21

Hailey

I woke up in Christian's arms, and although it had only been less than three months since I'd met him, it felt like I'd known him forever. This was the most natural relationship I'd ever been in. I wouldn't describe it as easy, as nothing had been easy in the last little while in my life. But he was the rock that I held onto whenever I thought I would drown in the chaos.

I kissed his chest, and he wrapped his arms around me. "I have to get up and shower. I have a meeting with Kendra in an hour."

He nodded. "I'll shower with you." He lifted himself up, but I pushed him back down onto the mattress. "Oh, no you don't. If you follow me into that shower, I'll be late for my meeting."

He pulled me down on top of him. "I thought everyone was late in the music industry. Why should you be different?"

"Because I'm dating you and you are a stickler for time and routine."

He nuzzled my neck. "The way you know me so well turns me on."

I laughed. "The way I breathe turns you on." Then I kissed him. "But I'm not complaining. I'm just putting the brakes on until later. Deal?"

"You drive a hard bargain. But deal." I climbed out of bed, but not before he gently smacked my ass.

"What was that for?"

He grinned. "For making me commit to making love to you later. I'm not pleased about the wait."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, it's painfully clear."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, but… "

He sat up in bed. "But, what?"

"But I think I sort of liked it."

His face fell and his mouth hung open. He lunged for me, and I ran away giggling and locked the bathroom door.

"Baby, if you think I'd let a thin wooden door stop me, then you still have a lot more to learn about me."

"Stop it, Christian," I giggled. "I have to get to this meeting."

"Fine," he grumbled. "But we're discussing this later."

I smiled. "Later. Much later. Like next month."

"There's no way I'm waiting that long, baby."

When I offered no further complaint, I figured he had left to shower in the other bathroom and I turned on the water.

Admittedly, I was a little disappointed he didn't break down the door, but I slipped into the shower alone and let the water fall all over my sensitive body.

I hummed a new melody while I lathered and rinsed my hair. This one was fast and had a dance beat to it. I tapped my fingers against my scalp to remember the rhythm. As soon as I dried off, I recorded the melody on my phone.

Checking the time, I sprinted to the foyer. Christian waited for me at the front entrance with the door open, wearing a charcoal suit and black sunglasses. His brown hair had grown longer in the last few months and it was still a little damp from his shower.

My body tingled at the memory from earlier that morning, and I hummed the song again from the top, smiling the whole way to Kendra's studio.

Christian held my hand as he eased through traffic. He didn't rush, but we still got there in plenty of time. It was one of the perks of having an organized boyfriend and bodyguard.

He spoke to the security guard at the front of the studio and I breezed right through the glass doors. Once inside, I spotted Sam sitting on one of the red couches in the pink foyer.

Looking around, I whistled softly. "This place is very chic."

"Right?" She pulled me in for a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm great, Sam. Really great."

She pulled away to take a good look at me and nodded her head. "You look great. Are you using different skin care products? You're glowing, babe."

I hugged Sam. "I'm just really happy," I whispered in her ear, and she squeezed me back.

Then, looking over at Christian, she added, "You know, my social media has been growing lately. Some may say I'm sort of a celebrity. Maybe I should get myself a bodyguard."

We giggled, and Christian narrowed his eyes.

"Hailey, hi. I'm Lisa. Kendra's manager." A beautiful tall woman with medium-length tight curls walked up to me and stuck out her hand. I shook it immediately and smiled.

"Thank you so much for setting this up with Sam. I've been wanting to speak to Kendra and clear this up for some time now."

She smirked. "She's been most eager to see you as well."

I pressed my lips together, unsure what to make of her sarcastic tone.

Christian must have picked up on the same vibe because he walked in front of me and said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but I'll have to search Ms. Kendra to ensure she isn't concealing any weapons before meeting with my client."

Lisa stepped back and cocked her hip. "Concealing a weapon? Now, listen here. I won't let you—"

She was interrupted by the artist herself. "Hold on, Lisa," Kendra said, walking toward Christian. She wore tight black leather pants and a black tank top. Her straightened, bleached blonde hair reached the top of her breasts.

