The celebration spilled across three floors of the Manhattan high-rise, a carousel of champagne flutes and designer suits that would have made Gatsby himself proud. Rico had outdone himself – industry executives mingled with artists, producers huddled in corners plotting collaborations, and somewhere on the upper level, a impromptu jam session had broken out featuring three Grammy winners and an upright bass.
I stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, nursing a sparkling water that everyone assumed was vodka tonic, watching my reflection ghost against the city lights. In my previous life, I'd attended parties like this as a hungry outsider, desperate for recognition. Now I was the center of gravity, and the irony tasted sharper than any champagne.
"Marcus Johnson," a voice like honey over gravel pulled me from my reverie. "The boy wonder of the Bronx."
L.A. Reid stood before me, immaculate in a suit that cost more than my first studio setup. In my original timeline, we wouldn't meet for another five years. The butterfly effect was working overtime tonight.
"Mr. Reid," I nodded, maintaining the careful balance of respect and confidence I'd mastered in both timelines. "I appreciate you coming."
"I appreciate you revolutionizing my industry," he replied, his smile calculating behind the warmth. "That new sound you're pushing? It's causing quite a stir among my contemporaries. Some might say it's ahead of its time."
*If walls could whisper what would they say
About the future slipping away
Time-worn wisdom in modern light
Breaking barriers in the night*
The lyrics from our latest track floated down from the upper level, where the vocalists had joined the jam session. L.A.'s eyebrow arched slightly at the words – he'd always been too perceptive for comfort.
"Innovation is risk," I offered, the words feeling worn and comfortable on my tongue. "But standing still is certain death in this business."
"Indeed." He studied me with the intensity that had made him legendary. "You know, there's been talk about your production techniques. Equipment configurations that shouldn't work, but do. Arrangements that feel... prophetic."
My heart kept steady rhythm, years of practice controlling my reaction to such dangerous observations. In the reflection of the window, I caught sight of Rico moving through the crowd toward us, his sixth sense for crucial moments as reliable as ever.
"Music is mathematics," I said, allowing a smile to warm my words. "And mathematics is prophecy, if you know how to read it."
L.A. laughed, a rich sound that drew attention from nearby conversations. "You sound like Berry Gordy in '62. He had that same look in his eyes – like he could see around corners."
Rico arrived with perfect timing, champagne glasses materializing in his hands. "Mr. Reid, I see you've found our resident genius."
The conversation shifted to safer ground – market projections, tour possibilities, collaboration opportunities. But L.A.'s words echoed in my mind like feedback in an empty arena. Berry Gordy in '62. Another visionary who'd changed the course of music history. The weight of temporal responsibility pressed down on my shoulders like a lead jacket.
Across the room, Maria was deep in conversation with Clive Davis, her natural warmth somehow making the industry titan look grandfatherly. The sight struck me with its surreality – my mother, who once worried about making rent, now networking with legends as if she'd been born to it. In my previous life, she never lived to see my success. Now she was flourishing in it, her inner strength finally finding its proper stage.
*Through the haze of neon dreams
Nothing's ever what it seems
Yesterday's still yet to come
Future's weight has just begun*
The vocals drifted down again, and I caught L.A. studying me once more. The lyrics were too knowing, too laden with double meaning. I'd have to be more careful – success was making me bold, and boldness with time was dangerous currency.
"Marcus," Rico's voice cut through my thoughts. "They're asking for you upstairs. The jam session's turning into something special."
I excused myself, grateful for the escape. As I made my way through the crowd, hands reached out to touch me, voices called my name, success pressing in from all sides like a sweetly suffocating perfume. In my previous life, I'd craved this attention. Now it felt like a spotlight threatening to expose my temporal sleight of hand.
The upper level was awash in raw music, talented hands finding new melodies on borrowed instruments, voices weaving harmony from thin air. This was where I belonged – in the pure creation of sound, where past and future melted into an eternal present of rhythm and tone.
I sat at the piano, fingers finding keys that would always be true no matter what timeline I inhabited. The music welcomed me home, and for a moment, I could forget the weight of knowing, the responsibility of reshaping history note by note. But only for a moment.
Because even as I played, my mind was calculating the ripples, measuring the distance between what was and what would be, composing a future that grew more unrecognizable with each passing day. The price of fame hadn't changed – it had only grown more complex, measured now not in dollars but in diverging timelines and carefully preserved paradoxes.
Above the piano, a gold record caught the light, throwing my reflection back at me fractured and multiplied. Seventeen-year-old eyes stared out from my thirty-five-year-old face, both of us wondering the same thing: how much longer could we keep this temporal tightrope walk in perfect balance?
The music swelled around me, and I let it carry the question away. Tonight was for celebrating. Tomorrow would bring its own harmonies, its own challenges, its own chances to rewrite the melody of time.