I wish I could say I had better things to do than listen to Connie sing in her room next to mine. It’s kind of astonishing how thin these walls are. I heard her shower last night, the smell of her strawberry shampoo wafting in through the cracks around my door.
I’ve been up for a few hours, thanks to the wake-up call I had scheduled with the front desk. We had made good time traveling here—we’re a whole day early, which means a lot of just waiting around. Connie is singing in her room, and I’m entranced. She sounds amazing, but she’s being quiet. I can’t hear the words, only a soft melody.
I was honestly shocked to find out that it was just Lilli, or “Lillian”, as she goes by on stage, opening for Jennifer Lux. I don’t know why Connie isn’t singing with her, and I don’t think I should ask. I tried to look up Scarlet Sofa on my phone to see if I could find out what happened between them, but of course, my feed was oversaturated with furnitur. Lilli had rebranded everything on her social media accounts, but scrolling back far enough, I saw pictures of them singing together.
Connie has songwriter credit on most of Lilli’s songs. From what I could tell, Connie seemed content, and there obviously wasn’t any bad blood between them. So how did Connie go from a singer to a singer’s assistant?
Abruptly, the music stops next door, and I go out to the hallway to see Connie opening her door. She is surprised to see me, and she quickly gives me a glare.
“What?”
“Good morning to you too, Stardust.” She scowls at me, and I love how much I bother her with one word.
“I don’t need an escort to go across the hall, do I?” she asks. Sure enough, Lilli opens her door to welcome Connie.
“No, ma’am,” I agree. I shoot Ash a text, and he comes out. “We’ll be out here.”
Connie rolls her eyes as Lilli laughs. When the door is closed, Ash pulls out a fidget spinner. “Ready to tell me what’s going on with you two?”
“It’s ancient history,” I deflect.
“That’s a load of horse shit.”
I pull out my phone and scroll through my photos. I find the one I’m looking for before I hand it to him.
“Holy shit, what is this?”
The photo is from when Connie and I first met, taken by Lilli outside the Lemon Drop. The flash is bright on us in the dark, and she’s smiling at me while I look right at the camera. Her bi-pride glitter, my maroon shirt, and the reflection of the flash in the window behind us are the things I always look at first with this picture.
“That was when Connie and I met at the Arts Festival.”
“When was this?”
“You were deployed in Japan, dealing with a lot of other stuff with your brother’s divorce. Besides, Arts Fest was only a week. It’s not like we were dating or anything.”
“Sure, but it’s obvious. Like, she’s the kind of girl who has been kind to everyone she’s interacted with, and then there’s you. Day one, and she was shutting you out like you committed a war crime or something.”
I shrug. “It’s not like that. Nothing happened between us.”
“Nothing?”
“Not like that. It was a really intense week, you know?”
Ash shakes his head and laughs at me. “You creative types are so funny about that. You’ve always been like this, citing your emotions make you more emotional, like you get to writing, and suddenly, all logic leaves your brain.
“Meanwhile, you’ve got this girl you’re head over heels for, and you have three weeks to try and shoot your shot, but you just let her ice you out.” Ash gives me a playfully sinister grin. “You should totally take the opportunity.”
“She’s not a prize or some conquest, Ash.”
“Eric, everything is a conquest.”
I roll my eyes. “Gross.”
“I just mean that you have to make tactical moves.”
“I don’t want to just get laid. She’s too special for that.”
“So you don’t want to sleep with her?”
