“That’s all you, Sadie. You did this. Never forget it. Your voice.You.” Amalia handed Sadie a slim package wrapped in shiny red paper. “A little Christmas gift for you,” she said. “No one else needs to know what a big softie I am.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get anything for you. I didn’t do any Christmas shopping this year. Except for...”
Max.She and her mother had gone out to a Christmas market in SoBro the night before, and she had seen the perfect gift for Max. Sadie had had no idea if she would ever be able to give it to him—but she had bought it anyway.Come on, Max, please, get here, Sadie willed.
“Nonsense, you’ve been busy,” Amalia said. “Come. Sit. This is nothing, really. Just a small token, something to remember tonight by.”
Sadie sat in the chair in front of the mirror and ripped open the festive wrapping paper. These past few years had been a blur, but Sadie loved Christmas, loved giving and receiving gifts. She vowed that the following Christmas, no matter where she ended up, things would be different. She would never again get so wrapped up in her work that she didn’t even go Christmas shopping for the people she cared about.
Inside the slim box was a tiny replica of the nameplate they had just been admiring on the door of her dressing room. “Now you’ll never forget this night,” Amalia said. Sadie had worked with Amalia for a long time, but had never felt truly close to her. Not until tonight, when Amalia suddenly felt like a safe port in a storm.
There was a tap on the dressing room door. Sadie’s heart lifted for just a moment—but it wasn’t Max.
Itwasa friendly face, though.
“Hugo!”
“Merry almost Christmas, my darling!” He had two garment bags over his arm, and he held them up one by one: a deep red jumpsuit with a plunging neckline and a green one with a high neck and a plunging back.
“The red,” Amalia said. “Definitely the red. Sadie Hunter needs to show the world she is not messing around.”
“She’s right,” Sadie said with a smile. “Let’s go with the red.”
“That’s what I was hoping for,” Hugo said with a grin. “Okay, I think you’re due for sound check now, and by the time you get back, I’ll be all set up with accessories. Lucia is doing your makeup and Neil is doing your hair. We are going to make you look like the star you are. So no nerves, okay? You’ve got this.”
He handed Sadie a tissue, and she wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
“Thanks, Hugo.”
“Any time at all, and I mean it.”
Amalia was checking her watch. “Okay, time to get out there for sound check,” she said.
She linked arms with Sadie and they headed back down the hall.
“Now, remember,” Amalia said, just before they entered the hallowed auditorium. “No matter what happens, I’ve got your back. You’re not alone. And trust me, I can handle Cruz.”
—
Sadie stepped into the Great Hall—and was dismayed to see Cruz and Johnny King sitting on the stage together. Johnny was singing the sickly, familiar bars of the “Christmas Love Train” song she and Cruz had been working on together at the studio the day before. If nothing else, Sadie felt grateful she was never going to have to sing that terrible song again.
As Sadie made her way to the front of the room to take her rightful place on the stage, Amalia was right behind her.
“Cruz,” she said in a firm, cold voice. “My client is here, and the stage is hers at the moment.”
Cruz straightened up and checked his watch. “Actually, according to me, my client has the stage for another ten minutes. And then your client is welcome to it.” He looked around theatrically. “Only, it won’t be much use to her if her partner doesn’t show up.” As he said the wordpartnerhe caught Sadie’s eye and for a moment her bones felt like they were turning to jelly. She could almost feel his grip again, how helpless she had felt as he forced himself on her.
Amalia stepped closer to Cruz. She wasn’t a tall woman, but suddenly, she seemed it.
“Cruz, get the hell out of here,” she said in the most venomous voice Sadie had ever heard her use. “You’re making assumptions you should not be making about who will end up performing tonight, and you need to back off or face consequences. You areaproducer ofStarmaker, nottheproducer. Should I call Penny?”
For a moment, Cruz looked like he was going to argue withAmalia—but then he backed off. He looked a bit scared, actually. It was incredibly satisfying to Sadie. He said something indecipherable to Johnny and the two of them stalked away.
When Cruz and Johnny were gone, Sadie sat down at the piano—and forced herself to try to settle down. She could feel stage fright and panic beginning to circle around her, looking for an opening.
“Amalia,” she said in a whisper. “He’s still not here. What if he doesn’t come?”
“You just sit tight, okay? Act like you warming up alone is exactly how you two planned it. Let them mic you up when they need to and check the levels on your voice. I’ll go find Bobbi.”
