He had turned his face up to say something to me, and I looked down, and I remembered the moment because he’d been breathtaking with all that love in his eyes. And it’d been at least a week, if not more, before we ever said the words out loud.
Then Gemma had said something, making us laugh, and we’d looked at her just to realize it was a photo op. We looked—
“You’re in love with him,” Milton stated in a gentle, calm voice.
“Yeah,” I admitted, feeling my chest tighten.
“Looks mutual.”
Chuckling again, I nodded. “It definitely is.”
He handed the phone back to me and sighed. “It’s not gonna be easy. Wren said it’s new?”
“Kind of. The loving is new. We eh, met up a few times over the years.”
Milton chuckled and got up to find the creamer for the coffee. “That’s kind of how I met the Mrs.”
I smiled. “Oh yeah?”
We fixed the coffees as he told me all about how he met the love of his life, and it struck me that I could, finally, relate.
The album got to a point in the production where Wren didn’t need to be involved anymore, which meant we left Milton’s place and went back into the city.
I started to watch Wren more closely, seeing this new strain that seemed to begin immediately after starting the press and publicity bullshit. With the previous album last year, it’d taken well into the tour for him to start showing the same signs.
It was a lot, watching him slowly begin to resent the thing he was made for.
Then one day, we were at the label’s headquarters where he was doing some interviews instead of going to everyone’s location separately. I stood on the sidelines, by the door to the room, with Kamon posted outside. I’d insisted on the practice of there being someone from my team around in addition to me, whenever we weren’t at Wren’s condo.
Since nobody was paying attention to me, I checked my phone to see if Emery had updated me on his ongoing issue with his boss. There had been some sort of an incident with doctor fuckhead having been unable to accept Emery’s judgment again, and he’d been truly upset about it last night when we’d talked.
The door opened and Kamon peeked in. “Boss? Ellings wants you. I called Abi in.”
I nodded, sliding my phone into my pocket, then made brief eye contact with Wren who had noticed the interaction, and he tipped his chin in acknowledgment. He thought it was excessive, having more than just me around, but he tolerated it. I stepped out and closed the door.
“Did she say what it was about?” I asked Kamon, trying to figure out why Wren’s normally so hands-off handler would want to see me.
“Nope.”
Abigail appeared at the end of the hall, and I clapped Kamon’s shoulder, then went to meet her.
“You going upstairs?” she asked, slowing down but not stopping.
“Yup. Hold the fort.” I smiled.
She grinned. “Consider it done.”
I found my way to the elevators and then two floors up to where Rachel Ellings’ office was located.
Her assistant, Zara, gestured for me to go in as soon as she spotted me.
“Lovely blouse,” I told her, and she rolled her eyes like she always would.
“Fuck off, Ville,” she replied calmly, while smoothing the front of her T-shirt with her hands.
Grinning, I knocked on Rachel’s door and stepped inside.
She lifted her gaze from her laptop screen, pushed it aside, then grabbed her iPad and sighed. “Please sit down.”
