“My pleasure.” He opened a drawer in his desk and struggled to take out a gift bag. “I shouldn’t have put it here,” he scoffed, barely managing to free the bag of its confinement. “Merry Christmas, Nadia.”
I reached inside the bag, chuckling when I fished out a pillow. A red shooting target was printed on the white fabric withScream Hereprinted across in black letters.
“That might actually come in handy. Thank you.”
I marched out of his office, across the street and toward the C&G Records building that was just a five-minute stroll away. Instead of taking two cars this morning, Thomas decided to bring me in to see James and help Amelia and Nick set up for the party. I doubted that Mel required help, though. They were probably just there to make sure she didn’t go overboard with the decorations.
I walked into a coffee house, thinking they could use a caffeine fix. The bell hanging above the door chimed again a moment later. Warm hands covered my eyes, and I spun around, stepping away and bumping into some girl.
“Guess who.” Chase beamed. “Are you in a hurry? Got time for coffee? I want to know how you’re doing.”
“Sure, I’ve got time. I was heading to see Thomas, but he’s not really expecting me until just after noon.”
“Good; find us a table, and I’ll order. What do you want?”
I chuckled. “Write it down. Seriously,” I added when he cocked an eyebrow. “You won’t remember this.”
“Try me.”
“A tall, extra shot, extra-hot, extra-whip, sugar-free vanilla latte.”
He ended up writing it down, but only after I explained why the order was so complicated. I took a seat by the window, watching the street until Chase joined me five minutes later.
“Okay, here’s your weird, posh coffee.”
“Try it,” I pushed the cup his way. “It tastes as good as it sounds.”
He took a small sip. “It’s alright, but I call your coffee, and I raise you a bottle of gold tequila later on at the party.”
We chatted about the party, my art and the worldwide tourThe Mishapswere preparing for. We were interrupted a couple of times by groups of young girls wanting to take selfies with Chase. I heard the camera click behind my back more than once, while people were snapping pictures of Chase from afar.
“Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked when another girl came and went.
“Not at all. Not yet, anyway. This is so new to me and therefore exciting. I mean, we signed the contract with C&G not even three months ago, but suddenly we’reeverywhere.”
“How did you manage to get an album out so fast?”
“We had over twenty songs ready when Nick and Thomas approached us. We narrowed it down to twelve and re-recorded them in studio quality; the album was ready within a month.”
I rested my back against the chair and felt my bag vibrating. I had forgotten to take off mute it when I left James’s office. Thomas’s face flashed on the screen. It was twenty passed noon, and notifications at the top of the screen told me it wasn’t the first time he tried to reach me.
“Hey, I’m sorry, I…”
“Are you okay?” he cut in, his voice tense.
A warm tingle travelled down spine. “I’m okay. I’m sorry, I forgot to take my phone off mute. I bumped into Chase at the coffee place, and we lost the track of time…”
“Chase?” Thomas asked, attempting but failing to conceal his annoyance. “You’re with Chase right now?”
A cold sweat washed over me. “Yes, but we’re about done here; I’ll be at the office in five minutes.”
“Okay, we’ll talk when you get here.”
He cut the call, and I started to gather my things. Chase watched me with two lines on his forehead.
“Is he pissed off?”
“No,” I said, although I wasn’t sure. “Of course not, but we’re on a tight schedule with the party staring at three o’clock, so I really need to go.” I pecked his cheek, wrapping a scarf around my neck. “I’ll see you later.”