Chapter Four - Kayla
Kayla
Unknown number: We need to get our friends together.
I look at my screen with my eyebrows scrunched in confusion, my coffee halfway to my mouth.
Who is this? Did Naroa give out my number to some rando without letting me know? My eyes grow wide. Did it get leaked somewhere? Oh God, is it another stalker?
I hope not, because getting rid of those is almost impossible with the lack of legal standing. We pay a hefty fee to our lawyers and security each month to handle them, but having one message me would be a first.
As fun as dark romance books make it sound, it’s really not.
I gulp before I let my fingers fly over the screen.
Kayla: Who is this?
My heart thumps rapidly as I wait for the reply, my fingers tapping against my arm holding the phone as I wait for my phone to light up.
Maybe it’s na?ve. A stalker wouldn’t introduce himself and say, ‘hi, I’m your new stalker.’
I watch what’s happening in the studio through one of the glass panels. Millie is going through the choreography again with our instructor while I”m taking a quick break outside of our dance studio. I love our songs, but there comes a time during practice when I just can”t listen to them anymore, and for today, I am way past that point that point.
Thank God this glass is soundproof, even though it makes Millie look ridiculous when she dances to silence.
My phone buzzes and I quickly unlock it, my heart beating to my throat.
Unknown number: It”s Asher.
Asher? I sigh, relieved, then I freeze, and my face turns into a grimace.
Now I”m even more confused. Where the hell did he get my number from? I can”t imagine Naroa passing it along, given our history. Then again, his demand to bring our friends together . . . it makes sense. But a stalker could say that, too.
Setting down my coffee, I wonder what to answer until I decide on a simple:
Kayla: Prove it.
I startle when my phone immediately buzzes with an incoming video call.
Oh, no. Not what I had in mind. Then again, it seems very on brand for Asher.
I pinch the bridge of my nose with my fingers. God, why did I ask that? I could bang my head against the wall.
Now I”ll have to answer it, red, sweaty face and exhausted from training. And I can”t just not answer it either, because I’m the idiot who demanded he prove it. With a deep sigh, I accept the call.
I want to curse when his smug face actually appears on the screen, of course looking perfect while I look like I’ve just run a marathon.
”Proof enough?” He raises his eyebrow, half amused, half annoyed.
”Hello to you too. A selfie would have done,” I say with a sigh. Two words from him and I can already feel a headache approaching.
”No time for pleasantries. Luca will be here soon.” I roll my eyes, but he’s busy hearing the sound of his own voice and doesn’t notice. “That dude is head over heels for your little friend, but I”m pretty sure he”s so up in his head about it nothing will happen if we don”t step in. And let’s be real, your friend is definitely into him as well.”
”Her name is Millie,” I point out, and now it’s his time to roll his eyes. “I fear you might have a point, though,” I grumble, remembering Millie’s and my conversation from today where she mentioned that she”s not actively looking to date.
Then I remember how three seconds later she had that faraway look in her eyes, that told me clearer than her mouth ever could, that she”s thinking about Luca. Knowing each other for half our lives, I just know.
”Do you have an idea?” he asks, hastily looking around, as he seems to be waiting for Luca to turn up somewhere like a jump scare.
”You called me, don”t you have any idea?” My whole face scrunches up. Do I look like the kind of person who would be able to come up with a good plan in the few seconds that passed between his message and call?
”Of course I don”t.” He rolls his eyes again, and oh my God, the audacity makes my blood boil. ”What do you girls usually do to get friends together?”
Oh God, this man is infuriating on so many levels. I hope ‘girls’ is just a poor word choice. I haven’t been a ‘girl’ in like ten years. After taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I take a second to think. And another one.
It”s not like I have that many friends, besides Millie. Well, Josh, but I”m not exactly trying to set him up now, am I? The only thing I can think of is . . .
”A double date?” I think out loud. Then I shake my head. Millie is shy; I don’t think that would be such a good setting. ”No, never mind.”
”Why, that”s a great idea, Kayla,” Asher says way too enthusiastically and starts to chuckle as a flash of what I can only call mischief twinkles in his eyes. I don’t like where this is going. ”Looks like you, me and those two are going on a double date.”
”No,” I tell him firmly and glare at him through my phone, but he’s not even looking at the screen anymore.
”Day after tomorrow, I can get a table at Fantasia. Five pm. See you then.”
And suddenly, I”m looking at my home screen.
That fucker just hung up on me, I can”t believe it. I don”t even know if I can get Millie to come along. I don’t even know if she has time the day after tomorrow. I’m not even sure if dating Luca is something she likes to daydream or actually do something about.
