Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
A iley scheduled a congratulations party for us about a week after our song was released. She wanted to throw it on release day, but our schedules didn't match up.
The event was thrown in the same restaurant where they'd held their fan meeting, on the second floor in a closed-off private room. There were several dozen people in attendance, mostly friends and colleagues, although there were also some members of the local media.
Of course, those friends and colleagues just happened to be famous themselves. Musicians, actors, models and other celebrities were chatting to each other as they drank wine and nibbled on appetizers. Ailey made sure the event was a classy affair. None of the boozing and partying that apparently happened at their other, rowdier events. I gave her silent thanks for keeping it low key.
I'd dressed up a bit fancier than usual, with a simple black cocktail dress, the hem falling just above my knees and the neckline almost too low for comfort. I'd curled my hair to put waves in it, a change from my usual stick-straight blond strands. Add a little makeup and I almost felt like a celebrity myself.
Ren had wanted to pick me up, but he had a photoshoot scheduled right before, so I told him I'd meet him there. I felt nervous entering the restaurant myself, but when I gave my name to the woman standing guard at the door, I received a pleasant smile and hearty congratulations.
"I downloaded your song," she said. "I loved it."
Some of the nerves went away, replaced by a rush of something close to pride.
"Thank you," I replied politely. She ushered me inside, where a doorman took my jacket and handed me a numbered ticket. I shoved it into the small clutch purse I'd slung over my shoulder. A second woman handed me a small piece of paper, then did a double take and laughed.
"I suppose you don't need this," she said.
It was a flyer advertising our song. It had a picture of me and a picture of Ren along with small bios under a heading that said, 'About The Artists'.
"I'll keep it," I told the woman. My parents would probably get a kick out of it.
My parents. I hadn't called them in a while. I'd been so caught up with Ren and my worries about money I'd barely spared a thought for them. I'd have to call them and give them an update.
They were going to be surprised their daughter was behind the song they kept hearing on the radio.
Arms wrapped around me from behind and lips planted a kiss on my neck.
"You look ravishing," Ren said. He chuckled and brought his lips to my ear. "In fact, I'd like to ravish you right now."
I blushed and turned around in his arms. "Behave. We're in public."
He looked gorgeous in his tailored suit. As hot as he was every time I'd seen him shirtless, there really was just was something about a man in a suit and tie that made girls melt.
"I suppose I'll have to wait until the party is over to get you alone." He gave my hips a squeeze, hands almost wandering too far south, but stopped before he reached indecent territory. He placed a brief kiss on my lips before pulling away, knowing that PDA made me uncomfortable—although the both of us had gotten bolder after we'd finally…
I squirmed inwardly.
After we'd been intimate .
"So, how are you dealing with fame and fortune?" he asked, teasing me as he stroked a hand through my hair.
"I can do without fame, but fortune would be nice." I'd been fielding phone calls and requests for interviews all week. It had started to get overwhelming, so Ren arranged for Dark Sound Studios to take care of all that for me. I just stopped answering my phone and let Ailey do her job.
Luckily, no one outside Ren's close circle of colleagues knew what his mysterious music partner looked like yet, so I could go to school without reporters waiting for me outside.
"Fortune it is." Ren replied. "Let me take care of the fame part."
"The song's doing well, then?" I asked anxiously. I'd heard it on the radio a few times, but I had no idea what the fans of Feral Silence thought of it.
"It's doing very well. You don't need to worry."
"But will it really be enough to cover my tuition?"
Ren pulled out his phone and tapped a few times. "This is what Ailey sent me. It's the number of downloads and profit to date." He turned the screen to face me.
My eyes bugged out.
"Think that'll cover it?" He quirked a grin.
"That should do it," I replied weakly. I'd known Ren was popular, but I hadn't known just how much money he really made. I was intimidated all over again.
But, I reminded myself, half that money was mine. Technically, I was also a rock star. Sort of. I giggled to myself, holding back a smile.
"Congratulations!" Ailey appeared at my side and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I knew you'd do well."
"Thanks to your PR hype," I said, letting go of Ren to hug her back.
Ailey had put together an entire public relations and online marketing plan for our release. I'd been walked through the details and only understood about twenty percent of it, but I knew that Ailey and her team had worked hard for us.
