Chapter Twenty-Eight. Luna
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Luna
Last night Charles and I stayed late in the studio, recording all the vocals and my instrumentals for “Were You Ever Really Here?” and drafting out the song I now am even more sure will be the single on this album, “I Kissed Her First.” Charles must have slept at the studio, because when I woke up at ten today, he had already sent me both the “Were You Ever Really Here?” track to approve, and a demo of “I Kissed Her First.” I listen to them both, and while “Were You Ever Really Here?” is ready to go, the demo still needs something else to complete it.
I forward the finished track to Ashley so she can get the green light from my label.
I hear back within the hour and immediately start enacting our plan.
I open my Instagram and share a story that’s a screenshot of my notes app from the day I started this song.
That night, after scribbling on that napkin by the Eiffel Tower, I wrote the lyrics in my phone so that I wouldn’t lose them, and the entry is dated.
I add the song to Instagram with the title, then add a snippet of the song as the sound underneath the story.
My fans are sleuths and I know they’ll share this with each other and build hype around it.
I’m about to turn my phone off and go to the venue to get ready for the Rolling Stone interview I have today, when my cell buzzes with a text from Riley.
It’s a photo and a video, both of me sitting on the picnic blanket writing the song on that napkin with the sparkling Eiffel Tower in the background.
I must have been so wrapped up in my writing that I didn’t even notice her taking these.
omg I love these
can I share them???
Riley’s typing dots appear. Of course
My fans are going to instantly put two and two together when they see the Eiffel Tower in these.
I’ve never shared my writing process with them, since it’s not usually this glamorous.
It typically consists of notes scribbled while I’m on the tour bus or working out lyrics in my pajamas at home.
But writing at the Eiffel Tower is the kind of creative moment I always dreamed about.
I share the photo to my Instagram, and at the last moment I decide to tag Riley’s food account on the picnic spread.
It just looks so delicious in the picture, I want her to get credit for it.
I do the same with the video on my socials, and use the song as the background.
It only takes a few minutes for people to start making videos with the audio.
I head downstairs and go out the back entrance to take my car to the venue.
Today is just setup and a walk-through of everything, but since the journalist is coming, we’re doing a small photo shoot of me backstage and in the studio later on today.
My stylist liaised with Ashley to choose my outfits for the shoot, and sent a local stylist to make sure everything is steamed and looking good throughout the day.
When I arrive at the venue, the journalist is already waiting in my greenroom, as is hair and makeup.
“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting,” I say immediately. The last thing I need is for them to write that I’m some sort of diva.
“No, no, I’m early. I’m Jamie.” The petite, curvy brunette stands and holds out her hand to me, and I shake it. “Looking forward to the day.”
“Same here! Thanks for coming all this way. I hope you’re staying for the show tomorrow too?”
She smiles. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
I get in the hair-and-makeup chair and my stylist gets started while Jamie peppers me with questions.
We promised her the exclusive scoop on the breakup with Hudson, which she’ll be getting, but I’m still a bit guarded in my responses to her.
I know she wants a story and I’ll give her a great one.
I just want to make sure it’s a version that makes me look good too.
“So I saw your posts this morning. How long have you been working on that song?”
I make eye contact with Jamie in the mirror as the stylist fashions my hair into loose waves that fall around my face.
“The picture I shared at the Eiffel Tower, from before the first European show, is when I came up with the idea. I’ve been playing with it ever since, but we actually recorded it last night. ”
Jamie’s surprise is evident on her face. “Wow, last night? And I thought I was going to be the tired one today after my red-eye.”
The photographer Rolling Stone has contracted walks in, and Ashley stops them. “Let’s wait until after hair and makeup,” she says smoothly. “We want this to be a stylized shoot.”
“It’s okay, Ashley,” I interject. “I’m ready to be completely open.” That’s actually almost true. “They can have complete access for these two days.” I glance back at the photographer and wink. “Just try to make me look cute.”
