Dazzling, multicolored lights. The roar of the crowd. The addicting rhythm of a thundering drum and harmonic guitar. These are the things that brought life into the hungered heart of Aria La Belle. Ever since she was a child, all she did was sing. She loved it, and then others began to love it too. Before she knew it, her dreams led her onto stages standing behind microphones. The Songbird. That’s what they called her and her beautiful voice.
Aria sat in front of a mirror in the dressing room, preparing for her concert. It’s been concert after concert lately for her, everyone wanted to hear the Songbird sing and she wanted to make sure she looked just as beautiful as her voice. Her dark eyeliner and eyeshadow brought out her gray irises that were almost silver. As usual, she always wore crimson lipstick that matched well with her jet-black hair thrown to one side, even though her dress was crimson that was identical to her lipstick.
“Knock, knock, Birdie.” Aria’s guitarist, Mandy, knocks on the door with a grin playing on her lips, the woman was excited like the rest of the band. “You’re on.”
Aria then returns a bright smile as she leaps to her feet and follows after Mandy. “Let’s do this!”
The big crowd talks amongst each other as they await the Songbird’s performance. Many people came here only to hear the Songbird sing, but two men came here regularly since it was a local venue for them. There was always someone singing here, someone new each time they came here.
“Another round.” A man calls to the bartender while sliding his glass over the counter to him. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, messing it up as if he were shaking his worries and problems out of his skull.
“Third round already, Lucas? If you don’t slow down, I’ll have to drive you home again. And you’re not exactly fun to deal with when you’re drunk.” Lucas’s best friend, Mason, looks at him with a tired expression. After the stress of work, looking after the drunk CEO heir wasn’t exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his day. But Lucas has always been there in times when he’s in need, so it’s only right he does the same.
And yet Lucas doesn’t respond, the man too annoyed with how his life has turned out. The roar of a crowd snaps him out of his burning thoughts but what makes him turn around is when he hears the voice of an angel. The Songbird. Her beauty was just as beautiful as her voice.
His enchantment ends when he finally recognizes the woman. He knew her from high school and he shamefully recalls bullying her often. Aria La Belle. She was that classic nerd who always wore her black hair up in a messy bun, had big glasses, and was usually in overalls with earbuds in her ears. Lucas would often steal her earbuds, knock her books out of her hands, and call her names. And now here she is, on the stage, captivating everyone’s hearts, including his. After she was done singing, he was determined to speak with her.
“I’ll be right back.” He tells Mason who’s surprised as he suddenly runs off. Lucas follows Aria’s trail until he finds her sitting outside on a bench, catching some fresh air while she can. But she immediately jumps to her feet the moment he approaches. Unlike Lucas, Aria recognized him instantly since he had bullied her for years. Startled by seeing him after a decade and wary of his actions, she’s hostile without hesitation.
“What do you want??”
Lucas winces from how aggressive she is with her first words after all these years. “I wanted to apologize.” He decides to be upfront like she is being.
Aria’s hostility lifts into surprise when she looks up at the man. “Apologize?”
“I treated you awfully when we were teenagers and I wanted to apologize for it. I’ve matured-” Lucas hesitates then shakes his head. “No, there’s no excuse. I was just sadistic trash, and I regret my actions.” He then looks into her gray eyes. “Your singing was beautiful…”
Aria’s surprise is followed by a bashful blush. The last thing she expected from one of her many concerts was to run into someone she has a bad past with and get an apology from him, let alone compliment her life passion. Aria can tell that Lucas is genuine and can see in his eyes that he truly regrets his actions back then. Aria has always been a kindhearted person, no matter who it is or what they did. And Lucas’s sincerity deserved it too.
“I forgive you.”
Lucas is surprised by how easily the beautiful woman accepts his apology. He felt that he didn’t deserve it and that he should at least work for it. But before he could get a word of protest in, Aria walked past him back into the venue.
