Now Eden just had to keep her game face on until she got home. No one here could know how upset she was. It shouldn’t be hard. She’d perfected her stage face early in her career, but she was just so worn down lately. For the first time ever, she was afraid a crack might show.
After the ceremony ended, Eden greeted a seemingly endless stream of people as she made her way out of the arena. She might not have won an award tonight, but everyone was talking about her performance with Anna. Eden had performed at the Grammys many times. Eight? Nine? She wasn’t entirely sure, but she had never received a standing ovation before. She owed that to Anna and her brilliant idea for “After Midnight.”
“Sorry tonight didn’t go your way,” Paris said as she guided Eden toward the door. “Ready for the Crescent party?”
For a moment, Eden actually wavered. She was in no mood to attend a flashy after-party, but this was expected of her. She had to at least put in an appearance at her label’s party. Have a drink. Be photographed. “I’m ready.”
After what felt like hours, she was finally in the car on her way to the after-party. Her feet ached. She was tired and thirsty and couldn’t seem to shake the melancholy mood that had settled over her.
“You trended on Twitter earlier tonight,” Paris told her as the car pulled away from the curb.
“I did?” Eden reached for a bottle of water in the cooler between the seats.
“Mm-hmm.” Paris held up her phone, scrolling through a stream of tweets, many of which contained photos of her performance. “You and Anna had the buzzworthy performance of the night. You’ll be in a lot of headlines tomorrow.”
Eden settled in her seat and took a long drink of water. “And to think, I didn’t want to bring her on.”
Paris grinned. “You two really lit up the stage together.”
“Hmm.” Eden looked out the window. The dress she’d thought would be so comfortable had started to chafe beneath her arms. She couldn’t wait to take it off. “Let’s make this a relatively short stop, okay?”
Paris nodded, adjusting her glasses as she peered at her phone. “Just give me a signal, and I’ll interrupt to let you know it’s time to get to your next engagement of the evening.”
“Which will be my bed,” Eden said with a weary smile. “Thank you.”
“You got it, boss.”
Eden closed her eyes as the car wound its way slowly through the crowded streets. Tonight’s performance had been a rush. Live performances were always exhilarating, and she couldn’t wait for her upcoming tour to begin. She’d get the thrill of performing almost every night. Seeing fans singing her lyrics back to her? There was nothing like it in the world.
Maybe tonight’s performance would give her ticket sales a boost too. Stella had been hassling her lately about various gimmicks to drum up publicity for the tour. Eden had never had this problem before. Her tours had always sold out as soon as tickets went on sale. Not this time. Just one more way this past year had thrown her off her axis.
“We’re here,” Paris said a few minutes later.
Eden opened her eyes to see the car pulling up in front of Velvet, the club her record label had rented for the night. Its entrance was lit with a strip of lights that scrolled the colors of the rainbow. Two men in gray suits stood on either side of the door to check guest credentials, and as expected, the paparazzi had already established a heavy presence along the sidewalk, eager for a glimpse of the stars as they arrived.
“Here,” Paris said, and when Eden turned toward her, she was holding up a compact. “Let’s touch you up for the cameras.”
Eden leaned in obediently so Paris could smooth out her foundation and reapply lipstick.
“All right. Let’s do this.” Paris handed Eden her clutch as Taylor got out of the front of the car and came around to open Eden’s door for her.
Eden sucked in a deep breath before she stood. Immediately, the photographers began shouting her name. She waved with a wide smile, pausing halfway up the steps so they could get their shot.
Once they were inside, she helped herself to a glass of champagne. She didn’t have much to celebrate tonight, but she’d certainly earned a drink ... or two. She tended to get quiet and introspective when she drank, so she wasn’t worried about making a fool of herself.
Eden greeted the team from her label before she was pulled into conversation with none other than Max Briner, the man her fans had overwhelmingly thought she’d be performing with tonight. From there, it was a blur of people, and then she spotted Anna herself standing just inside the door, looking slightly shell shocked.
Probably, someone at the label had extended an invitation because of her duet with Eden. And she owed Anna a thank-you for how it had turned out. Eden snagged two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter and made her way over to Anna.
“Champagne?” she said in lieu of hello, holding one of the flutes toward Anna.
Anna looked at her in a way that made Eden stand a little taller in her heels, like Eden was the most important person in the room and Anna couldn’t quite believe she’d come over to talk to her. Of course, a lot of people looked at Eden that way, but it felt different somehow, coming from Anna.
“Thank you,” Anna said as she accepted the flute. “This is some party, huh?”
“They do this every year, if you can believe it,” Eden told her. “There’s an empty sofa over there, and my feet are killing me. Want to see if we can grab it before someone else does?”
Anna nodded eagerly, leading the way toward the sofa. Her pink dress seemed to glow beneath the slightly exaggerated lighting in the club. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be here,” she said as she sat, carefully smoothing the bow at the back of her dress.
