34. Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-One
Lila
M alia was true to her word and added a meeting to my calendar for the next day. I wondered just how much I was about to be questioned about Barry and my reasoning for not including “On This Night” on the tour.
Barry offered to go with me, but I turned him down. He’d looked stricken when Justice had mentioned him joining the tour, and I refused to make him feel forced to stay longer than he had to.
I told him to check on his bar, and even he couldn’t hide his sigh of relief when I said those words. This was the longest he’d ever been away from it.
However, walking into Malia’s office made me regret telling him not to come. I was so not ready for the interrogation.
“Hi, Lila,” she said. “Sit down. Want some water?”
“No, I’m good.” I tried to sound casual, but my voice shook. “If this is about Barry, then—?”
“This isn’t about Barry at all. It’s about you.”
My heart stuttered. “Wh-what about me?”
“Have you ever heard the name Rose Hill?”
And now my heart completely stopped. No way. How did she know? Could I get out of this with my secret intact? “Um, no?”
Malia raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because she’s seeing your man. Or not really, considering you are her.”
Fuck.
I didn’t have anything to say to her. I just knew I was in trouble. Big trouble.
“Don’t look so worried,” Malia said. “It’s a good thing that I know. I can bury the lead I followed, and the only reason I did figure it out is because Barry introduced himself.”
“I’m sure you have questions.”
“Questions? About how you can disappear and feel normal for a bit? I think it’s obvious why you did this and it was smart to start from the beginning.”
“And you won’t tell anyone?”
“Absolutely not. I know your last agent would have used this against you, but not me. I only care about your well-being, and if this is how you keep your life safe and sound, then I will do everything in my power to keep this secret for you. You deserve peace.”
“So . . . you’re cool with it?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t think it’s weird?”
“Maybe if you came to me when you were up-and-coming and said you wanted to create a new persona, but even if you had a good explanation, I would have accepted it. I’m assuming Barry knows?”
“Yes. And Juno.”
“Anyone else?”
I shook my head.
“Blaze?”
“No. I never trusted him like that.”
“You made the right choice, considering he’s still using your name to his advantage.”
“Did he do anything else?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“This morning he insinuated that you were once married.”
“What?”
“He wants to make his side of the story as painful as possible. It would have helped if he could have produced a good album, but fortunately, he didn’t. People are going to be following you for a while, though.”
“When aren’t they?”
“Good point. But they know I represent you now and they know you’re here. You might want to call someone to pick you up once we finish.”
“Juno should have it covered.”
“Then let’s go over how we keep this secret just that—a secret.”
“Thank you,” I said, blowing out a breath of relief.
“I’m on your side. Never forget that.” She smiled before turning around her laptop, showing me how people could link Rose to Lila. I listened, intent on getting rid of all the evidence I could, and when the meeting was over, I walked out of Malia’s office feeling like my secret was safer than ever before.
Barry
Taking an uncertain breath, I pulled up Audrey’s name on the phone. She wouldn’t be working yet, but I didn’t know when I would get another free moment.
“Hey, Barry,” she said. There was a rustling sound on her end of the call. “What’s up?”
“Have a minute? I just wanted to check in.”
“Yeah, I’m just waking up.”
I didn’t have a sleep schedule now that I was traveling, but it wasn’t that early in Nashville.
“Late night?”
“Later than usual,” she said. “Or earlier, depending on how you look at it.”
“Who is it?” a voice asked. It sounded like someone I knew, but who the hell would be with her in bed?
“Barry,” she muttered back.
“Oh, that’s perfect. You needed to talk to him.”
My eyes narrowed as I finally placed the voice. “Wait a second, is that Liam ?”
“Uh, no?” Audrey laughed awkwardly. “Maybe he’s on the other line.”
“Are you trying to hide me?”
“I fucking knew it,” I said.
“I hate you both,” Audrey muttered. “But to answer your question, everything is fine.”
“Mostly,” Liam added.
“That is not how I wanted to ask him this,” she hissed.
“What is it? Do you need me back?”
“No. We were just thinking about upping the number of people allowed in.”
“Why?”
“The bar is busy, in a good way. The change to the dance night has really made things explode. And I sent out a survey that confirmed that most people would rather deal with crowds than wait.”
“But if we up the maximum guest list, we can’t keep an eye on things.”
“We have the money to double the staff. I’m serious, Barry. The change to the dance nights has been good.”
“If we double the staff, then I need to be there to hire them.”
“I mean, we could hire them. If you trust us, of course.”
“I trust you,” I rushed to say, because I did. “But hiring has always been my thing. I’m good at it.”
“You’re also good at guitar and you deserve to take time with it.”
“Wait, can you teach how you hire?” Liam asked. “We can try replicating it and send you who we’re thinking about.”
“But you guys are taking care of the whole bar.”
“Yes, but we can handle some interviews. We’ll come in early and do them before we open.”
“You deserve time off.”
“And do you take time off?” Audrey asked.
“That’s not the point.”
“Barry, when we said yes, we knew we’d be working more. You pay us so much so it isn’t a problem.”
“It doesn’t feel like enough.”
“Why not?” Liam asked. “We’re happy, and we want to help. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
I knew why. I did everything alone and asking for help made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough.
“We can drop the idea,” Audrey said. “It’s a big change, and I know—?”
“What was the plan?” I asked. “To add a larger guest list.”
“I was going to hire more staff and then do it. We’d start with adding fifty occupants, which is still way under the fire safety limit, and see how the guests like it.”
“And if they don’t?”
“We go back to the way things were and still keep the staff.”
It wasn’t a bad plan at all. In fact, it was a good one. I wasn’t there, and as much as it killed me, I needed to trust their judgment.
“Okay,” I said. “Do it, but I want to see the reviews.”
“Yes!” Audrey cheered. “Thank you, Barry. We’ll send you everything.”
“Thanks, man,” Liam added. “We won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t.”
“And now no more talk about work. It’s personal time. How are things with you and she who must not be named?”
“Amazing.”
“And the two of you are . . .?”
“Still friends.”
“Are you sure?”
“How are you and Audrey?”
“Cold move, man,” Liam said. “But I can respect it. Once we figure out this new guest list thing, we will come for answers from you.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
There was a knock on the door and I knew my time was up. I told Liam and Audrey that I had to go and said my goodbyes.
“Yes?” I called.
“Please tell me you have clothes on,” Juno said through the door.
“Yes, of course. What’s up?”
“Blaze was a fuckhead again,” she said. “And now there’s more interest on Lila’s name. I’m going to get Lila since the paparazzi know where she is. Want to come along and be waiting in the car for her?”
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll get ready. Hey, do you know how to braid?”
“I started learning when I found out about Rose. Need help hiding your hair?”
“Yeah. One of these days, I’ll learn how to do it myself, but today is not the day.”