I sighed, shook my head and looked out over the ocean. “She just left. Left me high and dry without an explanation.”
He swore. “I don’t know what happened with you two, but, dude, that’s fucking cold.”
“I know. And now, after everything, I don’t think she even cared about me in the first place.”
Talon burst into laughter. “Yeah, right. You’re as blind as she is. That girl loves you, man. How could you not see that?”
Narrowing my eyes, I looked at my brother. “What did you say?”
“She loves you. Trust me, dude, she is head over heels in love with you and was completely devastated when those girls were crawling all over you. That girl, she would have done anything for you.”
I grimaced. She loved me? Then why the hell had she left? Those girls, they meant nothing. Being a rock star and having girls crawling all over me was part of the gig. I had told her that, I had explained it. Just because they were coming on to me all the time didn’t mean I wanted them.
Our waitress arrived and set our food on the table, but I just looked at it, no longer ravenous like I had been when we arrived for breakfast. In fact, my appetite seemed to have disappeared altogether.
Talon leaned forward and stared at me over his omelet. “Dude, just go get her.”
“What if she doesn’t want me anymore?”
“Seriously? Dude, come on! Are you a pussy? Or are you my brother, the legendary Owen Young?”
“Fuck it, I’m going after her,” I announced looking at my watch. I could catch a flight out before noon and have a few days to coax her to come back again before the second leg of the tour would kick back up. I just needed her to at least listen to me, no matter what I had to do. I would put on a hell of a show to get her to do just that if I had to.
“So, what’s the plan? How are you gonna make this happen, bro?”
I thought about it and a smile spread across my face. “The check. She’s coming to get the check. It’s still five in the morning there. I need to catch a flight out of here.” I had sent my secretary an email to drop a pretty significant amount in the form of a bonus to Nalia, knowing she could use the money. But now, that check would turn out to be my saving grace.
“I have a plan, Talon. I have a plan.”
He grinned. “Well, what are you waiting for, bro? Go get her!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Nalia
I pulled up to the recording studio and put the car in park, fighting back the anxiety, apprehension, and sense of hesitation that seemed to be infecting every cell of my body like a virus. I knew Owen was on the other side of the country currently, sunning it up in Florida, but I still had a funny feeling in my chest. I couldn't explain it because there was absolutely no reason to be nervous, but for some unexplainable reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling.
“Are you going to stare at the building all day or actually go inside? Come on, sis. It's not a fire-breathing dragon, it's just a lump of concrete and steel and it happens to have a chunk of change waiting inside for you.”
I glared over at my brother before offering him a close up view of my middle finger and a snarky frown.
“Give me a break, all right?” I said.
Jackson held up his hands mockingly, a cheeky grin plastered across his face. I loved my brother, but sometimes he could really irritate me, and often, he seemed to have no clue about when humor was appropriate and when it wasn't.
Jackson wasn’t my first choice as backup. Grace had an early studio call, so she hadn't been able to come with me. Call me chicken, but for some reason, I didn’t want to show up at the place all alone. Just the thought of it had sent butterflies flapping their wings like crazy through my stomach.
So, I had called up Jackson, taken him out to brunch as a bribe and then talked him into riding with me so that I would be able to actually go inside of the studio when I got there instead of sitting in the parking lot for an hour trying to talk myself into it. As Grace had reminded me, I needed to pick up my bonus check. Or, rather, my pay-off. I felt a bitter sting of resentment biting at my insides as I thought about it.
“What’s wrong, Nay?”
I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. “I don’t know. You remember when we used to sneak into the music room at the orphanage, and I would just stare at the piano, wanting to play but not brave enough to risk making a noise?”
“I do. I also remember the way you used to touch the keys, as if they were made of glass,” he added, a faraway look in his eyes. “I knew then that you were going to be something special. None of the other kids could ever hold a candle to what you were able to do on that piano.”
Tears threatened to fill my eyes as I continued to stare at the building. “I had such high hopes of making it in this business. I only wanted people to hear my music, you know? Is that so wrong?” I glanced over at my brother, remembering our childhood and the dreams I held that had started back then.
Pangs of regret and sorrow began working their way through my body like an invasive parasite. I had come so close to getting a foot in the door of the industry I had dreamt of for so long, but now it looked as if that would never happen. My hopes and dreams lay in tatters and ruins.