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But Nikolai pulled me into a hug the second he saw me, telling me how proud he was of me and how I’ve handled myself on this tour being around temptation at every corner and staying strong.
I could tell Hayden was disturbed by what he read, by what I did, and I didn’t blame him for it. I gave him some space for the remainder of the day, and the following morning when we were the only two awake, he sat down and had breakfast with me. I let him ask me anything he wanted and he did. He grilled me for almost an hour, but by the end of the conversation, we both felt better having him get everything off of his chest. And I know he could tell how much I care about Walker and how I’ve been trying to keep his feelings in mind throughout all of this.
Now Reid on the other hand…the moment he stepped back on the bus, he brought with him air so cold I felt my blood chill. He hasn’t said a single word to me, and I know he’s been shorter and shorter with Walker too. I tried talking to him after a few days, going to the back of the bus where he sat playing video games. But he wouldn’t even look away from the screen.
The Boston air chills me to my bones and I pull my jacket collar tighter around my neck as Vik and I walk to the shared work space building I’m scheduled at for an interview this morning before our show tonight. It’s my first interview since the article came out and I thought I’d be more nervous than I am.
But there’s nothing left of me to shed, no ugly truth left unturned. Many old “friends” have come out in the past couple weeks, sharing their own stories of times where I was blacked out and did something stupid or embarrassing, all hoping to cash in on a couple hundred bucks by selling their stories. But me falling down a few stairs after getting kicked out of a bar or breaking someone’s family heirloom at a house party didn’t catch the same fire as my arrest.
As we enter the large lobby, Vik crosschecks her phone with the panel of room numbers listed and finds the one we’re looking for. Walker and his band are at a radio station today for an interview, but Vik thought it would be best if my first sit down after everything exploded was on camera, not just over the radio. So, she found a local music critic who interviews artists as they come through the city for their YouTube channel and booked me in.
The elevator is quiet as we ride up the fourth floor. Vik has always been careful with me, holding me with delicate hands ever since she took me on as a client, but even more so since everything came to light. I think she still feels guilty that she didn’t have a heads up about it and wasn’t able to warn me ahead of time. I don’t blame her though; there’s nothing she could’ve done.
It all would’ve come out one way or another.
We arrive with a ding and step out onto the gleaming white floors. A short woman stands outside one of the doors, leaning against its frame and scrolling on her phone. As soon as she hears the click of Vik’s heels, her head pops up and she breaks out into a warm smile.
“Scarlett, Vik, so nice to meet you both.” She extends her hand for a shake, grip firm. “I’m Allison, thank you for sitting down with me today.”
“Nice to meet you.” I return her handshake and follow her into the office. Two orange velvet couches sit opposite of each other with a small coffee table in between, already stocked with water and a bowl of fruit. A couple of cameras are stationed around the small sitting area to catch different angles, and microphones stands extend from the back of each of the couches for both of us to have our own.
“Can I get you both anything else to drink besides water?” Allison offers, grabbing a small stack of cards and straightening them in her hand.
I shake my head at the same time Vik answers, “No thank you.”
“Let’s get going then.” Allison gestures for me to sit on one of the couches while she takes a spot on the other. As soon as she sits, she kicks off her flats and brings her feet up to tuck her legs as she sits.
I’m put even more at ease by her casual posture and appearance, so unlike many of the other interviewers I’ve sat down with over the course of the past few months. Allison’s hair is tied back in a loose bun like she didn’t think twice about her hair this morning, and wears baggy jeans and a vintage KISS tee layered with a few different necklaces.
While I normally look like the odd one out in these scenarios in my black jeans, t-shirts, and oversized jackets and boots, now Vik looks like the odd duck in her suit. She chose a deep purple one today, and I told her this morning she should wear it more often since it compliments my hair and we look like a real duo.
She looked at me like I had two heads and then told me Walker was rubbing off on me.
I settle into the couch, sinking into the soft cushions and reach forward for a sip of water while Allison quickly gets everything recording and ready to go.
“Ready?”
“As ever.”
She smiles again, before beginning her intro. “I’m sitting down today with Scarlett Lane, the opener for Whisper Me Nothings and Boone Maxwell’s dual headlining tour across the US, which has been selling out city after city. If you didn’t know her name before, you probably knew some of her songs as she’s written for some of the most prominent artists in the game right now. But she’s claiming her words as her own now, stepping into the spotlight and captivating audiences each and every show. Let’s start out easy with this one and tell me if there’s a song you now wish you had kept for yourself but didn’t?”
“Huh, that’s actually a really good question,” I say, and then regret how shocked I sound. “Not that I didn’t expect you to ask good questions,” I quickly add, which earns me a laugh.
“No worries.”
Wracking my brain, I answer, “Honestly, at this point no. There are so many songs that I still love to this day that I wrote and sold, but they don’t feel like me and where I’m at in my life anymore. They were more of a snapshot of who I was at the time, or who I wanted to be. None of them feel like they belong to me anymore. The songs I have now, that I sing every night, those feel right.”
“Interesting point. So how did you come to be on this current tour?”
“Boone. I’ve known him for years now, he’s like my big brother. When they had an opening come up, he called and there was no way I was saying no to a chance to do this and see the country.”
“Did you know any of the Whisper Me Nothings members before you joined?”
“No.”
“Well, from what we’ve all seen online lately, it seems you know at least one of them pretty well.” Allison smirks at me and I see her lowballing questions are a thing of the past now.
I shrug, playing coy. “You could say that.”