My phone buzzes with a message and I realize I’m about to squish it with how tight I’m grasping it.
Unknown number: Looking forward to our date 3
What an infuriating dick.
I can”t bring up the nerve to ask Millie until the next day, when we”re warming up for our training.
I spent the whole night tossing and turning, trying to find a way for the two of them to get together without having to pretend to go on a date with Asher as well, but I couldn’t come up with a better idea.
I meant it when I said I”m only holding a petty grudge towards Asher. There’s no hate, but for some reason, I even find the sound of him breathing infuriating. So I would very much prefer to hold onto this grudge from afar. Because talking to him? Not a good idea.
The call yesterday did absolutely nothing to extinguish that grudge. Not at all. Quite the opposite, it was like a bucket of grease thrown into a fire.
”A double date?” Millie looks at me with eyes narrowed in confusion, her eyebrows shooting upwards, and the question ‘since when do you date?’ written all over her face.
We”re at the studio, waiting for Mike, our dance instructor, to turn up. Millie is on the ground, leaning over her leg to stretch her hamstrings as I”m pacing the wooden floor, nervously biting the skin around my thumb nail.
”Please?” I look at her with big eyes and gulp. This just has to work out.
I can”t gauge her reaction. She doesn”t seem too pleased with the prospect of a double date but her saying no is just not an option.
My thoughts race and I don’t know how to convince her—usually she’d be the person I’d ask for advice. Maybe it”s better to not bring up who it”s with? She’s so apprehensive about dating, telling her it’s Luca could either make her jump at the chance or curse me out.
”I can”t really say ”no” to the guy who asked me and I could really, really use your moral support.” My eyelashes flutter as I give her the biggest puppy-eyes I’m capable of.
For a moment, she gets that faraway look in her eyes again.
Who is she trying to fool with her ‘I’m taking a break from dating’ talk? She is head over heels for Luca already. I”ve seen the two of them interact when we ran into a group of players in the hallway and all of them hyped Luca up. The way Millie blushed and started giggling once we were out of earshot?
I”ve seen her in love. And I”ve seen her grow more and more insecure every single time she fell for a man. Becoming more scared to put herself out there because deep down she knew they would be leaving when the media circus became too much for them.
I”ve seen her wait for phone calls with a solemn look on her face, pine after her boyfriends with small smiles on her lips when she didn”t quite allow herself to show happiness, because deep down, she knew it wouldn’t last.
But giggling? Full on blushing? God, it must have been high school the last time I saw her like that.
She deserves a man who makes her feel that way. And from the looks of it, Luca reciprocates those feelings. I mean it must take a lot for Asher to stoop to a point where he contacts me, the woman he apparently can”t stand enough to do a movie with.
The realization settled in my gut at three in the morning. Millie deserves her happy end.
She has been on the short end of the stick for years now, used by the label to cover up my hook-up sightings, and it’s enough.
If anyone deserves a happy end, it”s her. And I”ll make sure that she gets one. Even if it means having to go on a date with Asher Mc-fucking-Daniels.
It”s only one date. What could even happen?
”When?”
I fight the urge to punch the air and scream ”Yes!”, but it”s a very close call.
”Tomorrow after work.” I hurry to my bag to get my phone. At four in the morning, once my resolve manifested to get Luca and her together, I came up with another plan, an even better one I might say, that I still have yet to let Asher know.
Because God knows that guy seems like an elephant in a porcelain store type of guy. We are going to need to give the two of them some space in order to let sparks fly and, hopefully, ignite.
”On a scale of one to ten, how cute do I need to look for it?” she asks with amusement tugging at her lips.
I roll that question over in my head. Telling her to go for a full ten would be too telling, telling her to go relaxed would not fit the ambience of Fantasia, so what’s a good middle ground here?
”I think you should wear that sunflower dress you showed me yesterday,” I finally tell her with a nod.
That dress was really damn cute, and Millie loves it. If the combination of that doesn”t make Luca swoon, I don”t know what else will.
She eyes me with a suspicious, raised eyebrow, but I ignore her as I swipe on my phone screen until I find the chat with Asher.
”You’re lucky that tomorrow is vocal training,” Millie snickers from behind me. ”As much as I love you, I”d never go on a date all sweaty and stinky after dance rehearsal, even if it”s just as moral support.”
”No worries,” I assure her quickly. Hell, I wouldn’t either. ”Thank you, Millie, you”re really saving my ass.”
