Page 141 of The Stalker

20

The Visit

Hayden and Tatianahad been in his dressing room for about half an hour after a soundcheck when there was a knock on the door.

Tatiana looked over at Hayden and frowned when he shrugged his shoulders. Obviously, he wasn’t expecting a visitor. She strode over to the door and opened it, surprised to see Jesse’s face.

“You’re early to—”

Tatiana cut herself off when she saw the group of people standing behind him. Harrison was holding Heather’s hand and next to the couple was April Conway, with Michael Pearce and Callum Archer standing behind them. Tatiana’s heart raced in her chest because she hadn’t realized that Heather would be visiting this stop on the tour with April.

Jesse smiled at Tatiana. “I’ve brought visitors for Hayden. I figured since I was awake, I might as well grab one of those sandwiches I’ve heard all about.”

“Oh, sure.” She glanced down to see a sandwich in his hand, like the one she’d eaten during the soundcheck. “I had the roast beef. It was good.”

“Chicken for me. Hopefully, it’s just as good.”

He moved aside and sat on a chair next to the door, leaving Tatiana facing her favorite pop star and Hayden’s friends. She could feel sweat dripping down her back underneath her shirt; she’d had no time to prepare for another meeting with her idol.

“Hi. Come in,” she managed to say as she stepped aside to let them into the room.

“Hayden!” Heather exclaimed, rushing over to give him a hug. “It’s good to see you, darling. How are you doing?”

Tatiana closed the door, shutting out the bodyguards as Heather dropped onto the sofa next to Hayden.

“I’m good.” He smiled at Heather, then turned his face to the blonde woman standing near Tatiana. “It’s great to see you, April.”

She gave him a bright smile and said, “It’s so good to see you.”

She walked over to him and leaned down to wrap her arms around him tightly. Tatiana was ashamed that she had a spike of jealousy watching him hug April, and she focused on not allowing any of her emotions onto her face.

This dressing room had a three-seater sofa in it, and Tatiana turned away when April dropped down on the other side of Hayden. Tatiana walked over to the desk and grabbed a chair, which she set down next to Harrison for him to use.

“Thanks, Tati.”

He gave her a kind smile, and she nodded at him before walking over to position herself by the door. She’d only been standing there for about ten seconds when Heather looked around and saw her.

“Pull up a chair and join us, Tati. I brought April to see you as well as Hayden, and there are enough bodyguards by the door to fend off a small army.” She gave Tatiana an encouraging smile.

Tatiana glanced at Hayden where he sat in between the two women. If she hadn’t spent so many hours watching him and analyzing his every movement, she would never have known that he was uncomfortable right now. What she couldn’t tell was whether he was uncomfortable at the idea of her joining them or not.

He gave her a smile and said, “I’ll get you a chair, Tati.”

It was the kind of thing a boyfriend would do for her, not a client. So she wasn’t surprised when his three guests looked back and forth between them as though they were watching a tennis match.

“No, it’s fine. I can get it,” she said quickly.

She strode to the side of the room and pulled a chair from by the wall over to sit near Harrison, facing the sofa.

“So, are you surprising us again? I thought we were meeting up with you in a couple of days?” Hayden asked Heather.

“The guy interviewing April got sick and asked to do it via video call. I had a gap in my schedule as well, so we figured we’d travel on Harrison’s bus and fly home from there.” She gave Hayden a shrewd look. “Imagine my surprise when I found your bodyguard in one of the bunks.”

Hayden glanced at Tatiana, then to Harrison, and back to Heather. “Did Harrison not tell you Jesse was sleeping on his bus?”

“Nope. He was most displeased when my loud ass wandered through the bunk area swearing like a trooper because I kicked my toe on a cupboard door.”

Everyone laughed, and Hayden shook his head as he said, “Poor Jesse. He’s on the night shift, so I bet he loved that.”

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