Chapter 17
The following morning, Angelia waved Meghan off and then took Scrappy for a short walk down the lane from the bothy.
It had rained overnight but now the puddles were drying up as the sun burnt through the clouds.
The air had a familiar crispness to it and there was a fresh fragrance of pine trees and petrichor.
Scrappy trotted along by her side, stopping to sniff along the way but never straying too far even though he was off lead.
Behind the house, the distant rugged mountains stretched skyward and all around her were bees, butterflies and other insects traipsing from one petal to another.
It was such a relaxing place to spend time, unlike London where everything seemed to run at warp speed, and that included vehicles and time.
Later, she met Ruby for lunch at a cute place in Broadford where they sat overlooking the water.
Angelia was full of admiration as to how a movie star like Ruby could freely move around the island, with such confidence, when she was so easily recognisable.
And when she was recognised, she took it in her stride and was always so friendly and open.
During their lunch, a couple, who must have been in their twenties, had been looking over from the next table and whispering.
It appeared they were trying to pluck up the courage to come over.
Ruby turned and greeted them and then on their way out they came over and asked for autographs and selfies from them both.
They chatted briefly and then went on their way. It was a pleasant interaction and Angelia wondered if that’s how her life could be back home on Skye now.
‘You make life look so easy,’ Angelia said. ‘You don’t seem fazed by being recognised so close to home.’
Ruby shrugged. ‘The way I look at it is if it wasn’t for people like that, I wouldn’t get to do what I love. You looked quite nervous. Have you had some bad experiences?’
Angelia thought back to some of the interactions she’d had in London.
‘Most fans are lovely, but I’ve had a few unnerving situations where people have been a bit grabby.
And I tend to feel a little panicked and claustrophobic when that happens.
Den tried to insist I brought a bodyguard with me to Skye.
’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I refused, so Meghan, my assistant, came instead. Although, to be honest, I wouldn’t mess with her,’ she added with a laugh.
‘I’ve had some tricky situations, too, but they are so few and far between. Less so nowadays. But I’m grateful to have had such an exciting life so far. But it’s about to get even more exciting.’
Angelia tilted her head. ‘How so? A new project in the offing?’
Ruby smoothed a hand over her tummy. ‘You could say that.’
Angelia jumped up from her seat and dashed around to hug her friend. ‘That’s wonderful news! Congratulations. Rosie will be so excited to be a big sister.’
‘She doesn’t know yet. But she’s been asking for a baby brother so hopefully she won’t mind if it’s another girl.’
‘I’m sure she’ll be delighted either way.’
‘Speaking of projects, how is it going with the shop? And have you thought any more about what you’re going to do now?’
Angelia huffed. ‘I’ve created a mood board and emailed it to Bella so that side of things is progressing but as for me… I’m still not sure, to be honest.’
‘You’re such an incredible songwriter, Angelia, maybe you should think about writing for films or TV or something. I could really see you writing movie scores. I could put you in touch with people who would help.’
That certainly appealed to her. ‘I’d never actually thought about that but it’s worth considering.’
‘That way you get to be creative without the worry of the touring and stress of performing. You could keep putting your talent to good use. Because if you’re anything like me you wouldn’t do well at just sitting home doing nothing regardless of how much money you had coming in from royalties.’
Angelia nodded. ‘That’s the thing I’m most concerned about. I hate to be bored, and I think I will always need something to do.’
‘Well, just say the word and I’ll make some calls.’
They left the café after a couple of hours of catching up and Angelia headed back to the bothy feeling excited for her friend and optimistic for herself.
On her return home, her phone pinged with a WhatsApp message from Heath.
Heath
Hey, Angel. I hope you’re well. I’ve invited everyone to have a video call tonight if you’re free. Den too. It’s important but shouldn’t take too long, so I hope you can make it. Just let me know as soon as you can.
H xx
Angelia stared at the screen as if answers would magically appear there. What could they possibly need a video call about? All of them? Shit, were they going to fire her? Was this time off she was taking just too much?
