The last week of the tour mirrored the initial few weeks on the road. Cities began to blend into one another, and, some days, Sindy couldn’t remember which state they were in or if they were heading to another gig or another city. She was used to hard work. She had put in double shifts at the diner and sometimes worked 60 hours a week, standing on her feet all day and carrying heavy trays back and forth to the kitchen, but it was nothing compared to the hectic schedule of the promotional tour. They traveled all night and woke at a ridiculously early hour in order to appear on live morning television shows. Sometimes they would go to an interview at a radio station afterwards, and then straight to a taping of a late-night talk show.
She never thought she’d be happy to finally return home. She loved meeting new fans and talk show hosts and DJs. Most of all, she loved telling the story about how she met Tessa while she was playing in a coffee shop, even if it sounded cliché.
“What’s the first thing you want to do when you get home, Mase?” Lucas asked.
“You’re gonna laugh, but I want to sit behind my drum kit and just play, man. Not any specific song or beat, just freestyle whatever my head and hands create.”
“I want to take a ride on my Dyna Glide,” Lucas replied. “I just want to jump on the Parkway and go.”
Sindy was surprised at the little things that Lucas and Mason missed while away from home. While they were both looking forward to ordinary day-to-day things, her mind was still on the music. “I want to start recording the new album.”
Tessa’s face brightened. “That’s my girl! What’s wrong with you two guys? We need to get the album done. You saw how many people asked about it. I’m thinking we should do a pre-order.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “We’ve been so busy I haven’t checked the Billboard Top 100.” She grabbed her laptop, opened it, and tapped onto the keyboard. Tessa stared at the screen, while everyone waited to hear where the single sat on the charts.
“Tess?” Mason clasped his hands together between his knees. “Is that blank expression on your face good or bad?”
Tessa turned the laptop around, and the three of them leaned in to read the screen. Mason and Lucas let out a loud, “Woo hoo!” and high-fived each other, while Sindy remained fixated on the screen, wearing the same stunned look as Tessa. Number one. Their single had been sitting at number one for the last three weeks in a row and they’d been so busy that they hadn’t even been aware that it topped the charts.
She’d toured the country, met thousands of fans, TV show hosts and celebrities, but it took that number one slot for everything to register in Sindy’s head. She made it. Prodigy was a success. And she was on top of the world.
