I sink underneath the bubbles, some soft classical music playing from my phone at the far end of the room and a group of candles lit on the table. It’s normally relaxing, but there’s something about today which makes relaxing impossible. Especially when Mauve starts texting.
MAUVE
So quick! Hope you’ve set aside some tix for family
CongratulationsSienna
Now you’ve sold the tix are you going to end it with Luc?
Very cautious of either of you getting your heart broken
I ignore her. Pulling myself out of the bath, I put on a pair of running shorts with a t-shirt.
‘Hello,’ Luc smiles as soon as I walk in the kitchen.
Grinning, I pull him into a hug. ‘Hey.’
His hands on the bottom of my back regulate my heartbeat again and the ringing in my ears dims. Even Mimi and Jess watching us doesn’t exist anymore in my head for those few seconds.
‘What are you doing here?’ I ask when I pull away.
He gestures to the huge bouquet of flowers in a gift bag in the middle of the table. ‘Wanted to say congratulations,’ he smiles. ‘And see you break the internet with the deluxe.’
I wasn’t sure for a little while whether I was going to release the deluxe edition or not. With everything that happened, I thought it was more likely to be received negatively than anything else. But now I’m back in society’s good books, I thought it would be nice to give them something they might want. A new album cover, with five new songs which they can either stream or buy if they still collect physical versions of music.
We haven’t told anyone that it’s coming. But at midday we’re going to hit ‘Go’ on streaming and set the website live again. It’s been down for ‘maintenance’ since tour tickets sold out. When it refreshes, it will have the new version ofYour Email Didn’t Find Me Wellsplashed across the top. And we’ve also decided to sell hand-signed paper inserts which come with the CD edition of this one. We haven’t done it for a few albums now but it’s something fans are always asking for.
‘Are you ready for your first release, Lucas?’ I ask,pouring us all a fresh glass of the homemade lemonade that Jess put together at seven o’clock this morning.
‘As I’ll ever be,’ Luc beams.
‘First of many,’ Mimi toasts, holding her cup in the centre. We all clink our glasses without thinking about what we’ve toasted.
There are still five minutes left, but we sit still, in silence, grabbing chopped strawberries from a bowl in the middle which Jess prepared while I was in the bath.
When it gets to 11.59, streaming services refresh to includeYour Email Didn’t Find Me Well [deluxe]. Jess’s scheduled Instagram post goes out on my socials with the new album artwork and the caption I wrote, which she edited slightly with how long it took tour tickets to sell out.
Thank you so much for selling out the UK and Europe tour in SEVEN minutes! You guys are wild. In my head I’m still a 16-year-old girl from a council estate who just wanted to achieve her dreams and her mind is blown every single day with the support I get from across the globe. Whether you’ve grown up with my music, or you started listening with this album, I appreciate you all so much. I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be doing this for this long but to say thank you ‘Your Email Didn’t Find Me Well [deluxe]’ featuring FIVE new songs is out on streaming services NOW. If you want to pick up a physical copy, there are limited available copies on my website now as vinyl and CD. Can’t wait to see you all on October 11thfor the ‘Out of Office’ tour xx
I don’t usually watch the streams from an album go up. I usually wait for it to go live at midnight and then get into bed, not allowing myself to see those early numbers. But they increase even quicker than I thought they would. Jumpingfrom nothing to thousands, to tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands. The Instagram post does the same. More than one hundred thousand likes and a thousand comments within the first minute.
We are back. I am going to be okay.
I look at Luc, and he’s gazing back at me, a smile on his face which sends a heat circling my thighs. He’s done so much for me, and I don’t know how I can ever repay him. He’s basically put his entire life on hold for me for the second time.
We’re watching the album sales on the website. With standard editions of the albums, we keep them stocked but for copies like this, we only do a limited run. We might restock them at some point but once they’re gone, they’re gone for at least a while. If not forever.
The sales numbers tick over, getting closer and closer to the maximum amount we have. It’s only been three minutes.
The album is gone in four.
CHAPTER 18
TIME OUT
TRACK 8 | PARTY POOPER
I just needed a break from my life in 2019. But how do I get one? I was exhausted, burnt out, but every time I left the house, I had to be reminded of who I was and everything that meant.
