Page 42 of Counterpoint and Harmony

Darting past me, she heads for the bathroom. “She’ll be here in just a sec, so put a shirt on. I’m putting myself back together in here. God, I have sex hair.”

I can’t help chuckling at Charlie, but when my eyes dart to the mirror in the room, I realize I have sex hair too. Even without my glasses, I can tell. I yank my shirt on and look around on the floor, finally locating the black hair elastic next to the bed. Dragging my hands through my hair, I manage a respectable ponytail. My usual. Picking up my glasses from the bedside table, I put them on, checking myself out in the mirror. I think I look put together enough to pass for hanging out with friends and not freshly fucked.

In any case, there’s no time for anything else, because a knock sounds on the door. I wait for a second to see if Charlie’s going to get it.

But she shouts, “Hang on!” and the lock clicks on the bathroom door. Guess she’s not done in there yet.

When I answer the door, Lauren looks me up and down, a smirk coming to her lips as her eyes linger on my bare feet. She raises her eyes slowly to mine, brows raised, obviously cataloguing my appearance. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

I step out of the way to allow her in, and she looks all around the room, finally coming to a stop facing me with her arms crossed. “Where’s Charlie?”

“She had to use the bathroom.” Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I tilt my head toward the bathroom door.

Lauren stares. “Why does Charlie needing to use the bathroom make you blush?”

Clearing my throat, I look away, trying to force the heat to recede from the tips of my ears. That doesn’t work, unfortunately.

But Charlie bursts out of the bathroom with a smile on her face directed at Lauren. Stepping around me, Charlie laughs and gives Lauren a big hug. “Quit hassling Damian. We’ve just been hanging out waiting for you to get back. How’d it go?”

Not so easily dissuaded, Lauren looks between Charlie and me as she pulls back from their hug. “Hanging out, huh? Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

My ears get hotter, but Charlie just rolls her eyes. “Are you dodging my question? How’d your performance go?”

Lauren’s right eyebrow arches even higher as she looks over Charlie, her lips pursed. “My performance went fine, thanks. As for dodging questions … I think you ought to look in the mirror.”

Charlie laughs again. “Okay, sure. Whatever you say, Lauren. I’m glad your performance went well. When do you find out the winners?”

“Tonight or tomorrow,” Lauren says. “They have to finish listening to everyone, then confer over their tally sheets and decide the winners. Then they’ll call and let us know.”

Charlie’s eyes go wide, and she shakes her head. “I don’t know how you guys can stand it. I’d be a wreck.”

Lauren laughs, and I chuckle. “Seriously?” Lauren asks.

Glancing between us, Charlie’s nose wrinkles. “What? What’s so funny?”

I give her a grin. “It’s just funny, because you perform in front of sold out arenas, but you think you’d be a wreck waiting to hear the results of one little competition.”

“Those two things aren’t the same at all. Yeah, my albums and concerts get music reviews, and a lot of times those aren’t very nice. When you’ve built your audience primarily from preteen and teenaged girls, the critics don’t take you seriously, and your singles are either panned as juvenile or trying too hard to be serious. There’s no winning with them, but I can easily avoid reading those reviews for the most part.” She waves a hand, dismissing that topic. “But those arenas are full of fans. That’s why they bought a ticket. As long as I give them the things they’ve grown to love and expect, along with a side of something new and fun, they’ll enjoy themselves. They’re not there to listen for all my mistakes and write them down on a sheet. They’re there to have a good time and sing along and maybe get an autograph at the meet and greet. And no one calls me that night or the next day to tell me if I was good enough to keep doing it.”

Silence descends as Charlie finishes, and Lauren and I look at each other. Lauren breaks the silence at last. “I guess I can understand why Gabby ran off with Jonathan even more when you put it like that.”

Charlie laughs. “Yeah. That. And, you know, being with the love of her life. Minor details.”

Lauren chuckles with her, her eyes darting between Charlie and me again. “Yeah. That. True.”

She looks like she wants to say something else, but I don’t want to hear what’s behind the speculative look on her face. “I’m starving,” I throw out before she can say anything. “What did you guys want to do for dinner?”

Lauren’s mouth snaps shut, and she stares at me for a beat, like she sees right through my attempt to change the subject.

I return her look, unflinching, and she finally drops her gaze and tucks her hair behind her ear before looking at Charlie. “Where’s that list of restaurants we picked from last night? Let’s take a look. And invite Natalie to join us this time. I feel weird leaving her out.”

Charlie pulls out her phone and sends a quick text. “I think she felt like a third wheel on the plane and didn’t want to get in the way of us catching up.”

Turning her head, Lauren mumbles something that sounds something like, “know how she feels,” but if Charlie hears her, she ignores her just like I do.

Natalie arrives seconds later and calls in our dinner order, agreeing to eat with us tonight. Grabbing the remote, I turn on the TV to try to find a movie or something, because between what happened with Charlie and I and now Lauren poking her nose in our business, being far too perceptive for my liking, we all need a distraction.

At least with Natalie here, Lauren’s tendency to poke and prod for information should be relatively contained. I hope.

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