Peace settled deep as I joined in on the domestic chore. These people were my family, and I couldn’t have asked for better.
* * *
Melody
“LiLi, I’m fine,” I ground out, trying to figure out a way out of this conversation with my sister.
“You are not fine, and because you’re not fine, I’ve been in the dark about this situation, DiDi.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” I grumbled. “Besides, Gill’s in the hands of the justice system and NiNi’s got a guitar player set up for me in Portland. If he’s not a total dick, and he doesn’t shit the bed on opening night, I’ll keep him on for the rest of the tour.”
“Okay, but what’s all this about your security team?” she asked.
“It’s fine. I’m probably just overreacting because of what happened before. Besides Harmony is hooking me up with an additional security guy too.”
“Sweetness, I am about to lose my religion over this.”
Whenever Lyric called me or Harmony ‘sweetness,’ we knew we were in trouble.
“Well, we certainly wouldn’t want that,” I retorted.
“Melody—”
“Stop,” I ordered. “There was no reason for you to worry about any of this before, and there still isn’t. I’ll be fine and the tour will be great. We just hit a speed bump. That’s all.”
I wasn’t sure if I was trying to reassure my sister or myself.
“Hey.”
“What?” I snapped.
“I love you.”
I sighed. “I love you too. Even though you’re a pain in my ass.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow night.”
“Oh, goody,” I deadpanned.
Lyric chuckled, then hung up.
I dropped my phone on the table of yet another hotel suite and glanced around the room. I was alone. I was always alone. Even when I wasn’t, I still felt the pressure of loneliness, but being by myself was what I wanted.
Or at least, that’s what I told myself.
The only time I felt whole was when I was with my sisters, but these days I barely ever saw them. They’d met their dream men, were having babies, and lived practically on opposite coasts. Lyric lived with her biker husband, Doom, in Savannah, Georgia. Harmony lived with Jaxon, and they both worked for the FBI in Portland, Oregon, so we saw each other at Christmas and once or twice during the rest of the year.
I hated it.
I wanted more.
I just had to figure out how to make it happen. Lyric was my manager, and she was also the conservator of my estate. This meant, she controlled my money.
And the reason she controlled my money is because I had a total and complete breakdown when I was sixteen and Lyric had stepped in before my mother could make moves to take over my life. I’d been the main breadwinner for the family since I was a child, but with my Dizzy show, I had a little more freedom.
Or at least, I felt like I’d had freedom.
In truth, until my mother died (over fifteen years ago now), I’d had nothing of my own. It’s why Lyric had fought so hard to get control of my estate. To protect my money. Because if she hadn’t, my mother would have bled me dry.
Or one of my husbands would have.
Three down, none to go. I would never revisit marriage. I sucked at it. I was just glad I didn’t have any kids because then I had no one other than myself to fuck up.
For now, however, my sister had me on a budget, and I was actually relieved about it. I had never been good at saying no to people. I was the original bleeding heart, but since anyone asking for money had to go through my sister, I could still look like the good guy.
I heard a knock, then the beep of my door locks releasing.
“Melody?” Brandy, my personal assistant, called. “Proof of life.”
I chuckled. “Come in. I’m good. Sorry, I was on the phone with Lyric.”
“No worries.” She walked further into the room and smiled. “I have three people for you to meet in Portland who would be great options to replace Billy.” She handed me a small stack of paperwork. “I’ve also sent their portfolios to your phone.”
Billy had been my make-up and hair person since…well, forever. He’d found himself a new man several years ago, however, his new man, Graham, had also been sleeping with my new man, Butchy. This was a problem, considering Butchy had been my head of security and betrayed me, kidnapping Harmony, and nearly killing her.
I had tried to move on with Billy, because he’d been duped right along next to me, but in the end, the trust was lost, so I let him go.
With my sold-out tour rapidly approaching, I had little freedom to find just the right person to work for me on a permanent basis. We’d just played the benefit show in Seattle, and I had a two-day break before the Moda center in Portland, Oregon, but that gave me no time with my family if I was stuck interviewing glam people.
I held up one of the résumés. “Is this a mistake?”
Brandy smiled. “Nope.”
“Oh my god, Brandy, how the hell did you get Natalie Langston?”
Natalie Langston was the most gifted makeup artist I’d ever worked with, even more so than Billy. She had done all of my styling for the Darien Reed movies I’d starred in several years ago. Billy had been on vacation at the same time as the final shoot, so she’d stepped in and I’d loved her, but she wasn’t interested in working for me.
At least at the time.
“I called and asked if she’d like to interview.”
“I called and asked her a year ago and she shot me down in flames.”
“That was a year ago,” Brandy said. “Things have changed.”
“Wow, girl, you are kind of amazing.”
Brandy laughed. “Yes, yes, I am. But she only does makeup, so you’ll still need a hair person.”
“That’s fine.” I smiled. “Thank you, Brandy. Really, this is fantastic.”
“You’re welcome. If you’re good, I’m going to head back to my room.”
“Of course. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Brandy nodded and headed out, and I locked up behind her.
Melody
The plane touched down at PDX twenty minutes earlier than expected and I was so excited, I was practically jumping out of my seat. Luckily, it was just Brandy and me on the private plane, which gave me some much-needed time to relax and catch up on all the hot gossip I’d missed while sequestered away in rehearsals.
In the past, I always traveled by plane while the band and road crew travelled by bus. I’d arrive in town a day or two earlier than the others, which gave me a chance to do local press appearances before they’d arrive. However, for this tour, I chose to travel by bus for as much of the tour as possible. The decision was partially a financial one, but mostly environmentally-based. Flying privately is horrible for the planet and I was no longer the naive and spoiled girl I once was. Plus, traveling by bus would give me more opportunities to bond with the band.
I texted Harmony to let her know I was on the ground, then once the doors were opened, Brandy and I headed out.
“Once we check in, please take the rest of the day off,” I said. “I’ll probably head to my sister’s place for a few hours, so I promise I won’t bug you.”