Page 55 of Movers and Shakers

“And happy to be back in LA?”

My face fell.

Her eyes left me and went to Blaze, who was gladly continuing to pose in front of the cameras. “Why don’t we walk in together?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“We made the song,” she said. “We can do what we want.”

She put her arm around me and led me to the doors. My smile felt brighter. A few reporters interviewed us, and it was far easier to talk about my work when I didn’t have Blaze in my ear telling me all the thingshe’ddone to support me.

I liked it when things were less about Blaze and more about my work.

“I can’t wait to finish this album with you.” Sasha winked before she went to her seat. “Especially the lyrics. Oh, and by the way, there’s a cheater incoming.” The words were muttered as she went to her seat. I only had a second to process them before Blaze was on me.

“Really?” he snapped. “Do you know how stupid you made me look?”

“I just walked in with my producer.”

“After I gave you months with a man who isn’t me, I thought you’d be more grateful.”

“Keep your voice down!” I hissed. “Who knows if any of the reporters are here? And I didn’t do anything with him. I’m not you.”

“Hold on to your moral righteousness if you need to. Both you and I know that everyone wantsustogether. Not some fucking nobody in Nashville.”

He walked ahead of me, going to our assigned seats, and I glanced at the door, so tempted to leave. But the director of this film, a woman I called a friend, wanted me to see it.

And I always did what people wanted—including staying with a man I was starting to hate.

Barry

The bar had barely opened, but people were filtering in. I had my phone in my pocket and it burned a hole through my leg.

I wanted to check on Lila.

She was walking the red carpet tonight at a movie premiere that included a song she wrote.

And I was desperate to see her.

In the near week since her departure, I missed her. I found myself seeing life as she did, as a lyric waiting to be written. I wanted to make more, but I wondered if I would ever be able to find connections who would take a chance on me.

Besides, I had the bar, which should have felt like home.

“Hey, Barry, can we—‍” Audrey paused when she saw me. “Ooh, never mind.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing. You look like you’re thinking about something pretty hard over there.”

“I’m not,” I lied. “What’s up?”

She turned to me, lips pursed. “It’s a work question. A kind of big one, so if you’re not in the mental space to handle that, then it can wait.”

“I’m fine. Go ahead and ask.” My fingers drummed a beat on the table in front of me. I needed to know or else I’d spiral. If she were quitting, I’d be fucked.

“I think we need to up the dance nights.”

“Oh.” At least it wasn’tbadnews. “Why?”

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