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This time she adds three eggplants.
I roll my eyes and can just picture her cackling her head off in the kitchen.
Caleb:Alex is a girl. And I'd appreciate it if you could not tell anyone about this until I get there and explain things.
As though Midge keeping a secret was possible.
Maybe she'll surprise me. Like she did with the condoms and the eggplant emojis.
She replies with an emoji of a yellow face with a zipper mouth.
I'd better get home and attempt to take charge of the situation before it gets any more out of hand.
Alex is in the shower. She gave back my shirt, the one she was wearing when Nicco arrived. I still can't believe that whole scene happened. Nicco is huge but I appreciate his devotion to Alex. I just wish he'd have given me a second to explain things before he punched me in the jaw. I rub my face. It's tender but Alex has promised to kiss away all my aches and pains.
Nicco is wandering around in the cabin. I guess it's his. I figure this is my chance to go and try to make a good impression on him.
He's in the kitchen sitting at the table and studying his phone with a scowl on his face. Maybe that's how he always looks. I open the fridge and take out a soda and offer him one. He nods and takes it but then goes back to his phone.
I sit down opposite him and take a swig. Tammy the kitten comes over and claws at my pant leg. I pick her up and hold her. She purrs and snuggles close to me. Nicco looks up from his phone.
"A cat?" he says, kind of disgusted. "Where did that come from?"
"A stray," I say. "Alex is rather attached to her."
"Seems like she's sort of attached to you too," he says and gives me the sort of appraising look a father might when a boy comes to pick up his daughter for a date. In a movie from the 50s.
"I'm attached to her."
"Sounds like a lot of attachment," Nicco says. He glances at his phone again, swears and starts punching in a text message.
"Alex told me who she is."
Nicco puts his phone down and leans back in his chair. "Wow. I guess she is attached to you. That's supposed to be a huge secret." He gestures toward his phone. "We'd hoped she could fake an illness on stage and then be 'in the hospital' for a few weeks recovering." He uses air quotes when he says, "in the hospital."
"What happened?"
"Some of the tabloids got suspicious and then it became a big thing for people to start hunting for her. It's turned into an even bigger mess than I ever expected." He shakes his head. "I really screwed this up. All I wanted to do was protect her and now it's like she's being hunted."
"Do you really think people will find her all the way out here?"
"Maybe not, but I'm pretty sure I had a couple people tailing me when I left to come look for her. I had to make a few crazy maneuvers in my car to lose them."
"No shit. People are nuts."
"I guess you've never been to one of her concerts." He pokes his phone a few times and then turns to show me a video of Alex performing. She's hardly recognizable in the stage makeup and elaborate costume, flashing lights and a band on stage with her. Thousands of screaming fans going bonkers as she sings. It's insane.
"Wow," I say. "I had no idea. I mean, I've heard some of her songs over the years, but I'm more of a country music kind of guy." Nicco gives me a 'no shit' sort of look and nods.
"Why does she need to fake an illness? Why not just take some time off?"
"Yeah, you'd think she'd be able to do that, but her father is her manager and he's a real prick. Works her day and night and makes all kinds of commitments for her. She's exhausted and on the verge of a breakdown and all he cares about is how much money she's bringing in. The only thing that's kept him from going completely off the rails is that this recent publicity has actually led to an increase in sales. Her latest song was number one in downloads last week."
"So what's the plan?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. She was born to sing and it would be a shame for her to give it up. On the other hand, she's running herself into the ground at this pace."
"You really care about her."
