We did not need public approval.
Both things were true.
Neither explained why I had made every rule.
“We agreed to keep it quiet,” I said.
“At the beginning.”
“You understood what the second album could do.”
“I did. Then it came out.”
“The tour got bigger.”
“Then the tour ended.”
“The contract renewal was complicated.”
“And then it was the awards.”
“I needed the label behind me.”
“And then the third album.”
“That wasn’t planned.”
“There is always something.”
Claire started stacking the remaining plates.
“After the album. After the tour. After Richard feels secure. After Sophie finds the right language. After the next problem.”
“I meant every promise.”
“That’s part of what makes this so exhausting.”
I moved closer to the counter.
“I can tell them now.”
She stopped.
“I can call Sophie.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I am not asking you to make an announcement tonight.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Nothing.”
“That can’t be true.”
“It is now.”
The answer frightened me more than shouting would have.
