Page 4 of Indescribable Love

“Knock, knock! Simon? Are you up?”

The house he was renting had a guest house where his assistant, Nikki, was staying with her partner and their son. Originally, he had planned to go away by himself and take the time to write and regroup, but when Nikki found the house for him, she had gushed about how she had always wanted to see the mountains. So naturally, he made that happen for her.

“In the kitchen!” he called out, knowing his peaceful morning was over.

“Good morning,” she said as she strolled into the room with a sense of purpose. “Celia and I are taking Alex to the aquarium today. He’s so excited about it.”

“Sounds like fun!” Taking a spoonful of his cereal, he waited for her to say more.

“Your new publicist will be arriving today too. Her name is Juliette Bellucci. I emailed you the information about her. I hope you had the chance to read it.”

He had.

Sort of.

“Um…refresh my memory…?”

“Ugh, Simon, seriously? I put a lot of work into that bio, just like I do whenever someone comes to work for you! The least you could have done is read it. Especially since she’s going to be staying here with us. Well…you,” she corrected.

That was brand new information. “With me? Why? That wasn’t what we talked about, Nik.” And even though he was seriously annoyed, he did his best to sound neutral and unfazed.

“Mick and I talked about it and we decided that she needed to get fully immersed in the world of Simon Bennett before we hit the road. She’s already committed to traveling with you for the next eight weeks, so we thought it was best if some of it wasn’t spent living out of a suitcase in a hotel. Besides, this house is big enough to sleep twelve people, not including the guest house. She’ll hardly be in the way.”

“That’s not the point,” he reasoned. “I don’t know anything about her and it’s going to be weird having a stranger lurking around the house.”

Leaning against the counter, Nikki smiled sweetly at him. “Are we just meeting for the first time? Don’t try to use that logic on me, Simon. You and I both know the entire world is your friend and you’ve never met a stranger you didn’t love. Take this time with Juliette—who prefers to be called Jules—and let her know how you feel about this whole documentary project. For all you know, she’s going to be the one to make it tolerable for you.”

But he was already shaking his head. “That’s never going to happen. It’s a terrible idea and everyone’s wasting their time.”

Her smile faded slightly and she twisted to fully lean against the granite. “You and I have been through a lot together, and I know why this whole situation is freaking you out. Personally, I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as you’ve convinced yourself it’s going to be. You have a team of people around you who love and respect you and we’d never let anything happen to you or your reputation.” She paused. “Stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and think about how excited your fans are going to be.”

This wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation, and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last. So for now, he’d simply agree and do his best to sit back and watch it all crash and burn around him.

However…

“And what happened to Kevin? I thought he was going to be the PR person traveling with us.”

“He’s getting married and couldn’t commit to traveling with the tour,” she explained. “But between you and me, I don’t think he was the right fit. He was getting a little too cocky about networking with your celebrity friends.” Her smile was back. “Last I heard, he tried to convince your brother and his teammates – you know, Travis and Declan? – to be groomsmen at his wedding.”

Simon choked on his cereal for a moment before looking at Nikki in disbelief. “Are you serious? Why on earth would he think Jax or any of the players would do something like that? He’s only met my brother twice!”

She nodded. “This is what I’m talking about. His ego was getting a little inflated and Mick made sure he got…you know…reassigned.”

Mick Tyler was like a Svengali, but in the best possible way. He used his power and influence for good, and Simon was incredibly thankful his manager was on his side. “I swear, I don’t know how Mick does it. I’ve yet to encounter a problem he hasn’t fixed.” Then he frowned. “Except this documentary.”

“That’s because you’re the only one seeing it as a problem.”

“Well, considering it’s a documentary about me and my life, if I’m saying it’s an issue, maybe people should listen,” he murmured.

“I’m not doing this with you again,” she said wearily. “I’ve got an aquarium to get to, you’ve got music to write, and we’re all going to meet back here for dinner to welcome Juliette. I mean Jules.” Walking around the kitchen, she asked, “Is there anything you need? Anything you want me to bring back with me?”

The kitchen was fully stocked with all his favorite foods, the lyrics he’d been working on were coming along slowly, and basically, he was just going to sit and enjoy the mountain view and create music.

“I’m good, Nik. Thanks. Go and enjoy the aquarium.”

She smiled. “We’re grilling tonight. Nothing fancy, just some burgers, but we’re picking up all kinds of salads to go with them. Alex is on a pasta salad kick, so just know there will be an almost obscene amount of it.”

That made him laugh. “Got it, and it all sounds delicious. I’ll see you later.”

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