25. McKenzie
TWENTY-FIVE
McKenzie
After the show, Luca took a few photos with fans before the venue began pushing people to leave. He worked the room with quiet confidence before thanking each of his friends for being there. We lingered for a bit while Luca spent time catching up with Aunt Gladys and Mr. Fink. He didn’t stop smiling once.
Dallas and Katie offered to give my mom a ride home so I could stay with Luca. She was all too happy to take them up on that, but I did jokingly warn Katie that my mother might try to steal her man. Luca followed me home when we left The Bluebird, and I laughed when he picked up Earl Grey, spinning him around in pure unadulterated joy, while Binx hid beneath the sofa.
We recounted the evening curled up on the couch, sharing our favorite moments before falling into bed together where I celebrated his performance with one of my own.
The next morning, we were roused from our slumber by the muffled sound of a phone ringing.
He groaned, the soft light spilling around the blinds, casting shadows over his face.
I pried one eye open to find my phone on the nightstand. The time read 10:37 a.m.
“It’s yours,” I mumbled, my voice thick with sleep.
He pulled me closer.
“They’ll call back,” he murmured.
And they did. Immediately.
“Goddamn it.” He grunted and slid out of bed, taking the warmth of his body with him. The floors creaked beneath his weight as he rifled through his discarded clothes. “Shit.”
The ringing stopped only to start up again.
“What on earth is going on?” I asked through a yawn.
Finally, he retrieved the device from the pocket of his leather jacket before dropping it back on top of the heap of fabric.
“It’s Grace,” he grumbled.
“I hope everything’s okay,” I said as he swiped his finger across the screen and placed it on speaker. He climbed in bed beside me, leaning back against the headboard.
“Hey Grace,” he answered. “What’s going—”
“Everyone on the internet is talking about you,” she blurted out. “Some videos from the show got posted on Instagram, and now you’re all over the place.”
My eyes widened, and Luca’s jaw fell open.
“Page Six, the New York Post, and hell, even CNN posted about you,” she continued, her voice a full octave higher than normal. “They even talked about you on Good Morning America !”
“What?” I half-asked, half-shrieked as Luca gripped my arm.
She squealed. “But that’s not even the best part. Jacob Waterton from Rolling Stone shared a clip of you singing ‘Death Row’ on Twitter or X, or whatever the hell it’s called, and it already has 1.3 million views. He said, ‘I’m calling it now: this new record is gonna be the renaissance of Luca Sterling.’”
I gasped. “Oh my God.”
“Are you serious?” Luca raked his hands down his face, his eyes never leaving mine.
“My inbox is already flooded with interview requests,” she said. “Jimmy Fallon, Kimmel, Seth Meyers…you name ’em, they wanna talk to you.”
I screeched with excitement as I shot up, clutching the sheets around me.
“I…I can’t believe it.” Luca cupped my face in his hands, gazing up at me with disbelief.
“Believe it,” Grace said with a laugh. “This thing hasn’t even dropped yet, and people are already throwing the G-word around.”
“G-word?” I asked. “Wait, as in the Grammys?”
“Yup,” she answered.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I placed a kiss on Luca’s forehead. “You did it.”
“ We did,” he corrected, taking a strand of my hair between his fingers.
“Luca, I think you’re about to blow up,” Grace said, and I could practically hear her smile through the phone. “Cash does too. I sent him the video from last night, and he predicted this before the internet started losing its mind over you. I hope you’re ready for the storm that’s coming because I’d be willing to bet that by the end of next week, you won’t be able to go online or heck, anywhere , without seeing your name.”
He cleared his throat. “So, what’s next? What do we need to do?”
“ We don’t need to do anything,” she replied. “You take the weekend to enjoy this. I’ll start compiling a list of everyone who wants to chat with you, and we can meet Monday and take it from there.”
“Are you sure?” Luca asked. “I thought you were heading back to LA to see Sam for a few days?”
“I’m pushing my trip back a couple weeks,” she said. “I want to hang around a little longer while we plan our next steps. I think it may be time we start thinking about a tour. Hope you haven’t gotten too used to being in one place because that’s all about to change, my friend.”
I gulped. A tour? It wasn’t like I hadn’t known that was part of the deal, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon. I thought we’d have more time to solidify our relationship before he left for weeks or months at a time.
Luca chuckled, turning his attention to the phone. “The road is basically home for me, so I’m ready. You just say the word.”
I thought I was his home? I mentally kicked myself for allowing my mind to even go there. This wasn’t about me. This was about Luca. He’d worked hard for this, and it wasn’t like I didn’t want him to have it. But I’d been so caught up in the journey that I hadn’t let myself consider what would happen when we reached the destination.
Grace said her goodbyes, and Luca folded me in his arms.
“Can you fucking believe it?” he asked as we fell back against the mattress.
“I know,” I said, burying my face in his neck so he wouldn’t see the emotions warring inside me.
I was happy for Luca and what this meant for him, but I couldn’t shake the dread over what it might mean for us.
