Page 31 of Every Star that Shines
Before she could decide how to respond, her phone chimed again.
Sorry about the emoji. I was going for the thumbs-up and hit the wrong one. My fat thumbs must be part of your horde of raving fans. I’ll have to talk to them about appropriate boundaries with celebrities.
Immediately after came, We’re Canadian, boys. We don’t gawk.
She laughed, picturing him lecturing his thumbs. She sent back a laughing emoji, trying to decide if she should say more. She was in the middle of composing a message to thank him for the information about the sets when her phone chimed again.
You’re doing a great job, btw.
She shifted her weight. How would Caleb even know?
She began typing as quickly as she could.
2 rehearsals and a planning meeting, all of them kind of bombed. Plus my life is spinning out of control, and I should probably be in Vancouver trying to fix it. Maybe now wasn’t the best time to take this project on. Amber might do a better job than me.
This time, he sent back a GIF of a male comedian choking. Then her phone rang. Caleb.
Nervously, she answered, “Hello.”
“This sounded like a topic for a phone call, not a text. I wasn’t kidding about my fat thumbs. Not sure I could make them behave for something this involved.”
She chuckled. “What, the lecturing didn’t have any effect?”
“Less than you’d think.”
“Well, they’re in a smaller crowd than you would think.”
“What?” He sounded confused.
“You know, that horde of raving fans you mentioned. It’s less of a horde these days, more of a quiet and civilized tea party. And those fans are only sticking around because they were promised free snacks.”
“They must be pretty good snacks. My thumbs have talked about it, and they’ve decided to stay.”
“How magnanimous of them.”
“What can I say? They like snacks. But they do prefer coffee over tea. Any chance there’ll be some of that?”
“I’m sure I could round some up. Whatever it takes to make the fans happy.” Delanie smirked, not daring to over-think what he might be saying between the lines of his quippy jokes.
After an awkward pause, he cleared his throat. “You can’t make them all happy. You know that, right?”
She hesitated. “It feels like they expect me to.”
“Well, forget them. You don’t owe them anything.”
Delanie blinked. “You know my Patreon supporters are all I have paying my bills right now, right?” And if I keep losing them at this rate, I’ll be working at Cool Beans just to earn gas money back to Vancouver—or using up my savings.
“Oh. Well, I suppose you owe them a little something. But I would be careful where you draw that line.”
“Uh, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
After another awkward pause, he said, “I looked up your videos.”
She caught her breath. “Yeah?” What had happened to her clever banter now? And why did she feel like a little kid waiting for her mom’s praise after her first piano recital?
“I like them. The ones I watched anyway.”
“Which ones did you watch?”
