Mal, Russ, and Hunter showed up two days later, ready to take her to a conference room in a hotel in Joshua Tree that they turned into a workspace, hoping to review the specifics of the show with Raine. Even though she was upset that Quentin wasn’t there, they’d told her he didn’t need to be, and he’d gladly taken them up on it. Quentin might have agreed to do the song with her, but he wasn’t into meeting with these people. Mal specifically had said, “You’re the one who’ll be performing the song, not Quentin.”
And that confirmed that she would be performing for the awards—but she had yet to break it to them that Quentin would be by her side.
When they left Quentin’s place, there were several cars parked on the side of the dusty road, but they began following them when they left, unconcerned how obvious their actions were. And when, a few minutes later, they arrived at their destination, the cars simply parked close by, with people getting out and taking pictures. One guy even shouted, “Raine! Over here!”
Turning her head, she smiled but then immediately followed Russ into the building.
At the hotel, they were directed to a meeting room, one that was already set up for them. Once they were all seated, Russ had Hunter take their orders for lattes for the group because apparently the carafe of coffee on a side table wasn’t good enough. Russ poured himself a glass of ice water as the three of them settled in and continued filling up glasses for them all. The room was all white and brown with a big window framing the landscape where several Joshua trees were surrounded by other cacti and shrubs under a bright sun. When she’d arrived over two months ago, she’d absolutely hated it all, feeling like the landscape was barren and depressing—but now it felt like a haven…quiet and clean, far away from what she’d experienced over the last few years in L.A. Now, she understood why Quentin loved it.
While she was able to connect with the outdoors, she felt some peace—but Mal and Russ sat at places at the table where her back would have to be turned from the window. When she did, her view facing the too-white wall made her feel like she didn’t belong here.
She belonged out there.
Russ said, “We’re pleased with the reception of the single. It debuted at fifty-nine and it’s climbing. That’s pretty impressive.”
That had been one of the things Raine hadn’t bothered to check…so it was gratifying news. Unable to help herself, she said, “Wow.”
“Yeah,” Mal said, nodding enthusiastically. “That’s a big deal.”
Russ, though, wasn’t about to let them get too excited, his words falling like a wet blanket. “It’s far more than we wished for.”
“Well…that means your plan worked, right?”
“No. It means the plan is working.”
Okay, so this guy was splitting hairs—and Raine wasn’t sure where he was going with it, so she just nodded, taking a sip of water from the glass in front of her.
“We’re not done yet. We’ve only just started.”
“So what does that mean? What do you need me to do other than what I already have? You’ve already lined up appearances and other stuff—so why the lecture?”
Russ smiled, but it was like the smile a tiger might give her before pouncing. “Well…we need more authenticity. That’s what people respond to.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, I know that—and I’m not being fake…except for your concocted romance. In fact, this is the most honest album I’ve ever created.”
Russ nodded and, while Raine couldn’t put her finger on why she thought it, she would have said it was a condescending gesture, as if he were talking to a dumb kid. “The press have seen you and Quentin together twice—the first time was the photo shoot and the second time was from the few photos taken at the listening party. But the public isn’t stupid. They’re not going to believe you’re an item if they don’t see you together enough. They’ve caught Quentin leaving his compound a couple of times and now they caught you here on your own. We need lots more to make it believable.”
Mal, needing to feel like he had some authority in this situation, added, “Yeah. Keep the momentum going. It’s a great story.”
Raine found that she was irritated and also confused, feeling a little manipulated—but, for some reason, the monster inside wasn’t flaring. What the hell was up with that? She felt as calm as a desert breeze.
As if he hadn’t even heard Mal, Russ spoke again. “We need you to sell the couple. That means when Quentin leaves the house, you go with him. You need to be seen together. As often as possible.”
Mal interjected, “They had some pictures of Quentin at the store threatening a photographer, but you were nowhere to be found. They don’t want to see Quentin without you.”
“He’s going to be playing the guitar to accompany me at the awards show. That’s something, isn’t it?”
“That’s a great start. I’m glad to see you thinking about this intentionally.”
Nodding, Mal, said, “Agreed.”
“But it’s not enough. So here’s the plan,” Russ said, sliding over a sheet of paper in front of Raine. “We’ve booked some appearances for both of you to attend—where you’ll be seen as a couple and not two individual people.”
“We did what you asked.” Raine knew that, although Quentin had played the part well, there was something about it that had caused him to close himself off from her—and that was the last thing she wanted more of. “Are you asking us to lie now?”
Chuckling, Russ said, “No, of course not. Just…don’t correct anyone’s assumptions. That’s easy, right?”
While Russ and Mal started going over what the future would look like in painstaking detail and Hunter arrived with lattes for all, Raine only paid half attention. Instead, her focus was internal. She knew their plan could work and she told herself that it would keep her safe and make everything easier.
