CHAPTER 23
INFINITE GHOST
TRACK 2 | INFINITE GHOST
‘Infinite Ghost’ was my first ever number one single. I’ve always told everyone that it’s about those people who blow in and out of your life until they’re no longer in it. I’ve never admitted the truth. To myself? Sure. Not for years after the fact, though.
There’s onlyone person who could’ve released the news of my voice, and he is sitting next to me on the way to his birthday surprise. Had I seen the article before we left the villa, we would not be sitting in Kareem’s rental car right now.
We pull up the drive of the vineyard after an hour’s drive. There are fields as far as the eyes can see with grapes growing under the summer sun. The building is gorgeous – old-fashioned, but somehow modern at the same time. There are people dotted around the tables inside, keeping out of the midday sun. They all have multiple wine glasses on their tables and a small plate of food. One man with a big moustache keeps smelling his different wine glasses and then putting them back down again, the sweat on his brow leaking down his face. He eats a breadstick and catchesme staring, so I look away, hoping he doesn’t think anything of it. I request a table outside, but in the shade, and they are more than happy to oblige.
A server – Giulia, according to her name badge –comes to see us when we are settled and brings us our first two glasses. A Pinot Grigio grown and brewed on the vineyard. One that isn’t exported out of Italy, so we’ll probably never have tried it before.
‘It’s our most popular bottle,’ Giulia informs me, pouring a small amount into our glasses while explaining a bit about the history of the grapes and why it isn’t exported.
I struggle to listen, that settled feeling from this morning turning sour in my stomach under the heat of the day.
‘You’ll try each of the four bottles and then you can tell us what your favourite is for a full glass,’ Giulia explains.
She disappears. We lift our glasses and clink them together. It’s the first time I don’t break eye contact with Luc since I saw the article in the car. The article telling the world that my voice is going. That the tour is going to ruin it. That my career is over.
I feel heavy under Luc’s gaze, and he doesn’t look away. Even long after I have. We take small sips of our wine.
‘Oh!’ Luc exclaims. ‘That’s delicious.’
‘Mm,’ I mumble.
How can he look at me, with the guilt… knowing what he’s done?
‘We’re off to a good start.’ My voice shakes and I clear my throat to steady it.
Luc reaches across the table and rubs his thumb on my forearm. We’re in public, so I don’t pull away. You never know who’s watching, even if there’s no one around. The walls have eyes.
‘This is such a lovely thing to do, Sienna.’ When he pulls back, I rest my arms in my lap under the table.
‘You’re welcome,’ I smile.
‘I’m serious. You didn’t have to.’ He cocks his head to the side, eyes tearing up.
I take a deep breath. ‘You’ve done a lot for me this summer,’ I insist. ‘And I wanted to do something nice for you, too.’
‘Well, you have. You didn’t have to.’
The article is burned onto the backs of my eyelids. I try to get the last drop of wine out of the bottom of my glass.
Giulia puts a plate of food in front of us: some olive-oil breadsticks, ham, a few cheeses. ‘These all pair really lovely with our wine.’
I pick up a piece of cheese on a toothpick. ‘I can’t believe the tour is nearly here.’
Not long to go. I won’t tell him anything personal until then. Maybe we should’ve had him sign that NDA after all. Silly me thinking I could trust someone.
Luc gazes at the horizon, tearing his eyes away from me for the first time since we arrived. ‘And then it’ll all be over…’
I look around for prying ears, but no one else is outside. Just us. Just Luc, me, and the shattering of my heart in my chest.
Luc leans back on his seat, wiping his mouth with his napkin. ‘About the tour…’ He draws out his words, like he doesn’t want to get to the end of his sentence.
‘What?’
