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CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Isaac
I go backto my place at the kitchen counter, applying all my focus to the conversation on the deck.
“Let’s sit over here,” Aurelia says, leading Nate around the outside of the deck, out of view of the kitchen. I curse under my breath.
“I hear the residency is going really well,” Nate says. I relax a little, relieved I can still hear them.
“Yeah, I think so. The concert hall’s full every night so I must be doing something right.”
“You’re getting great reviews,” Nate says.Of course she is, what do you expect?
“Why are you here, Nate? Couldn’t you have just called?”That’s it, my girl,I think.Cut to the chase.
“Would you have taken my call?”
There’s a pause. “If you’d persisted, maybe.”
“It doesn’t matter though. I didn’t call your mom; she called me.”
“What? Why would she do that?” I can hear the hurt and disbelief in Aurelia’s voice.
“She’s concerned about you, Aurelia. She thinks you’re lonely out here and could use a friend—someone who, you know, is part of the business and understands a little of what you’re going through every night.”
“She is not concerned,” Aurelia says, the bitterness clear in her voice. “She barely cares at all.”
“Hey, don’t be hard on her. It’s not easy being the parent of someone as famous as you or me.” I almost vomit at his arrogance. I don’t know whole lot about Nate or Jinxed, but I do know Aurelia is far out of his league when it comes to level of talent and fame.
“I not being hard on her. I can’t believe she contacted you, of all people.”
“Oh come on, Ray. Your mom loves me, always did. You know, she even wrote me after we broke up, inviting me to stay.”
“She did what? I would never have allowed you to stay. Not after Amber.”
“I know,” he replies. “I had cheated on you, for God’s sake. That’s why I was so surprised to hear from your mom.”
“Did you reply to her?”
“Yeah, ‘course I did. I told her it probably wasn’t appropriate. I asked after you. I guess she didn’t say.”
There’s another pause and I lean to the left—anything to ensure I don’t miss a thing. “I’m really sorry I did that, Ray. I was a fucking idiot and I didn’t ever want to hurt you.”
“Please don’t call me Ray, Nate. Only Ana calls me Ray.”You tell him, my girl.
“Oh, yeah, right. Ana. Where is she anyway? Isn’t she normally stuck to your side like a limpet?”Who the hell are you? Ana’s her best friend.I bunch my fists, fighting every urge to stomp out onto the deck and kick him over the edge.
“If you’ve come here to be a dick, Nate, you can just leave, ok?”
“Ok, ok, I’m sorry. Did something happen?”
“It’s a long story. I got into a bit of trouble up in Miami. My parents blamed Ana and stopped me from seeing her until after the world tour.”
“Ouch,” he says. “That’s a little mean.”Ok,I concede.There’s one thing we agree on.
“Yeah.” I can practically hear her shrug. “But, thanks for apologizing for, you know, about the cheating.”
“I should have done it a long time ago.”
