Page 80 of A Way Out
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Why is Oz texting me about meeting Regina? Are you two in Washington? Is everything okay?
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It was a fair question. Why would they have come to Roma if everything was okay?
She canted her head and stared at the text. Oz met Holly’s friend Regina? She ran the coffee shop downtown.
Maybe Maria could waylay him before he left for his hotel. She grabbed the keys to her rental car and headed out.
Ten minutes later, she stood in front of the counter at Coffee A-Roma. Regina informed her that yes, Oz had been there, and she’d served him an extra-large double shot something or another that Maria didn’t really care about, because he clearly wasn’t here now.
“He seemed pretty bummed when he first got here, but he took a call and definitely perked up afterward,” Regina said. “And he implied you two weren’t together anymore.”
How did Regina even know they were together in the first place? As curious as she was, Maria asked a different question. “What do you mean, he perked up?”
Regina lifted her shoulders, let them drop. “I mean, he was practically vibrating, and that was before the coffee. And he said he had a long drive ahead of him.”
A long drive? He’d said he planned to wait at his hotel until tomorrow morning. Had he changed his mind? She needed to hurry so she could catch him before he left town.
“Thanks, Regina,” she called out as she raced for the door.
It was time to win back her man.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Shit just got real.
There was an offer on the table. Silver Lining Entertainment wanted to sign Demigoddess Revival.
Lacey insisted on running the contract by her father’s lawyer—her dad was in the industry, so there was an assumption his lawyer knew a thing or two about contracts between record labels and musicians.
Once the lawyer gave their stamp of approval, the members of the band would all sign on the dotted line—it wasn’t dotted, actually, it was more of a rectangle on a PDF document, and they’d each be signing a computer screen, but whatever. Signed was signed.
They’d be legit. And Oz’s bank account would finally have a positive balance.
The advance he was being offered wouldn’t last long; he had to get caught up on his mother’s mortgage before they seized her home, and that would suck up nearly every penny. But starting at zero was a hell of a lot easier than being in the red with no way out.
And the money would just keep on coming after that. They’d agreed to give Silver Lining rights to the EP they’d already recorded, as well as their next three albums. That meant they’d actually be able to pay Maria a real salary to do their publicity.
No, not Maria.
They’d be able to hire a publicist, that’s what he meant.
Maria was out of the picture.
Which sucked, because he really wished he could celebrate this milestone with her. And Riley. If he closed his eyes, he could picture their happiness, their excitement for him and the band.
When he opened his eyes, his bandmates were giving him peculiar looks. And Maria wasn’t here.
“You done meditating over there, bro?” Travis asked, probably only partially joking.
“Yeah,” Oz croaked out. “I’m good. Just, you know, maybe still in shock.”
“We need to celebrate,” Cash announced.
“I’d like to, but I need to get home.” Well, to Sam and Holly’s place, because that’s where his kids and mom were still temporarily residing. “I drove all night and still barely made it here on time.” He’d fallen asleep at a rest area in Northern California and had slept through his alarm, which put him back a good two hours.
