Page 2 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

“Hell, as usual. When are the auditions?”

“Still scheduled for the twenty-fourth like you asked. Will you be there?” her agent questioned.

She scoffed and grabbed the tote of food first before walking back to the kitchen. “Andi, we’ve worked together for how long? Do you think I’d miss the first round of tryouts for my touring band? You bet your ass I’ll be there.”

“Okay, I was just making sure you were—”

“I’m fine,” she bit out, managing to cut down on the annoyance in her reply. “The heat is over. It won’t be a problem. Besides, I’ll be watching through the mirror, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course. That’s what we’ve got set up. Guess how many have signed up?” she asked, and Lyric could feel her excitement through the phone.

“How many?” She tried to quell her hope as she pulled fresh fruit from the bag.

“Right now, one hundred and forty-six,” Andi said.

Slowly, Lyric sat the half peeled banana on the counter, eyes wide and locked on the white wall across from her.

“One hundred and forty-six?”

“Yep. And the sign-up is still posted through next Wednesday.”

When she remained silent, Andi chuckled. “What did you expect, you talented bitch? I knew as soon as your music got out there, people would flock.”

“Well, yeah, but this is my first tour, and—”

“And it’s projected you’ll sell out every seat. There aren’t many musicians who would miss out on an opportunity.”

Lyric picked her banana back up and continued peeling it before she bit into it. As the dull flavor burst on her tongue, she tried to speak. “We’ll have to weed out the fans who aren’t taking it seriously.”

“Exactly. That’s the whole reason for the screened auditions.”

“I love you,” Lyric admitted dreamily.

A soft chuckle came from the other line. “I know. It’s why we’ve worked so well together from the beginning.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Lyric had been introduced to Andi by her mother. With horror stories from the music world, Andi had been brought in to scare Lyric away from pursuing what she loved most. Instead, Andi and she had sucked back a few cocktails, smoked a joint—or was it two?—and had been friends ever since. The whole business relationship thing was just a perk at this point.

As Andi said her goodbyes, Lyric finished the banana off and tossed the peel in the compost bin with a smile before grabbing her next snack—a peach.

Fruit was always her favorite thing to indulge in after a heat.

One hundred and forty-six.

A week and two days later, she’d be sitting down behind a mirror and listening to one hundred and forty-six musicians try out for her touring band. She’d have to sit for hours, take notes, weed through the posers, and make four decisions that could ultimately make or break her very first tour.

She couldn’t fucking wait.

“You ready?” Andi asked from beside her, glancing over with a perfectly purple dyed brow.

“I’ve been ready,” Lyric responded, and adjusted the stack of papers in front of her… again.

So maybe she was a tiny bit nervous. It was expected. Thankfully, she didn’t have the record company’s bigwigs standing over her shoulder either. Just her best friend and agent, Andi.

Andi said something into the Bluetooth device hooked over her ear, and the door to the music room opened.

The people auditioning could bring their own instruments or use those provided, and this first guy…