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She finishes patching it together with the medical tape, and I run my hand over it to check. “It’s perfect,” I say, “now you come here.”
I call her over with a wave of my arm. She sets the first aid kit aside and comes over to nestle herself carefully by my side.
“Are you hungry?” she asks me.
“More worried about not being able to sleep,” I reply.
“Hum,” she comes even closer. “Something bothering you?”
I bite down on my lip, taking a while to respond, but when I do, I let it all out.
“This damn Ben story!” I say, my grumpiness and exasperation taking over. “It doesn’t make sense!”
Lily sighs “Like I said… I don’t know how the analysis works, but this kind of thing is never a hundred percent accurate, is it?”
“Ugh. You’re probably right.”
She lets out a soft huff of contentment, and her hand slowly moves along my chest and towards my stomach, so delicately it gives me goosebumps.
“Need some help falling asleep, strongman?” Lily whispers in my ear.
“Hum, just lay down next to me,” I say, feeling better.
And we fall asleep like that, with her watching over my dreams.
Chapter Twenty-One
LILY
Wemovedtothenext concert venue in Tampa, but I knew right in the bus something was wrong.
Sweets barely spoke to me, keeping any conversation to a one-word bare minimum. Her manager always looked at me sideways, and her band didn’t even acknowledge my existence.
Only when we reached the hotel did I understand what was going on: they didn’t let any of my crew check-in.
“We need to have a talk,” Jonathan informed us at the lobby, “please, follow me.”
Brody looks straight at Jonathan, and when he leaves, he looks at me. Sandra contributes to the silent conversation too, with a thousand-yard stare and a shrug of her shoulders.
Brody starts to walk after Jonathan, leading the way for us. We end up in one of the courtesy meeting rooms, where a handful of people wait for us.
“Please, take a seat,” Jonathan points us to the available seats around a large dark wood table, “we need to discuss Lily’s presence on this tour.”
“You’re under contract, Jonathan!” Sandra points at him with her index finger. “You can’t kick us out now!”
I start playing with my hair, nervous. Brody notices and holds my hand under the table.
“We would pay you all the fines,” Jonathan continues. “Please understand that right now Lily is posing a danger both to Sweets and to herself.”
“The harasser might retaliate even more so if Lily is dropped from the tour. Have you thought about that?” Brody asks, squeezing my hand tight.
“And do you have any ideas on how we can fend him off, Mr. Security Man?” Jonathan asks, sarcastic.
“I happen to, yes,” Brody says, firm and calm, “Make cast and crew go through security detail.”
The room goes silent. Brody continues, “No exceptions.”
Jonathan appears to be nervously chewing on the insides of his mouth, eyes wide with uncertainty. I’m trying to figure out what’s so wrong about making everyone go through security, when he speaks again. “Sweets will never agree to be searched before every show.”