I scurry past her as I type to let Asher know about Millie agreeing and my plan quickly.
Kayla: Get Luca to the parking lot at four-thirty. Make up some reason for being late and let the two of them get to the restaurant by themselves.
”Alright, ladies, are you ready for another productive day?” Mike saunters into the room and throws his sports bag into a corner. I hide my phone behind my back and hurry to discreetly let it slide back into my handbag before he notices.
If there is one thing Mike is strict about, it”s phone usage in his studio, and I”m not about to deal with an angry dancing instructor today.
‘What the hell do you wear for a double date that”s intended for your best friend?’ I wonder as I stand in front of my wardrobe, scanning its contents.
Nothing too flashy, that”s for sure. There”s nobody there I need to impress and I”m not going to vocal training in a goddamn evening dress. As much as I”m itching to wear the black glitter beauty a designer sent me.
My fuzzy, creme-colored sweater catches my eye.
It”s almost spring, I won”t have too many chances to wear it in the near future, so I really should take all the opportunities I get.
A beige skirt falls out of my shelf when I pull it out. I look at it on the ground. Guess that”s decided now, too. Good on me just throwing my stuff into there instead of properly unpacking; it makes for lovely surprises just like this.
I put both of them on and turn in the mirror. My brown hair is falling down my back in small waves, my bangs sticking in all directions since I haven”t straightened it today.
The outfit looks cute, but it needs something dark to round it off.
Good thing I took my thigh-high boots along to Philly. My brain kept repeating ‘you hate wearing them, they make your legs sweaty, why would you take them along?’ but something told me to pack them anyways.
Great. So that”s decided.
I run to my bathroom and fire on my hair straightener while I brush my teeth. Yes, it”s really goddamn tedious to straighten my hair every damn day, but the label says I must, so what”s a girl going to do?
They”re playing the polar opposites shtick with Millie and me, and for now, I”m contractually obligated to stick to it. I’m just glad they’re not making me wear my reading glasses in public.
But the way they dictate what we’re supposed to look like is another factor that”s recently had me reconsider a lot of things about my future with Starlet Sounds. I fear for the day I will have to talk to Millie about it. She seems really happy with them and I am scared shitless that my issues with them will be the end of the Sirens.
But that’s a problem for future me. For now, I put my toothbrush aside and finally get to my hair.
My sigh fogs up the bathroom mirror as I try to run my comb through it. My ends are fried again and it gets stuck. I guess I”ll need to have those trimmed soon.
The heat protection spray fizzles in my hair as I hastily pull my iron through it. Glancing at my bathroom clock in the mirror, I realize that I need to leave in ten minutes. There”s only barely enough time for me to get my hair done and throw on my most basic makeup look.
That’s one of the perks of being a world-renowned popstar, I guess. At one point you”re so versed with your makeup since you need to do it every single time you leave your apartment that a basic coverage and mascara only take five minutes.
Finally, I pull on my boots and run out the door, almost leaving my phone behind. God, I”m so excited for Millie and Luca.
Millie is nervous. Her feet are always moving, even while we”re singing, and she”s always wringing her hands, her fingers playing with a new bracelet on her wrist, twisting little pearls between them.
I was so confused when she stepped out of the elevator in our building wearing pink sweatpants, but as soon as our vocal training was over, she excused herself to the bathroom and changed into the dress.
That”s so smart. I wish I”d thought of that instead of keeping my thigh-high boots on the whole day. They are adorable and keep my legs warm outside, but inside? Just like predicted, I”m sweating under the leather-like fabric, grimacing in disgust when a drop runs down my leg from the back of my knee. That’s when I decide to take them off for the remainder of our workday.
”Do I look okay?” Millie wonders, facing the giant mirror wall in the improvised vocal studio and taps a bit of lipstick onto her lips.
”Yeah, you look cute,” I say and step closer to the mirror as well. She really does. Like spring and sunrays personified, where I”m more of a ”night in autumn” kind of style.
Only her hair looks a bit uneven on one side, thanks to the headphones we have to wear in order to hear the music and ourselves properly, so I reach out my hand to fix it. Millie chuckles when I ruffle her hair.
”There. Perfect,” I declare. God, I’m actually a bit emotional. Like I’m sending my sister off to elope or something.
”Thank you.” Her smile is shaky and nervous, but she quickly composes herself to her usual cheery self. ”Ah, by the way. I made you something.” She grabs her handbag and ruffles through it, pulling out her wallet and some gum, before making a triumphant sound at the back of her throat. ”Give me your hand.”