They don’t need to be told twice. He starts snapping pictures as my stylist glues in eyelash extensions, and Jamie jumps back in. “I think everyone is speculating about when exactly you and Hudson broke up. Can you give us the date?”
“Hudson and I officially broke up privately last week, but it had been coming for quite some time, which we both knew. We just respected each other too much to do it over text or FaceTime, and we’d barely had any time together the past few months.
I still care about him so deeply, and I cherish the time we spent together.
He really is a good guy, and I hope he does find the one. ”
Jamie raises an eyebrow. “He didn’t speak about you that positively this week.”
“Everyone should be able to vent to their friends and family in private. Hudson and I spoke that day; there are no secrets or bad blood between us.”
Before Jamie can ask her next question, there’s a knock on the door and Riley walks in with a tray.
I can tell she prepared extra food for the journalist, even though they really should just take food from catering, and I appreciate her being so thoughtful.
I can see Ashley fight against her instinct to just take the tray from Riley.
Instead she asks the photographer to see the shots she’s taken, under the guise of making sure the lighting is adequate, so she can prevent them from taking photos of Riley and me.
Riley carries the tray over to me and sets it on the makeup table.
She’s wearing a linen shirt-and-shorts set with tiny boobs embroidered all over it, and I’m absolutely obsessed with it.
I squeeze her hand briefly after she sets the tray down, and I don’t miss Jamie noting it, although she doesn’t write anything down. “Thank you,” I say. “It looks amazing.”
Riley’s prepared two portions of one of my favorite dishes, a miso-glazed salmon with microgreens and a corn avocado salad, along with a chocolate chip cookie for dessert and an iced coffee.
“I made a little extra today,” she says with a smile. “Just in case…” She hesitates, not knowing the journalist’s name.
“Jamie,” I supply.
“In case Jamie’s hungry.”
“I can’t wait to try it,” Jamie says cheerfully. “I’d never turn down your cooking. I’ve actually also been following you for years.”
Riley blushes, and from where she stands behind me, she runs her thumb over my shoulder gently. “Well, enjoy.”
She leaves before Jamie can ask her any more questions, and as I watch her leave, I hear the snap of a photo being taken and wonder what my face looked like. I hand Jamie a fork to distract her, and when she takes her first bite of the salmon, she actually groans.
“How is this the best salmon I’ve ever tasted?”
“I know,” I say, and take a bite of my own. “Wait until you taste the cookie. I really don’t know how she does it; I could eat her food for every meal forever and never get bored. You should try her fancy cooking, too. She made a group dinner for everyone in Spain and it was incredible.”
“Did you two meet on the tour?”
I nod, mindful to keep the focus away from Riley and me.
I don’t want this article to turn into a tell-all about my new relationship.
We need to keep the focus on my music and salvaging the situation with Hudson.
“I probably shouldn’t say too much, at the risk of spoiling the new album I’ve been working on. ”
“Can we hear a track from it? Will the single you released today be on it?”
“It won’t be. This will be something totally new.”
“And I have to ask … were you planning on coming out prior to being outed?” Jamie says, watching me closely.
I hesitate. “Eventually, yes. But on my own terms.” I would like to think that’s true, but somewhere deep in my gut I wonder how long I would have pushed it off for in the name of my career.
“I’ve never been happier with someone, and given how personal my songs are, I don’t think I’d even be able to keep my sexuality a secret. ”
Mercifully, my stylist finishes up and saves me from saying too much, so we start on the walk-through of backstage and the photo shoot.
I run through a few songs with my backup dancers and musicians, all of us in rehearsal clothes rather than full stage outfits, while they adjust lighting and the photographer snaps photos.
Once they all break for lunch, I grab my guitar and test out an acoustic version of my new song and we take a few more staged photos.
By the time we wrap all that up, it’s dinnertime, and Riley brings up two portions of homemade chicken tikka, lamb raan buns, and iced chai for us to have before we head to the studio, which the photographer is pre-lighting now.