Heart Shaped Spotlight

Dave was standing there with an odd expression. “I need to show you something,” he said, barging in and sitting on the sofa. Although Dave was a nice, take charge sort of guy, he usually had a bit of a cheeky, playful attitude about him. He ran a hand through his thick sandy brown hair, looking agitated. His serious vibe was out of place.

“Take a breath, and take this with a grain of salt, okay?” he said carefully. “We don’t know if it’s a hoax. Check your email.”

I grabbed my phone from the table, opening the latest message he had forwarded. The split second I read the first line, my knees buckled, and I swerved my ass into a chair before I completely fell.

“Hi. I’m a friend of Trisha O’Reilly. She would truly kill me if she found out that I was contacting you, so please never let her find out. If you really know her, you know that she’s pretty shy, and a very private person. She doesn’t need any drama, so please don’t freak her out. But if you’re ever in Toronto, you might want to drop by Hum 103.1 and say hello to the IT person.”

My hands began to shake so hard I could barely read anymore. “Book–”

“Plane tickets to Toronto,” Dave said, scrolling quickly on his phone. “I’m checking flights already.”

He stopped, looking at me carefully. “What if I get you an interview at that radio station? That way you have an excuse to swing by. And if it’s not her, doing an interview in your old home town is still a worthwhile trip.”

“Perfect,” I nodded. “Thanks.”

This was the moment I’d been dreaming of for seven years. All of the hope that had been swirling in my guts now had a focal point.

The voice of reason in the back of my mind reminded me that she might not want me. She might be married with three kids. She might not be interested in being in a relationship with someone who didn’t have a normal job, and had to travel so much.

But I might be able to look her in the eyes and ask. That was the most important thing. If I could do that, I could move on with my life in any direction.

***

Dave was a trooper on the flight, trying to brainstorm how to milk the most publicity from the contest win. It wasn’t about the money, thank goodness. I’d ghostwritten three successful albums for giant stars over the past four years. I kept the love songs for myself, but I could still write party rock for whoever had the money.

The thought of my new band starting with such great momentum filled me with hope. It was a killer group, and the first round of short tours would likely be packed with Love Rocker fans. We just had to convert them to be fans of Hemlock and Emeralds, not just me. Which shouldn’t be a tough sell.

As the plane began its descent, Dave shot me a look. “This isn’t going to make you lose your focus, right?”

“No,” I shook my head. “My career always comes first. You know that.”

He nodded, but his eyes looked tight. “If things change and get messy, I’ll try to help. Just keep me posted.”

I flashed him a grin. “Thanks, man. It’s always a relief knowing that you’ve got my back.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he chuckled. “I’m always getting your back, your coffee, and my fifteen percent.”

Chapter Seven ~ Trisha

* Dark Corner *

Fridays were supposed to be chill. Usually this place was pretty mellow. Today was frantic, and I wasn’t sure why. People were extra irritable, and by noon I felt like the walls were closing in around me. My office wasn’t big enough to pace in, so I headed out to the lobby. Maybe a few laps around the building would chill me out.

“Did you hear?” Kim squealed as I tried to pass her desk unnoticed. “Nate Roberts is coming by this afternoon for a live interview!”

I heard the words, but it was like they didn’t fit properly into my brain. “What?”

“The guy who won Love Rockers.” She was practically bouncing. “He’s been doing interviews in the States, but this is his first Canadian interview. Did you know that he’s from Toronto?”

“Yeah, I heard that,” I muttered. My hands were already shaking. How could he be coming here?

“Gary was saying something about testing the video so that we can live-stream his interview,” she said. I hoped that she couldn’t see how flushed and breathless I obviously was. “You should likely go check in with him when you get back from lunch.”

“No time for lunch,” I muttered, marching to Gary’s office.

Sure enough, since the publicity surrounding the TV show was such a big deal, they wanted to live stream the interview. Today. At two pm. Slightly less than two hours from right now.

Thank goodness I was ahead of schedule. Thank goodness I’d already been double-checking everything. I trusted my system, I hoped.