I hold it out for her, and she slides something over my fingers until a small, cool weight sits at my wrist. I look at it curiously once she lets go of me. It”s a bracelet, made out of black pearls with only one single white pearl sitting at the centre. A look at her wrist reveals that she”s wearing a bracelet with the exact opposite colour combination.
It makes me strangely emotional. What is it with all of these feelings today?
”I found these cute pearls and just had to make you one too. Do you like it?”
I gulp past the emotion building in my throat. That”s so sweet. Almost too sweet. I don’t even know what to say.
”I love it,” I press out, past the knot in my throat. ”Thank you.”
She tries to get me to tell her who we”re meeting, but by now I”m pretty resolved to keep it a surprise. It”s not much longer until she”ll know anyway; it”s almost time to go.
”Why don”t you go ahead?” I ask her, my heart beating in my chest. Please, just let her do it and not question it. Or question it, because she’s not dumb, and do it anyway.
”Why aren”t you coming along?” She raises her eyebrow, suspicion written all over her face. That’s when I realize that she knows I’m up to something.
”Uhm, I—” I stutter, my eyes darting around the room to find any excuse. As good as my plan was, I maybe should have thought ahead a bit better. ”I . . . need to make a quick call?”
Her eyebrows almost disappear in her hairline as high as she”s raising them. She continues to look at me, silence falling, until she finally chuckles and shrugs.
”Alright. Don”t take too long.” And then she walks out of the studio.
Holy fuck.
I lean my back against the wall and let my head fall against it, taking a deep breath. Part one of the mission, done. Only about twenty more to go.
I lift my phone and find my chat with Asher. So far, I couldn”t find it in me to save his number, so it”s still my only chat with an unknown number.
Kayla: Millie is on her way.
I feel like a spy. Maybe I should have written something like ‘The Eagle has landed.’
God, how I want to be a fly on the wall for their meeting. Maybe I should have set up a camera so I can play the video on their wedding day as well.
I jump when my phone immediately buzzes in my hand.
Unknown number: Luca”s on his way, too. Where are you?
I take a deep breath and let out a sigh just as deep. Now comes the part that I”m not excited for at all. It”s called Asher.
Maybe if it goes well, we can just . . . leave them to it? Why need a double date when they”re happy as clams by themselves? I can forego food at Fantasia, as amazing as it looks, if it means I won’t have to hang out with Asher.
After taking a deep breath and rolling my tense shoulders, I type out my reply to him.
Kayla: Room 431
Unknown number: I”ll be right there
With another sigh, I lift myself off the wall and decide to wait in the hallway. I hope this whole theatre is going to be worth it. I would be so annoyed if Millie sticks to her ‘I’m not looking to date’ spiel even after enduring a double date with Asher for her.
So I lean my back against the door and look at the ground as I wait for the inevitable. It arrives in the form of heavy footsteps echoing against the bare walls.
”Well, hello there, Sweetheart.” His voice drenched in amusement makes my toes curl.
”I”m not your ”Sweetheart,”” I answer without looking up. At least he managed a greeting. ”This isn”t a real date. Tone it down.”
”That”s where you”re wrong.” I finally force myself to look up at him. Then further and further. Shit.
Logically, I knew he”s tall, but being almost six foot myself, it doesn”t happen often that I find someone who”s a full head taller than I. Even with high heels.
Honestly, it’s freaking me out a bit.
”How am I wrong?”
”It”s a double date and we”re going on it. Doesn”t get much more real than that.” He grins and leans against the wall next to me.
”Whatever,” I say and roll my eyes. I”m not wasting my breath arguing with him. ”Let”s get this over with.”
”Na-ah!” He stops me with an outstretched arm as I try to walk past him. ”Not yet.”
”If I tell Millie to go on ahead now, we can leave via the other exit,” I say with a raised eyebrow, but he shakes his head.
”We should give them a proper head start.”
I shake my head and take a step back, pulling out my phone anyway. Whatever we”re doing, I”m still telling Millie to go ahead so she and Luca can spend some quality time alone.
Kayla: Sorry, the call will take a bit longer, why don”t you go ahead?
”Short and concise. I like it.” I shriek and jump when I hear Asher”s voice right next to my ear, his breath blowing right into it.
”What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
”Reading your message,” he says with a shrug, like that”s the most normal thing in the world. ”So I know what to send Luca. Not my fault you”re so easily scared.”
”I wasn”t scared, I was surprised,” I grumble and clutch my sweatshirt right over my racing heart. I will it to calm down as I message Millie the restaurant name, then put my phone into my handbag without waiting for a reply.