Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
My sister looked at me as if I was naive. “What stable positions? Ari, I don’t intend to do anything but be an artist.”
I knew that.
And a part of me understood what she was saying. But the risk-averse side of me wanted my kid sister to finish college. Seeing me waver, Allegra pushed, “I want to travel and be inspired. Being here only a day has my mind whirring with ideas. I saw all this beautiful purple heather on the drive over, and I’m desperate to go out and pick some and incorporate it into the glass.”
“Right, but—”
“And I hate LA.”
I shut my mouth.
“Everyone at school seems so young. Like, they think they’re worldly, but I listen to them drone on about things they don’t even understand and they’re so privileged and immature. All they care about is how strangers view them. We go out to eat and I can’t even dig into my burger because they’re all snapping photos of the food for five fucking minutes. We go out for a drive and a picnic on the beach, and no one’s experiencing it because they’re too busy setting up the perfect shots for their social media. It makes me want to scream. And I know that sounds crazy coming from me because I know who we are. I know I’m privileged. But I don’t feel young, Ari. I feel old. And tired. And lonely. And I don’t want to feel like that. Getting on the plane to come here is the most excited I’ve felt in months.”
Well … shit.
What could I say to that? I hated LA, too, for many of the same reasons.
“Okay. You can stay for a week or two until we figure this out.”
Joy flooded her face. “Really?”
“Yes. But no promises,” I warned her. “Mamma and Dad need to know about this, and I don’t know what they’ll say.”
Allegra threw her arms around me, hugging so tight she almost choked me. “Thank you for always being there for me. And for being my Valentine this year.”
I smoothed a reassuring hand down her back, already dreading the conversation we needed to have with our parents. I didn’t let her see that, though. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Ally. No one I’d rather spend this miserable holiday with.”
She chuckled and tightened her embrace. “Me neither.”
Five
NORTH
“I’m like this discarded bottle of whisky,” I sang under my breath as I strummed my guitar, “worthless now that it’s empty. And you can’t get drunk on this guy everyone thought they knew …” My last strum echoed through the room as I stared at the notepad in front of me. Humming the music I’d just written, I grabbed the pen off the bed and scribbled “Instead you should run for your life before they empty you too.”
I replayed the verse I’d just written, the sound heavily inspired by the country music my parents had loved. We’d only had seven years together, but I remembered things from the early parts of my childhood I imagined other people didn’t.
Over an hour in, my neck was tight from the way I’d been sitting, so I rested my Taylor on the bed and rubbed at the spot. Early winter light poured in through the room. I’d tried to keep my playing low, even though I knew for a fact I didn’t have a neighbor on either side of me. The club was quiet. Even Theo left yesterday, off to guest direct a few episodes of a popular new streaming show. Despite being an arsehole sometimes, I was friends with Cavendish because, underneath his droll wit, he gave a shit about the people he allowed into his inner circle. He’d never admit it, of course. Having someone around who didn’t judge or throw me pitying looks helped bring me out of the pit of depression.
Now that he was gone, I was relying on music to do that.
And the gym.
With that thought in mind, I threw some gym clothes and a towel into a bag and made my way downstairs to a side exit. One of my favorite things about this place was the state-of-the-art gym. It was housed in a larch-clad building a five-minute walk from the castle. Next to it was a spa and salon, and I contemplated walking in after my workout to see if they had a spot open for a massage. Might as well take advantage of everything I could at the club, because if my career didn’t pick up, I might not be able to afford to stay. Which would be a crying shame since I’d already dropped forty grand just on the club joining fee. From there I paid a smaller annual fee, but I also paid for my accommodation, like I would at a hotel. The annual fee covered the exclusivity, privacy, security, food, drink, and all the facilities but not accommodation fees. Though Lachlan had authorized to give me a discount for my prolonged stay, it was still costing me a fortune to live at the castle.