Page 11 of Love U Down II

I nudged my head toward the group when they walked into the elevator then followed them inside.

Our tour took longer than I thought, and when we wrapped, the realtor walked us out and I let her know I’d be in touch.

“So what do you think?” I looked between my parents.

“I say counter offer them, and if they’re willing to knock about ten grand off the current price, I’d lock the building down,” my dad said.

“I’m cool with that. Let them know we want to have our people come by and verify the safety and quality of the building. If it’s good, we’ll lock it down.”

“I got you.”

“Thanks.” I dapped him and hugged my mom. “I’ll holla at y’all later.” I nudged my head toward my car. “Let’s go, Alan.”

He quickly hugged my mom, dapped my dad, and followed me to my car.

We drove to the meeting with the headphone company I was collaborating with to discuss what I’d liked and disliked about other brands of headphones I’d tried over the years and to lock in the shape of the pair we’d be crafting together. Then we headed to the studio since Bino reached out and told me he needed my ear. I figured it was the least I could do when he’d gotten me a jet to my wife with no notice.

When we walked into the designated room, Bino was standing at the soundboard.

He looked back and grinned.

“What’s up?”

“What’s up?” I dapped him. “This is Alan. He’s hanging out today.”

“Alright. Cool.” He offered Alan a hand and they shook. “I’m working on the song I sent you. Your verse is great but I just feel like it’s missing something on the instrumental. I don’t what it is but it’s fucking me up.”

“You feel like too much is going on or not enough?”

“Not enough.”

I nodded.

“Start it from the top.”

Bino restarted the track and I bobbed my head to the song as it played. Bino’s verse was good and the one I’d laid for him I genuinely liked. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the background instead of the lyrics.

“How do you feel about a horn?” I asked halfway through.

“A horn?” Bino repeated.

“Yeah. Let me see.” I walked over to the soundboard and Bino slid out of the way so I could sit beside his engineer.

We collaborated on adding a horn to some portions of the song and a little bit more bass on others before we locked it down.

Bino nodded and clapped.

“That was what the fuck I needed.” He hit me on the back. “Good looking out.”

“Yeah, man. I’ve got you.” I checked my phone. “I’ve gotta go, but if you think of anything else, let me know and I’ll make some adjustments.”

“Nah. This is it, Drix. I know this is it.”

“Well, a’ight then.” I grinned. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciated that.”

Alan and I headed over to a little pizza spot down the street and collapsed into a booth across from each other.