Page 130 of Sky Full of Stars

“I thought we discussed the definition of emergency,” I drawl as Alessa takes a seat and Jordan puts a mug of coffee in front of her.

We were all surprised as shit when he announced he had a girlfriend. He relentlessly pursued the bassist from a band we were getting friendly with but she wouldn’t give him the time of day, just allowed him to make a nuisance of himself with a kind of detached aloofness that had us all cracking up. No one knew, even the guys in her own band, they’d hooked up before he informed us they were together.

Alessa is originally from Ukraine, with a slight accent, she wears blue tinted glasses, has two toned brown and purple hair in one of those asymmetrical bob haircuts with huge bangs, and plays bass like a boss. She bonded with Nick first over their mutual love of the instrument when Kono introduced us to Red Alert, an up and coming North Carolina band they’re working with. Spending time at the same studio, we hit it off and are planning a small tour after the release of our album and they’ll be supporting us. They’re attending the release party tonight.

“I call dibs on the first pancake.”

“No you don’t,” I slap his hand with the spatula and pull the plate away. “My woman always gets the first pancake.”

“Pussy whipped,” Jordan mock coughs into his hand.

“You wouldn’t give me your first made pancake?” Alessa arches a brow, her stern accent more exaggerated than normal.

“Course I would, my divchinka,” he takes her hand and kisses it.

Arch did a google translate so we know he refers to her as his baby girl in Ukrainian. If anyone is pussy whipped, it’s him. He protects her as fiercely as I do Jenna, so I guess we both fall into that category, more than happily.

Elsa, the girl Nick kind of dated back in LA visited Jenna when she was working in New York a couple of months ago. She came out for drinks with us and it was awkward initially, but Elsa is a great girl, with a fun, sarcastic wit and loads of stories to tell. Everyone loosened up pretty quick around her after she said it was water under the bridge. I wasn’t sure Nick actually spoke to her after the day she saw him with another woman on TV but they were easy enough around each other after a while.

“Quit trying to steal my food,” Jenna walks into the kitchen and gives Alessa a grin, flicks Jordan’s ear then rewards me with a kiss, taking her plate out of my hand.

She plops down beside Alessa and they immediately start talking about outfits for the evening. I deliberately hand Alessa the next plate of food causing Jordan to bare his teeth at me. I love how well Jenna slots into my life, the boys are like family to her and since Jordan adopted Sandy as his ‘New York mom’, which she is thrilled about and they hang out all the time, he says that makes Jenna his sister. Nick already adores her, and Archer, the fucker still tries to rile me up giving her extra-long hugs and kisses. But I’m happy.

After we feed and get rid of our apartment crashers, I shower and reluctantly part ways with Jenna to go to a meeting with the guys and Bianca, Jenna has to work for a few hours this morning. She’s taken over most of the running of the literary agency. Iz semi-retired when her wife took a turn for the worse, but against all odds, she pulled through and they’re spending a lot of time travelling as much as Ada’s illness allows, living life to the fullest. She keeps a lot of input into the business but trusts Jenna with the day to day running. It makes her happy but she’s also busy a lot of the time. I love how much she loves her job but I draw the line at her hanging out with The Douche, who she actually very rarely sees and apparently he’s about to get married.

We have our meeting to discuss the upcoming plans once the album drops, we meet with our business manager who goes through the financials with us to make sure we’re managing our money properly, then on to a couple of interviews. One pre-recorded TV show in person and one live radio appearance to promote the release at midnight. We allow the DJ’s to play one of the songs from the album.

We’d already released ‘Restful Destruction’, our typical sound, bass heavy, a dark undertone with a duet appearance by a mainstream pop singer named Zosia. She is trying to become edgier in her music, after getting out of a contract with a label who wanted to exploit her. She’s young and a little jaded already but she has a powerhouse voice and enthusiasm for music that is refreshing. We harmonise well, so chose it to be the first release.

Today they’re getting a glimpse of our softer side. I wrote ‘With Your Heartbeat’ about Jenna when she first came to LA, never expecting the guys would consider it good enough for the album, we always said we’d tone things down with one or two ballads that likely wouldn’t be singles, but they all loved it and feedback so far told us it was a hit with the fans.

We’re whisked away to get ready for the party after that. Bianca wants us to dress up and make a splash with a polished look but Archer and Jordan complained so much she said she quit and told us to wear whatever the fuck we want.

Things between Bianca and I were strained for a while but once I agreed she had nothing to do with the whole Erica debacle, we made up. Erica was released from contract at the end of the tour and would never work with us again. Besides, Brady, our original voice coach’s wife had her baby and he was eager to get back to work.

“You ready for tonight, bro?” Arch asks as we head to our respective cars in the parking lot of the label’s New York office. Jordan has gone somewhere with Alessa and Riley, the other girl from Red Alert and I have no clue where Nick disappeared to.

“Yeah,” I say, my palms sweating. I rub them on my jeans and Arch gives me a look.

“You’re shitting your pants right now, aren’t you?”

I try to laugh it off but he slaps my shoulder and looks at me like he is about to say something profound. “Just don’t take away from the album drop.”

“Fucker,” I lightly punch him in the gut and he laughs as he walks away.

On the drive home I call in an order at our favourite restaurant and pick it up, we’re not likely to get time to eat a full meal even though there is a buffet tonight, knowing Jenna, she won’t have eaten much today. I let myself in calling “honey I’m home”, Jenna appears from the hallway to the bedroom looking like every fucking fantasy I’ve ever had in my life.

The dress is pale pink and silver, with one delicate strap over her shoulder, it fits all the way down her tight body until just below the knee where the fabric flares out. It sparkles like diamonds and looks as if it’s covered in shards of broken glass. Her hair is thick and tousled with soft curls and pulled over her bare shoulder. She has a simple white gold chain with a small diamond around her neck, it rests just in the hollow of her throat.

“Fuck me,” I drop the food on the table and walk towards her.

“Don’t even think about messing me up,” she holds up both hands. “It took Brooke an age to get me looking rock star party worthy.”

“Shit, Jen, you could show up in a trash bag and look amazing.”

Her nose wrinkles. “I’d rather not. Ooh is that the grilled cheese short rib from Van Da,” she ducks around me to the takeout.

“You’ll get messy if you start eating that,” I point out.

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