Chapter 10 #2
Because, really, Darcy still didn’t get that. She was still able to ride on her high of being on top of the world; she hadn’t yet been torn down by the people who currently adored her.
But if it happened this time, at least Juliet wouldn’t be the only one to blame.
Darcy scoffed out an exasperated laugh as she brought her glass to her lips and took a long sip. Juliet was momentarily mesmerized by the press of the glass against the plush center of her bottom lip.
As Darcy lowered the glass, she licked away an errant drop, before she arched a look toward Juliet. “If you like the song, as you say you do, why did you look a little tortured when I came in?”
Juliet shook her head as she took a seat on the end of the couch, angling so her back was pressed against the arm.
Darcy followed suit but didn’t sit at the other end. Instead, she sat on the middle cushion, also angled to face Juliet, so their legs were pressed together.
“Come on,” Darcy urged, nudging her foot against Juliet’s. “Be honest. What, were you hoping you’d hate it?”
She sipped at her own wine, before she decided to give in. After all, Darcy wanted her to be honest. “Yes.”
A loud, incredulous laugh shot from Darcy’s mouth. “What?! Seriously?”
Amused, her lips curled into a darkly satisfied grin. “Seriously. Because the fact that your arrangement of ‘Porchlight’ sounds so good is so irritating.”
“I mean, you were the one who made some of the suggestions. Like layering our harmony over the intro,” Darcy pointed out, tilting her wine glass toward Juliet, before she took another long sip.
“Okay, this is good,” she murmured, seemingly in defeat, before she leaned forward and topped her glass up.
Something about that, about Darcy’s easy acceptance that Juliet’s choices in their intro and in her wine selection, made it easier for Juliet to say, “It would have made me feel a lot more validated in being unhappy working with you, if your ideas sucked.”
In a very contrarian way, she’d almost have preferred it to her ideas being as great as they were. It didn’t make sense; she knew that. Yes, she wanted them to reach a compromise to get through the song. Yes, she’d agreed to have an “open mind” regarding Darcy’s ideas.
But another part of her hoped, against logic, that she’d genuinely dislike Darcy’s suggestions.
She released a lofty sigh. “But, given that I’m in on this cover with you, you have a pass this time.”
“I have a pass for being good at what I’ve dedicated my life to doing. That’s really sweet of you, Juliet,” Darcy drawled, but her lips ticked into a small, pleased smile.
A smile she felt herself mirroring, but she hid it by taking another sip of wine, before saying, “It’s also easy to give you a pass when you now are beholden to praising Echoes to the public. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that.”
Juliet would never forget it. Darcy confessing to her with the sincerest expression that Juliet’s least successful album was her favorite was… so… strange. But had also filled Juliet with a pride she hadn’t felt for Echoes in a long time. Not since it had debuted and subsequently been torn apart.
Somehow, Darcy got it. Darcy had heard what Juliet had been wanting to accomplish, underneath her missteps.
It was confounding and annoying and… satisfying, all in one. The universe had a very strange sense of humor in that way, she supposed.
“I’m expecting you to hold up your end of the bargain on that.” After all, Juliet had felt a rush at having Darcy publicly singing her praises.
“I never go back on a deal.”
As much as Juliet had held onto every possible negative thought about Darcy, she had to admit that everything about Darcy rang true as genuine.
From her down-home wardrobe, to her shock at seeing the bottle of Chateau Cheval Blanc, she certainly gave the appearance that she would hold up her end of a handshake.
“Wait, did Dustin leave?” Darcy asked suddenly, after she’d taken another sip of her wine, then glanced around in question.
An amused chuckle escaped her. “Are you just noticing that he’s not here?” The room they were in wasn’t big enough to hide another person. “He left when you were in the bathroom.”
“I mean, yeah, I didn’t realize… when I came back in, our song was playing, and I was focused on you.”
Darcy’s candor as she returned that intense stare back to Juliet sparked through her. At the very least, she had to be relieved, really. That she had the ability to command Darcy’s unmitigated attention the way Darcy did hers.
Their entire “feud” would have been mortifying had Darcy simply ignored her.
She felt her phone vibrate with a text in her bag, which was wedged between her and the couch. Reaching back, she fished it out to find a text from Laura.
Hit more than the expected amount of traffic. Will be there relatively soon. Can’t wait to hear all about the Darcy Duet, but I’m assuming it went well since you didn’t return to the hotel in a rage or a body bag
She “liked” the message, before putting her phone back down.
