Before Johnny could respond, the elevator door opened. Thinking it might be Hope, his heart skyrocketed into his throat. But it was only Stan, his regular security guard. He was holding a pink box.
“Hey,” Stan said, stepping out into the hallway. “Everything okay?”
“No.” Johnny contemplated bashing his head against the wall. “Not unless you know where I can find Hope.”
“Is she the blonde girl who gave me these donuts?”
Johnny turned slowly, optimism reaching up to choke him. “When was this?”
“About an hour ago.” Stan’s gaze ticked between Johnny and the new security guard. “She was the same girl who left your room before we traded posts.”
Relief almost toppled Johnny. “Fuck you, Keith Richards. She is real.” His head fell back on a grateful exhale but came right back up. “Hold up. Why did she bring you donuts?”
“She brought them upstairs,” Stan said, starting to look uncomfortable, along with the other security guard. “I know it’s been a good long while since you entertained female company, Mr. Scott, but when she came right back down into the lobby, I kind of assumed…you weren’t interested in seeing her. I thought you’d asked her to leave.”
Johnny almost laughed, the idea of asking Hope to leave was so absurd. He never wanted to be without her. “I didn’t ask her to go. I’m keeping her.” Dread formed like icicles in his stomach when he noticed the new guy was white as a sheet. “What did you say to my girlfriend?”
“You guys aren’t supposed to have girlfriends,” he blurted. “A different chick in every port, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?”
“Not for me, motherfucker.” Johnny lunged forward, catching the guard by the collar of his polo shirt and throwing him up against the wall. “Last time I’m going to ask. What. Did you say. To Hope.”
His Adam’s apple dragged across Johnny’s knuckles. “I might have implied you’d made promises in the heat of the moment and she was just another groupie.” He let out a high-pitched laugh. “I also might have, uh…let her think you’d asked me to send her away. I thought I was doing you a solid, man—”
Johnny reared back with his fist and delivered a right cross to the security guard’s face, feeling bone crunch under his knuckles. “You’re fired.” Johnny said raggedly, tossing the whining man aside. He could barely focus, he was so angry and miserable—his Hope had brought him donuts and gotten thrown out like yesterday’s garbage. She thought he’d ordered it done. Instead of giving in to the agony, though, he found Gus’s eyes and held. “Please. I have to find her. Now.”
After a moment, Gus nodded. “Think. Did she tell you anything that might point us in the right direction?”
“She has a favorite spot outside of town. A field with a tree in the middle. She brought me there, but…I don’t think she goes every day. I can’t wait that long—” Johnny cut himself off, memories from last night finally making it through his panic. “Waitress. She’s a waitress.”
Gus rolled his eyes. “That narrows it down.”
“Her brother’s name is Wyatt—”
“Okay, save the rest.” Gus blew out a breath. “Let’s head into town and ask around.”
Johnny was already blowing down the hallway toward the stairwell.
“You want to put on a shirt?” His manager called after him. “Maybe some shoes?”
Johnny kept going, refusing the let more time than was necessary pass in which Hope believed he hadn’t meant every single word he’d said last night. And more. More that he hadn’t said out loud but could barely keep inside now.
When Johnny reached the lobby, he made for the exit. As soon as his bare foot touched the sidewalk, he was swarmed by cameras.
“Johnny, where are your clothes?”
“Is it true you haven’t written a song in fourteen months?”
“Who is the mystery girl you were spotted with backstage last night?”
At first, he was annoyed beyond belief. How dare they talk about Hope at all. She wasn’t just any name to be thrown around. He didn’t have time for this shit this morning. He needed to be out ripping down walls until he found his girlfriend.
Then a light bulb went off in his head.
Use them to your advantage.
“I need your help,” he announced to the paps—and for once in their lives, they fell silent. Could this really work? “The mystery girl. Yeah, she’s being extra mysterious this morning.” They laughed somewhat incredulously that he was giving them the time of day. “I seem to have misplaced the girl of my dreams. Could I send her a message here?”
A moment ticked past, before they all jumped into motion.
“Of course, Johnny.”
“Look into my camera.”
“Fuck off, Ted. Look into mine, Johnny.”
Johnny held up a hand to silence them. “Hope…” He picked a lens and looked into its depths. “I know why you left and, Christ, I’m so sorry, baby. Look at me.” He took a deep breath and felt his heart squeeze in his chest. “You know we fell in love last night. You know it was real. You’re having doubts about that, so I’m coming to find you, okay? I’ll take all the doubts away, one by one, just stay put while I figure out where you went.” His laughter was tinged with impatience. Why wasn’t he holding her yet? “I can’t figure out how an angel is out there, just walking the streets, in the first place. It shouldn’t be that hard to find you, right?”