26. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
Scarlett
The lyrics and harmonies that pour out onto the page in front of me are a tangled, mismatched mess, but looking back over my work makes me smile.
It’s only the start of a few new numbers, and some chord progressions I’ll need to revise a little to fit choruses that’ll come to me later, but it’s more than I’ve managed to put to paper in a single session in a while.
Maybe I need to put the laptop down sometimes and get back to basics.
It’s definitely something to think about.
I don’t realize I’m humming under my breath until one of my travelling companions speaks.
“What song is that?” Trick asks, his question breaking my concentration and making me snap the notebook closed instinctively as I quit humming.
His gaze is fixed on me, and he’s full of curious wonder.
“Oh, nothing,” I murmur, shrugging. “I must have heard it on the radio this morning.”
“You don’t know what it was?” he asks.
“Sorry. I don’t.”
“Damn,” he says.
It’s nice to know he liked it enough to ask, but it wasn’t much of anything.
I shouldn’t let his interest stroke my ego too hard.
It’s hard to keep the smile from my lips, but I smother it as quickly as I can.
After retracting the pen’s nib, I wedge it into the spiral part of the notebook before I stuff the evidence of my song writing session back into Sapphire’s stupid-small handbag.
I close the flap and sit back in my seat, smoothing down the fabric of my skirt.
Riley sighs next to me, and we both turn our attention to him.
He’s sound asleep, as far as I can tell, head tipped forward, arms crossed.
I glance back at Trick and see he’s checking his phone.
“How long until we get there?” I ask, not wanting to open Sapphire’s handbag again to check the time.
“Oh,” Trick says. “Uh, it’s … We’ve got about twenty minutes until we get there.”
He nods and puts his phone back into his pocket.
I must have spent at least a half hour scribbling in that notebook, probably more like forty minutes. I’m glad the flight is short, and I’m doubly glad I wasn’t sitting back here with all four members of the band the entire time.
Keeping my thoughts clean with just Trick’s gaze on me has been hard enough.
I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t find something to occupy me.
“Does he always sleep the whole way there?” I ask, nodding at Riley.
Trick laughs. “It’s kind of a must. I’m not sure how he’d cope if he woke up, to be honest.”
“So, you guys have to do this every time you fly?”
He nods. “It’s not something we do very often.”
“I guess you’re usually busy working.”
“Yeah, we tour a lot.”
“I figured.”
“I’m guessing you’re not a fan?” he asks, giving me his trademark little smile that only seems to lift the right side of his lips.
“Uh …” Only ever since the second after you guys put out your debut EP.
Too bad I can’t even admit to that here.
So, I keep my mouth shut.
It’s a slippery slope.
If I start confessing to little things that are me, I’ll end up in someone’s bed before I get the chance to do what I’m really here for. I’ve gotta remember whose shoes I’m in right now.
Sapphire’s low heels are too practical and professional to be groupie shoes.
“It’s okay if you’re not a fan,” Trick tells me. “I just don’t think I’ve spoken to someone who didn’t know our entire discography in … Probably years, at this point.”
“I’m not much of a music fan. That’s all. I know who you guys are. And I’m sure I’ve heard a song or two, I just don’t really keep up with that stuff. I’m kinda more into movies when I’m not working.”
It feels like the most outrageous lie I’ve ever told.
Music is absolutely my whole life.
But it isn’t Sapphire’s.
“Huh.” He nods, but I can tell he doesn’t find it easy to understand.
That’s probably a good thing. Maybe now he’ll stop looking at me like I’m the hottest thing he’s ever seen. There’s only so much I can handle without cracking.
“It’s weird, I know,” I add, making him laugh.
“If there’s one thing I do know, it’s weird,” he admits. “I was the outcast growing up. Until I met Xane and the guys, I didn’t click with anyone.”
“You didn’t?” I ask, curious.
He blinks, and I realize he probably just overshared.
These guys don’t usually reveal anything super personal in their interviews.
“Off record,” I add.
He gives me that trademark smile again.
“Is anything ever really off record when it comes to reporters?”
That’s not exactly what Sapphire is, but I guess in this situation, it kinda is.
I smile back. “If you tell me something is off record, I won’t put it in the interview. This is really more of a promotional thing. I’m not here to write an exposé. In fact, this is only happening because one of your sponsors bought the magazine.”
“Oh.” He seems surprised, so I guess he didn’t know.
Considering it’s usually Xane who arranges Chaos Burning’s promos, that tracks.
Trick still seems to be thinking about it when we run into a bit of turbulence.
The swift dip and rise makes my stomach flip-flop.
“Uh … Is this normal?” I ask, just before it happens a second time.
He winces. “Not really. Usually, Xane warns us if he thinks it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
Almost as if our pilot’s listening in, the ding of the radio alerts us to an incoming message from the cockpit, a second before Xane’s clear, confident voice comes through.
“This is your Captain speaking. Make sure you’ve got your seatbelts fastened. We’re about to hit some turbulence.”
“About to?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at Trick.
He shrugs. “I guess that means it’s gonna get worse.”
The urge to check out the window comes and goes.
The blinds are all closed for Riley’s sake.
He’s still sleeping, but I wonder how long that’ll last if the wind keeps smacking us around.
We take another dip and rise. And another.
My seat is shaking under me a second later.
“You doing okay?” Trick asks, voice slightly raised.
“I’m fine,” I assure him. “Is he gonna be good?”
I nod toward our lightly snoring companion.
“As long as he stays asleep,” Trick answers.
I try to concentrate on my breathing while we rattle around in our seats.
Xane didn’t sound concerned, and I’m pretty sure a bit of turbulence is common.
In fact, it’s probably even more likely in a smaller craft like this than it is on a commercial flight.
All of this is completely normal.
There’s nothing to freak out over.
Not a single damn thing.
The sudden drop and tilt takes my breath away.
Gravity pins to my body to my seat.
This can't be happening!
I'm not about to die. Please, tell me, I'm not about to die …
I squeeze my eyes closed and shriek out my terror as we plunge downwards.