“Good girl!” Dean smacked his knee. “Hey, why don’t you go take a dip in the rooftop pool? No more work today…that’s an order, missy!”
Jordan gave a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.” He gathered his things and started for the door, but he stopped and turned back before making it through, “Thanks Dean…for everything.”
Dean smiled with a wink. “Anytime darlin’. Let me know if you need anything.”
Colton watched the interaction between Dean and Jordan with an admiring grin. Dean had built a wonderful team around him that was more like a family. It was evident they all cared deeply for each other.
Being surrounded by such doting and loyal people, it was easy to see why Dean was always happy and carefree.
Is he ever in a bad mood?Colton wondered.
Later, Dean had a Zoom meeting with his production team to discuss budgets and cost analysis and the like. Colton couldn’t think of anything more boring than having a budget meeting, but Dean was just as savvy in business as he was an artist.
What do you know, he’s not just a pretty face.Colton laughed to himself.
During the meeting Colton overheard the production team insisting that some aspect of the show absolutely couldn’t be done. They were asking Dean to consider changing the plan.
“Look! Don’t tell me this can’t be done!” Dean exclaimed, sounding annoyed. “I’ve seen it myself. Madonna did it, Beyonce did it, and Taylor has done it. If you can’t get it done, I’ll find someone else thatcanget it done. Hell. I’ll call Taylor myself and get her team on it.”
The production team relented and Dean promptly ended the meeting.
Damn,Colton thought.Remind me to never get on his bad side.
Later that afternoon, there was a knock at the door when Aiden arrived for his music lesson. He bounced into the loft with his backpack and eyed Colton on the sofa. He was a cute kid, with blond hair and blue eyes. He could easily pass for Colton’s son or little brother.
“Hey, I'm Aiden.” He strode toward the sofa. “You’re Colton Merrick!”
Dean laughed, following Aiden to the sofa. “Yes, Aiden, this is Colten Merrick, but you can call him Mr. Colton.”
“Are you sick Mr. Colton?” Aiden eyed Colton all bundled up on the sofa with a box of tissues on the table.
“I am. But I’m feeling much better, thanks to Dean.” Colton winked at Dean.
“Mr. Colton is staying with me until he feels better.” Dean patted his shoulder. “Alright, kiddo, let’s get to your lesson.”
“See ya, Mr. Colton.” Aiden spun and ran to the music studio.
“He looks like a handful,” Colton said, dabbing his nose with a tissue.
“He’s a ball of energy, but he’s a great kid.” Dean pointed at Colton. “Need anything?”
“No. I’ve got everything I need.”
“Okay, holler if you need me!” Dean called over his shoulder as he followed Aiden into the studio.
Colton could hear the lesson in progress. Aiden practiced scales on the piano and he seemed to be pretty good at it.
“Good job, Aiden. Now, let’s try some chords. Do you know what those are? Well basically, a chord is when you play two or more notes together to make a pretty sound…like this.”
Colton heard Dean play a chord on the piano.
“Hear that? So, back to the scale you just played. To play a chord, you start at the first note of the scale.” Aiden played the first note. “Now count up the scale four notes and play.“ Aiden played the two notes. “Good, now count up three more notes.” Aiden missed the third note, making an ugly sound on the piano.
Colton cringed. The ugly sound made his skin crawl.
“I can’t reach the third note,” Aiden whined. “My hands are too small.”
“Don't stress. Your hands will get bigger and you’ll be able to reach it eventually. In the meantime, you can always use bothhands.” Colton couldn’t see what was going on, but he guessed Dean was showing Aiden how to adapt.