That’s it?? Lucas quickly chases after her, not wanting their conversation to end just yet. “Wait up! You’re not going to tell me how you’ve been?”
“You didn’t ask.” Aria gives him a humored smile. “But if you must know…” As they walked back into the venue, her eyes rested on the crowd that was still calling for the Songbird and her smile brightened. “I’ve… It was great. I’ve strived for my dream and now I have it.” The woman then looks back up at him. “And you, heir? Are you the CEO now?”
Aria’s smile was just as breathtaking as she was and it left him a blushing mess when she looked at him confusedly over his silence. He clears his voice as if to play off his awkwardness. “No, not yet. To be honest, nothing interesting has been happening in my life.” He then peeks at her in the corner of his eye. It was the truth, until he stumbled across her, a flash from his shameful past.
“Chin up. I’m sure something good will happen to you soon.” She smiles warmly up at him this time. The pretty woman’s sweet nature came naturally.
Meanwhile, from afar, Aria’s band spots her with Lucas. Her guitarist, Mandy, was especially shocked. “Is that the Augustine Company CEO’s heir?!”
The other two members, Chris and Noah, were surprised as well. “It looks like they’re already acquainted…” Noah says.
Chris grins. “A reunion. How about we make it more cherishable?” The other two expressed their mischief with a smirk or a snicker as they took to the stage again right before another singer could get on.
“What the hell?! I was supposed to sing after Aria!” The woman angrily snapped. Her hair was just as red as her temper. She was a singer that has always been second best to the Songbird and had always been jealous of it.
“Wait your turn, Roxanne. We still have important business to do.” Mandy sasses while popping her favorite blue bubblegum in her face.
This infuriates the singer further but then she’s left confused when the band starts to blow a slow song. Roxanne’s jaw drops when she recognizes the famous CEO’s heir from the popular Augustine Company, a man that she always ogled. And now here he is, asking Aria for a dance and she accepts. Her blood boils as she watches the two slow dance, Aria’s eyes sparkled while Lucas was blushing red. Why do all the good things always happen to nobody from the sticks?!
Once the music had ended, Roxanne got herself a big drink from the bar and casually walked near Aria till she was close enough to spill her drink all over her dress. When you’re a singer, you pick up a knack for acting and that’s exactly what she did as she gives a dramatic gasp. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Aria! Are you alright?”
The stain would stay in Aria's dress forever, no doubt, but she still forced a smile. “It’s fine, Roxanne, it was just an accident.”
Lucas wasn’t as much of a pushover however and he defensively wrapped his arm around Aria. “Bullshit. I saw you, you did that on purpose!” He yelled at her angrily, making everyone look their way and see what Roxanne did to Aria. Lucas then mutters his final words. “Get out of here.”
“Mr. Augustine… I…” Roxanne looked as if she was on the verge of tears and ran off, disappearing into the crowd.
“C’mon.” Lucas then grabs Aria’s hand and pulls her outside to inspect her dress in private. He grimaces at the sight as he pulls out a handkerchief and attempts to wipe her dress dry.
Aria sees how uncomfortable he’s become and her eyebrows furrow confusedly. “Lucas?”
“You didn’t deserve that…” He unexpectedly mutters. “You didn’t deserve any of it…”
Aria is a bit taken aback since she couldn’t tell if he was talking about Roxanne or talking about what he did to her in the past. Most likely both, Aria placed a hand on his and just smiled again. “You apologized. That’s all that matters to me.”
“Hey, lovebird!” Mandy calls to her as she fixes to get into her car, she was Aria’s ride. “Time to skedaddle!”
Aria looks from Mandy to Lucas, his expression reflects her emotions. Neither wanted to leave just yet. So, Aria shyly spoke up first. “Um… I’ve got another concert here at 8 p.m. Maybe you can show up a few minutes early…?”
Lucas finally smiles. “I’d like that.”
“Hurry up!” Mandy starts to complain.
“Coming! Coming!” Aria calls to Mandy while giving Lucas a wave of farewell and then leaving.