It was barely 8 a.m. on Friday, and I was about to lose my shit. It had been two weeks since the show, and work was hell. Katie’s MS was flaring up, so she’d been out for several days, which meant Dallas had been scarce too. I was always happy to take over when Katie couldn’t be there, but it became challenging when the other employees weren’t there to help. Car trouble, illness, family emergencies, even jury duty had everyone calling out left and right for the past week.
It was the day before a catering gig—one that was especially important to me. Kia’s boutique was having a twentieth anniversary party, and I was in charge of the event. Which wouldn’t have been an issue if I didn’t have to also run the restaurant.
“Hey, McKenzie.” Bella, one of our new hires, poked her head in the kitchen looking like a mouse standing in front of a boa constrictor.
“Yeah?” I asked, continuing to swirl icing over the cupcakes in front of me.
“Sydney just called out,” she answered softly, as though the volume of her statement would be the thing to set me off.
My blood turned to ice. “What?”
Bella swallowed hard. “She has the flu.”
“Fuck,” I said through gritted teeth. I couldn’t say I hadn’t seen it coming, since she and Grant had started dating, and he’d called in with it two days before. “She was supposed to be running the kitchen today. Grant and Jacob are out, and I’m swamped. I’m behind on what I need to prep for the party tomorrow night, and I can’t run the entire kitchen and get it done.”
“I know. I’m sorry. What can I do?” The poor thing looked so terrified that if I’d made any sudden movements, I’m fairly sure she would’ve screamed.
I dropped the pastry bag on the counter and pressed my wrists to my skull in a vague attempt to relieve the pressure mounting behind my eyes.
What could I do? Call Dallas and tell him I had a DEFCON 1 level emergency on my hands and beg him to come in? I hated the idea of him leaving Katie when she wasn’t well, though I knew she’d likely insist on it. Maybe I could call the two new hires who hadn’t started yet and plead with them to come in a couple days earlier than planned. They hadn’t gone through orientation yet, but they at least had some kitchen experience, whereas Bella had none. Or perhaps I could just disappear like Homer Simpson backing into the bush, flee the country, and change my name. That option was looking better and better.
“How many servers do we have up front today?” I asked.
“Just Abbey and Tiffany.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face. Abbey had some kitchen experience, but I couldn’t leave Tiffany on the floor alone. She’d started at the same time as Bella and was still learning the ropes.
“Okay,” I said. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Call Tyler and Fallon and see if they’d be willing to come in. They’re not supposed to start till Monday, but it’s worth a shot.”
She nodded. “You got it. Do you want me to call Dallas?”
“No.” I shook my head. “That’s a last resort. I think I can manage. Are you going to be able to handle the counter and the coffee bar on your own?”
Her wide-eyed expression told me I had a better chance of winning the lottery.
“I’ll ask Abbey for help if I need it,” she said.
I released a slow exhale. “Okay.” I gestured toward the tray of freshly iced chocolate raspberry cupcakes in front of me. “Take these up front and put them in the case, will you?”
She stepped closer, slowly reaching her hands out to take the tray. My intrusive thoughts begged me to yell BOO , but I couldn’t afford to be down another staff member. With the cupcakes in hand, she scurried toward the door.
“Let me know what Tyler and Fallon say,” I called after her.
“I will,” she said as she disappeared to the front of the restaurant.
This was fine. Worst-case scenario, I’d have to pull an all-nighter to prep for Kia’s party and work through the day tomorrow. Sleep was for the weak. Or for the people not freaking out about their boyfriend going on tour in a few months.
I wasn’t a freaking out kind of woman. I’d spent the entirety of my adult life not getting attached to people because I hated the idea of allowing myself to depend on someone only for them to leave. But that was exactly what I was doing.
Luca had been so wrapped up in press opportunities the last several days that he hadn’t even caught on that I was struggling—with work or with what our new normal would soon become: extended time away from each other…opposing schedules…lives that were growing apart instead of together. I felt myself beginning to withdraw. He hadn’t noticed, and I definitely hadn’t told him. The last thing I wanted to be was a needy girlfriend.
He’d gone to New York for a couple of days earlier that week for back-to-back interviews about his musical comeback, while I fell asleep every night on the couch in my work clothes. Part of me was dying to talk to him, to tell him how much these changes were affecting me. That’s what grown-ups did in grown-up relationships. But I also knew I had to figure out how to deal with it on my own. I’d become comfortable having him to myself, but my world was about to be turned upside down. I couldn’t just call him anytime I wanted while he was on the road when I had a bad day or felt insecure. What was he going to do? Answer his phone in the middle of a show and say Sorry guys, I gotta take this ?
I shook my head, desperate to scatter the anxious thoughts threatening to take control of my brain as I moved to the other side of the kitchen where I kept the files for our catering events. Kia’s was right on top, so I opened it and scanned the list I’d already made of everything that needed to be done. I just needed to focus. This was my job. I was a professional, damn it.
And an expert at avoiding anything that might hurt me.