Chapter 91 - Snarky Ass

                                    

                                          
■Previous Chapters: 81, 47, 5, 2, 1
                          
■Corresponding Chapter: 90
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"Nik, say what you want to say, but I will always be here for you," Tommy, sighs.
                          
"I know. I'm just overthinking things. I'm here for you too. Even when I'm holding my future girlfriend's hand," Nikki laments
                          
"Yeah, future is right. Come on, think about it. You don't really have the time. You said it yourself.
                          
"I know. I guess being a free agent is good."
                          
"Hey, not that free. Not free at all. You have no fucking time.
                          
Nikki smiles, as Tommy wipes away any evidence of tears on his face with his thumbs. Then Tommy leans in and kisses Nikki all over, where the tears were, landing on his lips eventually.
                          
"Fuck all this shit. Let's enjoy our first night in, and alone," Tommy resolves.
                          
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The weekend came and went. Nikki and Tommy spend as much time together as they could. Nikki wasn't in the mood to see Mick at all, however, Vince nosed his way in a few times; just to hang.
                          
Monday is their first day in the studio. The limo came early to pick the band up to drive them to the studio. Nikki decided to take a hardline approach with Mick, instead of shrinking back, and gave him a challenging glare the entire time in the limo; a way to signal that he's not backing down. When they arrived, they were brought into one of the recording studios, and got situated fairly quickly. Before starting anything, Mick asks to see Nikki outside in the hallway for a minute.
                          
"What was that fucking stare all about in the limo? You have some sort of fucking problem?" Mick asks
                          
"No, I don't. But you seem to. Just letting you know where I stand. Not giving into your idea of what you think is right for me. You don't know what's right for me."
                          
"Fine. No problem Nikki. But I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking, the weekend after next is Memorial Day weekend. We'll have some days off. I thought that it might be good for all of us to bring our women up for the extended weekend. You know, get some hotel rooms to be alone. Thought that we could all do some things together, like seeing some sort of show and dinner. I know you don't have anyone, so Emi still has that friend she can bring with her, so you don't have to be alone."
                          
"You can cut your passive-aggressive bullshit towards me on this topic. The answer is no. I'm not interested right now," Nikki snarls.
                          
"OK, Nik. Sorry. I won't bring it up again. Do whatever makes you happy."
                          
"Planning on it. It's not a big fucking deal, you know. And I don't have a timeline for things. I just know what's good for me right now."
                          
"It's fine, I said. I'm done saying my piece. But, I still plan on trying to get the ladies up here for that weekend."
                          
"Great. I expect you guys to have them here at times. You don't need to fucking announce it like it's something that I'm gonna care about. Let's get back to work."
                          
Mick and Nikki go back to the studio. Bob asks Nikki to share the ideas that he's got so far.
                          
"I've got a ton of stuff in my notebook. Some are just lyrics, some have the beginning workings of music. Some I think are kind of shitty and have no hope of making it to the album, but I just want to demo everything, so at the end we have enough to work with to end up with the absolute best on the album. There won't be any slots left to fill in with something shitty," Nikki says, as he starts thumbing through this notebook.