Page 90 of The Agreement


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“After he—?” She quirks her lips.

“You know… After the fact that we’ve already slept together.”

“Aha, I knew it.”

“It’s not a secret or anything,” I mumble under my breath.

“I guessed it, but wasn’t sure, but now that you’re confirming it to me, OMG.” She waggles her eyebrows at me. “How was it?”

My cheeks heat. “I’m not going to tell you.” I tip up my chin.

“Aww, come on, at least, let me live vicariously through you, yeah? Considering I’m not getting any.”

I frown at her. “So, Declan—"

“Declan who? I haven’t seen him or heard from him in weeks.”

“And did you try to call him?”

“Been too busy trying to salvage my tanking career.”

“Eh?” I blink. “Aren’t you the next big thing to hit the charts? Tipped for Grammy’s new artist nominee of the year? I thought your new album was doing amazingly well?”

She purses her lips. “My first album topped the charts, which is why I embarked on this tour. By all accounts, the second one should have done great, too, only it doesn’t seem to have delivered on its promise. The audience has been dwindling with each successive performance, and the organizers are threatening to cancel the rest of the tour.”

“Oh, no.” I sit up in my bed. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“It’s not like you didn’t have things on your own plate.”

“I know, my stupid love life hasn’t been the smoothest sailing, but really, what you’re going through is important, too.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to hear about it.” She half laughs, but her gaze remains troubled. I scan her features and notice, for the first time, how pale she looks. She’s not wearing any make-up, which means it’s serious. Every other time I’ve spoken to her, she’s either been getting ready for a performance or for an interview or for another event. This time though, she’s still in bed.

“Don’t you have another concert to prep for?”

She looks away, then back at me. “They had to cancel this one because they didn’t manage to sell more than a quarter of the tickets. What few fans I had left were pissed, and trust me, they didn’t hold back their ire. You should see my social media feed—" She winces. “Or actually, don’t. It’s not pretty.”

“Oh, Solene.” I shake my head. “I am so sorry I’ve been wallowing in my own troubles all these months. It’s just, I thought everything was going so well for you. Well, other than Declan. I knew you guys were struggling to find time for each other, but I thought it would all be worth it in the end, given how brilliantly your career was taking off.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. And the early part of the tour, the tickets to the concerts would sell out in seconds. But somewhere along the mid-way point, they lost interest. It was around the time my second album dropped.” She bites the inside of her cheek. “The critics panned it, which honestly, wouldn’t have bothered me if the fans had liked it, but they decided to turn their backs on it, as well. Already, I’m being called ‘a one hit wonder’ and ‘the flavor that never was,’ to quote media headlines.” Her eyes glisten.

“Oh honey, don’t listen to them. The world is quick to back a winner and look down on a loser. But inside, you know how good you are.”

“Am I, though?” She slides off the bed and begins to pace. “I’m seriously beginning to question it. When I came to LA, I was so determined to make it. I had so much hope, and Declan helped me out so much. I found success so quickly, I forgot what it was to struggle.” She shakes her hair back from her face. “Now, not only have I lost Declan, but also whatever it was that made my songs special. It’s like he was my good luck charm, you know?”

“You’re talking about him like he’s already in the past.”

“Isn’t he?” Her lips turn down. “If he were thinking about me, wouldn’t he have called or texted once in all these weeks?”

“Maybe you should reach out to him?”

“And be rebuffed?”

“You mean like I was?”

She looks stricken. “It’s not the same thing. Cade’s trying to do the honorable thing by you. It’s not the same as Declan going AWOL. The only consolation is he hasn’t been seen with anyone else, so far—not in his social media feeds and not in the media… Yet.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s holding out for you. He probably felt left out with how busy you’ve been.”

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