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“Stillstands.”
“Thank you. But it’s not tickets Iwant.”
18
“Annie. Open up.”I pound on the door at the end of the hall on the sixthfloor.
The third time I knock, it swings wide to reveal Rae. “She’s not here, loverboy.”
“Do you know when she’s gettingback?”
She shrugs, glancing over her shoulder. “Few days, I think. She asked me to feedHeath.”
The goldfish circles his tank as if everything’s right with theworld.
It’s notright.
I shove both hands through my hair. “I’ve been calling her all day since theshowcase.”
“Bet it’s hard. Sounds like your phone’s the one blowingup.”
She’s not wrong. The thing jumps in my pocket every damnedminute.
The performance was good—better thangood.
But it wasn’tright… because she wasn’t withme.
I head back to my place, my breath huffing in the November air, and find a new slew of texts andvoicemails.
One missed call from Annie has me relieved because it means she’s not avoidingme.
This time, I get through. “I’ve been calling all night,” I say when she picksup.
“Sorry, it’s been kind of crazy. I wanted to tell you how great youwere.”
I tune in to the background noise, realize she’s keeping her voicedown.
“I watched from the back,” she goes on. “Like you watchedThe LittleMermaid.”
My throat works. “Best seats in thehouse.”
“They are if you’re on your way out oftown.”
I exhale hard. “You’re going home to talk to your dad and Haley. That’s good, Annie. It’ll begood.”
“No. I’m going to LA with Pen. I’m going to play a few gigs withFinn.”
Her words have me pulling up in the middle of an intersection, which I don’t realize until a horn honks at me and I force myself to keepwalking.
“You bailed on our performance, but you’re playing gigs in LA with Finn?” Anger seeps into my tone even though I don’t know what I’m pissedabout.
Maybe that we put all this work in, that I did this for her, and she walked away like it didn’tmatter.
“It’s not like that, Tyler.” I wish she was here so I could look her in the damned eyes, so I could grab her arms and tell her not to leave. “It’s something I need to do for myself. You were really great. I’m so proud ofyou.”
She clicks off before I canargue.
The street signs say I’m halfway between Vanier and my apartment, yet somehow I’m utterlylost.