Right afterward, Lucas drove off with Mason as well since he was on his ride too. During the drive, Lucas’s father, David, the CEO of the Augustine Company, called him to see where he ran off.
“Have you ever heard of the Songbird? Turns out we went to high school together, can you believe that? And she’s great! I’m heading back to the venue tomorrow night to see her again so don’t give me any late hours.” Lucas tells his father over the phone. Mason smiles widely when he hears this. Lucas was always a lady killer and heartbreaker. It was refreshing to see that his heart had been stolen.
David, however, gave an annoyed sigh. “Don’t get caught up in a “fleeting crush.” You have work to do and-” Before he could finish talking, Lucas hung up the phone.
“Dude! You got a death wish??” Mason was flabbergasted.
“Work is all he cares about. To hell with it. For once I’m happily looking forward to something.” Lucas mutters, determined to do things his way. Mason was concerned but he didn’t push it. Lucas was a stubborn man and would always do what he wanted.
And just like he said, after work, he drove to the music venue to see the Songbird once again. But before he even gets there, bright lights make his car swerve out of control and flip several times. The smell of gas and smoke in his eyes is the last thing he sees before everything goes black.
Mason rushes through the hospital’s halls and into the patient’s room where he is told his best friend has been put in. After he heard about the car wreck this evening, he feared the worst and dropped everything to get here ASAP. Unfortunately, Lucas’s father and uncle were already there. CEO and head director, the brothers were twins but because David was born first, Davis will never get to be the CEO.David looks surprised to see Mason race into the room like a bolt of lightning but his surprise switches into aggression quickly when he finally has somebody he can interrogate. “Did he go see that woman after I told him not to?”There was an intimidating edge in David’s voice. He was extremely worried about his son but he expressed it in the worst way possible. Mason looks behind David and at his friend who is still unconscious on the bed. His heart twists with worry but he does his best to remain focused. He finally looks at his boss. “From what he told me, yes… but by the sounds of
Aria La Belle is charged with a DUI homicide and spent time both behind bars and doing community service. Meanwhile, Lucas was in and out of hospitals for regular checkups on his amnesia which showed no improvement other than his family and the Augustine Company. Everything except for Aria, even the awful way he bullied her back in high school was a forgotten memory. Within the last three years, Lucas’s father had passed away, and because of Lucas’s condition, Davis became the new CEO while Lucas became the head director. The Songbird’s dreams shattered along with her reputation and career to the point her friendship with her bandmates faded away too. Now she was an advertising agent for a company owned by Roxanne’s friend, someone who enjoyed making life hard on Aria just as much as her rival did. And Lucas was unaware of it all because nobody told him anything about Aria. The day Lucas was diagnosed with amnesia, David told Mason to never tell him about the woman he met at the conc
“So, what do you think?” Lucas asks his best friend. It was the next day and they were both at the Augustine Company within Mason’s office. Lucas was hanging out here with him even though they were still within working hours, sitting on his desk. Even with the amnesia he’s had the past three years, the man has never changed.“Think? Well… I think it’s great that you’re getting your memories back. Even a tiny bit counts…” Mason’s words trail off and he sweats as he remembers his boss’s threat from yesterday. Davis ordered him to not mention Aria and to keep her name out of his head. The distress could make him sick. Lucas is his best friend, how could he lie to him? They’ve been friends for years. When Mason had a nasty divorce, Lucas let him stay at his house for as long as he liked and even gave him rides. Hell, he still does. And now he’s being forced to lie to his face. But what choice does he have? He doesn’t know what Davis is careful of.Mason clears his throat to make sure his
