Surviving (Surrender 2)

Me: Thanks, I will.

Robbie comes back in and rolls his eyes at the picture. He offers to make dinner while I finish a paper. After we eat and clean up, I pack my stuff to leave. Robbie is going to follow me home on his way out. We’re about ready to go when there’s a pounding at the door.

Robbie opens it, and Declan is standing on the porch fuming.

“Declan, what’s wrong?”

Robbie moves out of his way, and he comes straight to me. He takes my bags out of my hands and picks me up in a tight embrace. “Why didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve been calling for an hour.”

I pull my phone out of my pockets and realize it’s off. “I must have turned it off accidentally. I left you a message earlier, so you knew I was okay.”

“Yeah, you left me a message that you were okay, but left out the part where you were followed home from school. Some shit was going around on twitter and Cooper had to tell me. I was in a meeting and couldn’t get to you. It was driving me crazy.”

“Baby, I was fine. As soon as I realized they were following me, I came straight here. I didn’t want to lead them to our house.”

He nods his head but still hasn’t let me go. Robbie offers him a drink, and he goes to the kitchen.

“Dec, if you were so worried, why didn’t you call Robbie?”

“I did, he didn’t answer either.”

“Sorry, man, my phone’s charging. I’d just gotten back from a run when Raven called. I plugged it in and forgot.” Robbie hands us both a beer.

“I didn’t have a meeting on your calendar today, when did that come up?” I ask trying to lighten his mood.

“Jay called us in. It’s actually a big deal. We got great news. Actually, it’s career altering news.”

My heart beat races and butterflies form in my stomach. This could be about the rumors of a summer tour. I’ve been hoping for this news for weeks.

“I wish I had more notice because I could have used you there Rave, but apparently “Surviving” hit national attention at the beginning of the month. I don’t know anything about ratings, surveys, or the formula’s used, but it looks like we may hit the American Top 40 this weekend when the weekly ratings are released.”

“What?! That’s incredible!” I shriek and jump spilling beer on us both.

“Yeah, pretty surreal. I mean it seems like it would be played out since we released it in September, but it wasn’t really played outside of the Southeast until the album dropped.”

“So what do we do now? What does this mean?”

“Now we wait and keep doing what we’re doing. There’s no doubt we will get an invite to tour this summer, we don’t know who with. The AT40 opens doors for us with all sorts of artist. I’d love it if we could go with Knight’s Dream again, but they’re already set for a six month gig. It’s too late for that. So we’ll be with a completely new group.”

“Great news man. Let’s celebrate.” Robbie gets a bottle whiskey from his bar and sets up shots.

After we do a shot, Declan makes me tell him exactly what happened this afternoon. He and Robbie decide to get my dad involved to see what his opinion is. His reaction is calmer than I thought, but he’s calling the Dean of the MBA program tomorrow to discuss security. I tell them I don’t recognize the girls from my program, but the library is open to all students at the University. They could be in any program offered.

My dad comes up with a plan to have Robbie and Will follow me around the next few days and look for anything suspicious. I’ve never felt danger on the campus, but with what happened last year, I agree to let them.

Declan and I leave and take the long way home to make sure no one waited on me. When we pull into the garage, I relax. I didn’t realize how nervous I was.

Declan is on the phone when we walk in and turn off the alarm. His face is flushed, and I see the happiness in his smile. When he hangs up, he stalks to me and lifts me into his arms, spinning us in circles.

“What?”

“That was Cooper, Jay got a call that we will hit the AT40 in the thirties. There is room for that to change, but the numbers are pretty locked in.”

The pride inside is larger than anything I’ve ever felt. Then I remember where we’ll be this weekend when it’s time to celebrate and tears fill my eyes.

“Sparkle, what’s this?” He wipes my cheeks.