"Sorry Ren, I need to steal your girl for a minute. Ivy, do you mind answering some questions for the press?"
"Sure?" I replied, hesitant. Since I'd been avoiding the media, I hadn't given an interview yet.
"It'll be fine. Just talk about the song. You don't have to answer any questions you don't want to."
Ailey led me over to the bar where a man and woman were waiting for me, both with recording devices in their hands. The woman wore a pencil skirt and blouse, her blond hair a perfectly coiffed fluffy cloud framing her face. The man wore jeans with a collared shirt, much more casual than the woman.
"You're the girl who worked with Ren from Feral Silence on this song, correct?" The woman asked abruptly, no small talk. I was slightly taken aback, but answered as best I could.
"Yes, that's me."
"How did you come to start working with him?"
"We're friends."
They both raised their eyebrows. I hurried to explain. I didn't want them thinking Ren had just done his most recent conquest a favor, although that's sort of what had happened.
"Ren and I knew each other growing up. We recently reunited."
"And what is your relationship with him now?" the man asked. "Are you really just friends?"
"Um." I looked around wildly, trying to catch Ren's eye. What should I say?
"No personal questions, please." Ailey interrupted briskly. "This is strictly a professional interview."
The man scowled, but the woman took it in stride. "Why did you and Ren decide to compose a classical piece together?"
I couldn't say because I'm poor and needed the money . "Both our backgrounds are in classical music. I know Jayce does acoustic versions. I think that's what gave Ren the idea."
"Who decided which song to remake?"
"That was me."
"And what made you decide to choose this particular song to work on?"
"I guess—" I stopped, thinking for a moment. "I guess because it was one of the first Feral Silence songs that resonated with me. It made me feel something inside. I don't know much about rock music, but this song touched me."
"Are you not a fan of Feral Silence?" The man asked.
"Not really."
He looked frustrated again. Was he hoping I was actually some sort of groupie? I didn't like the idea of the media twisting my words to make up a sordid story.
"How long have you been playing cello?" The woman asked, continuing her questions.
"More than a decade."
"And what do you do? Professionally, I mean."
"I'm still a student. I go to the Academy of Orchestral Performance Studies."
The man didn't blink, but the woman looked impressed, giving me a careful look up and down as if really seeing me for the first time. She must have been more aware of the music scene than her colleague. I got the impression he was some kind of tabloid reporter.
"I'll have to cut this short," Ailey interrupted. "I need to introduce Ivy to some other guests." She herded me away with a hand on her arm.
"I didn't like the feeling I was getting from that guy," she murmured.
"Me either."
"He was probably looking to start up some juicy gossip about you and Ren."
"Thanks for saving me."
"It wasn't a total lie. There are some people I want you to meet." She nodded her head toward the entrance.
"Ivy!"
Nat and Jen stood in the doorway with huge smiles on their faces. I rushed over and threw my arms around them. They were dressed in their best outfits, both in cocktail dresses similar to mine. I noticed Nat looked a bit more glamorous than usual with her hair in a fancy up do and her makeup applied flawlessly for that natural look. Jen had a more wholesome, girl next door look.
"Thanks for coming."
"As if I'd miss this!" Nat replied.
"Where's the band?" Jen said immediately, then looked abashed. "I mean, congratulations, your song is awesome, I wish you and Ren the best." She gave me a sheepish grin. "Can you introduce me to the band now?"
I let out a laugh. "Of course, but put your tongue back in your mouth first."
I searched around for Ren and found him across the room surrounded by his friends.
We were halfway there when Jen stopped in her tracks.
"Ohmigod," she said, breathless.
"What?"
She pointed to the other side of the room, her hand shaking. I followed her finger to another group of guys standing around and drinking. "Yeah?"
"It's Darkest Days," she whispered, her voice almost horrified.
Nat did a double take and squeaked. "They're my favorite band . "
"I thought Feral Silence was your favorite band."
"A girl can have more than one favorite."
"You want to meet them?"
"I don't think my heart can take this," Nat said. "This is too much. Feral Silence and Darkest Days. Nope. Can't do it."