She looked Christian up and down. "I have no objection to this man frisking me." She lowered her voice. "I think I might enjoy it."

Christian walked up to Kendra and cleared his throat. "Ma'am, can you raise your arms for me?"

She arched her brow. "I sure can, baby. How's this?" She raised her hands and fastened them behind her head, as though he were arresting her. But it also made her breasts and butt pop. I growled a little in my throat.

Christian briskly patted her middle, hips, and legs. Her pants were quite tight, so a more thorough search was unnecessary.

"You missed a spot," said Kendra. She wiggled her butt. "My back pocket."

Christian crossed his arms. "I can see from here you're not carrying any weapons in there, ma'am. You're good."

"Baby, you don't know how good I am."

"Kendra," I interrupted. I'd been eagerly awaiting this meeting for some time. I didn't want to mess it up and punch her in the face within the first five minutes. "Is there a place we can talk privately?"

"Sure. Come with me." She turned toward the hallway.

Christian and Sam stepped forward to follow, but I held them back. "I'd like to speak to Kendra alone first. We'll call you when we're ready."

Both Sam and Lisa argued, but Kendra held up her hand. "I won't kick her ass without someone recording it. So, y'all can chill for now."

Kendra sashayed down the hallway into a small board room. There were six black leather chairs and a black table in the middle. I sat down at the table and Kendra took a seat beside me and crossed her arms and legs.

Okay. Not the best start, judging by her body language.

"Kendra, I'm not sure where to start. But I guess maybe from the beginning. I've always been a big fan of your music."

She crumpled her nose as though I'd opened a can of rotten tuna. "Really?"

"Really," I assured her.

"That's not what you said." She leaned forward and got up in my face. "You said I was a two-buck artist with no talent or taste."

What?!

I pointed a finger at her. "That's what you said about me."

"After you started it!" she shouted back.

I inhaled a calming breath and counted to five in my head.

"I know. I know. Let me explain."

She tightened her fingers around her arms but didn't argue. Instead, she dangled her foot, impatiently waiting for my reply.

"Recently, I found out that my social media manager wanted to hurt me. She's been planning to ruin me for a while now and when she got tired of trying to kill my career, she tried to slit my throat."

Kendra blinked. "Are you kidding me?"

"No."

She pursed her lips. "Well, that's pretty heavy. But what does that have to do with me?"

"You see, I don't even know the passwords to my social accounts. I never posted those things. She did. She used my profile to send you those messages and to stir shit up on the net."

Kendra stared at me. Her expression was blank. My heart sank. "You don't believe me?" I didn't know how else to prove it to her. "I swear it's true."

She rubbed her lips together, then said. "No. I believe you." Then looked away, her foot still bouncing in front of me.

"What is it? Are you still mad?"

She shrugged. "Nah. I'm not mad. I didn't write any of those posts, either. My cousin takes care of that stuff. She just tells me what's going on and then I get pissed off and tell her what to say back."

I sighed. "So, you get it."

"Yeah. But girl, you need to hire family. You know, someone you can trust."

I tilted my head, considering her suggestion. I thought of my cousin Anya and wondered if she would be up for it. "That's not a bad idea."

She nodded and uncrossed her arms. "So, we're calling quits on this feud, then?"

"As far as I'm concerned, I've never had a problem with you, Kendra. I love your style."

She smirked. "Yeah. I'm pretty dope."

I laughed and stuck out my hand. She stood and pulled me up along with her. "I like you. You're straight up. And you have guts meeting me here."

I looked around. "Well, I didn't think you would hurt me or anything."

"Oh, girl. You better stop thinking like that or your social media manager won't be the last person to pull a knife on you."

I nodded, but smiled. A huge sense of relief washed over me, and I turned to follow Kendra out of the room. "Time to tell the crew we're both still alive."

Smiling, I hummed the song I'd composed in the shower this morning as we walked down the hallway.

Kendra stopped and turned around. "What song is that? Is that one of yours or one of mine?"