There was no point second guessing, she decided, and it could be something simple like an update about recording or the next tour. She would try not to worry and would just wait and see.
She replied to his message and said she was free all day.
A further reply from Heath came through fairly quickly to say a Zoom had been arranged for 9 p.m. UK time to ensure everyone could join across the various time zones.
Of course, Heath was in Sweden, Bear was in London, Den had taken a trip to California to see a potential new band to add to his portfolio, and Anouk was visiting friends in Quebec.
She presumed Josh was in London, too, although she hadn’t heard from him, and there was a good chance Dom had gone home to Glasgow to see his mum with his long-term partner, Rio.
She was aware that Rio had been touring with Taylor Swift but that he’d been given some time off along with the crew, so things had worked out well there.
The meeting was preying on her mind for most of the day and cabin fever had pretty much set in.
She had informed her parents and had messaged Meghan to let her know that the call would be happening in case she’d known anything about it.
Meghan was still out ticking locations off her bucket list but replied quickly, to Angelia’s surprise.
Meghan
I wonder what that could be about. Den hasn’t said anything. Want me to head back? M xx
Angelia hit the reply button.
Angel
No, don’t be silly. I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Just go and enjoy yourself. I’ll update you when I know.
Angelia ended the message with a smiling face emoji. A rapid response came from Meghan.
Meghan
If you’re sure. Are you happy for me to stay out this evening? I’ve met some Norwegian girls and they’ve invited me to go for drinks with them. They say there’s room in their hostel if I want to stay over. Obviously, I’ll come home if you’d prefer.
Angelia couldn’t help feeling a little relieved to have a night off from being watched and her every move noted and reported back to their management.
Angel
No, Meg, I don’t mind at all. It sounds like fun so you should definitely stay out. I will message you after the call.
After that conversation, Angelia could tell she was driving her parents mad with her foot tapping, nail biting and sighing because her dad pulled out a deck of cards and demanded they sit and play poker for a while to give her something else to focus on.
Angelia couldn’t concentrate and lost every single game, which was a first. She resorted to pacing again until her mum snapped, ‘For goodness’ sake, Angelia, you’re going to wear a bald patch on my lovely Persian rug!’
At that, Angelia flopped onto the sofa and called Scrappy up to sit on her lap.
Cuddling him usually had a calming effect on her.
She flicked through the channels on the TV but could find nothing to hold her attention.
She went through every possible scenario in her mind that could occur on the call but for some reason each one came around to her losing her role as the front person of the band.
She couldn’t blame them if they did want to find another vocalist though.
What use was a singer who couldn’t actually sing?
She wondered if they would resort to a similar method of finding her replacement as they’d used to find her.
She tried to imagine watching the show from home, knowing how painful that would be.
Surely, they wouldn’t put her through that, would they?
Maybe they were going to demote her to backing singer and Anouk was going to step up.
She was quite shy in front of the microphone but confidence could grow, and she could definitely sing.
She had a gravelly quality to her sound, probably more fitting, if she was honest.
An hour prior to the call, Angelia went up to her room followed, as always, by Scrappy, and she paced there instead as she chewed on the skin around her thumbnail.
As if he was as frustrated by this as everyone else, Scrappy whined every few minutes and Angelia translated this to mean, ‘For woofness’ sake, give up already. ’
She sat on her bed beside him. ‘Sorry, my wee pal. I’m just nervous,’ she told him with a scratch under his chin. ‘What would I do without you, eh?’ He wagged his tail and jumped up to try and lick her face.
To kill a little time, she applied some makeup and tidied her hair, knowing she would have her camera on.
She didn’t want the band to see her looking pale and it made her feel more presentable.
She wondered how it would feel seeing them all again after what felt like a long time, even though realistically it hadn’t been that long.
And she wondered if Josh would be there or if he would make excuses to be absent.
When it was almost time for the Zoom call, she sat at the desk in her room and checked the microphone and camera on her laptop.
* * *