Page 74 of Siren's Game

Living with them was pretty much only co-existing, like much older roommates who gave me an allowance and occasionally told me I couldn’t do something.

It shouldn't have been that hard to go through with cutting contact with them. After all, they've pushed me aside for my whole life already.

But I can't help it. Whenever I see functioning families, like Millie's, there’s just this nagging feeling of jealousy that rises up my esophagus like bile.

"I’m so proud. You girls were wonderful out there," her mom gushes, putting her hands on Millie’s shoulders as she looks at both of us with tears in her eyes. "How do the young people say nowadays? You had a meal?"

I shake my head and chuckle. God, Sonia is just hilarious as she tries to keep up with the young kids.

"We ate?" I laugh and accept her hug as she approaches me with arms stretched wide for me to step into.

"And we left no damn crumbs," Millie adds and all of us break into laughter. God, saying and hearing that makes me cringe.

The three of them catch up and I chime in when Millie brings up our plans to change labels. Other than that, I fade into the background, watching them, mind trailing after my own thoughts.

The three of them are really the perfect family, aren't they?

Humble parents who need to be all but forced to enjoy themselves using Millie's money and Millie, who loves them so much, that the possibility of making her parents retire early pushes her through all the media shitstorms heading her way without even so much as a complaint.

I adore the way they love each other.

Tristan, her dad, pulls me back into the conversation when he asks if we plan to record a new album soon.

"That depends on how long everything is going to take," I tell them with a big sigh, sinking into one of the padded chairs. I’d love to resolve the whole label conflict quickly, but especially if we need to involve lawyers, I know it’s going to take a while.

"I'm not recording another album with Starlet Sounds but if the negotiations take forever, so will making new music and touring. Plus, with a legal fight, money running out at one point is a possibility we definitely have to keep in mind. I'm not sure how Millie feels about everything, but I for one would love to find a way to release our music by ourselves."

I shoot Millie a glance from the corner of my eyes. I didn't get around to talking about this possibility with her yet, but the way that everything has played out, I think it's the best way to protect ourselves from other predatory companies in the business.

As we've learned, labels don't show their true selves until you're in a pickle, and in a crunch, they will always pick the side of media, because they don't want to be blacklisted.

But doing our own thing? God, the possibility of being completely free to do what I want just sounds amazing. I want that.

"What would that look like?" Millie tilts her head and looks at me with wide eyes like a golden retriever puppy.

"We'd found our own label and hire people to take care of everything that comes with it," I explain with a shrug, cringing a bit at how easy I'm trying to make it sound. "I have no exact plan yet, but if we're already scouting lawyers, we might as well keep an eye out for firms who deal with that kind of stuff as well."

"How about we meet up tomorrow and do a bit of research?" she asks and I nod. I would love to get the ball rolling on this as soon as possible.

A muffled announcement outside makes the crowd cheer and I stand up from my seat, curious what’s happening.

"Sure," I tell her absentmindedly as I step up to the window. "Let's do that. Now let's watch the second half of the game and cheer for our guys."

Now that we’re done with our show, I'm actually curious to watch Luca and Asher play. If what Asher told me is correct, his only job is pushing and tackling people out of Luca's way, which is either going to be hilarious or nail-bitingly exciting to look at.

Tristan is trying to explain to his wife and daughter how exactly football works, but I completely tune out, my eyes scanning the field as the players run out, searching for Asher’s number.

When Asher runs into the field, I see his eyes scan the VIP boxes. He can't see us from down there, can he?

He's probably looking for his parents anyway. But then he points at our booth and blows a kiss into its direction.

And I fucking giggle. Hiding my red cheeks behind my hands, all worries about our label temporarily forgotten.

I can’t believe he has that kind of effect on me.

A few minutes before the match time is up, Millie and I come to a stand at the side of the field for what Naroa calls ‘aesthetic reasons.’ Apparently, a bunch of cameras will be on the field after the final call and they want to have Millie and me down here so people keep watching, thus bringing in more sweet, sweet, advertising money for charity.

The whole stadium is buzzing with excitement as the announcer’s voices echo through the stadium.

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