"Neither. I just thought of it this morning in the shower."

She arched her brow. "In the shower, huh?"

I nodded and grinned. "It's where I do my best thinking."

She shrugged. "It's where I do my best fucking, but hey, that's cool, too."

I nearly choked on my last note. "You're crazy, you know that."

"Don't forget it, babe. It's what makes me so great."

She put her arm around me. "Listen, do you have a few minutes to play that in the studio with me? Maybe we can do a duet or something? I prefer two female artists working together rather than tearing each other apart."

I stopped to look at her. "Kendra, that's fucking brilliant."

"I know. Didn't I just tell you that?" She shook her head and I was left chuckling behind her.

"Hey, Lisa. We're going to take this into the studio. Hold my calls until we're done."

Kendra's studio was much larger than the one Tessa and I used. An older gentleman sat at the controls and narrowed his eyes when he saw me. "What's she doing here?"

"It's all good Fitz. She's cool. We worked it all out. She didn't write those messages. It was her social media girl, and then she tried to kill her."

"Oh. That's real. Man, this business keeps getting crazier and crazier the older I get."

"Nah, the industry hasn't changed, you're just getting old," she teased and punched him in the arm.

He smiled but rubbed the spot. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Hailey here wrote a song in the shower this morning. It sounds pretty good. We're gonna try setting a track to it."

I showed Fitz the chords I wrote this morning.

"Why don't you pick up that guitar over there and play it for us? Once I hear it, I can add my touch to it."

"That's exactly how Tessa and I work," I said and walked over to the guitar. It was black and had scuffs on it, but it was in tune and ready to go. I recalled the melody and played it for Kendra and Fitz.

Fitz nodded his head and played with some dials. New lyrics played in my head and I sang them out loud.

You tried to take it from me.

You thought you could break me.

I see who you are, but I don't hate thee.

You just don't know me.

You don't even know thee.

Next time you see me, I will be free.

"Not bad. I can work with that." Then she sang the lyrics at a faster speed than I'd originally sung them and I nodded.

"Yes, I like that much better."

"Me, too."

While Kendra and I worked on the lyrics, Fitz continued testing different sounds. There was a violin riff that caught my attention. "Yes, love that," I said, and Fitz noted it down.

We worked together for at least a couple of hours in this way until Fitz's stomach growled.

"Must be noon. Fitz's stomach is never wrong."

He chuckled, and I checked my phone. "It is." Smiling, I turned to Kendra. "I think we're almost there. There's just something missing in the bridge."

"Yeah, I think so, too."

"Do you mind if I share the tape of what we've got with my producer, Tessa? She's amazing at finding the right sound."

Kendra turned to Fitz and raised her eyebrows. "You cool with that?"

Fitz nodded slowly and crossed his arms over his rounded belly. "I've got no problem with that."

"Great," I said and stuck out my hand to Kendra.

She pushed it away and pulled me in for a hug. "I'm glad you arranged this meeting," she said. "It took guts, and it worked out."

"Me, too. I'll call you as soon as Tessa has something for you to hear."

"All right. Talk to you later, Hailey."

I waved goodbye to Fitz and turned to leave.

Christian waited in the foyer for me, but Sam had left.

"You ready to go?" he asked when I reached him.

I nodded, and he put his black sunglasses on.

Stepping into the warm California sunshine outside, I couldn't help but smile. Despite everything that had happened, I was happy. Perhaps the happiest I'd ever been.

"Where to?" Christian asked, opening my car door.

"I have to go to the studio and speak to Tessa." He nodded and closed the door.

"After that, I'm free for the rest of the weekend."

He tilted his head and smiled. "Did you forget?"

I blinked, and he laughed. "I'm taking you to Puerto Rico tomorrow, and my brothers will join us there."

I gulped. "I'm going to meet all of them at once?"

He nodded. "Yup. I thought it would be fun."

"Yeah, fun." My throat went dry, and I felt as though I was about to face a packed stadium of people. Except I wasn't sure if his brothers were fans of mine yet or not.

I guess I'll find out soon enough.