“Isn’t she around?”
She huffs out a laugh. “She moved to Edinburgh last year to be with her man.”
“Cool. Do you like him? The new man, I mean.”
“I’m not really into spending time with them.” I don’t ask what happened or where her dad is. As far as I knew, he was never around. “So now you’re here, all alone for the summer.”
“I am.”
“That’s a shame,” I scoot over, pulling her close as something inside me kicks in. She shouldn’t be on her own. What if something happened to her? In fact, something already happened on the day we met up again. After she bumped her head, she said there was no one to call. She’s so alone right now, all I want to do is take care of her.
“What are you thinking about,” she asks as her head lays against my chest. My chin rests on the top of her head as I cradle her against me as close as possible.
“Just you and the fact you’re on your own, not just here but generally.”
“Don’t feel sorry for me, Ash,” her voice sings. “I’m used to it.” She sits up, her beautiful eyes shining. “I have my friends and Rosie is like a mother hen.” Her hand falls to my thigh. “Hey, want a beer. I have some in the fridge.” She gets up, not waiting for an answer when all I want to do is scoop her up and tell her I’ll keep her safe. But I can’t. I can’t guarantee anything right now because of fucking Dani Hill and her stupid fucking ideas about how fans will react and not being distracted from the music. Surely it should always be about the music and not who’s performing, but what do I know. All this stuff is new to me.
Cal arrives back, two bottles of Stella in hand, and a glowing smile across her face. Listening to her talk about her family makes me realise how totally independent she is, despite whatever feelings of protection I have towards her. I know she can handle the truth, so it wouldn’t be fair of me not to tell her what’s happening with the band. This girl has the sunniest outlook I’ve ever come across, which is why I decide to open up. I think she might handle it better than I’m doing right now.
“Cal, can I talk to you about something?”
Her brows raise together. “Sure, something up?”
“You could say that. It’s about the band.”
“Have you agreed to sign with Bernie?” Excitement takes over her tone.
“We have a solicitor looking over things, but the record label threw in a few last-minute thoughts and to be honest, it could affect you and me.”
Now her brows knit together. “In what way?”
I take a deep breath, sit forward, holding the beer bottle with one hand and nervously peel the label with the other. “Iwon’t have a lot of time to spend with you. Not for the first year or so. They kind of expect us to put personal relationships on hold.” Her eyes widen. It looks as if there’s a lump in her throat too. “They expect what?”
“Yeah, shit, right?”
“Can they ask that of you? Surely how you handle your personal life is your call,” she says, now sitting forward with me.
“It is, but I’ve been asking around. Remember Tyler Rogers from school?”
“Uh, huh,” she nods.
“He got signed last year with President Records. They have a similar thing, and he said it’s not unusual in the industry when you first start out.”
“So…” Her eyes dart to her hands.
“Look Cal, I know we haven’t been seeing each other long?—”
Her hand falls over mine, stopping me from pulling at the label. “Is that what we’re doing? Seeing each other?”
“We have spent a bit of time together in the past couple of weeks. I was hoping we’d become something more than friends. Am I wrong?” I feel like the Calla obsessed sixteen-year-old all over again.
“No. You’re not. A little more than friends is a good way to describe us,” she says, squeezing my hand.
“The thing is, it looks as if my choices are limited.”
“In what way?”
“I’ve got decisions to make, which also affect my family. My parents have been having problems for a long time now—years, actually. Things got so bad; Mum turned up on my doorstep last week. She’s finally left my dad. I’ve been putting her up for now, but I can’t see an end to it. Mum can’t afford to get a place of her own, so it’s up to me to help. I’vegot to look after her Cal, and right now my only option to make sure I can, is to accept what Election are offering; then I can give her everything she needs.”
