Chapter 43
Alice pulls me behind a concrete column and sneers at a group of girls passing by. We’re standing in front of a venue, and Gigi’s name flashes on the marquee sign. I punch Alice’s arm and hiss, “What the hell are we doing here?”
“Calm down.” Alice rubs her sore arm and lowers her voice.
“Gigi posted that she has a surprise for fans tonight. On Charlotte’s Insta, she posted being at a restaurant around the corner.
I know a bartender who works here and asked if Scarlet Failure was spotted.
He said yes and confirmed seeing Sully. Though he was moody and told anyone who spoke more than three words to piss off. ”
“Why would he be here? He told me he quit the band.”
Alice shrugs. “You said that Charlotte confronted him in the hotel lobby. Maybe they made some kind of deal?”
“Deal with the devil,” I mutter, wishing I could smash Gigi’s name off the building. How dare her terrible name be in lights.
“What’s the plan? We go inside, and what?” I tug on my hair. “Please don’t say you’re going to have us meet them after the show because—”
“No. I won’t force you to relive that little meet cute you had. My plan is more devious.” She grabs my hand and pulls me around the corner. “We are going in through the service entrance.” She sends a quick text and shows me the screen. “My friend, Randy, is coming.”
A dark cloud hovers over me. We’re sneaking in and about to ambush Sully like he did me at the pool.
Crap. I need to take calming breaths and center myself.
If I knew sneaking around was in our plans tonight, I would’ve worn quieter shoes and something more blending in, not a short blue dress with a sweetheart neckline.
I would’ve dressed the part of someone backstage.
“Okay, you found us a way into the venue, but how are we getting backstage and finding Sully without being caught?”
She laughs, flipping her hair back. “Bitch, this is backstage. Once we’re in, we zip our hoodies and keep our heads low. Grab anything you can hold and act like a roadie.”
I want to wring her neck when the door cracks open. A guy wearing a beanie steps out. “Hurry,” he says.
Alice and I slip inside, and she high-fives Randy. “Thanks, man. You’re helping my friend’s Cinderella story in the making.” She gives me a side hug, squeezing me too tight.
“Just don’t get caught. If you do, I know nothing.” He points to our left. “I saw Scarlet Failure over there about fifteen minutes ago. You should find Sully easily. He’s the one yelling.”
“Maybe this is more like Beauty and the Beast,” Alice mutters, zipping her jacket and popping up the hood.
I mimic her, and we grab the stands next to a drum set. “Stop naming Disney movies and tell me the rest of the plan.”
“That’s easy, V. Don’t draw attention and find Sully. Talk to him, and then…I don’t know…it’s up to you.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” I bite my lip until the pain is unbearable. Alice hugs the walls, but the coast is clear. She moves forward, and we freeze when we hear voices.
“The lights are off. We need to reset them,” the guy in blue jeans says then looks at a clipboard.
“We’re already running late. I’m fucking tired of these delays.” He grabs his radio and says, “Jimmy, reset the lights, and God help you if you screw this up again.”
They see right through us and keep walking. A weight falls off my shoulders, and I lean against the wall.
“It’s a maze back here. Maybe we should—”
“Give up? Crawl under a rock again like you always do? Yeah, okay. You can keep living how you were and pretend Florida will change everything.”
I set the stand down and wipe my sweaty palms on my jacket. “Are we going to search room by room? I don’t think—”
“Randy said Sully was yelling. We can walk until we hear his voice. This place isn’t that big.” She touches my arm and smiles. “We’re rewriting your story. Remember that.”
“Okay.” I grab the stand, and we’re off. Lars and Ben exit a room, and I turn around to face Alice. “Shit,” I mouth.
She and I huddle next to black containers of gear as they breeze by talking about pizza. We both sigh in relief when someone clears their throat behind us.
“What do you think you’re doing? Those stands don’t go there. Why is everyone here a moron?”
“Sorry, we’ll move them,” Alice says, grabbing her stand and nodding for me to follow.
“Wait. Forget the stands.” The woman snaps her fingers, and a tall, skinny boy hurries over, wiping his brow and smearing black grease across his forehead.
“Take these to where they belong.” He rushes off to do what she said, and she clicks her tongue at us.
“As for you two, I need you to help set up Gigi’s wardrobe changes. ”
I fight the instinct to gag and dig my fingernails into my arm.
“Of course,” Alice replies, grabbing my wrist and dragging me down the hall.
“I hate LA,” the woman mutters too loudly and then walks away, barking at someone on a radio.
We are going in the opposite direction the arrows are pointing for the stage. The hairs on my arms rise when Sully’s voice booms in the distance. “I can string my own guitar. Get the hell out!” A boy yelps and runs down the hall, shoulder-checking me, and doesn’t look back.
“We found him.” Alice gasps and pulls me behind a tower of crates. “Gigi at ten o’clock.”
