Read Exposed (The Alpha Stranger) Book 2 for Free Online Page B

of excitement and nerves runs through my body. This is it. This is my first recording session!
     
    Jonathan shows up with a recording engineer and walks me to his personal recording studio. The place is nice and big with guitars, amps, drum kits and keyboards all over the room.
     
    “I was thinking that you should just record with a piano and then you can decide if you want to add an arrangement,” Jonathan explains.
     
    Sounds good to me. As I sit myself at this baby grand, several assistant engineers set up microphones as well as prep the mixing boards.
     
    After several minutes, I am left alone in the recording room while everyone sits on the other side of the glass.
     
    “Anytime you’re ready,” the engineer tells me. I close my eyes and picture the anonymous stranger. Then I begin to play. The song is so well imprinted in my mind that I don’t even need to refer to the sheet music.
     
    About five minutes later, I finish the song. As the final note reverberates through my headphones, I exhale deeply and relax at the piano.
    
“Wow,” Jonathan says.
     
    “Would you like me to do another take?” 

    “Do as many as you want.”
     
    I play the song a few more times. During my last take, I even improvise a little piano solo in the middle of the song. My body is completely comfortable. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am doing what I was meant to do in this world.
     
    The engineer plays back each of the takes. Jonathan and I discuss possible string or percussion accompaniments to the song. But after a little debate, we decide that the song is stronger with just the piano and my vocals.
     
    “You have something really special,” Jonathan tells me. “Most of the sexy songs on the radio just sound so manufactured. In an ideal world, this song would be a number one hit. I can’t promise you that. But I will assure you that you have a definite future as a singer-songwriter.”
     
    “Wow. That’s all I needed to hear,” I gush.
     
    Jonathan offers me a tour of his facility while the engineer does a final mix on the song. He shows me the half-dozen or so studios in his building. We walk in on one session where several musicians are laying down a score for a beer commercial. It’s kinda fun seeing a music jingle composed in front of your eyes.
     
    “This work pays the bills. But to get some creative juices going, I like to find up-and-coming musicians and give them some studio time. I’ve discovered lots of talent over on Venice Beach. Some of them have gotten on record labels. Nothing big. I definitely believe you will get signed to someone based on your song,” Jonathan says.
     
    As we walk down the hall, the receptionist walks up with a package. She has a perplexed look on her face as she walks up to her boss holding the package. “Um, I have no idea who this package is for,” the young blonde girl says. “It’s addressed to, ‘A Lover With No Name.’”
     
    Jonathan looks at me as he grabs the package. “This might be for you,” he says as he hands me the mysterious large white envelope.
     
    I look at the words and immediately recognize the handwriting of my anonymous lover. I smile widely and tell both of them, “Oh yeah. This is for me.” I open the envelope and find a map of Hollywood. On the map is a heart drawn over the corner of Hollywood and Highland with a note that says, “Meet me at Midnight.”
     
    Jonathan can’t help but look over my shoulder, trying to decipher the cryptic message. “What is all that about?” he asks. Well, what am I supposed to tell him? That my anonymous lover only communicates with me through handwritten notes? I just look at my producer and tell him, “Looks like I have a date tonight.”
     
    ***
     
    I spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around Santa Monica. I walked along the beach and made my way to some of the super and scary-talented street musicians over on the Venice Boardwalk. For the first time, I feel a