Page 44 of For One Night Only

My mind tumbles as I stare at that last one, remembering what Wade said after rehearsal this afternoon.Momsent the contracts to Ortega Management. I trust Wade’s legal team reviewing the contracts, but I don’t trust Tonya. If she had a chance to do something shady…well, I think she might have.

It’s just a feeling. But living with Mom taught me to never ignore my feelings.

Padding over the thick carpet to my bag, I pull out my laptop, then settle over at the desk. I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for, but I know where to start. Before I revealed I’d hired a real manager, I snuck into my mom’s home office and scanned all of her Glitter Bats records to the cloud. It’s not like seventeen-year-old me knew to keep track of my own legal documents, and by the time I wanted them a few years later, it was almost too late.

Mom acted so altruistic when she took care of everything.I just don’t want you kids to worry about the boring part. Just enjoy the fame!I had this strange hunch that she’d take it personally if I just asked for copies, even refuse to give me everything I needed.

Although I should never have had to outwit my own mother, that was just childhood at the Quinn house. She was so determined to show everyone how well she could raise me alone that she never actually did. I raised myself, with a little teenage guidance from Cameron Sloane when she was around, and the one thing I learned from Tonya was to always think ahead.

Good thing.

I pull up the digital storage, enter my password, and thank past Valerie for her efficiency. There are so many documents in this file, all those different contracts and press releases and financial statements without any recognizable organizational scheme. But I don’t care about the episode ofRiverwoodthat featured “Midnight Road Trip,” or our first magazine shoot. I sort by date and there it is: the contract we signed before recording our first album, promising Label Records anything we produced for ten years.

For a moment, I think I’m seeing double.

My hand stills on the track pad. There aretwoof them. I blink, unable to make much sense of what’s on my screen. With different naming conventions, I didn’t notice the duplicate in my rush to copy everything and get out of the office unnoticed all those years ago.

It doesn’t add up. Why would Mom have two copies of the same document? Maybe it’s just her not being the greatest with technology, but…I doubt it. The contracts are long, and there’s no way I’m making any sense of them tonight, so I dash off an email to Wade with both files.

My heart pounds as I click send. There’s no way I can sleep now. Tonight’s as good of a time as any to check social media.

With a yawn, I pull on a hoodie, tuck up my legs, and dive in.

Wade would update me if there were positive changes on theEpic Theme Songfront, but I scroll the tag anyway. My costar Lola Martinez just did a livestream, so most of the recent posts are about her. She’s promoting her new film, but fans ask her about playing Shadowgirl onEpic Theme Song, and there’s a nice sound bite I catch about my own side project: “Of course I heard about the Glitter Bats reunion—it’s super exciting! Valerie’s so talented—the whole band is—and I was a bit of a Glitterbug before I even worked with her. It’s going to be great to see them all together again.”

I send Lola a quick thank-you via DM, because she really didn’t even have to respond to that question. It was kind. We’re not super close, but we’re friendly. It certainly made the half a season we spent making out in front of the cameras more bearable. She smells good, she’s a respectful kisser, and she always has Altoids. Best partner for a romantic scene I’ve ever had on a set.

Not like Tyler Rowe, who tried to stick his tongue in my mouth without warning and got yelled at by our intimacy coordinator.

If we get renewed, I hope they write Tyler’s character off the show.

Despite all of my scrolling, I can’t find any clues that lead to the fate ofEpic Theme Song. In the hashtag, though, my heart breaks at the determination of our fans:

Hey, Wonderfans! Let’s all stream#EpicThemeSongon repeat on July 30th to get it back in the top 10! The Network will have NO CHOICE but to #RenewETS. Tell your friends!

—56,192 likes —11,333 reposts

I JUST FINISHED#EpicThemeSongAND I NEED ANOTHER SEASON #RenewETS

—1,230 likes —428 reposts

#EpicThemeSongis the best show of all time and if @TheNetwork doesn’t #RenewETS I will show up at their corporate offices and demand an explanation. I’m not even joking.

—99 likes —12 reposts

HOW DO WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SEASON 3 of#EpicThemeSongYET?! #RenewETS YOU COWARDS @TheNetwork

—702 likes —258 reposts

My friend started a petition to #RenewETS so come on Wonderfans! If you want more#EpicThemeSong, help us get to 100,000 signatures!

—27,908 likes —8,992 reposts

Eyes stinging, I slam my laptop shut. They’re trying so hard, and it’s not enough. The fate of this show rests on my shoulders. Scrolling to watch them beg for something only I can give isn’t going to make any progress, but it’s sure as hell a good reminder of why I’m in this hotel.

I’ve been so distracted since we started rehearsing, but I need tofocus on the prize: getting enough good press to renew this show. The fans deserve better than a fickle network and a messy lead.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I shriek, way too loud this late at night. Sure enough, Caleb busts through the door connecting our two rooms that neither of us bothers to lock anymore. He’s shirtless, which is distracting enough without seeing his hair all rumpled from sleep. Because it’s two a.m. and I clearly woke him up with my outburst.

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