“What the…” Lacy’s voice trails off as she peers into the webcam, realizing what’s happened.
“Uh, I was streaming when you came in earlier and I guess I forgot to log off,” I stumble out the words. Thank God we were kissing behind that curtain, and not on camera. I’m distracted, reading the comments in the livestream’s chat sidebar.
Those verses are poppin’!
Make it a song! Gonna be a number one hit for sure!
Who is the mystery girl?!
Ben, who’s the nerdy babe?!!?
Poetry babe!
“Fuck,” I mutter as I scroll through the comments. Lacy, seeing what I’m doing, starts reading through them too.
That poem is awesome but kinda creepy?!
Full-on stalker track!
STALKER ANTHEM!
Lol lol lol, stalker anthem.
Ben, spill! Who’s the chick?!
Yeah, a new songwriting partner?
Stalker anthem should def be the title of the song.
But didn’t she say it’s a poem? It’s not a song!
It’s still a bop! I don’t care if it’s creepy.
“Oh my god,” Lacy says quietly, reading the comments. “They heard everything?”
Yes, we heard! And it was AMAZE!
You’re a star, bb!
Yeah, you’re a crazy stalker but still a star!
Smile, you’re on candid camera!
Lacy has shrunk back, away from the camera, and I can see her blinking her eyes rapidly. Even though our kiss wasn’t caught on camera, Lacy’s poem was. And the two of us working together. Clearly, she’s not happy to be thrown into the public domain like this. I’ve got to get us logged off, so I can talk to her.
“So, uh, sorry about that, guys,” I say speaking to the webcam. “As you can see, I’m working with a new songwriting partner. Anawesomenew songwriting partner,” I add, shooting Lacy a worried glance. She’s staring at me, her mouth open in disbelief, as I give the camera my spiel. “Her name is Lacy and she’s a professional poet, actually, with a book coming out soon. We’re working on some really exciting stuff here. In fact, we’re so excited about it, we totally forgot we were on camera!” I add with a half-hearted chuckle.
You’re the man, Ben!
New songwriting partner!? What about the last one…
Yeah, you trashed your last partner!
Don’t screw this one up!
Those verses were GOLD.
“So, we’re really glad you all liked what you heard today,” I go on, ignoring the last few comments about my previous songwriting partner. “We’re gonna go fine-tune it now and get it all polished up for you to enjoy! See you all soon and thanks as always for your support!” I conclude with a smile and a wave to the camera before slamming my laptop shut.