Page 129 of Movers and Shakers

“A few words used to be all he would say.” Barry shrugged. “Things are different now. And I don’t think I mind it.”

“Good. When we met, you hated your family.”

“They grew. Finally. Just like you did by leaving Blaze. Did he really make all of this mess?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes. I’ve already changed the locks. It’s too badGoodbye, Hellois done or else I’d write another song dissing him over this.”

“We never did finish listening to it.”

I thought back to the night we’d only gotten through one song. I couldn’t bring it in me to regret what we’d done instead.

“We have time now. Do you want to finish it?”

“More than anything.”

We continued through the last bits of cleaning and then I made popcorn to snack on while we listened to the album. As we sat on the living room couch, I pulled up the version Malia had sent me, hooked it to my speakers with Bluetooth, and pressed play.

Last time, he’d loved the first song and I could only hope he would also love the rest.

Barry

It felt odd to listen to a Lila Wilde album with a different version of the same woman in the room with me. Usually, I listened to them the moment they came out, alone in my apartment.

But this time, her eyes were trained on me and I wished I could have kept a straight face, but the songs weresoincredible that I couldn’t.

I usually hid this kind of giddiness from people. When I was a kid, it was a nuisance, and when I was an adult, everyone looked up to me as their boss. But I couldn’t hide the joy I felt about listening toGoodbye, Hellobefore everyone else, and the fact that some of the songs were about me. I knew what some of them would be, and while I loved hearing parts my own style—I loved hearing what she did on her own more. It was a window into her thoughts, something I’d been curious about since day one.

Lila was very clear about how she felt. She was excited about being away from Blaze and hoped that she could be with someone else who was nothing like the people in her past. One line stuck out, and it hit like a freight train.

I hope that he can see all of me,

The sides that I’ve hid,

And like it all.

They were the final words of one of the songs and I wondered if she’d put it there on purpose. My eyes went to hers, and I found her still watching me.

“You wanted to tell me, didn’t you?”

“I’m not a very good liar. I just thought it would never happen.”

“And here we are, listening to you serenade me in your new album. Subtlety isn’t your strong suit, is it?”

“I’ve written about a lot of my life, even if it was in code. Besides, it couldn’t get much worse than the fuck you I wrote to Blaze.”

“Is that really the only song about him?”

“He didn’t deserve any more of my time. He had me convinced that I wasn’t a good songwriter unless I was writing abouthim.I decided I was done with that. I decided I would prove him wrong.”

“And you did that and more.”

“Thank you for coming,” she said. “Especially after how we left things. I think I needed you here. You remind me that I don’t have to care about what everyone else thinks.”

And she was the reminder that I wasn’t alone anymore, that I didn’t want to be.

Now that I saw the whole picture, I could see how Rose and Lila were melded. She did surface-level things to hide who she was, like shrugging and making sure her face looked different, but she couldn’t hide her sparkling personality—at least not from me.

“So,” she started, nervously twirling her hands through her fingers. “Should I get you a hotel room?”

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