“What the fuck do you mean, not now?” Nathan says in my ear, sounding as breathless as the rest of us. “Roxy was just on the radio.”
“I know,” I gasp, looking around my office. My body is burning, my chest tight and my stomach twisting. I know what I need to do. “But I need to think.”
“Look, just listen up for a moment,” Nathan says, laughing. “I just got off the phone with the insurance company. They got back to me, and they’re cutting us a check. All of it, full policy value.”
“That’s great, Nathan, but right now, I need you to do something else,” I say, grabbing my suit coat and pulling it on. Elena and Hannah are still staring at me, trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing. “Is there anything we can do to escalate the cleanup? Triple the amount of workers if we need to, get the club cleaned and patched up. If we can’t do that, then we’re doing this thing in the fucking parking lot in front of the fountain. That still works, right?”
“Uh, It works, but what are you talking about?” Nathan asks.
“I’ve got a woman I need to win back. And she’s got a concert to put on. Roxy’s going to sing Heartstopper live for her fans. No matter what.”
I hang up my phone and head for my office door. As I reach the handle, Elena calls out. “Sir!”
“What?” I ask, turning back.
“There is a board meeting in forty-five minutes,” Elena says. “You’re supposed to be there.”
I button my suit coat, nodding, and head back, grabbing my laptop and briefcase before I turn back around. “I forgot, but I’m still leaving. Tell them I had something very important to attend to. If they don’t accept it . . . well, they can fire me.”
Roxy
“And now, that local artist who’s shooting up the charts. She’s reached number twenty-five on the iTunes download charts already . . . here’s Roxy with Heartstopper!”
I look over at the radio, shaking my head as I reach over and turn it off. While I’m amazed and shocked that my song has gained so much traction, I don’t need to listen to it again. I suspect that most of the buzz in downloads is from locals who saw me at the club, but it still feels good.
Mr. Felix is sitting in my lap, purring. It helps, even though I still feel a little down. Looking around the apartment, it’s hard. In packing my stuff up, this place just doesn’t look at all like the apartment I’ve shared with Hannah.
Some of the things are the same, the voice in my head says. This sofa is the place you and Jake first had sex.
I run my hands along the cushion, sighing. Setting Felix aside, I glance at the clock. It’s nearly five thirty now, and Hannah said she’d be home around six. I promised her that I’d get some delivery Chinese food for us to share. I feel like hell, running out on her, but she said that she’s already got people lined up to share rent with her. I think she’s trying to make me feel better about it, but I hope it’s true.
There’s a knock at the door, and I set Felix aside. Going over, I look through the peephole to see that it’s Mindy, and I open up. “Hey, Min, what’s up?”
“What’s up?” she asks, grinning. “I just heard you on the radio again, and you ask what’s up? I see you’ve got the jaded pop star act down already.”
I smile slightly, letting Mindy in. She looks around, whistling. “Wow, you got packed quickly. Is Hannah upset?”
“No, she says she understands, and we’re going to have some girl time later. I mean, I still haven’t turned in my resignation to the office. I’ve got another three days of vacation time built up.”
“That’s good,” Mindy says. “So where is your stuff, anyway?”
“I packed up what I’m going to take. It’s in my room. Feels strange to be living out of a suitcase again. Well, partially. I gave Hannah a lot of my office clothes. If I ever have to put on a professional pencil skirt and those damn heels again, I’m going to scream.”
Mindy chuckles, nodding. “The advantages of owning a cafe. I wear New Balances to work most days. The only heels I have I wear when Oliver and I—”
“TMI!”
Mindy laughs. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Where?” I ask. “I mean, I promised Hannah dinner!”
“Send her a text. She’ll understand. And if she is upset, tell her Oliver Steele will pay for her to go out to dinner tomorrow anywhere in town.”
I can’t help it. I smirk. “More of his ‘fuck you’ money?”
“Something like that. Come on, the whole family’s waiting for you.”
I wake up with a start, surprised that I dozed off. Part of it was that I’ve been getting over my depression, and part of it has been that my body clock is still so screwed up. I blink, looking around. “Where are we?”
Mindy, who’s driving, glances over. “Ha, you don’t recognize it?”
I sit up some more, looking out the side windows. Unfortunately, Mindy’s got some of those dark tinted windows and it takes me a minute. “We’re heading downtown. I thought you said we were getting together with everyone. The hotel’s out near the airport, right?”
“Right both times, but I didn’t say that the rest of the fam was at the hotel.”
I’m immediately suspicious, my shock growing as we make a right turn and I see Club Jasmine. “What the hell are we doing here?”
“Trust me,” Mindy says, parking out front. The amount of work that’s been done is amazing. There’s still some scorch marks on the front, but all of the fire smell is gone. Mindy leads me up the steps, opening the door. It’s dark inside, and I blink, trying to adjust to the gloom. “Well, here we are.”
“Mindy, this is so not cool,” I complain. “I mean, why remind me . . .”
“She’s baaaa-aaaaaack!” an electronic voice booms out of the darkness, and suddenly, stage lights blossom. The floor is still a mostly scarred wreck, but they’ve swept and cleared out an area in the middle, where the bare concrete is surrounded by lights.
Hannah steps out of the shadows, grinning. “Our guest of honor has arrived. Have a seat.”
“Mindy, what is going on?” I ask as the lights come up and I see Mom, Grandma, Brianna . . .
“Hit it!” Hannah says as Mindy leads me over to a chair and sits me down. Hannah moves out of the light as bumping dance music starts up. There’s a silly little curtain, nothing more than a rope with a sheet hung over it, and Hannah giggles as she gets on the mic again. “Welcome to the Club Jasmine Gentlemen’s Revue!”
Suddenly, the curtain twitches, and Bertha comes running out, yapping furiously. “Goddammit, Mary Jo, if you don’t stop dragging that thing with you everywhere, I’m not going with you anywhere anymore!”
Mom gets up and chases Bertha down while I lean over to Mindy. “What the hell is this?”
“Just enjoy. Think of it as more fuck you money,” Mindy says, patting my shoulder. “Trust me, you’ll enjoy it.”
Mom gets Bertha under control and sits down, grumbling to Grandma. “You know, you’ve had pets too.”
“Whatever,” Grandma says. “Bring on the flesh parade!”
“Up first,” Hannah says, trying not to laugh, “is our very own superstar, former All-Pro running back, Gavin ‘Anaconda’ Adams!”
Brianna, of course, claps the loudest as Gavin emerges, clad in what I can only call a stripper’s version of a Navy uniform. Skintight white pants are underneath his cheap white tunic as he adjusts the bill of his cap. Lifting a microphone to his lips, the music changes, and I groan.
Gavin starts to sing Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker, and even Brianna has to clap her hands over her ears.
“I love you, but never again!” she screams as Gavin shrugs and drops his microphone. Ripping off his tunic top, the music changes into a techno/club remix of the classic Joe Cocker song, and he gives his wife a lap dance that leaves Brianna in a fit of laughter before he sashays offstage.
Mindy’s laughing her ass off as Brianna wipes her forehead with a hand towel. She looks over at Mindy and me, chuckling. “I didn’t marry him for his singing.”