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“Weeks. Maybe months. However long it takes! I’ve got five months to wrap up the package for air.” She began wringing her hands together. “I have so much research to do before the tour starts. I don’t have much time. Can you believe it? I’ll be living on a tour bus with some serious rock and rollers. How crazy is that?”
“It’s pretty crazy.” I hoped she didn’t hear the waver in my voice. “Who is this band?”
“Ghost Parker. Isn’t it ironic that they have the word ‘ghost’ in their name? It just makes...”
I didn’t hear the rest of what she was saying. I was too busy trying to contain my shock. Life really was a bag of dicks sometimes.
“Grey? Are you okay?” Her hand rested on my arm, trying to get my attention.
I snapped out of it quickly. I didn’t even have to think about acting anymore. It came automatically. “Yeah, I was just surprised. Did I ever mention that I sort of know them? Ghost Parker? My friend, Talia, is married to one of the guitarists.”
“Talia?” She smiled big. “The girl that used to live in your beach house? Small world, huh?”
I pulled her back into my arms and smiled back at her. “Well, this calls for a celebration. I’ve got a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge. Let’s sit in front of the fireplace and you can tell me all about your big plans for the story.”
“Perfect!” Her eyes were sparkling. “How convenient! Why do you have champagne chilling in the fridge?”
“No special reason.”
Chapter 4
Ghost
The moment I stepped into Maggie’s office, her eyes widened at the sight of my ill-fitted pink sweatshirt that read ‘Princess’ across the chest, and the sparkly flip-flops adorning my feet. I couldn’t help but grin at her reaction; it felt like a small victory in my ongoing battle to break through her professional exterior.
“Nice outfit, Ghost,” she said, smirking as she gestured for me to take a seat on her plush couch. “Did you lose a bet?”
“Something like that,” I replied, chuckling as I settled onto the couch. “Let’s just say last night’s company had an interesting taste in fashion.”
Maggie raised an eyebrow, amused but not surprised by my antics. “Well, I hope you at least got her number before borrowing her wardrobe.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Nah, we both knew it was a one-time thing. Besides, these flip-flops are kinda growing on me.”
She smiled, making a note on her clipboard.
I tossed the bag from the donut shop onto the table between us. “Lemon donut with lemon glaze.”
She clapped her hands together, looking like a little kid on Christmas morning. “You shouldn’t have!”
Stretching my legs out in front of me, I chuckled. “You need better taste in donuts. There are so many other choices, yet you’re so set on the double lemon. There must be some deep-seated psychological reason for it.”
She tapped her pen on her chin. “All right, let’s move past your analysis of me for now. How have you been feeling lately? You know, with Christmas coming up and being on break from the tour...”
I sighed, my playful demeanor fading as I considered her question. It was true — having some time off from the constant chaos of touring life left me with too much time to think, to feel, to get lost in my own head.
“Truthfully?” I began, rubbing my hands together nervously. “It’s been rough. I thought I’d enjoy the downtime, but without the structure of the tour, I find myself slipping back into old habits. The loneliness creeps in, you know?”
Maggie nodded empathetically, her gaze steady and reassuring. “That’s completely normal, Ghost. The holidays can be a challenging time for many people, and it’s easy to feel adrift when your usual routine is disrupted.”
I appreciated her understanding, but it didn’t change the fact that I felt like a lost soul, aimlessly wandering through life while everyone around me seemed to have things figured out. And yet, in this cheerful, airy office, I always felt a glimmer of hope — that there was a chance for me to confront my demons and work towards something better.
“Yeah,” I murmured, feeling a strange mix of calmness and agitation.
Her pen was poised above her clipboard, as she prepared to dive deeper into the tangled web of my emotions.“So how were things on the road with the band?”
“Mostly the same as usual. It was a little different with Knox. He used to be my main partner in crime — I guess you could say, my wingman — but he’s cut back on his partying, so it was a bit weird.”
Knox had recently revealed some things to the band that he’d kept buried in his past but were messing with his head, and I’d referred him to Maggie. I knew he was slowly working through his shit and it hadn’t been easy, but I was jealous of how quickly he seemed to be healing. I thought that it had to do with Summer; she was good for him. He was in love with Summer and it left me feeling odd man out at times. Without Knox to party with, I felt even more isolated.
