Write or Wrong (Common Threads #9)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

ULTRAVIOLET

ASA

Her driver picked her up in the morning, shortly after sunrise.

She put her number in his phone and stole his copy of Return of the King with a promise to return it with his shirt.

And then she was gone.

He hoped he hid his surprise well when the sun had started to come up.

Somewhere between his panic attack and her leaving, he’d become a huge fan of Zara Lorna. Not just the musician—though that too—but the woman.

They’d talked all night long about art and music and life.

They talked about their families and how they’d grown up. She was from Jersey, raised by a single father and had much younger siblings that she adored. She didn’t push for him to talk about his own family but for the first time, he’d kind of wanted to.

They talked about how they’d first gotten into music and what parts of writing were their favorite. About touring and what places had surprised them.

They talked about Lord of the Rings and he found out what an incredible dork she was.

And when a text from André had come through at 3:30am of a picture with Nikki holding her brand new baby girl, Zara had asked if she could hug him.

So they’d hugged and cried over the new human, Amber Nicole Debois.

It was easily in the top five of the greatest hugs of all time. Probably top three.

Normally staying up all night long would have made him grumpy for the day ahead. He abhorred missing sleep.

But for some reason he didn’t care at all. Something about the scratchiness in his eyes and the fog in his thoughts made him feel…lighter. If that were even possible.

Maybe that was because he had developed a massive, unrealistic, and unexpected crush on her.

But who wouldn’t, he reasoned. Spending that kind of uninterrupted, unfiltered time with one of the greatest artists of their generation, anyone would be helpless to resist her magnetism.

She was…

She was incredible. He could honestly say he’d never known anyone like her. So full of life and fire. It was almost enough to make him think he had a little bit of those things left burning inside him as well.

He sat down at a charging station, plugged in his phone and put in his earbuds.

Had it really been that long since he’d stayed up all night talking about music with someone?

Not just anyone either. But someone who knew music as well as he did.

Maybe even better.

It was a wild realization he’d had around four in the morning when Zara took his phone and made another voice memo of her humming a melody and a chord progression that blew his mind.

He’d promised to play with it and send her something.

Which—okay, yeah, pump the brakes. But it had just fallen out of him. The offer to write music with her seemed like harmless fun. And he hadn’t had fun in a while.

He opened his messages and stared at her number as he listened to the voice memo again and again. Lost in her clear voice and the small laugh he’d coaxed from her.

Her mind was always on. Nikki had talked about Zara’s focus and intensity. But that wasn’t it at all. She lived in an active creative state at all times. Her emotions close to the surface. Limitless in the full exploration of the human experience.

How was she still so bright and beautiful living in this world?

It didn’t make sense to him.

His phone chimed and he jolted.

It was a text from Nikki.

NIKKI: what the hell happened last night?

He frowned, his mind playing through last night’s greatest hits and wondering what Nikki was referencing. He didn’t have to wait long. She sent a link to an article from an online entertainment news magazine.

The headline read, “Is Zara Lorna having an affair with her co-producer?”

He clicked on the link and the page opened to photos of him and Zara leaving the party the night before.

Had that really been less than twenty-four hours ago?

His eyes scanned the article but he couldn’t focus to read it.

He took a deep breath, rubbed his tired eyes, and tried again.

After winning big last night at the NMAs, Zara Lorna left the afterparty early with her co-producer, Asa Young.

The two reportedly grew closer during the production of her latest award-winning album. Sources say that Zara’s longtime boyfriend Logan Black had suspected something more was happening with the producer.

Asa Young is the former bassist for the failed rock band, Winking Pete. Notably, he’s older than Lorna by ten years.

Friends have voiced their concerns about her seeing the older man but say she wouldn’t listen to anyone. They fear he only wants to use her fame for his own benefit.

Witnesses at the afterparty say Black and Lorna argued, and she left with Young.

Click here to see the relationship timeline for Logan and Zara who have been together since they were teenagers.

Sources close to both of them said that Black had been talking about marriage but the songstress kept putting it off.

Maybe now we know why.

Stay tuned to CELEBX for updates.

Whoa.

They’d manufactured an entire relationship in the span of a few hours.

That was some fast gossip.

So much of it was wrong, he was surprised they had his name right. But there it was in black and white. They had his age wrong. Mostly. He wasn’t ten years older. It was six, but whatever.

Fuck.

He wasn’t the co-producer either. He’d helped mix like, two songs. That was barely anything. And using her for what? He produced jingles for cat food commercials for fuck’s sake! Also, Logan was the one being the shithead last night.