"I'm dead, right?" Jen said. "I'm dead and this is heaven."
I burst out laughing at the two of them. "You guys, they're just human beings like the rest of us."
Nat glared. "And how would you feel if Yo-Yo Ma was standing right here next to you?"
My breath caught in my throat as I let out a whimper.
"See?" Nat said in a huff. "A fangirl is a fangirl. Just because you have more refined tastes…"
"Okay. I get it. I'll ease you into it slowly, okay? Hey Ren!" I called out, tilting my head at the girls and giving him an almost exasperated smile. He let out a silent chuckle, understanding, and headed over.
"Jennifer and Natalie, right?" Ren said, giving them a bright smile. "It's nice to properly meet you."
"You too," Nat managed to keep her voice steady. "I loved your song."
"I've been listening to it on repeat for days," Jen added.
"I wanted to thank you," Ren said. The girls looked confused. "For being there for Ivy. I know we had a bit of a rocky start." He gave me an apologetic smile. "So I'm glad the two of you were there for her."
"Of course!" Jen said. "She's our best friend." She took my hand and squeezed. "But just so you know, famous rock star or not, I'll kick you in the balls if you ever hurt Ivy again."
Nat stared at her in horror. Ren turned almost green at the thought. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good." Jen looked satisfied with herself.
"Ren, can you do me a favor?" I asked. "Jen and Nat would really like to meet the guys from Darkest Days. Could you introduce us?"
Ren agreed easily. The three of us followed him in a line like ducklings, Jen and Nat at the back no doubt trying not to throw up from nerves.
The first thing I noticed were two identical faces. Twins? Their brown hair stood up from their heads in soft looking tufts, the same style on both. They were chatting with a third man who had platinum blond hair. It looked real, not from a bottle.
The other two band members seemed to be wrestling with each other. The one with fire engine hair had a mad grin on his face. He had thrown his arms around the scowling fifth member of the band, not letting him get away as much as he struggled.
"Hey, look who it is!" Red Hair called out, still holding onto his squirming band mate. "Ren, finally going to introduce us to your girl?"
That got the other members' attention, aside from platinum blond. He seemed absorbed in thought, looking off at nothing in particular. The twins, however, nearly chortled with wicked glee.
"Is that her?" one of them asked.
"She's cute," the other said, a devilish look in his eyes.
"Her friends are even cuter."
"I call dibs on the classy one."
"I call dibs on the cute one."
"Or both at once," the two twins chimed in together, sharing identical smirks.
I could almost hear Nat gulp. Jen squeaked.
My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket, confused. No one ever called. Everything was always through messaging. I turned away from the others so I could hear, leaving my friends at the mercies of seductive, teasing rock stars.
"Hello?"
"Hello, this is Faith from LuxurEvents. Am I speaking with the Ivy Derrick who auditioned with cello a few months ago?"
"Yes, that's me," I replied, surprised.
"Wonderful. Ivy, I'm calling to offer you a job."
I froze in shock.
"Although we went with someone else, you were honestly always our first choice. One of our higher-ups insisted we hire an acquaintance of theirs. Unfortunately, that hire didn't work out. Lucky for you, this opens up a position. Are you still interested?"
I could barely mumble an affirmative response.
"Wonderful. I'll email you the details and a contract. You can sign it electronically or print it off and fax it to us. I look forward to working with you. You're a very talented musician."
"Th-thank you," I stuttered.
The events woman, Faith, hung up with a cheerful goodbye.
"Ivy? What's wrong?"
Ren gave me a worried look as I stood there with my phone still to my ear, unmoving.
"I got offered a job," I said numbly.
His eyes lit up. "That's great! Which one?"
"The event one. They said I was their first choice." I couldn't make my tongue work well enough to recount the whole conversation. "They're going to send me a contract."
Ren grabbed me by the waist and swung me around. I yelped and clung onto his neck. "See? I told you."
"Told me what?"
He settled me down on two feet and waited until I was looking him in the eyes.
"You're Ivy of Opus Academy. You're the girlfriend of Ren from Feral Silence. You're a talented cello player and the composer of a number one hit song." He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "You're the girl I'm in love with. And you're amazing."