Chapter Nineteen. Riley #2
A PA picks up the lunch tray from me because Luna is done rehearsing a bit early, and I take advantage of the extra few minutes I have to FaceTime my dads—it’s not often that the time difference aligns so that I’m free at a reasonable time to call them.
Nick picks up on the first ring and calls out to Anthony, who steps out of the You’re My Lobster kitchen to join him at one of the three benches we have set up outside the shack.
There’s barely any seating inside, so most people take their food to the beach and have a picnic or sit on the curb and try to avoid getting their feet run over by pedicabs or the hordes of pedestrians who walk along Commercial Street.
“Honey, how is it? It’s been ages since we’ve heard from you! But we’ve watched every video, of course,” Nick assures me.
Anthony leans his head into the frame. “We miss you, sweetie.”
“I miss you both too,” I say. I’ve never not been home for the summer, and it feels strange that they’re still doing all the things we’d normally do together, just without me. “It’s really great, though. Want to see my kitchen?”
I turn the phone around and give them a tour of the small room.
“So how’s Luna Leya?” Anthony asks when I finish.
I roll my eyes. “Dad, you know I signed an NDA.”
“How’s your new friend?” Nick asks with a wink.
I hesitate, unsure if I should say anything now. Obviously I’ll tell them everything when I get home, but I’m nervous about breaking the rules here. “Really good. Really nice, and talented.”
I can tell they’re not totally satisfied, and I want to tell them everything, including my futile feelings for her. But I can’t do it on the phone in my kitchen at the venue that’s crawling with people paid to work for Luna. “What about the boyfriend?” Anthony asks. “He’s so dreamy.”
“And about a million years younger than us,” Nick says with a snort.
“He looks just like Dad did back in the day,” Anthony says to me conspiratorially, before giving Nick a kiss on the cheek.
“Haven’t really met him,” I say quickly.
Hudson is the last thing I want to be thinking about.
Just hearing his name creates a sinking feeling in my gut, and I’d be more than happy to just pretend he doesn’t exist. Every time I think of him, I have to be reminded that even though Luna was singing to me, she’s actually dating Hudson and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
My dads fill me in on what’s going on in Provincetown this summer, and Nick takes me with him to the kitchen so I can watch him make, and then eat, an epic lobster roll.
But in every pause, the fact that Liv isn’t there hangs heavy in the silence.
No matter how much time passes, I can’t get used to her being gone.
By the time they hang up, I feel both homesick and grateful to be away and doing something that has no heartbreakingly happy memories attached to it.
I prep Luna’s dinner, then after I deliver it, I watch the opener and Luna’s first song before returning to the kitchen to make the schnitzel and veggies.
I pan-fry the chicken cutlets so that they’re marginally healthier than deep-fried ones, and plate them with a kale salad with fresh fruit.
I carry the tray up to Luna’s dressing room, having timed it perfectly so she should arrive just after I leave but the food will still be warm for her.
I open the door and place the tray on her makeup table where she likes it, but when I turn to leave, she’s standing there in the doorway.
She’s clearly just walked offstage. She’s glowing with energy and her glittery makeup is flawless despite her having just been sweating for hours.
Her brown hair must have some sort of magic product in it, because despite the heat and dancing it’s still shiny and silky-looking.
And in her boots she has to be nearly six feet tall.
“Just dropping this off,” I say quickly.
“Can you stay?” Luna asks.
“Of course,” I say. “But what about your vocal rest?”
“Just tell me a story. About your day, Provincetown, your death row meal. I know you said in your video that the octopus you made in Spain would get a spot in it. Whatever you want.”
Luna strides over to the table and picks up the tray, carrying it over to the couch, where she sits on one side, clearly waiting for me.
I sit next to her but take care to leave space between us.
This grueling week and a half of shows has reminded me that even if it felt like a moment the other day, she’s my boss and I need to act professional.
“Hmm, let me think.” I watch Luna take her first bite of the food and she shuts her eyes in pleasure.
Suddenly I feel the need to distract myself from looking at her.
“If we were in Provincetown right now, I’d make you a giant lobster roll at my dads’ place.
My sister, Liv, she always wanted me to make her a special mega roll.
” I pause, my words lost for a moment. Wanted.
But I force myself to start talking again before that is what we end up talking about.
“Then we could walk the breakwater at low tide and take a picnic all the way to the beach on the other side. If you keep walking along that beach, you’ll eventually reach the very tip of the Cape, and then you can catch a boat back to town.
Oh, and we’d have to get ice cream. I know you’re avoiding dairy right now for your vocal cords, but in this fictional day, dairy magically is actually good for your voice. And then—”
“Quick, get up!” Luna interrupts suddenly. She’s holding her phone. “Hudson and Ashley are coming.”
Suddenly I hear a man’s voice from the hallway. “Where should I go?” I ask urgently. If I walk out now, it’ll be obvious I was in here.
Luna looks around. There’s not even a closet to hide in.
“The wardrobe rack! Get behind it. And take your shoes off.” She pulls off her own knee-high Louboutins as I slide off my Birkenstocks.
Luna hands the boots to me and in exchange takes my Birks and tosses them behind the couch.
“Go behind the clothes and put these on to hide your legs.”
I push the clothes aside and stand against the wall, then step into her shoes and wince. They’re eye-wateringly high heels. “How do you perform in these?” I whisper. “They’re torture devices!”
“You get used to it,” Luna whispers. She’s holding the clothes to either side of me apart, only inches away. “I’m so sorry about this. I’ll get rid of them as quickly as I can.” And then before I can say anything else, she’s pulling the gowns and bodysuits in front of me.
Through gaps in the clothes, I see Hudson stride into the room, followed closely by Ashley.
“Hey, babe,” Hudson says blandly. He sits down on the couch next to Luna and throws an arm around her shoulders and plants a firm but brief kiss on her lips.
Even though she really doesn’t kiss him back, my stomach jumps with dread.
What am I doing here? I was so stupid to think that Luna and I shared something real, when her famous, rich, handsome, and even worse, genuinely talented, boyfriend is right here.
I wish I could disappear, but instead I’m stuck watching them through these stupid bodysuits in shoes that are three sizes too big on me but are somehow still pinching my feet into oblivion.
“Hey, Hudson,” Luna says softly. She turns to Ashley. “I’m on vocal rest.…”
“You can afford to take a break for this,” Ashley says firmly. “I’ll leave you two to it.”
Ashley walks out, and I steel myself for the conversation I’ll have to watch next, which is sure to be at least mildly crushing.