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A fresh wave of anxiety pools in my stomach. Would she fire me for that? It wouldn’t be vindictive, but professionally I can see how it would be hard to work with someone who was in love with you.
In love? Am I?
Shit, shit, shit.
“There’s a bridge too.”
“I’m sorry?” I say, forcing my suddenly very heavy head up.
“A bridge. Duluth has a bridge.”
I stare at him. “Are there cities that don’t have bridges?”
“Probably,” he says with a shrug.
He might be right about that.
“We should get her a gift basket,” he adds. To me. The person who can’t breathe at the moment. “Is she allergic to nuts?”
“I… don’t think so.”
“Perfect. My pre-girlfriend can hook us up. Probably even get us the rare unicorns, if you know what I mean. Brooke knows people, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
I have no clue what he’s talking about or what I’m agreeing to as I nod numbly. Scoring some rare Duluth unicorns sounds wonderful relative to everything else in my life right now.
“It’s freshwater too,” Chad says. “The aquarium, not the nuts.”
“Great,” I mutter.
4—OKLAHOMA CITY (LARINDA’S BUS)
LARINDA
“How could this happen?!” I shriek for the third time.
I still haven’t received an answer I can accept and have no problem shrieking until I do.
“Larry, please, it’s gonna be fine. Here, have a cucumber almond,” Steve says, holding out the container of pouches.
“I don’t want a cucumber almond! I want to know why the heck the entire world knows I’m engaged except for me.”
“Larinda, please calm down,” Rena says through the screen. The backdrop of her fancy office at the Lakebend Records headquarters in LA looks like it was designed solely for video conferences. Only a person on the other side of her screen could appreciate the artistic skyline of succulents on the shelf behind her. The one with the pink flower on top is the only thing I’m enjoying about this conversation.
“The whole world doesn’t know. Just a few members of Jarvis’ camp,” she says.
“And everyone at Lakebend, apparently!”
“And everyone at Lakebend.”
“And my own freaking manager!” I scowl at Mae’s square on my screen.
“And Mae. It’s going to be wonderful. You’ll see. We have it all arranged,” Rena assures me. “Jarvis will propose at the end of your set tonight. Try to cry, if possible. We already have the press release and your first appearance as an engaged couple lined up. We’ll make sure the media team is prepped so we can capture the rapturous moment from multiple angles. All you have to do is cry and say yes. Every detail has been worked out.”
“Except for the fact that I don’t want to marry him!”
Silence settles over the group, and I have hope that my position is finally sinking in. That hope fades when Rena’s expression hardens.
“Larinda, we talked about this. You wanted to go in a different direction with your music, and we agreed on the condition that you leave the marketing to us. Critics love your new work, but sales and streams are nowhere near what we wanted. We have to do something to spark interest.”
