Her palms began to sweat as she prepared herself for all sorts of possibilities. Opening for acts on the road or for Vegas residencies. Touring as backup in Europe as many singers did. Any of those things would be a windfall to a starting artist.
“So we’d like to offer you your own tour…” Axel said, and Vivi realized he’d begun speaking. Shit. She was so nervous, thank God she had Ellie here as a second set of ears.
“Vivienne, are you listening? Axel just offered you your own tour!”
“Vivi!” Ellie exclaimed.
“Wait, what? You mean opening for someone, right? Who is it?” She rattled off a list of current pop names, certain she hadn’t heard him say she was headlining.
“Vivi, I said your own tour.” Axel was grinning from ear to ear.
“But … why me?” This wasn’t how new singers typically started.
“Clearly you haven’t been listening or you’re seriously underestimating your sudden rise to fame this summer,” Axel said. “One million Instagram followers, Vivi. Add to that your YouTube views and the scalping going on for tickets at Club TEN29? You’re a star, baby. Now let me launch you into the stratosphere.”
She blinked in utter shock while Ellie’s fingernails dug into her arm in excitement. Her friend knew better than to squeal the way she wanted to. The way Vivi wanted to.
“Vivienne?” Owen looked at her with a worried expression.
She ran her tongue over her dry lips and tried to speak past the lack of saliva in her mouth. No matter how excited she was, and she did want to jump up and dance and scream, she understood this was a business deal and she would only have one first opportunity to get it right.
“Draw up the contracts and send them over.” She pulled in deep breaths. “I’ll be hiring an entertainment lawyer to look things over.” Catching Owen about to argue, she shook her head. “I want, I need a second look.”
“Fine, fine. Do you want me to recommend someone?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ll handle it.” She needed someone who had her best interests in mind, not her agent’s.
She could barely process what was happening around her as Axel rose to his feet. “We’re going to do right by you. The music you’re recording now will find a home with the perfect label. Your tour will break records, I just know it, and my gut is never wrong.”
Everything she’d ever hoped for and dreamed of was coming true, all because she’d taken a trip to a bar one night, needing to sing. Her best friend was by her side. Her mother would be thrilled. So why was there an emptiness in her chest she couldn’t relieve?
She rose to her feet and shook Axel’s hand, then Owen grasped her palm. “I believed in you from day one, Vivienne. This is just the beginning.”
She managed a nod and a smile because she was still in shock.
The next thing she knew, she and Ellie were back on the street, and her best friend shrieked and pulled her into a hug. “Vivi Z. You are going to be a star!” Another scream came after that, and Vivi laughed, finally letting herself feel the energy and excitement that came with accepting this was real. “But why am I sensing sadness, too?” Ellie asked.
“Because you know me well.” Vivi sighed. “Landon came to see me at my mother’s house the other day.”
Ellie’s eyes opened wide. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because despite the fact that he apologized, key things haven’t changed. His parents don’t approve, and though normally I’d say fuck it, he’s a grown man, we both know why their opinion matters. Imagine them losing another son because of me? Vic’s sister?” She shook her head.
A car honked in the street, and another driver got angry and honked longer and louder.
She waited until the pissing contest ended and then started talking again. “I won’t be responsible for destroying that family. They’ve been through enough. So I need to get over Landon Bennett.” The words hurt to say and even worse to feel. “Besides, I’m leaving and I’ll be traveling all over the world. Even if we worked things out, when would I see him?”
“The family part I understand. The travel? Pfft.” Ellie waved a hand through the air. “That’s a bullshit excuse and you know it. You’re just scared.”
She drew in a breath of steamy summer air. “I am not… Yes, I am. I’m petrified,” she admitted out loud for the first time. “That man holds my heart in his hands, and if I keep saying it can’t work, that it never could work, I’m protecting myself.”
“Except you’re not. Because you’re hurting anyway.”
“I am.” She looked up into the bright sun and blinked, letting the tears fall. “I love him, Ellie. And I am so scared of losing him I’m not giving him a chance.”