Falling Out of Hate with You (The Hate-Love Duet 1)

I laugh. “And so it does.”

She opens her eyes. “During the international leg, Alexa Play Music opened for us. Do you know them?”

“I know of them.”

“Four more boys,” she says. “So, with our boys and theirs, it was eight boys and me. Good God, I’m a saint.”

We both laugh.

“What I’m trying to say, Laila, is I’m elated you’re here.”

“I’m elated I’m here, too. I’ve never toured with boys. My last tour was with Aloha. So, you’ll have to show me the ropes.”

“Just don’t let them steam-roll you. They don’t even realize they’re doing it.”

“Good advice. But I’m the opener, so I kind of have to let them steam-roll me a bit. It’s part of the gig. Or so I’ve heard. Aloha never hazed me. But I’ve heard stories about headliners doing that to their openers, as a regular thing.”

“Yeah, the guys did some of that to Alexa Play Music. They tend to feel like openers need to know their place in the pecking order, you know? It’s stupid, but whatever.” She rolls her eyes. “Something tells me that won’t happen to you. You’ve got a knack for making people want to roll out the red carpet for you, Laila.”

“I don’t expect any special treatment,” I say. “I’m just happy to be here.”

“I don’t think the boys will be able to keep themselves from treating you with kid gloves.” She flashes me a snarky look. “Boys are very visual creatures, Laila. And you’re a very pretty visual.”

I laugh. “Well, thank you. So are you.”

She smiles. “It kind of sucks, though, doesn’t it? Everyone should be treated with respect, no matter what. Not just pretty girls.”

“I agree.”

“Good. I’ll let the guys know you insist on being treated exactly the same as any other opener.”

“Well . . . I don’t know if that’s necessary.”

She laughs, and I join her. And just this fast, I know we’re going to be great friends.

A noise at the front of the plane attracts my attention and makes my heart lurch. Is Savage here? But, no. The sound is the front door of the plane closing, without Savage appearing. And even though I swore to myself Savage’s name wouldn’t pass my lips during this entire tour unless he broke the seal and spoke to me first, I can’t resist asking Ruby what’s going on.

“No Savage?” I ask.

Ruby shakes her pink head. “He’s been in Chicago this week, visiting family. He’s flying to Philadelphia today on his own.”

“Ooooh.” I smile. “That’s good news. This whole time, I was thinking he was pulling a ‘rockstar’ by making an entire flight of people wait on him.”

“Oh, trust me, Savage is perfectly capable of doing that. That boy is many, many things, but punctual certainly isn’t one of them. It’s really annoying, so brace yourself.”

“If you’re constantly annoyed by his lateness, why don’t you ever slap the shit out of him for it? You’re not the opener.”

“Meh. We pick our battles with him. In the end, it’s hard to say which parts of Savage’s personality contribute to his mad genius. So, we let him be, in case messing with the shitty stuff will mess with the amazing stuff. We all benefit from Savage being happy and carefree and left alone. That’s when he’s at his best.”

“So, you think if you slap the shit out of him, you might slap some of his genius out of him?”

“Exactly.”

I smile and nod. But I’m not sure I could hold my tongue like that with a bandmate. Aloha is a genius in her own right, too. An icon in the music industry. But during my tour with her, she never kept anyone waiting. In fact, she was usually early for everything. I remember Aloha telling me, early on, “We’re the lucky ones who get to go onstage and experience all the adulation and praise, but never forget it takes a village of crew and staff and musicians to make a tour happen for the thousands of fans who pay their hard-earned money to watch you perform. So, in the end, even if it feels sometimes like it’s all about you, never forget you’re there to create happiness for your fans and hundreds of jobs for your crew and staff. Make art when you make your album, Laila. Make happiness for the fans and money for the machine when you’re on tour.”

I distinctly remember Aloha’s words blowing me away. They were a revelation to me. A whole new way of looking at things. And to this day, I’ve kept them close to my heart at all times. Has nobody ever sat down Adrian Savage to give him a similar speech? Obviously not, based on what Ruby said a moment ago. And that’s a shame. I bet Savage would benefit from hearing Aloha’s thoughts on the importance of humility and professionalism in our industry.