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“Well, I’m very grateful for that and so are the fans, aren’t you?” The crowd cheers again. “Okay, Reign, I have to ask . . . Where have you been?”
“Ah, that would be spilling secrets.” The crowd boos as I laugh. “But I can say I took some time away for myself.” The crowd sighs. “I think I needed it,” I admit honestly and look out into the crowd. My fans deserve some form of an answer. They are the reason I am where I am, after all. “It was good to be alone without cameras or expectations. I got to be me again, not the rock star or the woman the reps were promoting. I got to be Reign, and in doing so, I found myself again. I found my peace, and with it, I found my music.”
The crowd cheers.
“Does this have anything to do with your breakup with Tucker?” Jim asks, and I can clearly see that he doesn’t want to.
“I mean, it was at the same time, I’ll be honest.” I wince a little. “But I wish Tucker nothing but the best. His band is doing amazing, and I’m very proud of him. I hold no hard feelings. Sometimes, things happen and people grow apart. People you thought would be forever disappear. It doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for our relationship and everything we shared. I still care for Tucker.”
“Any chance of you two getting back together?” he asks.
I simply laugh as the crowd boos and cheers.
“Okay, moving on, you mentioned your music. I think we all saw the impromptu show you held, which put the world into an uproar. Does this mean there is going to be a new album?”
I appreciate how quickly he moved on, giving me what I want to talk about—my music, not my relationship. After all, I don’t want to be known for who I am and what I am capable of, not just for who I date or fuck.
“It does. Two, actually.” I grin at the audience who screams.
“Two?” Jim asks, gasping.
“Two. What can I say? I’ve been very busy. There will be some amazing collaborations with other artists whom I respect and look up to, and I’ve found my sound again. Back to my roots. Rock and roll. Love and passion.”
“We can’t wait, but a little birdy told me that we might be able to have a sneak peek today?”
“I mean, would you like one?” I ask, hamming it up for the cameras.
“What do we think?” Jim asks the crowd.
The crowd goes wild, and I sit back, playing it on. “I don’t know. You don’t seem sure.”
The screams echo through the building as Jim and I laugh. “I think that’s a yes,” he says.
Standing, I head over to the little stage on the left. It’s just me, the band, and my microphone. Clearing my throat, I smile at the crowd. “All the songs in my new albums are about falling in love with yourself. They are about pain. They are about my life and situations everyone has been through, and I hope by ripping myself bare, you can heal with me too.”
The music starts and I close my eyes. Jack and I have finished most of the first album, and we have the other artists confirmed and coming in over the next few weeks, but this song was the first one I wrote when I left. I actually scribbled it on napkins at rest stops on my drive.
It has my whole heart in it.
Every flawed emotion.
Every wrong thought I can’t control.
It’s me.
“Headlights bounce across my face, tears going to waste, there’s no one here to see me cry. I guess that makes it not real. My heart is gone, left behind, but as the road stretches out, so does my hope. My anger. I miss you like a child misses a toy, but I can’t love you and love me, so I said goodbye. I walked away from my life . . .”
I pour my soul into the song, and I let myself grieve for what could have been, for the woman I was.
As the lights come back on, the last note dragging out, I open my eyes. “Thank you,” I murmur as I step back, and for a moment, the silence is deafening. I’m nervous because this is the most raw my music has ever been. Look between the lyrics and you’ll find my truth, my story.
The crowd suddenly surges to their feet, clapping and screaming, and I smile the first real smile of the day. I take my seat once more, feeling more relaxed and happier.
Today, I was reminded of why I do this, why I sing. It’s not for the applause, but that connection—the tears I saw in people’s eyes and the truth in their actions.
It resonates with them.
It connects us, and for a moment, as music filled the room, we were one person.
