Another woman described working for Palatine and especially Striker as so toxic that she quit after two days. Most recently, a woman who was eighteen at the time she was working as a PR intern for the band suspected she was being drugged. After her second instance of falling asleep on the job, she bought a date-rape drug testing kit from the internet and it showed that someone had put something in her coffee. The woman mentioned me to a journalist, saying that she wanted to come forward with her story after she read about what happened to me.
I sit at my kitchen table and cry, feeling so much disgust for Striker and his band, but also so much happiness at the strength of these women. Then I get out some paper and I write a letter to Rush.
Dear Rush,
I’d put Daddy but I know at least the prison workers are reading our letters and I don’t want anyone knowing our private business.
You don’t have to worry about me being lonely in London, I’m seeing Jasminta, Cassie and Rin loads so we can dance together. Rin’s doing really well seeing as he’s new to this!
I’m having dinner with Mum once a week and she wanted me to ask you if you prefer roast lamb or roast beef for Sunday dinner when you get out because she’s sure you must be so thin after being in prison for so long. I’m amazed how much she’s come around to the idea of me dating anyone. She believed me when I told her what happened to me while I was working for Striker, as you know, but she got it into her head that I attracted Striker to me somehow because I inherited her bad luck with men, or something like that.
She keeps going on and on about how “Rush went to prison for the sake of my daughter’s honor” so don’t be surprised if she has a glass and a half of wine, bursts into tears and hugs you.
I even saw Dad last week and to my surprise he knew quite a lot about what’s been said in the press and online. Which was good because we could then talk about other things pretty quickly. He wants to meet you, too.
Palatine hasn’t released a statement yet but Striker’s been defending himself online by saying that he likes to pull pranks and no one can take a joke anymore. Both Palatine and Saint Cyprian are in the news a lot and you know what? I think only one of you is going to rise out of the ashes of what’s happened this year.
I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU.
I love you I love you I love you,
Dree xox
We’ve been writing to each other constantly while he’s been in prison and he sends me snippets of song lyrics he’s working on and asks me to describe the dances I’ve been choreographing. He says that he and his bandmates are planning their next moves, which I imagine means finding a new label and releasing the album that was cancelled by Ryman.
Two days later, I get a short reply from Rush.
Baby, I was busting my guts trying to think of a name. You’re amazing, thank you. I love you I love you I love you.
PS. Your mum could roast an old shoe and I’d probably devour it.
I stare at the letter, wondering what the hell he’s talking about. A name for what? There isn’t time for me to write back and ask though as he’s being released on Thursday. I guess I’ll have to ask him when he gets out.
A grin spreads across my face and I clutch his letter to my chest. When he gets out. Those are four of the most beautiful words in the English language, and I go dancing across my living room in pure happiness.
At eight in the morning on Thursday, Wes arrives at my apartment with a car and we drive to the prison where Rush is being held. There are loads of press near the gates but thankfully they’re kept a few meters back from where we’re waiting for Rush. It feels like an eternity as we stand at the fence and I keep shuffling from side to side, too restless to keep still.
Wes, on the other hand, has his back to a nearby brick wall with his hands shoved comfortably in his pockets.
“Aren’t you nervous?” I finally ask him.
Wes shrugs and smiles. “Rush always did like to make ’em wait. He loves a big entrance.”
What I’m worried about is some last-minute reason why Rush can’t be released, like the paperwork has gone missing or Striker’s lawyers have filed some protest. It’s not logical but these are the worries that swirl through my mind as I stand there, imagining all the ways today could go wrong.