're second question." He put his head back as the waitress put down our two coffees and I giggled. 

"You're so childish." 

"No I'm not. I'm reserved. There's a difference." 

"Fucking annoying difference." He rolled his eyes slightly but he couldn't hide the grin creeping on his face. "I'm just curious Erica." 

"I know you are." I shrugged and took a sip of my coffee. Leaving the table to be filled with the silence between us. "There's too many types of people I write about for me to be able to list them all." 

"Give me 2. Just 2 and I'll stop asking." 

"Fine." I huffed. "Book characters and strangers." 

"Huh?" I chuckled at his confusion. 

"My songs aren't necessarily related to my own emotions. Most of the time I'm not writing for myself so I try to write for that specific person. For example, if I'm writing for you guys,  I wouldn't write about a sister relationship right? But I don't know what it's like to be have a relationship slowly breakdown like you've had. And I don't experience most of the things other people do. So I make them up." 

"How can you just make them up? I've heard some of the things you've written they can be super intense." I shrugged and he sat forward in his chair slightly. "If you don't know what it's like for a slow breakdown of a relationship, then what do you know?" 

Shuffling again in my seat and taking a deep breathe, I raised an eyebrow. Was he just asking how my relationships has ended? That would be a short conversation. There's only been one and it was a disaster. 

"I don't understand what you're asking." 

"How do guys end it with you if you don't get the slow breakdown over a few weeks or months? Because by the way you phrased it, it sounds like your breakups have been pretty sudden and unexpected?" 

"It was." 

"It?" He sat back again, raising his eyebrow. "As in singular?" I nodded. "You've only had 1 relationship?" 

"I mean yeah. We were together for like 2 years." 

"That's not that long." I shrugged slightly. 

"I'd rather not talk about him so unless you have another question?" I went to grab some of my coffee but stopped as he asked 2 more consecutive questions.

"Is he why you had a bad night last night? When did you guys split?" I put my head back and sat up straight. I was too tired to be dodging these questions right now. 

"Kind of yes. In a way. Not directly though. Look. I'm too tired to be dodging your personal questions and I really, REALLY don't want to talk about him, our break up, what happened last night. Any of it. I'll just leave."

"Okay. Okay sensitive subject. I get it. Sorry." He held his hands up and drunk from his cup. "So your turn to ask me something." 

I grabbed my coffee cup that had cooled now and sat back in the chair with it. What else did I want to know. 

"How are you enjoying the Label?" 

"As in work?" 

"Yeah." 

"It's fine I guess. A Label's a Label right?" He looked at me in confusion. "That's a weird question." 

"I'm just curious. I never really get to hear what people think about working for us on the musician side of it. What they think of everyone, all that kind of stuff." 

"I mean, it's hard work. I can see it's going to get more demanding the longer we're here but that's the job right? You get it. I mean you must be writing constantly." 

"I guess so." 

"How long have you worked here for?" 

"Since I was a kid." 

"How old kid? Because surely you can't have been here when you were still in school." 

"Mr. Clifford and my family go back. I've been coming here since I was Sof's age." 

"Really? Jesus." 

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I was like 13 when Margot started and I taught her how to do most of the things she does now. I used to come as a summer job and I'd sit in on the studio sessions and all sorts." 

"That's a pretty cool summer job." I nodded. "I was delivering papers, and then working in a corner shop." I chuckled. 

"A normal teenager. God. I'd have given anything for that life." 

"You weren't a normal teenager? What does that even mean?" He laughed lowly and I smiled, tilting my head ever so. 

"I don't exactly come from what's perceived as a 'normal' background. Private schools, personal tutors, expensive cars bringing me to school everyday." 

"Rich?" 

"Yeah. Rich." I nodded and laughed slightly. "Money was never an objective so I didn't need to work unless it was for experience. Hence the studio." He nodded. "I used to want to be able to do all the normal things, go out with friends after school instead of having extra classes and music lessons, and dance classes. That was tiring. I would have given anything for one summer without it all." 

"Is that why you work so hard now?" 

"I guess. It's kind of ingrained into me now. Work, work, work. Make money, earn money, keep the business afloat." I nodded slightly. "That's the gist of it anyway. I won't bore you about all the other legal stuff I have to sort behind the scenes constantly. Or the battles with my dad about taking over for him. Or his pressure for me to date again, or sing again, or to put out my own album. It's just a whole host of things at the moment and I think last night just pushed me over the edge."

I took a deep glug of the drink, my eyes wide at the shock of everything I'd just spilled. 

"Sorry- trauma dump. I'm too tired." I giggled and shifted awkwardly. Way to terrify the guy Erica. Well done.