“So if we do this, then…” Aria explains to Lucas while pointing from paper to paper within the files she had collected to help them with his project. The pretty woman was so caught up in explaining their plan and layout that she didn’t even stop to ask Lucas for any opinions of his own. But when she finally did look at him, she spotted him staring at her from the other side of the table that they sat on. Aria becomes flustered with a blush as she raises her voice. “Mr. Augustine!” Lucas jumps when his surname is yelled at. By his reaction and sudden change in expression, it was obvious that Aria’s words had gone in one of his ears and flew right out the other without registering anything in his brain. Aria heaves a tired sigh and crosses her arms while shaking her head. “Honestly, sir, if you want my help then you need to take this seriously!” The former heir gives a sheepish grin since he was just caught gazing at her in a trance from her beauty once again. “Sorry. And, again, call
Aria’s frozen body is followed by a pounding heart as Lucas’s face leans closer to hers. She instinctively closed her eyes just to hide her panic mostly. As she begins to feel his warm breath against her skin, a knock at her office’s door makes the lovebirds jump and spin around right as Aria’s boss walks in.“Are you two- oh…” Her eyes were wide with awkward surprise when she saw what she had just walked in on and then she pretended to fix her shirt and act professional, even lifting her chin a bit as she spoke. “Ms. La Bella. Don’t forget you have an appointment with someone else as well. You’ll have to wrap up what you’re doing with Mr. Augustine soon.” The woman says before walking out of the room, her high-heeled shoes leaving behind loud clacks as they hear her walk down the hall.The black-haired woman lets out a tired sigh. “Oh, gosh, I almost forgot!” She then looked at the man apologetically. “Sorry, Lucas. We’ll pick it back up again tomorrow.”The look in Lucas’s eyes sho
“Thanks for coming with me, Mason. I knew I could rely on you.” Lucas says to his best friend as they wait in the doctor’s office.“Of course. Whatever you need, I’ll always be right here for you.” Mason smiles back at him, doing his best to make sure it doesn’t look like it’s being forced. The man still felt awful for lying to Lucas about being a supportive friend.The situation Mason was in felt like torture, having to lie to the one man who had had his back through the best and worst of times. But he was still terrified over what Mr. Augustine would do to him if he refused to follow his orders. All he had to do was report to his boss about Lucas’s activities, lie to his friend about what his uncle was up to, and attempt to keep him away from Aria. Everything was going as Davis wanted but what he didn’t know was that he was failing to keep Lucas away from Aria. As a result, his friend has regained more memories. What will happen to Mason if Davis finds out about this?The two men lo
The look in Mason’s eyes couldn’t be hidden from Lucas. He could tell that his friend was very distressed and he would even say afraid. But afraid of what? His uncle? The two friends had their suspicions about Davis’s actions and behavior since his twin brother, Lucas’s father, died. But just because his personality changes doesn’t mean that his uncle has turned into a villain. Right?Lucas knew that their meeting had nothing to do with him so it was best if he didn’t interfere. The former heir decides to get back to work on his job but there was still another troubling question that crossed his mind. Why would his doctor on amnesia relay a message from Davis to Mason?The Augustine Company had an infirmary built within the building a long time ago, David cared about his employees and wanted to make sure that if any harm came to them, or even a mild headache, there would be a place there for them to feel better. This is where Lucas has been seeing his doctor for amnesia. At the same t
Papers are dumped on top of Aria’s head, making the woman flinch as all of her hard work gets scattered on the floor and it even messes up her black hair that she had struggled to put into a clean bun. “Unbelievable.” Her boss then tosses her files to the side. The anger in her eyes revealed the fuel behind her cruel fire: jealousy. “Un-fucking-believeable! Why the hell would Augustine be interested in someone like you? A failed singer. Roxanne told me all about how pathetic you are with your little singing career that got flushed down the drain because you were an alcoholic! Oh yeah, I bet he doesn’t even know that you’re a felon!”The rumors that Roxanne had spread about Aria weren’t true. Aria hated alcohol but she’d only make an exception when it was with her friends. But even then, she still doesn’t drink very much. Aria remained silent as her boss released her ire upon her. Her hands were balled up in tight fists where they rested on her lap. Even her whole body was completely