"So, she texted you to meet her. Alone? What was the tone like?"
"How will I know from a text?"
"Maybe by emojis but I doubt she uses any. Her texts would be as cold as her eyes if not colder."
Aiden sighed as he heard that. He was currently in a parking lot of a cafe that Rachel had called him to meet in.
It was a cafe that was close to the office of Cyco media and it seemed like this place was visited by employees and celebrities from the record label frequently.
But before he could get out of his car, Cameron had called him.
At first, it was just to say congratulations about his album succeeding but eventually, the conversation moved on to Rachel.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Cameron suddenly asked and Aiden nodded, his instincts telling him that the question was going to be stupid.
"Go on."
"Did something happen between you and Rachel? Like there was always a weird sexual tension between the two—"
"There's nothing of that sort."
Aiden interrupted him and said. Even the thought of something like that happening sent a chill down his spine. He liked challenges but they were good to a level.
"Really?"
"Yes, we were always rivals. Then friends, but I guess now back to rivals. I really hope we sort out whatever is between us but I don't even know what it is."
Aiden said honestly and Cameron replied after a bit of thinking.
"I think she's just insecure."
"Why?"
"Lots of reasons. She always thought of you as some sort of competition in X-Star. Although after she beat you and won the competition, she got smug for a while until your song defeated hers. After that, she was probably depressed as her career went nowhere and you kept climbing like you were on some lift and she was given an old ladder that was breaking down. Think about it for a moment."
Aiden went silent suddenly.
Thinking of it, he admitted it was like that and there was no denying it. It was only after he offered her a song that she blew up and after that, Cyco media used it to get more publicity by releasing solo singles.
"I think that after she started gaining popularity, she felt like she hadn't done it alone and you have helped her out a lot. You know her personality. She wants to do everything herself, so this would have been in her mind all the time."
Cameron's voice was making more and more sense every second. Even Aiden wondered how he had gotten so smart suddenly but thinking about it, he realised that Cameron probably had spent more time with Rachel than him on X-Star.
He probably observed her a lot as they were the biggest competition to each other till the finals.
"Maybe that's why, when she got a chance to beat you, she did everything to achieve it, taking it as a proof that she was good on her own and that she would have been successful either way. Her rivalry stems in her traits and insecurities. And as you know, celebrities are the most insecure people."
"I know."
Aiden said and after talking for a bit more, he cut the call.
Cameron's call was unexpected but it gave him some information before meeting Rachel. As he thought more about it, his words looked more and more right.
But the question of why she had called him here was still not answered? Did she have anything to say to him or was it just something else?
'I guess I will know for sure when I meet her.'
Aiden said, getting out of the car and making his way in.
When he entered the cafe, he quickly spotted Rachel. She was wearing a white dress and had a hat on her face. A mask was placed on the table, hinting that she was trying to get out of public sight while coming here.
He sat in front of her and she seemed surprised at his sudden arrival but quickly calmed down.
"Congrats on your album. I liked it a lot."
"Thanks."
Rachel muttered, not saying anything else and just ordering. Aiden did the same and it took a while before any conversation could start.
He kept observing Rachel as she didn't start any conversation.
She hadn't really changed much in recent years. Her face was still the same but for some reason, there was a certain charm to her now. Aiden had heard that being in front of the camera all the time could make you look more pleasing.
Other than that, her atmosphere was also less cold today. At least he could tell that she wasn't here to pick a fight.
"So, why have you called me here?" Aiden asked.
"I wanted to... talk." Rachel said with a bit of hesitation in her voice.
She tried to gather her words but nothing came to her mind. She didn't know how to talk about this.
In the end, she just ended up asking a question.
"Did you like the title song of my album?"
Aiden thought about the question in his mind and was about to say 'yes'. After all, it was rude to say no but Rachel glared at him with her cold, icy eyes.
"Say the truth."
"It's very catchy but it's not your usual style. Very different. Don't suit you at all. They made your voice heavily autotuned. I got the feeling that it was plastic. You know, those manufactured products. It sounded like that. Moreover, you were overshadowed. Your voice isn't used to this much modification so it comes out weird while Soul's vocals were natural. They adapt to this kind of music."
Aiden put down his real thoughts about the song.
He had listened to it a lot in the past few days and he sounded very catchy but he can't help but feel like they ruined Rachel's voice.
There was not even a part where she could use her high notes.
It sounded like a song that would be popular as the background music of 30 second videos but apart from that, it won't age well. In simple words, a can of beer instead of fine wine.
"Like I thought." Rachel muttered, lowering her head. "Those were my exact same thoughts when I listened to the song."
She felt embarrassed that Aiden had straightforwardly talked about all the bad things in her song. She knew them but it was still different when someone would point it out like this.
"Why did you agree to it then?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I wanted to beat you."
"Enough to ruin your voice. You can do much better, you know and why do you even want to beat me?"
Aiden looked at her. He liked a rivalry but not one where Rachel was going to ruin her own voice to get more streaming numbers. A popular song was not always a good song.
"I wanted to prove to myself that I could have made it without your help."
She said the same thing that Cameron had told Aiden.
For a second, he pondered on the fact that Cameron knew her so well but he quickly moved on to the conversation. His thoughts could wait.
"You have done a lot already. You don't need me. Nor you have to beat me."
He said and as Aiden was about to tell her to get some therapy to get over her insecurities, Rachel said something unexpected.
"I realised that."
"... You did?" Aiden looked at her, not expecting her to already realise the problem.
"Yeah I did. There was a lot of chatter around our clash and even though Cyco media tried to fuel it, you kept silent. To be honest, I felt insulted when you did that. I thought that you looked down on me but..."
"It's not like that." Aiden said and she nodded her head.
"You just were trying to enjoy your own music and not focus on external things. When I thought about it more, I realised you acted the same during X-Star. Focusing more on yourself than the others."
Aiden was mainly like that due to the advantage of having a system.
Although he had come across people who had better skill ranks than him, he had never felt like he wouldn't be able to beat them. Due to his system, his competition had always been with himself.
That was a change of mentality that system brings with him.
Moreover, Aiden knew that he was not going to release an album as often as his movies. Singing was a secondary skill to him, so he tried to enjoy his time doing it rather than worry about the results.
"When I thought about it, I observed myself and felt like I'm doing a disservice by constantly worrying about you or some other singer. I guess I have gotten very sensitive in recent times."
She said and made a smile. A smile full of sadness.
Aiden kept silent as she lowered her head again and muttered.
"That's why, I'm sorry."