“She can’t see me, or we’ll be tossed out before I can say anything.” I hang my head. “This was a long shot anyway.”
“What are you saying? We found him! I’ll distract Gigi, and you sneak into his room. Be sure to lock the door if you can.”
I lick my lips and ball my hands into fists to hide their tremors. “What if he chews me out, too? He doesn’t seem to want to be around anyone right now. This mission could be for nothing and—”
Alice slaps me across the face. “Snap out of it! He will take one look at you and thank his lucky stars or some romantic crap like that.” She tugs on my sleeve.
“After you lock the door, take your hoodie off. He needs to see how hot you look, and he won’t be saying anything. ” She giggles and covers her mouth.
She shrugs out of her jacket and tosses it on the ground. “You’ll do great. Text me if you want me to stick around or go, okay?”
I nod, too nervous to speak. She hugs me and disappears. Her voice echoes as she speaks to Gigi, complimenting how gorgeous her hair is. She’s able to pull Gigi into another room as they talk about outfits and lipstick color.
“Just do it,” I say to myself and beeline for the room Sully’s voice came from.
I look around and spot him sitting on a couch with his back to me, strumming his guitar.
My heartbeat is louder than the soundcheck on stage as I close and lock the door.
I slip off my jacket when he snaps, “Why doesn’t anyone understand I want to be left alone?
” He places the guitar next to him and turns to sneer, more angry words on his tongue, but he goes mute when he sees me.
“Veronica? What are you doing here?” He scratches his head. “I knew there was something in that cookie. Fuck.”
“It’s me. I found this.” I pull his note out of my bra and set it on the table in front of him. “And decided it’s time I stop running. I’m ready to hear you out if you still want to talk. If you don’t, I understand.” I wrap my arms around my torso, unsure what to do with my hands.
Sully flies to his feet and holds me in his arms. “I’m so happy you’re here.” He kisses me. It’s deep and hard, full of hunger and lust.
I run my fingernails down his back, and we fall onto the couch. The guitar slides to the floor, but we don’t give it a second thought.
“How did you get back here?” he asks breathless.
I smile at him big enough to crack my face. “Alice is scarily good at getting what she wants. She should’ve been a spy.”
“How do you know she isn’t one?” he snickers, wrapping his arms around me. “I’ll have to thank her. I was afraid I’d never see you again.”
“I don’t want to be in this world without you,” I whisper, looking at his lips to avoid his searching gaze.
He tips my head back with a curled finger. “Let’s get out of here. Where do you want to go?”
I laugh, lying my head against his shoulder and interlocking our fingers together. “You can’t walk out on this show. We can do something after.”
“Screw this gig. I only agreed to get Charlotte off my back. I owed her one.” He traces the freckles on the back of my wrist. “I was serious about giving everything up for you. All I wanted was to write music and have it change one person’s life.
I’ve done that tenfold, and I can still be a songwriter.
But none of this means anything if I don’t have you. ”
“You’re okay leaving Scarlet Failure and the fallout you’ll face on social media? Fans will attack you online.”
He bends forward, picking up the guitar and examining its neck.
“I never wanted the fame. It’s a pain in the ass.
I’d love to be another face in the crowd walking down the street.
” He leans the guitar against the table and turns to face me.
“I’m fine fading into the background and having you be the star. I’ll be your…what was it?”
I laugh. “Mer-handler.”
“Yeah. I’ll be your mer-handler, and we’ll travel around the globe. On the side, I can sell songs. Sounds like the perfect life.”
My phone buzzes. It’s Alice asking if she needs to stay because Gigi is forcing her to watch a fashion show about what she should wear on stage, and her eyes are bleeding.
“Crap. I forgot Alice was distracting Gigi,” I say.
Sully sucks on his teeth. “She better run. Once Gigi gets her claws into someone, they’re scarred for life.”
“I’m going to tell her it’s okay she leaves. I’m in good hands.”
He pulls me close to his chest. “Damn right, you are, Engel.” His husky voice rumbles through me, and all I want to do is jump his bones. I text Alice, freeing her from friendship duty, and she sends me a thumbs up with a kissy face emoji.
“How do we get out of here?” I step back to keep myself from climbing on top of Sully and kissing him until we’re dizzy. “Pull the fire alarm?”
“We can’t go that far, but we could create a diversion.” He grabs a radio and switches channels until he finds the one the crew uses. “What should we say?”
I pace the room, thinking. “Groupie on the loose? A spill?”
He nods. “Okay. I got one.” He presses the button and speaks in a thicker German accent says, “Pizza guy’s here, but he dropped some boxes. Giant fucking mess.”
“Son of a bitch!” comes blasting over the speaker.
We laugh, and he ditches the radio onto the couch. He grabs his guitar and nods toward the door. “Let’s run for it.”
People buzz around, but we slip out the exit door without anyone stopping us. We run to the coffee shop down the street, and I order a ride while Sully gets us a couple of drinks to go.
We’re finally free.