Page 19 of Carte

When was the last time someone wanted to keep me safe? When was the last time someone cared for my wellbeing?

Not just to protect the money-making tour, song, or whatever. But me. Just me.

Harley.

“Okay,” I said softly and turned to go and get ready.

“Dynamo.” The call of the nickname, his nickname, stopped me. “You know you’re safe with me.”

I could feel my face crumbling. There was no one I was safe with. Not in my entire life.

Until he walked into it.

I gulped down the silk feeling his words caressed me with and tried to be my normal self.

“I do now,” I threw a thumbs up over my shoulder. I didn’t want to show him the full effect his words had on me.

I also knew there was no way he wouldn’t find out.

Melodies and lyrics swirled in me, trying to break free. Wanting to pour themselves on the page.

And I was powerless to do anything but let them loose.

“Finally,” Cassie rushed to me, a frazzled look on her face. “My phone is trying to kill me with all the alerts and calls. Tim’s on a rampage, Sloane is screaming at everything that moves, and the press wants a pound of flesh, meaning a statement from you, live.”

It was time to do a sound check, and maybe a session to see if some of my new stuff could be squeezed into the set list. I didn’t usually perform new songs live. Not until they were polished and turned into perfection. Not until they were safely nestled in an album. But with this one it was different.

I knew even last night I would not let anyone change a single note of it. There would be no fancy production done in the studio. No changing the arrangement, or the beat. It will always be like it was now.

Raw. Honest. Me.

But the moment I got to the venue, I could see the activity in it wasn’t just one of preparation for the show. People weren’t milling around, doing some last minute touch up. No, they were frantic to get everything set up.

“Statement about what?” I frowned.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Carter grunted in that way he had, and blended into our surroundings.

I swear it was like magic. One moment he was standing beside me, the next, I blinked and he was nowhere to be seen.

We were not scheduled to play until tomorrow night. There weren’t any appearances for today, and I didn’t have a surprise release for another month. Something no one but my team, a handful of people, knew about. We were pulling a Taylor Swift and releasing an album while the whole world was watching my tour, not expecting new music, but celebrating the old.

As that was the case, I should not be talking to the press. I avoided them normally, but now that was reinforced tenfold. We didn’t want a word to accidentally slip out, and fans to start spinning the theories, one of which could possibly hit a bullseye. The good thing was, my avoidance of anything related to news wasn’t out of character. “Have you not checked your socials?” Cassie appeared confused like I somehow forgot to put on a shirt today.

“You know I try to stay away from that. I don’t care about view count or likes or any of that. I just want music. All those videos you have me filming once a week are bad enough, I don't need any more of that crap.”

“Reels, babe. They're called reels. And don’t be like that. Thanks to them, your latest single was number one for ten weeks straight,” she scolded me. “But someone posted the footage from last night and it’s gone viral. Everyone’s talking about your encounter with the crazed fan in the hallway.”

“What?” My whole body went numb. How did they manage to get the footage?

“It’s not the whole thing, just a minute before Carter got him, but it’s out there.”

Those girls. The two girls who came out of the bathroom. It had to be them.

“It’s not bad. It clearly shows that he held you against your will, and with the stuff that came out of his mouth, anyone can see he was not right,” Cassie rushed to explain.

“So, what’s the problem?” I frowned.

“Well, it’s okay for now, but you need to make a statement. You know that in today's environment, things can turn quickly. One minute they’re full of sympathy, and the next they could be tearing you apart for being rude to your fan and having your security chuck him into the wall to get him away from you because you’re such a diva.”