Page 132 of With Stars in Her Eyes
“It will be such a pleasure.”
CHAPTER 49Thea
I arrived yesterday at the large rental property in Colorado before any of the rest of the crew. Marshall flew in early this morning since his business seminar ended yesterday. He had been so busy with his classwork that I had barely talked to him for the last couple weeks since my conversations with Richard and Samantha beyond asking if he still wanted to come out and help with the shoot. The label had already gotten the permits, so my main responsibility for the next few days was to ensure I had everything I needed ready for when the rest of the crew and band showed up.
I was up late last night, so I had just woken up when he arrived. While we ate lunch, I was filling him in on everything that had happened since he left for Philly.
“So then after I endured this whole monologue from Richard, Demetrius’s manager, about no fraternization with Demetrius bullshit and signed the contract, I mailed her the papaya card. Because a papaya looks like—”
“Yep. I get it. I’ve heard the song.”
“You’ve been listening to Courtney’s music?”
“Some.” He considered me in a way I found perplexing. He set down his sandwich and wiped off his fingers. “Can I see the contract?”
“Sure.” I grabbed my iPad and swiped.
He flipped through pages of the paperwork and then looked up, mouth set in an expression torn between amusement and pity. “You signed this?”
“Yeah, right after Richard dropped it off. So I think I’m set up for a big grand gesture somehow, and I’ve been looking for placesto take her around Denver. Because I’m still in love with her, but obviously, I had to let her go so she would follow her dreams. And given that she’s still sending me extremely horny books and quoting things that I said to her in her opening set, I think it’s safe to say she still feels the same way.”
“Right, but—”
“I mean, how gorgeous is this rental house? Would it be crazy to try to plan something after I see her at Red Rocks? They have a few days off afterward. It didn’t seem like she would be here for the shoot because it’s just Demetrius and the actual band but—”
“Thea.” Marshall set the iPad down and grabbed my hand like he was a doting parent about to tell me my goldfish had been eaten by the family cat—not that this was a core memory from my childhood or anything… “So, I know I don’t have my MBA yet, but”—he scratched his head—“I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“Why?”
“You signed a contract with a no-fraternization clause.”
“Right. Richard—who as I said is a real dick by the way—thought I was an aspiring groupie. I guess Demetrius has a past with photographers. I don’t want to have sex with Demetrius, so I signed. What’s the big deal?”
“Right so.” He pointed at the paragraph.
I scanned the wording of the contract. “Oh no.” I read it again. “Ohno.”
“You are contractually not allowed to have sex with Courtney until the end of the tour. She’s under the same definition. See…” He pointed to a paragraph early in the contract.
“That cannot be right.”
“We can get Abbott to take a look at it if you want, but this language seems pretty strongly worded to me. And it’s with the label… Honestly, just sending her that papaya card might even violate the terms.”
“No. No.NO.” I grabbed the iPad back. “What?”
“She’s one of the musicians playing on the tour, right?”
“Yes… goddamnit.”
The doorbell rang. Figuring it was the property manager to come ask if we needed anything again, I abandoned the ridiculousness of this conversation and headed to the door. When I opened it, it wasn’t the property manager at all.
It was Courtney Starling. Real Courtney Starling. Her actual self. Right there a foot away from me. And she was beaming. Every aspect of Courtney’s face was brighter than it had been during those months she hadn’t been performing.
A strangled sound was the first thing to come out of my mouth. I hadn’t been aware of exactly how much I missed this woman until the woman herself stood on my doorstep.
“I hope this is okay.” Courtney held up the card with the papaya. “This wasn’t exactly an invitation to come out a couple days early to see you, but I thought it meant…”
“I—” I swallowed and then opened my mouth to try to speak again, wanting to tell Courtney all the things I was feeling all at once, but that wasn’t what came out. “It definitely was an invitation actually, but I just found out I accidentally signed a contract that says I can’t have sex with you or fraternize with you. I’m not exactly sure what fraternizing entails, but Iamsure it doesn’t forbid me from saying I’m so incredibly proud of you. I’ve been watching the live streams like a parasocial internet stalker.”
