This is really happening. There’s no turning back now. I’m going to be playing in front of a huge crowd very soon.
The only thing that really distracted me from my career was Brendan. Our dates were no longer part of the charade. We didn’t care if we went somewhere the paparazzi could see us. We were having fun and every night ended with our lips sealed together before we parted ways. I still wasn’t ready for sex, but my barrier was quickly being chipped away by my desire for Brendan. It got harder to let him leave every single night. We got some work done in the process, and our duet was shaping up, but it was far from finished. We settled on the name Blur after tossing around a few ideas.
“I’m so tired of these photo shoots!” I groaned when Sawyer told me that he had another one arranged for the following day. “Don’t they have enough photos of me by now?”
“This one is going to be a little different than the rest of them.” He picked up his tablet and slid a finger across the screen. “I’ve had the art team working on this since you told me the name of the duet.”
“Oh, wow.” I stared at a graphic that had the word Blur in blue and our names at the bottom.
“We need to get some shots of you two together so we can start circulating the promotional material. I’d prefer to have some professional shots of you two rather than relying on the art team to splice something together or buying pictures from the paparazzi.” He put his tablet down and smiled.
“Yeah, that’ll be fine.” I nodded quickly. “I guess it makes sense.”
“Do you think you can stand next to him without stabbing him with a fork?” Sawyer chuckled and narrowed his eyes at me.
“I think so.” I smiled and nodded my head again. “Things have been better lately.”
“I’m glad to hear it. You two look good together. Your fans are going to be heartbroken when you break up.” He shrugged. “But that’s the price of fame. Drama sells albums better than bliss.”
“Sales don’t seem to be that bad.” I blinked a couple of times. “I’ve never had this much money in my bank account before and I’m only getting paid radio royalties at this point.”
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Sawyer smiled and chuckled. “Plus, we can’t milk happiness forever. Angst is necessary. People want the girl that sang Shattered Heart. They’ll buy your album because we’ve created some good buzz around it, but your next album might even hit number one.”
“You really think so?” I exhaled sharply with surprise.
“I do. Trust me, everyone loves a good breakup story, especially when the only way to find out what really happened is to listen to the album from the first track to the last. Your next album will be your story and Brendan’s next album will be his version.” Sawyer nodded with a smile.
“This makes me question every celebrity relationship I followed like some sort of obsessed fan.” I shook my head back and forth. “I also don’t like all of these lies. It just feels dirty.”
“You’re too far into it to have second thoughts.” Sawyer shrugged. “This is Nashville, honey. You have to play the part if you want to live the dream.”
There’s only one dream I really want right now, and everything I’m doing is working to tear it apart before it is fully realized.
“So that’s it?” I stared at him and blinked away the emotions that were trying to register on my face. “Once we get finished with the duet, we’re done?”
“Pretty much.” Sawyer nodded in confirmation. “Getting the duet out will drum up some additional support and then we bring the hammer down.”
“Okay.” I twisted my lips into a half-smile.
I was feeling nothing but turmoil and despair inside my soul as I walked into the room where we were supposed to have our photo shoot. Every step we took forward felt like another one that carried us towards oblivion. We were following a road map that would eventually lead both of us into the fiery torment of hell. When I saw Brendan step into the room with a new Stetson hat perched on his brow, I felt butterflies in my stomach. Our eyes met and I motioned for him to join me in one of the side rooms. He nodded in agreement and after he made his rounds for the introductions, he followed me. The instant the door closed, I leapt in his arms and we started kissing. He held me tight with his desire devouring my lips while our tongues intertwined. It was an amazing feeling and when our lips parted, I struggled to draw breath.
“I have no idea how I’m going to survive when we have to split up. I want to call this whole thing off and stay with you.” My boots landed on the floor as his grip around my waist loosened.
“This is tearing me up.” He pulled off his hat and tossed it on the table. “I don’t want to end things. We need a new plan.”
“Maybe we need to be honest with Sawyer. If he knows we really like each other, maybe he can come up with something different. Maybe one duet isn’t enough. Maybe we could record an album together.” I stared into his eyes as I spoke.
“An album?” Brendan sighed. “We can’t even get one song finished.”
“So what?” I shook my head back and forth. “Your whole album is full of songs other people wrote. We can just let them write duets for us.”
“I like that idea, but I feel like we have to trust Sawyer. His plan has worked beautifully so far. “Our albums are going to be huge when they come out.”
“If we let Sawyer guide us, we’re not going to be happy. A tour is a lot of work and we’ll be separated for a long time. I looked at the dates. Most of the time we’ll be miles apart with no chance of even seeing each other.” I put my head in my palm. “That isn’t what I want.”
“Me either.” Brendan extended his arms and pulled me close for a hug. “We’ll figure it out, but first we have to do the photo shoot.”
“Yeah.” I nodded and hugged him. “Let’s do this.”