Page 63 of Siren's Heart

“You bitch! You don’t deserve him! Come on, fight me, woman to woman!” She swings her fists, even while on the ground, and Rob shoots me an exhausted look before he looks behind him.

"Someone will come to collect our order," he tells the barista. Just then, two of his co-workers come storming into the store, eyes taking the scene in, alarmed. "Millie, you go with Takanori." I nod wordlessly, mouthing a quick ‘thank you’ at him, and dutifully scurry behind the other man.

Takanori shields me from curious glances and passersby staring at the commotion as he escorts me back to the studio. Once we're inside, he tells me to go back to our changing room, before he darts back out to help Rob.

Fuck.

A helpless feeling washes over me, threatening to pull me under and suffocate me. Deflected, I trudge back into the lifeless room, blinking back tears as I sink into the uncomfortable couch they have in there.

I'm tired. So damn tired. And I don’t even have my coffee.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kayla steps into the room, softly closing the door behind her, curious eyes taking in my miserable figure. "I heard from Naroa there's been a commotion."

I give her a quick rundown as she steps closer and sits down next to me.

"What the hell?" she asks, fury blazing in her eyes, then curses under her breath and jumps up to pace the small room.

"Yeah," I agree softly and blink away tears.

Suddenly, she stops, looking at me with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her jaw set, and a muscle in her throat ticking before she takes her phone out of her handbag and starts a call.

"Hey, Naroa? Yeah, you can go ahead and cancel the rest of the interviews for today." I open my mouth to interject, but Kayla shoots me a sharp glare, not leaving any room for objection.

"I don't give a fuck, Naroa. You've had plenty of opportunity to make this right. Now we've had someone try to fucking attack her. You better get your shit together and draw up one of your funny PR campaigns or whatever to fix this." Her shoulders tense as she listens to our manager.

"Listen, Naroa, I love you like an annoying aunt, but this can't go on. You told me years ago that this was only temporary while you covered up me sleeping around, and now you're still throwing Millie to the wolves. Trust me, if I have to pick between you as my manager and my fucking best friend's mental health, you're not going to walk out the choice a winner." I gulp past the emotion building in my throat and try to blink away the tears forming in my eyes.

"Fucking fix this."

She takes the phone off her ear. I can still hear Naroa talking, but she ends the call with a tap of her finger, sliding the phone back into her bag.

"Listen, I've had enough." She starts to rant, pacing the floor once again. "You and me, we're going to need to have a talk. Because our management and label have been using you for drama points for years now, and I'm not standing for it anymore.

“I'm giving them a deadline to fix this, or I'm walking. Maybe I’m leaving anyway. I want to make music with you, make our fans happy, and enjoy ourselves. Not see my friend cry because they let the media falsely paint you as the kind of woman who hangs off another guy's arm each week when I'm the one fucking around without any repercussions."

"I–"

"Sorry, I should have asked you before threatening to walk, but I–"

"Can you shut up for a second?" I stand up, and before she can run or push me away, I hug her. "Thank you."

"Of course," she presses out, stiffening in my hold before she relaxes and hugs me back. "I might be a stoic bitch, but you're my friend."

"You're my best friend." Despite the shitty situation, I giggle as I give in to the urge to top her. "Do you think they can even fix it?"

"I don't know," she answers honestly, letting me go. Hesitantly, I retract my arms as well and take a step back. "Let's see what kind of plan they present us with, and if we don't like it... we'll think of something."

"Naroa has been with us so long, though," I say, doubt creeping into my mind. She isn't our first manager, but she's the one who's been with us the longest, through our first global tour, our big first award, and our best-selling album.

"Yeah, and I mean it when I say I love her like an annoying aunt. But at the end of the day, she receives more than handsome pay from us to manage our schedules, how the public perceives us, or get us in touch with the right people. And she's failed by making you the scapegoat. It's also not the first time I had this talk with her."

I take a sharp breath, looking at her with wide eyes. They've had this talk before? "Don't look at me like that. Your exes were idiots, but that doesn't mean you deserved the public bashing that came with them. I told her when you started dating Victor to get it under control."

My eyes grow even wider. It's been three years since I dated Victor.

"Thank you," is all I can muster to say. I don’t know what else to add.

It would be a lie to say that I had no resentment for taking the fall for Kayla. I understood why they did it, after all. Having several boyfriends is a better look than being caught with new hook-ups every week, but by now, we really have a standing in the industry where it shouldn’t matter who we date.

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