Page 117 of Whirlwind

“And all the Gabriellas and Irinas of the world.”

“That’s right.” His attention went back to his phone. Incoming messages beeped incessantly.

“You’ve surrounded yourself with all this action and energy and noise. There’s no time to think, it’s just go, go, go, do, do, do.”

“That’s me, man. That’s always been me.”

“I know, but is that enough? You’ve been all over the world, done crazy shit, made a ton of money—”

“Still am. It’s still fun.”

“Is it enough?”

“Whoa. What the hell’s up with you?”

I let out a heavy breath. “The tour ended on a bad note—a couple of bad notes. And I’ve been thinking about a lot of shit lately.”

“Don’t think too hard, Beck. That’s the kiss of death.”

Kaspar dove into the water and came up quickly. Tag grabbed his camera and focused on Kaspar at the edge of the infinity pool checking out the sapphire blue sea. A rare quiet moment. Gabriella dove into the pool, and Tag jumped in after her, his camera focused on her ass in her super tiny bikini as she swam up to Kaspar. Kaspar smiled huge at her and they talked, laughed. He splashed her. Their flirty smiles glinted at each other. Kaspar scooped her up in the water, they kissed.

Were they really talking? Really flirting? Fuck knows. This was the jive though, and Tag was right there recording it all.

“This is so cool,” Violet appeared, a towel wrapped around her. “It’s so great to see all this in live action. Be a part of it.”

“Is there a plot line to this video, you think?” I asked.

She snorted, sitting down next to me. “No, it’s just supposed to be Kaspar and Tag hanging at this amazing place, living their supreme life for all the world to pant over.”

“I’m definitely panting. Are you panting?”

She elbowed me. “You’re part of that, you know, Mr. Rockstar.”

“Part of what exactly?”

“The hashtag goals life. You’re living the dream.”

“It’s just my life.” I grabbed a can of soda from the ice bucket next to me, opened it, and handed it to her.

“And what a life it is…” Grinning at me, she brought the soda can to her lips. Her face tightened, her body clenched. She spit, her hand at her mouth. She hissed in air as she held out the can like it was foul smelling and covered her nose and mouth to protect herself from it.

I grabbed the can from her shaking hand. “Babe, you okay? What’s wrong?”

She gulped in air. “Orange soda. I can’t. Makes me sick.” She cleared her throat, pressing her pale lips together.

“Here, water.” I handed her a bottle of water.

Violet grabbed the bottle like her life depended on it and gulped the cold water down. Her face had gone pale.

I touched on her leg, her skin cool. “Better?”

“Better. I don’t like orange soda at all. It…doesn’t agree with me. We were talking and running around and…I didn’t notice…I…”

“Duly noted, baby. No orange soda, ever.”

“Ever.”

I brushed her lips with a gentle kiss and she smiled at me. We sat in silence, taking in the hustle around us.

---