Page 6 of When We Fell Again
Given I didn’t watch whatever reality show she was talking about, I had no idea who Tommy was. I could only assume he was a buff twenty-something Sadie had the hots for.
“I have news,” I said, cutting to the chase.
“Ooh, let me guess. You’ve got a new tour opportunity in Paris and they need a makeup artist to help?”
“Close. It’s a new tour.”
“Who are you looking after this time? Tell me Harry Styles, please.”
Honestly, I would have rather that than the truth. “I don’t think he’d work with small fry like me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, hon. You’re amazing at what you do. Theo’s lucky to have you.”
After what I’d agreed to that evening, I was certain about that. “Thank you. But sadly, it’s not anyone that exciting. I’m going to be on tour with Idol Rev.”
Sadie screeched down the line. “You’re what? I thought you were with that Lissy bird?”
Quickly, I filled her in on Chris’s situation and embellished a little as to how Theo had practically begged me to do it. Sadie knew my history with Jordan, of course.
“Oh, shit. How are you going to handle him?”
I hadn’t yet given it a great deal of thought. For the majority of the time, I could be in the background and keep my distance. But there would be times when I wouldn’t be able to avoid him. At least there would be other people around and we wouldn’t have to be one-on-one.
“And does he know you’re going to be there?”
That was a great question. I had no idea whether Theo had filled in the band’s management on the situation with Chris. They were expecting a forty-year-old guy built like a brick shithouse to manage the tour, and when I turned up, it would go down like a bucket of cold sick. I often got that reaction when I joined a tour that wasn’t a girl group or a bland middle-of-the-road band with little controversy. But I thrived on tours where there was a bit of drama. Except in this instance when I could be the one whocausedthe drama.
“I doubt he’d care anyway.” My reply was glib, but deep down, I wanted to know what he would think. “He probably doesn’t pay much attention to the tour manager.”
“Pfft. When the tour manager is hishotex-girlfriend, I think there’s every likelihood he’ll pay attention.” Sadie snorted. “I kind of wish I was coming with you so I could see his reaction.”
“That would be great. At least I’d have an ally.” In most instances, I was the only female on the tour staff, unless the artists were. I suspected Idol Rev wouldn’t have many women around, unless they brought along their girlfriends. How would I react if Jordan brought his girlfriend on tour? I shouldn’t have cared, but it was hard not to. Not with the past we had shared.
“If I wasn’t doing a Glamour shoot next week, then I’d be all over it. But you know you can call me anytime, right? I don’t want you thinking you’re going through it all alone.” Sadie’s tone softened. “Make sure you keep me posted on all the gossip.”
Grateful that Sadie had my back, I started to think this job couldn’t be as bad as I was building it up to be.
CHAPTER3
Jordan
The Friday afternoonbefore we were due to leave, Kelvin had us meet in our local. He wanted to go over the final details before he handed us over to the tour manager who would be with us for the next three weeks.
I felt like utter shit.
Despite my protestations that a bloodstream full of opiates would be a good thing, I’d done little but sleep since the accident. The past couple of weeks had passed by in a blur of pain and brain fog. It had taken a great effort to get me out of bed, showered, dressed, and out in a public place. Every movement burned agony through my body. How I thought I’d be able to perform in that state was beyond me. God only knew how I’d get through an hour and a half set ten times in fourteen days.
“Tell Kelvin how you feel,” Levi had said the previous evening while we watched some true crime drama show he was obsessed with. “He has to understand if you’re not fit enough to get out there.”
I sucked in a breath. Even if I did tell him how my health really was, he’d go ballistic about having to cancel so close to the start of the tour. Even postponing it wouldn’t have been an option.
After the past year…
After Dexter…
We had to get back out there, and I had an image to redeem.
The hard-drinking, drug-addled Jordan Bowie had gone and, in his place, appeared the clean-living, better version of myself.
