Page 81 of Protecting Hailey

I looked around. “Well, I didn’t think you would hurt me or anything.”

“Oh, girl. You better stop thinking like that or your social media manager won’t be the last person to pull a knife on you.”

I nodded, but smiled. A huge sense of relief washed over me, and I turned to follow Kendra out of the room. “Time to tell the crew we’re both still alive.”

Smiling, I hummed the song I’d composed in the shower this morning as we walked down the hallway.

Kendra stopped and turned around. “What song is that? Is that one of yours or one of mine?”

“Neither. I just thought of it this morning in the shower.”

She arched her brow. “In the shower, huh?”

I nodded and grinned. “It’s where I do my best thinking.”

She shrugged. “It’s where I do my best fucking, but hey, that’s cool, too.”

I nearly choked on my last note. “You’re crazy, you know that.”

“Don’t forget it, babe. It’s what makes me so great.”

She put her arm around me. “Listen, do you have a few minutes to play that in the studio with me? Maybe we can do a duet or something? I prefer two female artists working together rather than tearing each other apart.”

I stopped to look at her. “Kendra, that’s fucking brilliant.”

“I know. Didn’t I just tell you that?” She shook her head and I was left chuckling behind her.

“Hey, Lisa. We’re going to take this into the studio. Hold my calls until we’re done.”

Kendra’s studio was much larger than the one Tessa and I used. An older gentleman sat at the controls and narrowed his eyes when he saw me. “What’s she doing here?”

“It’s all good Fitz. She’s cool. We worked it all out. She didn’t write those messages. It was her social media girl, and then she tried to kill her.”

“Oh. That’s real. Man, this business keeps getting crazier and crazier the older I get.”

“Nah, the industry hasn’t changed, you’re just getting old,” she teased and punched him in the arm.

He smiled but rubbed the spot. “So, what are we doing today?”

“Hailey here wrote a song in the shower this morning. It sounds pretty good. We’re gonna try setting a track to it.”

I showed Fitz the chords I wrote this morning.

“Why don’t you pick up that guitar over there and play it for us? Once I hear it, I can add my touch to it.”

“That’s exactly how Tessa and I work,” I said and walked over to the guitar. It was black and had scuffs on it, but it was in tune and ready to go. I recalled the melody and played it for Kendra and Fitz.

Fitz nodded his head and played with some dials. New lyrics played in my head and I sang them out loud.

You tried to take it from me.

You thought you could break me.

I see who you are, but I don’t hate thee.

You just don’t know me.

You don’t even know thee.

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