“Of course it was Cherry.” Nick cuts in front of Linc, grabbing me up from the chair and giving me a giant bear hug. He lifts me off my feet and spins me around. My stomach starts to get queasy from all the motion.
“Put my girl down. I can’t break your hands right now. If we didn’t need them so badly, I wouldn’t think twice about it.”
Nick hands me over to Linc.
“You always believed in us,” he whispers into my ear.
“Always,” I agree. I see how Linc treats something he loves. He cherishes it. He loves his music so I know it will flourish. I lean down, kissing him. Guilt gnaws at me that I’m not more excited. Outwardly I pretend to be, but my insides ache with sadness. Things are going to change. They are about to leave me behind while they live out their lives. I’m not sure how I’m going to be without Linc. How will we manage to stay together? He’s been such a big part of my life for so long. I know we love each other, but will that be enough? The sadness threatens to overwhelm me, and suddenly I feel the need to get out of here. “I gotta go home.”
“It shouldn't take you long to pack. We’re just going out for a meeting.” Yes, a meeting where I know they are going to talk them into signing a deal. Treat could see what my boys can do. He isn't going to let them pass. I have a feeling this meeting is going to turn quickly into them staying longer and so many other things. It’s all bittersweet.
“I can’t go to LA, Linc.” I rest my hands on his shoulders. He slides me down his body, putting me on my feet, but doesn't let me go.
“What are you talking about? Of course you’re going.”
“I have school,” I remind him. It isn't me that’s signing a deal. I still have to finish high school. And finish my applications to get into a college. I’m guessing I need to find a part-time job too. I’m going to have a lot more time on my hands now. I might as well fill it with something. It’s not as though I can depend on my parents to help me out.
“You can’t miss a few days? We can’t go without you, Cherry. I can’t go without you.”
“You can and you will.” I manage a smile that I try to make as convincing as possible. I reach up to touch his face. It takes everything in me not to burst into tears. “I’m expecting you guys to go out there and kill it. Don’t come back unless it’s with a huge deal. I didn’t send all those emails out for nothing.” I lean in to give Linc a kiss before backing away.
“You two be on your best behavior.” I walk over to Nick and Benjy, giving each of them a hug. Squeezing them a little tighter than normal. Not knowing when I’ll get to do it again. Linc grabs my hand, leading me out of his parents’ place. I wonder how they will take it. I know they’ll let him go. He has to go out to LA and see this through.
“Cherry.” Linc pins me to the side of the truck, caging me in.
“You got this.” I run my hands up and down his chest.
“It’s going to be hard being away from you. What if something happens? I’m not a car ride away.”
“We’re a call away. This is something we’re going to have to get used to. I have to finish school. It’s important to me.” I don’t want to end up like my parents.
“I know. Shit, I know.” He knows what it means to me to graduate. I’ll be the first in my family to actually have a high school diploma.
“I’ll do what I have to do here and you go and do what you have to do there. I’ll always be here. You’ll know where to find me.”
His hands cup my face as he kisses me deeply. I sigh into his mouth, knowing I’ll never know a love like his. That I’ll miss him every second of every day. But it has to be done. Even if my heart gets broken I’ll know it was all worth it.
Chapter Nine
Linc
“Baby, look at this!” I hold up the phone as I spin around the suite. “It’s got two living rooms. In a hotel! We have the whole floor to ourselves!” Everything I say is with exclamations, but from the minute I stepped off the plane, my mind has been blown. Outside of baggage check, a guy wearing a suit and tie was waiting for us. I knew it was for us because he had an iPad with our names on it. He led us to an SUV, stuck all our shit in the back, and whisked us to a hotel nicer than the state capitol--not that I’ve been to the state capital, so I’m making an assumption here.
We’re on the top floor of this bomb-ass place in a suite that has three fucking bedrooms and two living rooms. “We have our own butler, baby. He said that we can ask for anything at any time.”
She laughs. “What outrageous thing did Benjy ask for?”
“An apple bonsai tree.” I flop back onto the couch overlooking the city.
“Why?”
“He said it was the most rare thing that popped into his head at that moment.” Benjy reads a lot of obscure stuff so maybe it is. I have no idea.
“Nick asked for a steak and you…” she pauses and taps her cheek. I can see that some of the pink paint on her nails has peeled away. “You asked for--Is that my doorbell?”
I smile. “You should answer it.”
“Okay. Hold on.” She puts the phone down. I stare at her white popcorn ceiling as she leaves to go answer the door. I don’t hear much for a while and then there’s a squeal and her bright face comes into view again. “Oh my God! Look at this! It’s like an entire garden got delivered.” She repositions the phone so that I can see the giant bouquet of roses. Six dozen of them, to be precise. The whole bouquet is almost as wide as her twin bed. Damn. When they say you can get anything, they really mean it.
“Is this what you asked for?”
“Yeah.”
“You are so--why? You should’ve asked for something for yourself,” she cries, burying her face in the flowers.
“It was for myself. Looking at you smile like this is the only way I was going to get any sleep tonight.” She put on a brave face at the airport, but I knew she was sad as fuck.
“I can’t believe it,” she keeps saying. “Where am I going to put these?”
“Doesn’t matter. As long as I’m not with you, you’re getting a delivery. This is just the first one.”
She pushes the bouquet away and glares at me. “No it’s not. That’s way too expensive. Don’t you know that every dime that the label spends on you, you have to pay back?”
I frown. “Nah, really?”
“It’s true. I did some internet searching.”
“That sounds fucked up.” I look around the hotel suite and my palms start sweating. This place is massive. There's a dining room that can seat twelve people and a kitchenette that my mom would cry in envy over. “We haven’t signed anything.” I scrub a hand through my hair. Fuck, I need a cut. The bangs are way too long. I can barely see shit. “Can they make you pay for stuff when you didn’t sign anything?”
“I don’t know. That’s a good question. Maybe they plan to charge you in the contract. I hope you get a lawyer.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” she says. Her little lips are turned down. I wish I could kiss them.