Chapter 30 Aria
Aria
Aria made laps around the house, calling out for Bailey as soon as Griffin left yesterday, but when she’d gathered the wherewithal to check her phone, she discovered a text from Bailey.
Bailey: Going out for some shopping and errands with Sidney, maybe dinner too.
Sidney is Bailey’s best friend, and Aria never worries about her sister when the two are together.
Aria forced herself back down into the studio and, with an aggressive dose of self-talk, willed herself back into the zone and created some more material for the album.
Whether it will sound decent in the morning is still to be determined.
After dinner, Aria texted to check in.
Aria: You girls behaving?
Bailey texted back quickly.
Bailey: Ha ha, very funny, MOM. There’s a wait at the tapas spot, so we’re window shopping for now.
When Aria called it an early night, Bailey was still out, so Aria lay wide awake in her bed replaying the kiss.
By all objective standards, the kiss was incredible.
Griffin is charming yet chivalrous, strong yet gentle; he is irresistible, according to every fiber of her body.
Nevertheless, Aria can’t let herself forget the fact that magical moments like the one that occurred between them are a result of music making—at least according to her personal theory.
She’s always suspected it’s one of the reasons musicians are notorious for having chaotic lives or getting carried off by the party scene.
Aria and Griffin have a PR deal, for goodness’ sake, and although they have a real friendship, neither of them needs the complication of a romance heaped on top.
Every time they appear, the photos are shared thousands—sometimes hundreds of thousands—of times.
They are under more public scrutiny than perhaps Aria has ever been because now her fans and his are watching.
The idea of living out a real relationship under the same magnifying glass would be enough to send Aria into heart palpitations.
She might put herself on a stage near weekly, and she might take the comments about her body and fashion on the chin.
But the real her? The one that Griffin has teased out?
That one stays hidden from the stage, from the public—even from her music.
Aria is working on pouring more of herself into her music, something she counts as growth. But having the public dissect and criticize her for falling for someone, dating, being part of a couple? No way. Absolutely no way. That is entirely too far.
Eventually Aria fell asleep, but when she wakes early the next morning she doesn’t feel particularly rested.
She is already posted up at the kitchen island on a barstool when Bailey rolls out of bed, into the kitchen, and toward the coffee maker in a straight shot. As soon as a sip of coffee hits Bailey’s lips, she does a double take of her sister.
“You don’t look right,” she says.
“Thanks,” Aria replies.
“What’s up?” Bailey stands across the island from her, sipping her coffee as she slowly becomes more alert.
Aria pulls in a breath and explains in great detail the afternoon in the music studio with Griffin and their eventual, glorious kiss. “You always know what to do, so I figured you could help me navigate this.”
“How am I supposed to know what to do?” Bailey says. “This is way out of my wheelhouse. Yours too. You’re not exactly the queen of dating—no offense.”
It is a true statement. After only a couple of burns from grifters and fake friends, Aria walled herself off from romantic prospects.
Why wouldn’t she when all of her experience showed her that no one was chasing her for genuine reasons?
She has Bailey, her family who she doesn’t see as much as she should, her professional team, and a few friends who, come to think of it, she hasn’t seen in quite a while.
Aria is busy, however. Having an army of friends simply isn’t realistic for her. None of it ever felt realistic.
Until Griffin.
“We have to backpedal.” Aria announces it with certainty despite her lingering daydreams over repeating the kiss. “Keeping it professional is for the best. Plus, Griffin has actually become my friend.”
“Your first one ever.” Bailey winks.
Aria casts slitted eyes her way with a playful glare. “You’re not wrong in some ways. We just mesh, you know?”
“So it could be more.”
“I’m Aria Wilder. I don’t get to have a boyfriend that I don’t share with the entire internet.
Griff is obviously an internet darling at this juncture, but I don’t think he quite understands what us canoodling would be like to endure.
Right now everyone loves us because we’re ‘the two best friends.’”
Bailey wraps both hands around the mug. “There’s definitely romance speculation too.”
“Where I’m sure most of the ugly comments lie.” Aria swats at the air. “Still, it’s all a moot point. Griffin wasn’t exactly pouring his heart out, so I suspect he knows keeping it professional is the safest route. I do too. We’ll have to talk it over at the event tomorrow.”
Aria swallows, and she feels a hardening in her chest, one that feels like taking care of necessary business.
“And what will you say?”
Aria clears her throat. “That I care for Griffin as real friends, but that we can’t be more. That we need to forget the kiss and keep it professional.”
Aria’s shoulders pull back reflexively, her chest popping out like it does when she channels her most powerful self before a concert. The way she does when she puts on her armor before stepping out into a barrage of press on the red carpet.
“That’s what you want?”
Curiosity rings out in Bailey’s words, her warm eyes leaving room for Aria to change her mind, and it makes Aria fumble.
Aria wishes that Bailey understood that there’s not actually room for her to make that choice, not without making a mess.
That Aria is “Aria Wilder, Pop Superstar and America’s Darling,” and that means her world, despite its reach across the globe, has also shrunk her personal life.
A necessary hardship to protect herself—the real, smaller version that is the only thing she gets to keep.
The only part of her that’s out of the public’s reach.
“It’s the right choice.” Aria hops up, signaling an end to the conversation. “I’m going to get a couple hours of work in this morning, but do you want to do yoga this afternoon? I have an instructor coming. We could do takeout after.”
“Music to my ears,” Bailey says.
Aria smiles and turns to head upstairs. She needs a shower. That always helps her reset her mind—and this time, hopefully her body too.
A quick hot shower will wash all of it away.
She’ll emerge fresh and focused, kisses and butterflies permanently in the rearview.