“Who was it?” Darcy asked, propping up her head against one of her hands.
Juliet frowned at her. “And… why is it your business who I’m texting?”
Unbothered, Darcy shrugged. “It’s not. I’m just curious about you. What’s the harm in asking? I obviously know that you have no problem telling me to go fuck myself if you don’t want to answer me.”
Darcy was curious about her. And Juliet liked that.
So, she decided not to tell Darcy to go fuck herself, as reward.
“If you must know to satiate your burning curiosity–”
“I said plain and simple curiosity.”
“– it was my assistant, Laura.”
“Oh, her.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” There were very few people Juliet might be offended for, but Laura was one of them, and Darcy’s tone had been very flippant.
“Nothing, just that I should have expected it. She seems to be one of the people you spend a lot of time with.”
Cautiously relaxing, she nodded. “Well, like I said, she’s my assistant.”
And her best friend, but Darcy didn’t need to know that.
“Is she coming to pick you up and take you to celebrate our big win in the studio?” Darcy asked, clearly still feeling curious.
Juliet couldn’t stand how much she enjoyed that spark of interest directed right at her. But she enjoyed it far more than she disliked it.
“No. I’m back on tour after this, and we travel together. We have a flight out tonight.”
“Your tour. Right,” Darcy murmured, seemingly to herself.
“What would you normally be doing to celebrate a great day in the studio?” The question slipped out before Juliet could bite it back.
Darcy tilted her head in obvious confusion at Juliet asking her a personal question.
Grudgingly, she admitted, “What, I can’t also be curious about you? You obviously know I find it… interesting, always being in the studio working in a group.”
“Interesting is not the way you’ve phrased it,” Darcy pointed out with a scoff.
She batted her eyelashes. “Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”
Darcy scoffed again, this time edging into genuine laughter. “I mean, it’s not very interesting.”
Juliet frowned, eyeing Darcy up and down. “How could it be ‘not interesting’ so soon? You’ve gotten bored of having every door opened to you in less than a year?”
She’d seen far too many people fly too close to the sun when they got access to this world for the first time. But she’d never seen anyone be bored right away.
Darcy’s lips pulled into a considering frown, before she released a sigh.
“It’s not like that.” She paused, drinking the last sip of her glass before she twisted the stem between her dexterous fingers.
“Emerson has anxiety. Like, real, debilitating anxiety. The last thing she’d ever want to do is go to a big party or a club.
She’d never feel comfortable being around a ton of strangers.
And Blythe will only miss her nightly phone call with her fiancé if we’re working.
Even then, she’s pretty pissed about it.
Their ideal night of celebration is quiet, you know.
Going back to wherever we’re staying, hanging out. ”
Juliet found herself utterly fascinated.
“Okay, so that’s Emerson and Blythe. What do you want to do?” She pushed.
Because, really, she had only ever been interested in Emerson and Blythe as extensions of Darcy.
Darcy blinked at her, as if she was confused by Juliet’s very simple question. “I just told you. I like to hang out with Blythe and Emerson, and we don’t–”
Impatient for the answer she wanted, she waved Darcy off. “You told me what your sister and best friend like to do after a long day in the studio. I’m asking about you.” Rolling her lips tightly, she studied Darcy.
Studied the color that was a bit higher in her cheeks now that she’d had two glasses of wine in such quick succession, the effortlessly perfect tousled look in her hair, the gloss on her lips.
“You know that you genuinely have access to anything you could possibly want. Right?” She pushed, wondering if Darcy somehow hadn’t comprehended that, despite all of the people falling over their feet for her in the last year. “I mean that. This isn’t Pineford.”
“Yeah, except I don’t have access to everything I could want,” Darcy muttered, her lips curling into a slightly tipsy, secretive smile.
And just like that, everything on Juliet zeroed in on her. What could it be? What could it possibly be that Darcy wanted that she believed, for some unknown reason, she couldn’t have?
“Come on,” she urged, leaning in slightly.
She’d love to tell herself it was all in an act to get Darcy to spill the truth, but the reality was she was desperate to know.
Darcy’s breath caught and held in her throat, before she uttered something Juliet would have never predicted: “Sex.”
“I’m sorry. What?” The question came out louder than Juliet intended, as she reeled back to stare into Darcy’s eyes. For some reason, she was a little annoyed, because, “I thought we had this whole honesty-thing right now.”