I imagined little tweeting birds circling my head just before my vision went gray.

"Nora."

Damn, what kind of dream was I having? Adam Hayes' voice was drifting into my head, but it was so real compared to when I was sleeping.

I felt a cold cloth being pressed to my forehead and then I heard Leo's voice, gently trying to get my attention. I opened my eyes slowly and saw three gracious faces staring into mine, with one lingering in the background. Adam, Leo, and Tito Rod were all kneeling in front of me while Levi looked on from behind them.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "I'm really fine." I looked around and then back at the three men who needed more convincing. "What happened? Did I faint?"

"Almost," Leo answered. "Are you okay? Do you remember what Adam asked you?"

I still couldn't quite believe he was sitting on his knees in front of me. The previous content of our "informal meeting" was slowly coming back to me. Still, I felt too embarrassed to say it out loud, just in case I had made it all up in my head.

"Would you be interested in working for me?" Adam repeated the question that had been swirling in my head for ten minutes. I hadn't made it up at all.

"You're serious?" I asked weakly.

"Well, yeah, but I understand if you don't want to. It is kind of sudden, and probably a little bizarre."

"No!" I practically shouted. "I mean, of course I'm interested! But yeah, I guess I was just a little surprised." He looked like he was waiting for me to say more. "Are you sure? I'm not even out of high school yet."

Adam actually looked shocked at this revelation. "Oh my gosh! I didn't even think about that." He glanced at Leo and then back to me. "Of course you two want to finish high school before you think of anything like this."

"No!" Leo and I crooned in unison. Then I continued, "It's not that, it's just that I don't have much experience and I might not be very good. I can't speak for Leo, but he's just an amateur, too."

"Hey!" Leo yelled and Adam laughed.

"Of course, I'll want to test you both out, make sure you know what you're doing, teach you the ropes, that kind of thing. But I honestly think you'll both be a great fit. After all, it wasn't that long ago that I was your age."

"Four years, ten months, and 15 days," I quipped before embarrassment engulfed my face. "Not that anyone is counting."

Adam gave me his one-in-a-million smile and stood up, offering his hand to help me up. I was still a little knock-kneed so he put his arm around my waist and supported the bulk of my body with his amazing arm muscles. (I'd drooled over them more than once in my lifetime.) "Looks like you need something to eat," he grinned. "We should order something here, though, unless you want to be on the front page of every tabloid tomorrow."

Leo and I agreed that it was probably a good idea not to get ahead of ourselves. But Tito Rod suggested we go back to his hotel suite since it would be a bit more comfortable and homey. We were walking down the hall, back towards the elevator when Adam said something. Levi was following close behind him, so I assumed he was talking to his friend.

But then he said my name more loudly than he'd been speaking. "Nora?"  (I got goosebumps when he said my name.)

"Oh, sorry, what?"

"I asked if you want to ride with me," Adam said, clearly repeating himself. Fuck shit, do I ever!

"Oh, sure," I said in a nonchalant tone, hoping he wouldn't notice I was about to hyperventilate.

I had thought that maybe Levi was doubling as Adam's security guard but when we arrived on the first floor, two large men wearing all black flanked Adam. He leaned over and said something quietly to one of them, who in turn, instructed me, "Follow me."

We immediately parted ways from the rest of the group. What was going on? Still, I followed obediently and found that the man was leading me out a hidden side entrance to the building. As soon as the door closed, a midnight blue Escalade with tinted windows pulled up in front of our toes. The man opened the door and I climbed in next to a beaming Adam. The door was closed, leaving the two of us alone.

"Nicely played," I teased.

"Well, you know how it is, right? If I'm seen with any female at all, everyone automatically thinks we're dating." He shrugged. "Not that I would mind those rumors if they were about a pretty girl like you."

Did he just say that? He really just said that.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about all the drama today," Adam changed his tone of voice. "I don't usually get so worked up in front of people. I'm sorry if that was uncomfortable."

I shook my head said, "Don't worry about it. I totally understand why you were frustrated. Happens to me all the time when I'm hiring people to run my enterprise."

He laughed loudly and grabbed my hand for a quick squeeze. "Good. I just didn't want you to think I'm an ogre or anything. I'm actually a pretty nice guy once you get to know me."

"I know."

For the remainder of the ride, we made small talk, which was mostly Adam asking me about the details of my life: Where did I live? Did I have siblings? What did I want to study when I went to college? Did I want to go to college? etc. I was happy to answer most things since I already knew almost all there was to know about him, at least in terms of practical details. I was completely charmed by the fact that he listened so carefully and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.

The afternoon was spent relaxing at Tito Rod's very luxurious penthouse suite. We gorged ourselves on Italian food from a restaurant I'd never been to, and we discussed the details of Adam's upcoming album and tour. It turns out he had about half the album planned out with a few songs already recorded so the process of completing and releasing it would be faster than I had thought.

And when I say we discussed it, I mean Adam and Rodrigo included Leo and me as if we were already functioning parts of the team. That made me both nervous and excited. I still had to wonder how serious he was about hiring either one of us, but if he did, my life would be vastly different and far more exciting than it had ever been.

As we got ready to leave, Adam said to Leo and me, "I'm guessing both of your parents will need some convincing, right?"

Leo shrugged while I said, "Um, yes! I still get grounded for the simplest things, so I'm really not sure if they will let me have complete autonomy for a job two thousand miles away!"

"Well, I've been thinking about that," Tito Rod interjected. "I think it may help if I offer to assume temporary guardianship or something like that. Only until you're 18, of course."

"Sure, if you can convince my parents, I'm game," I said, hiding my mounting anxiety about being away from home for the first time, even though I'd always dreamed of becoming independent and living my own life.

Rod and Adam proposed a meeting with our parents, and with one text to my mom, it was set for the next day.

Adam Hayes was asking my parents' permission to take me away!