Page 19

“That’s what I was saying earlier, man!” Hal backhanded Alex’s shoulder. “I told ya she looked familiar, and there she is, Sammy! Granted she’s covered in dark makeup now, but there ain’t no doubt. It’s her!”

Alex looked back and forth between Hal and Kana. “What are you talking about?”

“Dude, have you seriously never heard of Sugars? Or even watched their show when you were younger?”

Alex threw his hands up. “I don’t know, man, that wasn’t my jam back then. I was dealing with other shit. Not girls on a screen.”

Kana’s hand shot out and gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles white. She drew closer, voice low and sharp. “If you keep making a scene, I will decorate your face with forks.”

Alex stretched a hand out but didn’t touch her. “Relax, princess, I’ll make sure this dumbass keeps his mouth shut, or he’s going to get what he deserves later.”

Hal grimaced. “Says who?” He turned to Kana. “Miss, I didn’t mean no harm. I was just confirming my suspicions, but I won’t bring this up anymore. I apologize.”

“Listen,” Kana grumbled, her hands rubbing a mess of her bangs. “Just don’t yell out loud who I am in public.”

Hal put his hands up.

With impeccable timing, the waitress came back with everyone’s order. The uncomfortable silence lingered even after the waitress dryly told them to enjoy their meal. Nobody touched their food until Kana grabbed her fork and jabbed it at Hal. “Since one of you knows something, it’ll be easier to explain.” Then she pointed at Alex. “But let’s catch you up to speed, Augs.”

“We’re not friends,” Alex mumbled, chewing daintily on a salty chicken tender.

A smug smile curled at Kana’s lips as she sipped her coffee. “I haven’t seen either of them in a while. The last time I was with the girls was probably… the Sweethearts Tour.”

Hal nodded. “And that was like two years ago, right?”

“Mhmm. After that tour, our contract was supposed to be over. And to be honest, I feel like they tried to rush it just so Snowy can start her solo career.”

Alex looked back at Hal and mouthed, “Snowy?”

Hal nodded at Kana, ignoring Alex. “So, is that why she’s the more relevant one? I mean no offense.”

Kana took another sip. “None taken. The whole Sugars thing was supposed to be centered around Snowy anyway. Sunny and I already knew this before we signed our contract.”

Alex snapped another look at Hal. “What’s up with the names starting with an S and ending with Y? I’m getting confused who’s who.”

Hal said in a half-whisper, “Yeah man, that’s kind of their whole gimmick.” He raised a hand in defense again before Kana could sharpen her glare. “Continue, ma’am,” said Hal.

“So when Snowy’s doing her thing, what do we do? I had no choice but to go back to Canada. And Sunny…” Kana’s voice trailed off a bit. “To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what Sunny was going to do. She showed up on some game shows, but that’s not really the same. She’s even quiet on her Twitter.”

“But y’all kept in contact?” Hal asked.

Kana shook her head. “I just told you, not since the tour.” She stabbed another hotcake, shoving it into her small mouth. “Fast forward to this past summer,” she explained in mouthfuls, “one of our managers emailed us, saying they had this brilliant idea to have some reunion concert. I was down to come back to LA since I wanted to leave Toronto. So, I accepted. When I got to LA, I reached out to Sunny.”

Kana stared at her coffee, no longer steaming. “I’m way closer to Sunny than I am to Snowy. Snowy is more of a diva.”

“She comes off that way now that I think about it,” Hal mused.

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate Snowy. I just feel like Sunny and I have a stronger connection. She… was the nicest person I ever met in my life.” Kana made a small laugh. “I remember one night she smuggled some Wendy’s at our dorm because I told her I was craving fries. We almost got caught.”

Alex watched her grip the mug tighter. This wasn’t the kind of job he’d expected, but if Durden was involved, and the Garras were connected, it circled back to Ayase whether he liked it or not. At the corner of his eye, Alex caught a car’s headlights flashing past the window. He wondered whether Jun, if he was listening in on this conversation, would have any reaction in his current depressed state.

Was he even still outside?

“She was the one that saw me at my best and my worst,” Kana continued, preventing Alex from looking out the window to check if the Civic was still parked outside. “I hope I was that person for her too. I was really looking forward to seeing her during this reunion performance, but she never showed up. Our managers said they tried to contact her, then suddenly told us the reunion would be canceled. They told us not to speak about any details or anything to do with Sunny again.”

Hal raised his eyebrows, almost done with his steak. “That’s a big demand.”

“All because she didn’t show up?” Alex asked.