Damn. His people must work fast.

Zara had been hiding out with him eating burgers while her ex had been trying to dismantle her character.

He glanced up, suddenly feeling overexposed in the crowded airport. He pulled his hat down lower over his eyes like that would somehow disguise him and tried to ignore his increased heart rate.

He’d never, not once, worried about being recognized in public. Not even when he’d been in Winking Pete.

He’d been the bass player for fuck’s sake.

But being attached to Zara romantically could put him on the radar of strangers all over the world.

Fuck.

Poor Zara.

They did this to her all the time, didn’t they?

Make something up for the clicks and the public ate it up.

He knew he shouldn’t but he scrolled through the comments on the article.

“She’s always been a whore.”

“She’ll just use him too.”

“LOGAN! Call me! I would never cheat on you!”

“‘Failed rock band’ LOL I’ve never heard of them.”

His stomach churned and his throat tightened.

This fucking sucked. It was all lies!

He opened his texts to say something to Zara and stopped.

What could he even say? Sorry for existing? He imagined her people were already in her ear about what to do next, the steps to take, the words to say.

She didn’t need any tips from him.

No, the best thing he could do was nothing. Better not to be another voice in the shitstorm surrounding her.

He rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes, trying to focus. But his mind was a whirlwind.

He’d just been trying to do the right thing. And instead, he’d possibly made things worse for her. Not only that, but now his name was back out there. They’d start digging and repeating all the same shit they’d said years ago.

Fuck.

They’d call Shelby.

Of course they’d call Shelby.

And his mom.

All the carefully constructed walls surrounding him started to chip and crumble.

This was what happened when he let music back into his life. Life took it away again immediately.

How Zara managed to stay afloat in a world that felt like a constant tsunami, he would never know. But he couldn’t do it.

He wasn’t that guy.

That guy had left the building years ago.

His flight started to board.

He texted Nikki instead.

ASA: none of that happened. I’ll explain when I get there. ttys

Then he shut off his phone.

When Asa finally found Nikki’s hospital room, it was full.

Nikki’s parents, Bob and Mary, were cooing over the little bundle in André’s arms. Nikki spotted Asa hovering in the doorway and gave a little wave with her tired smile.

Mary glanced up at him and did a double-take.

“Asa.” She moved his way and grabbed him in a tight hug. The moment she released him, Bob was there to hug him as well.

“It’s good to see you,” Bob said, slapping him on the back before releasing him.

“We saw you on the television last night accepting Nikki’s award,” Mary said, pride shining from her eyes. “Didn’t think you’d make it back so soon.”

“I couldn’t miss meeting my new niece,” Asa said with a smile.

Growing up, Bob and Mary had been more supportive of him than his own parents. Too many times he’d wished that he and Nikki were actually related so he could claim them as his own.

“She’s perfect,” Mary sighed, turning back to the baby now fussing in André’s arms. “Eight pounds of stardust wrapped in a blanket.”

The baby’s grunts and protests grew louder and André moved closer to Nikki.

“I should probably try to feed her again,” Nikki said, holding out her arms.

“Do you want me to get the nurse?” André asked, setting the bundle carefully in Nikki’s hold.

“No, I think we’ve about got this thing figured out,” Nikki said, voice soft.

André arranged the blanket around the mother and child so Nikki could nurse in privacy.

“Mom, Dad, would you please make sure André eats something?” Nikki asked her parents. “He’s being stubborn.”

“I just want to be here in case you need me,” André said.

“I’m fine,” Nikki reassured him. “I’m well taken care of.”

“Come along, son,” Bob said, patting André’s back. “Let us buy you lunch.”

André sputtered a bit, his gaze bouncing from Nikki to her parents to Asa.

“Go,” Asa encouraged.

“Call me if something happens?” André asked.

Asa nodded. “Of course.”

André let out a heavy sigh. “Okay,” he muttered to himself.

Mary looped an arm through André’s and he allowed her to lead him out the door.

Once they were gone, Asa brought the only chair in the room closer to Nikki’s beside.

“You’re such an overachiever,” he said, voice quiet. “Winning Producer of the Year and giving birth in the same night. Who does that?”

Nikki smiled, blue eyes shining. “It was kind of a big night, huh?”

Asa nodded. She didn’t know the half of it.

He still hadn’t turned his phone back on, afraid of what might happen next. Not that keeping his phone off prevented any more pandemonium, but he could pretend.

