Page 1 of Two Is Better Than One

Chapter 1

Summer Stockton

Grammy-nominated musical artist and past winner of American Idol

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Charleston, South Carolina

February

"Summer, I'm sorry, but we cannot go on our trip without security. You have to have security, period. We'll have to cancel things if we don't take Russ with us. You're staying in Miami for a month. You have things to do there. We need security at the hotel with us, and we need help getting back and forth places. We can't do it alone. You know we can't."

Brooks, my steadfast assistant, stared at me with a pleading, almost panicked expression as he spoke. The two of us stood in my kitchen. My sister was on the couch, wearing earbuds and oblivious to us. I knew she was listening to white noise while she worked.

I glanced at her and let out a sigh. "Allie feels the same as me," I said to him. "Russ made her uncomfortable, too."

"Okay, but you didn't have to fire the whole company," Brooks said. "They could've found us a replacement."

"Russ was Al's partner," I said, shaking my head.

"I still can't believe you sent that email already."

"You would have stopped me."

Brooks made a worried expression. "I definitely would have tried. You can't even think of anything Russ did."

"He made me feel uncomfortable," I said. "That's enough. I have to maintain a certain mental state to be able to carry on and do what I do."

That was true, and Brooks knew it. I couldn't think of anything specific to blame Russ for, though. He had said a few things and made some faces that rubbed me the wrong way, and I was just creeped out in general. Allie, my twin, felt it, too. She and I talked about it, and we both wanted to fire Russ.

I knew that Brooks would think of something. He had worked for me for a few years, and he was great at his job. He was fully aware of how I was passionate, and he was patient with cleaning up my messes. I honestly didn't think it would be that hard to find someone else to work security for me. Brooks had connections with other people in his field—he knew the assistants for other famous people, and he would inevitably call one of them, hire a new security guard, and work it all out.

"I'm sorry you didn't like him," Brooks said as he pressed buttons on his phone.

"I'm sorry you have to find someone else before the trip," I said. "I knew this would happen when I sent the email, but honestly, I felt too uncomfortable to be around him that whole time, and I had to make the call before we left. I thought about calling you last night, but I didn't want to bother you while you were at home."

Brooks's dad had recently passed away tragically, and he had been spending more time with his mom since she just moved back to town. I didn't like to bother him at home. Plus, we would be leaving for Miami, and Brooks would be gone for a month.

"It's fine," he said. "I understand. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." He glanced at my sister. "Was it something with Allie?"

"Why do you say that?"

He shrugged. "I saw her and Russ talking yesterday."

"About what?" I asked.

"I don't know. I couldn't hear them."

"Yeah, she and I talked about it last night, and neither of us feels comfortable around him. It's not that he's done anything… he's just not a comfortable person to be around. I wish I had Al back."

"I wish we had Al back too, but he's with Taylor."

Swift. He was talking about Taylor Swift, who was a few steps above me on the fame scale. I had won American Idol, but I was still no Taylor Swift. My old bodyguard went to her when she offered him a job, and he stuck me with his partner.

"You don't have to remind me," I said. "I'm offended. I thought Al was my dude."

"That's the real reason why you don't like Russ. You just want to quit the company."

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