AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My brows knit together. “Six? Really?”
She nods, smiling sheepishly. “They all quit within a week or two. You’ve stuck it out for about a month, now. So, what’s the deal? You can’t possibly enjoy this. What was it you did before? I heard you switched careers.”
She doesn’t know I used to be a bounty hunter. And she definitely doesn’t know I used to be on Toronto’s up-and-coming Terraball team. I’m not sure if I should feel relieved or irritated by this.
“I was a bounty hunter,” I say, and watch her expression fall. Yeah. There it is. The look I always get from people whenever they learn about my profession. Despite everyone in the universe employing bounty hunters these days to get shit done, the stigma is alive and thriving. “But I wanted out. So, when I saw the job opening to come work for a celebrity, I jumped at the chance.”
Kallista turns toward her mirror and applies some power to her cheeks with a big, poofy brush. “That must have been hard. That line of work. I’ve met a few bounty hunters. Not recently, but … back on Luna. In the bars. She paying you well?”
“Who?”
“Margot. I have an accountant, of course, but she’s the one I have to go through when it comes to finances. So. Is she?” When Kallista looks down at me, her hazel eyes gleam in the mirror’s soft light. The little flecks of gold are back, and I can’t help but smile when I see them.
“Three grand a week. But … I would do it for less, I think.”
“I’m glad you’re not doing it for less. You’re worth every credit.”
I laugh. “Thanks. But so are you, Kal. So, let me askyousomething, then. Why are you doing your own makeup when you could just put on one of your fancy, expensive Weaves? Why bother going through all this?”
She shrugs. “Because it’s part of my meditation. I do my makeup slowly in the mirror to help ground myself before a big show. Helps fight the pre-show jitters. Some other artists do prayer circles with their band, others actually meditate for real. I like to put my makeup on.” A few seconds pass, then she adds, “Plus, once Lacie was doing a benefit concert when her Weave app died. She wasn’t wearing any makeup on underneath and bam. All her acne on the giant terminals for everyone to see. The tabloids went wild with that one, believe me.”
“Yeah. I believe it.” I frown as I remember Kal falling into the pool and sinking to the bottom like a stone. “She definitely pushed you, right?”
Kallista swipes her eyeliner across her eyelids. “Yeah. She definitely did.”
“Why would she do that to you?”
She doesn’t look at me when she replies. Just keeps on applying her makeup like we’re chatting about the weather. “She’s hated me ever since Universe’s Next Top Talent. She came in second place. I won. She thinks I stole her song, when it’s the other way around.”
There’s a story there, I can tell, but I’m not sure she should tell it so close to show time.
“I wrote the song that she sang that night,” she says quietly, and stares at her own reflection. “I wrote it. I staged it. Everything.”
Her voice cracks, and I stand up to grab a box of tissues next to her makeup clutch. When I pass them over to her, she smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Thanks. But I’m okay. It was three years ago. I got over it, but it seems she never did. I had every intention of singing that song that night, so I did. It turns out someone working on the set was pissed off with one of the producers and decided to sabotage the finale. He snuck into my dressing room, stole my song journal, then squirreled away the music to Lacie’s team. If there’s one thing a reality show hates, it’s unscripted drama they didn’t create themselves. She went on first, and I went on after her. So it looked like I copied her. But it’s the other way around. My song, the one I wrote for myself, was stolen.”
What the hell? Yet that woman has been harassing Kallista, humiliating her, ever since? And she’s just allowed to run with it?
Kal’s eyes find mine in the mirror, and she shrugs. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why I put up with any of it. If it’s worth it.”
Shaking my head, I reach up to run my fingers through the ends of her hair. It’s a small gesture, but when she stares down at me with such kindness in her eyes, my heart threatens to split open.
“I wasn’t thinking that, actually,” I mutter. “I was wondering why she’s allowed to get away with tormenting you. You’re clearly suffering on account of someone else’s actions. That isn’t right.”
Kal smiles sadly. “Well. You’re not wrong. It is what it is. I have a carefully crafted image. Besides, it’s all just media hearsay anyway.” She waves a hand in the air. “You tell them one thing, they’ll run with something else. It doesn’t matter. They love to make up stories.”
“Isit worth it?” I ask.
“There it is.” A smile returns to her beautiful face. A real one, this time. “I like to think so. But if I’m being honest … I think writing music is the thing I love about it the most.”
Kallista dabs at the corners of her eyes, and I reach for a tissue again.
“I’m fine,” she says, “thanks. It’s just stress. It’ll go away once I go through my routine. It always calms me.” She takes the tissue from my hand and uses it to collect the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
“I understand,” I say, then turn to make my way to the dressing room door.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
