I watch her for a second, surprised by her sharp response. “What do you mean?”
She shrugs again. “He never plays around me or lets me watch.” She glances back at the building before studying the paver stones beneath us again. Wait…
“Is that something you’re interested in? Music?” I ask.
This time her indifferent shrug isn’t as believable. Not when she casts another look behind her. I see the way her black nails tighten around the phone in her hands, a music app open on the screen. “I mean, music’s cool, I guess. This place is pretty sweet. It would’ve been cool to… never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
“Cool to what?” I ask.
She glances up, searching my eyes for a second. It’s then that I notice the pale green irises glowing through the dark cloud cloaking this girl. Because she is still just a girl. Somewhere inside this tiny wannabe-woman is a child that’s deeply hurting. My heart breaks the longer she stares back. She blinks and pulls her gaze away, focusing once again on the ground.
Another shrug. If this is all Julian has to work with, no wonder he’s so frustrated. Thoughts of the blatant defeat that settled over him in the hall come racing back. I force away another unexpected twinge.
“It would’ve been cool to see Genevieve, I guess. She’s kind of… I just mean, she doesn’t suck, you know?”
I breathe through the silence, doing my best to string these hints into a cohesive story. Pieces start falling into place, and suddenly, a flash of awareness sends a shiver through me. This girl lives with Julian, which means…
Could that music that’s been annoying me for weeks be a curse for him as well?
Maybe what I was seeing when I confronted my annoying neighbor wasn’t indifference to my concerns, but a veiled attempt to take the blame for his niece. Let the girl from downstairs hate him; he had bigger problems. And if the fight I’d witnessed was any indication of their regular dynamic—holy powder keg. No wonder he was late today and had to keep leaving rehearsal.
“Hey so, I should probably get back and see if Viv—Genevieve—needs me. Um…” I leave a calculated pause as I pretend to consider something. “You wouldn’t want to come help me with a project for her, would you? I mean, I know it’s probably silly or whatever, but she’d probably love to meet you.”
Those green irises light up, blasting me with hope that hurts so much I have to swallow a lump of emotion. Everything about her appearance, demeanor, and what I’ve seen up to this point tells me hope is a rare thing in her world. Does this girl ever smile?
“Really?” Then her eyes dim again. “But Uncle Julian… he doesn’t want me around.”
I search her face for more, but can’t break through the mask this time. “Did he actually say that? I happen to know he’s under a lot of stress right now and probably isn’t expressing himself well at the moment. I bet he’s saying and doing a lot of things he doesn’t mean.”
She shrugs, and I smile.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter what he thinks. I’ll handle your Uncle Julian if there’s an issue. Let’s go.”
I hop down from the wall and motion for her to follow. When I look back, the slightest hint of a smile has arched her lips.
CHAPTER 3
JULIAN
She brought her here?
The bridge of “Silverlight” crashes to a halt when Hadley returns with Naomi in tow. I almost choke as my neighbor parades into the studio like it’s totally normal for her to show up with my niece.
To Naomi’s credit, she looks less certain when her gaze flickers to me. It’s not that I don’t want her here, it’s just… okay, yes, that’s what it is. I need to focus, and focus is the last thing I can manage when she’s around. It’s hard to do anything when someone goes out of their way to make sure you know how much they hate you with every look, action, and word. Even now, she’s firing eye-darts at me, as if daring me to make a scene so she can make a bigger one.
My inhale is so heavy the mic picks it up from a few inches away as Hadley waves Naomi into the room.
“This is Naomi, Julian’s niece,” Hadley announces. “She’s going to help me with a project while you all practice.” Then she proceeds to drag another chair across the entire floor of the studio to her spot, all of us staring in silent shock. I feel the tension in the room, the epiphanic moment when the pieces snap into place and everyone figures out why I’ve been so weird and what I’ve been hiding from them.
Plus, Naomi wants a scene.
I see the way her fingers ball in a fist and brace on her thighs as she takes the seat Hadley offers her. Her eyes bore into me, daring me to challenge the two of them and their weird little pact. I swallow the instinct that wants to lash back, to indulge her pettiness, because guess what? It turns out pettiness must be genetic because man do I feel petty right now.
My attention shifts back to Hadley and her smug smile. She had to know this is the last thing I wanted. No wonder she volunteered to help. Is this payback? Her way of getting me to crack in front of her boss and get my ass fired on day one?
She saw our fight, saw my weakness when the mask slipped and I thought I was alone. For a brief moment I thought I felt a thaw between us—maybe even more than that, if I’m honest. Hell, my hand got a mind of its own and reached for her until I managed to retract the strange reaction. Cleary, I misread that entire exchange.
Gripping the neck of the guitar, I ignore the awkward energy of the room and clear my throat.
“Yes, that’s my niece. You don’t mind if she hangs with us for today, do you?” I force out.
A chorus of awkward “no’s” and “of-course-nots” litter the air amidst more subtle coughing and throat-clearing. This is exactly what I’d been trying to avoid. I can practically see Viv on her phone to Sam after this disaster of a rehearsal, begging her to get her out of our contract.
Worst part, I can’t blame her. I’d do the same in her shoes. If I’d been able to jump ship before the Eastern Crush fiasco, I wouldn’t even have looked for a lifejacket. Just dove over the edge and braved the sharks to avoid the hell that followed.
Is Viv thinking the same? Her assistant Hadley clearly thinks I’m a cancer. I glance at my niece who hates me and consider the catalog of shitlists I’m on. There’s only one common denominator.
My jaw sets in a hard line as I force my gaze away from Naomi and Hadley. This is my last chance. I played all my cards, cashed out for this, and already I feel it slipping away. I swallow the surge of panic, the fear swirling through me that’s suddenly making my palms sweat and my muscles constrict.
Just don’t let them see. Once you lose yourself, you lose everything. Again. And again.
And fucking again.
I clench my eyes shut, drawing in a breath. My lungs ache; my heart pounds in my chest as I fight to push away the past and get a hold of the present.
“Okay, um… let’s pick it up from the top. Viv, you killed that second chorus. I love the run you did on ‘wander.’ Max, maybe less snare and more toms for the pre-chorus, but that groove when we hit the bridge was perfection. Beck, can you run the same bassline you did on the bridge in verse two? I think it would sound cool with what Travis is playing on rhythm and Max is doing with the kick. Yo, Trav, that overdrive you had on the intro was sick. Maybe keep that going through verse one.”