Page 103 of Protecting Hailey

“Yep,” said Frankie.

“Are you insane?” shouted Kendra.

I held up my hands. “She reached out to me a couple of months ago, shortly after she found out what her sister had done. She felt terrible and wrote a very touching letter to me. I wanted to meet her, but of course, Christian argued that wasn’t a good idea.”

“Well, at least one of you has some good sense,” huffed Kendra.

“Anyway,” I continued, ignoring her comment. “I insisted on meeting her, and after Christian ran all his checks and agreed to a location that he felt most comfortable securing, I met with her.”

“And?”

“And she’s one of the sweetest people I’ve met. She was distraught by what happened and I told her she had nothing to apologize for. We then talked about the singing competition we were both in and sang a few verses of our audition songs. We both laughed at ourselves, but I also realized that she still has an incredible voice, so I suggested Frankie meet with her.”

“Hailey’s not wrong. Her voice is unique, and with the right training, I think she can hit those high notes. So, I agreed to take her on. But I’m keeping an eye on her.”

“That’s fine. But people are not replicas of their families. She’s her own person and should not be judged by the actions of her sister.”

“You’re a lot more forgiving than I am, Hailey. That’s for sure. I would have called security. Speaking of which,” Kendra looked around, “where’s your fine boyfriend?”

I sighed and slipped a silk wrapper over my sparkling red dress. Now that the spotlights were gone and the adrenaline rush was waning, I felt chilled. “He’s in New York, getting his place ready for me. I told him I didn’t need much, but he wanted it to be perfect.”

“And he left you unprotected?”

I snorted. “Are you kidding me? He hired two bodyguards to watch over me and an entire team for this last show. There are two outside of this dressing room right now.”

Kendra lifted her long black hair from her shoulders and sighed. “I need to find a man like that. Someone who cares enough to hire a team of people to look after me.”

“Kendra, you can afford to hire your own team,” chuckled Frankie.

“That’s not the point,” both Kendra and I responded, and we laughed.

“The point is, I want someone who puts me first and thinks of my needs and wants. I don’t mind putting in the work if he’s putting in the effort. You understand? So many men I meet these days don’t want to put in any effort.”

I nodded, thinking of Trey and how he’d only thought of himself throughout our relationship. I knew I was lucky to have met Christian and I couldn’t wait to see him again.

“Well, I don’t mean to rush you out, but I’m going to hop in the shower and get ready for my flight to New York.”

“Which airline are you taking at this hour?”

I smirked. “He has his own private jet.”

“What? Girl, does he have a brother?”

“He sort of does. They’re all married… except for one.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

“I’ll put in a good word,” I said while opening my dressing room door.

She nodded and lifted herself off my couch. “See you later, baby,” she said and kissed my cheek.

Frankie gave me one last hug, and I shut the door.

Inhaling deeply, I looked around the room. I thought I would be more nostalgic about my last show. I thought I might even tear up standing here alone. But I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. I couldn’t wait to see him soon. I couldn’t wait to make love. And I couldn’t wait to write again. A new song already played in my head.

***

The plane touched down in New York at seven o’clock in the morning Los Angeles time, but I guess that made it ten o’clock New York time. I probably would be doing the math in my head for a few days, I imagined.

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