Nikki winced. “Breast feeding fucking hurts. They keep telling me that it gets better and my nipples will get used to it but, damn.” She shook her head.

Asa chuckled at his best friend. “How was labor? Did you go natural like you had planned?”

“Fuck no,” she said, making a face that had him cracking up. “I chickened out of that almost immediately. Nothing went according to plan. Homegirl was lodged in my pelvis and I wasn’t dilating. It was a whole drama. Then when they did the epidural, they nicked an artery and blood sprayed everywhere.”

“Oh shit.”

Nikki rolled her eyes and nodded. “André held it together. I was pretty out of it. And then they were telling me to push and here we are.”

“You’re a fucking legend,” Asa said, meaning it.

Nikki hummed as she peaked under the blanket at the baby. Her deep blue eyes tracked back to Asa and he felt the question before she asked it.

“What happened with you last night?”

He recounted the events of the night before, playing up his panic attack because it made her laugh. He left out some of the more personal things he and Zara had shared because they didn’t seem relevant anymore.

“She’s pretty cool, isn’t she?” Nikki said.

“She really is,” Asa agreed.

“How are you feeling about…?” Nikki didn’t finish the question. She didn’t have to. He knew what she was asking.

Was he freaking out about being back in the media’s crosshairs?

He shrugged and forced a swallow. “I accidentally read the comments?—”

“Asa!” Nikki scolded keeping her voice low.

“I know. I know.” He rubbed his tired eyes with his palms.

Never read the comments. He’d violated one of the basic rules of internet protocol.

He dropped his hands away from his face and sighed.

“I don’t want to turn my phone back on,” he confessed.

Nikki nodded. If anyone understood why, it would be her.

“Maybe they won’t notice,” Nikki suggested. “Maybe it’ll blow over quick and they’ll never even see your name.” She maneuvered the small baby in her arms and started patting and rubbing her back.

“Yeah, maybe.”

But they both knew the likelihood of that. Once Shelby saw it, she’d call their mom.

That horrible, trapped feeling lurked at the edges of his mind. He didn’t know what he hated more, the anticipation leading up to the fight, or the fight itself.

Because it was always a fight.

And his sacrifices had never been enough to get them to leave him alone.

“Would you like to hold your niece?” Nikki asked, breaking into his dark thoughts.

Asa immediately stood and went to the sink, washing his hands. He returned to Nikki’s side and took the tiny bundle she offered him.

Amber grunted and blinked at him sleepily. The warmth of the newborn soaked into him and eased his residual tension. He slowly sat back down in the chair.

“She’s perfect, Nik,” he whispered.

She really was. With her scrunched up face and her tiny, tiny eyelashes. She was the most perfect thing Asa had ever held.

He started humming one of his and Nikki’s favorite songs before he began singing the words out loud.

“Best of Friends” from the movie The Fox and the Hound.

They’d watched the movie so many times when they were younger that they’d worn out the VHS copy and had to wait until it came out on DVD. They had the entire thing memorized.

Every time Asa saw a copy of it for sale, he bought it. Just in case.

It was still a comfort watch for him on those really tough days.

“Damn you, Asa Young.”

He looked up at Nikki, who was wiping her eyes, and he grinned.

“Have to start her young,” he explained. “It’s imperative that she know her family history.”

Nikki snorted and reached for the tissues on the tray table beside her.

“When do you get to go home?” he asked, taking Amber’s tiny fist and rubbing the soft skin with the pad of his thumb. She even had tiny fingernails.

“Uh, tomorrow I think.”

“Is the apartment ready or do I need to go over and finish things for you?”

“You’re the best,” she said. “No, I think it’s ready.”

He glanced up at the tone in her voice. She was looking off to the side in thought.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

She lifted her eyebrows and slid her gaze back in his direction. “I was just thinking about all the stuff we have to finish at the house.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, mama. You have time. And you know I’ll help wherever I can.”

She smiled and blinked slowly. “I know. That’s because you’re the best.” She yawned. “I think I might take a short nap,” she said.

“Go for it,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Nikki nodded and closed her eyes, sinking back into the pillow.

Asa adjusted his hold on the sleeping baby and got comfortable himself.

Maybe the rest of his life was in the process of burning to the ground. But right there, in that moment, all was well.

His best friend and her baby were happy, healthy, and alive. And he honestly couldn’t ask for more than that. So he set aside all his outside worries and let himself soak in the peace of the moment.

Love existed here.

Here he was happy.