A FILTHY Enemy - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,12

the steps, our feet echoing all around the concrete walls.

“This is going to get my ass fired,” he said. “But with a voice like yours, Abby, you should know what opportunity is in front of you. This is the chance of a lifetime.”

“Sasha was good too,” I said.

“Yeah, she was,” Kent said. “But you… they’re going to love you.”

“They?” I asked, my heart starting to race.

My version of they was different than Kent’s.

He opened a door and put his fingers to his lips.

We crept down a narrow hallway and he stopped.

He pointed and nodded.

“Check it out,” he whispered. “Just don’t go all fangirl on me.”

“I won’t,” I said. “Trust me.”

I walked toward a tall and skinny window.

I saw another recording area.

And then I saw who it was.

I dropped down out of sight.

Kent laughed. “Told you.”

I looked at Kent. “Is this a joke?”

“No,” he said. “This is for real.”

“Who is it?” Sasha asked.

She moved to the window and let out a gasp.

I slowly inched back up and stared at them.

At him.

I was frozen.

My mind screamed to move.

But it was too late.

Reed had already turned around and was staring right at me.

5

REED

“You really opened this song up, Reed,” Nash said. “This is really good.”

I opened my mouth and saw movement from the corner of my eye.

I turned and blinked a few times.

There was a narrow window to the back hallway.

And I was staring right at Abby.

Abby.

My Abby?

Looking at me?

I hurried to the window but she disappeared.

“What are you doing?” Jay asked.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Sab said.

“How do I get to the fucking back hallway?” I called out.

Nobody answered me.

I ripped open the main door and ran toward the steps.

What the fuck was Abby…

Then it hit me.

She was here to sing.

Toby said he was going to get a group of singers together and let us choose who we liked best for this song. The singers weren’t allowed to know who they were auditioning for.

I ran toward the back steps and kicked open the door.

I heard voices below, followed by a door shutting.

I took the steps three at a time until I was on the ground floor.

When I ripped open that door, Kent spun around.

“Sorry, bro,” he said. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Where’d she go?” I asked.

He pointed to the door.

I ran and slammed my shoulder off it and stumbled outside.

There she was.

Abby.

Hurrying toward her car.

“Abby!” I bellowed.

She and another woman turned around.

The other woman’s jaw dropped.

She slowly looked at Abby, shocked that I knew her name.

Abby shook her head.

She went for her car again.

When she got into the car and started it, I knew I was fucked.

I gritted my teeth and dug in my pocket for the keys to my motorcycle.

I got on my beast of a ride and took off like I was an outlaw in a TV show.

The engine screamed like a hungry lion as I throttled it as hard as I could to get some damn speed and kill off the distance between myself and Abby.

I cut out of the parking lot to the main street, cutting off two cars.

They beeped at me.

I didn’t give a shit.

I spotted Abby’s car and throttled the motorcycle again.

When I finally got up on the ass of her car, I saw her look in the mirror.

She lifted her right hand and gave me the middle finger.

I reached forward with my right hand and gave her the middle finger right back.

This wasn’t some fucking happy-go-lucky reunion.

Abby was in my city… and now she was in my studio… auditioning for my band…

My mind flashed images of me throwing her shit out the tour bus window.

My mind ran back to a little bit earlier from that moment to when I stood at the open bus door and waved as she sat her ass on the side of the road.

That’s where it all ended.

And it was supposed to stay that way.

She turned left.

I turned left.

She turned right.

I turned right.

She finally made the right decision to pull to the side of the road.

Her car was almost sideways and she threw open the driver’s door and got out.

I turned off my motorcycle and stepped off.

“Happy to see me again, honey?” I asked her.

Abby swung her right hand and got me good.

Her little hand had some power.

My lip exploded and I tasted blood.

“Fuck you, Reed,” she yelled at me. “If I knew what it was for, I wouldn’t have shown up. Fuck you!”

I wiped my lip. “Still bitter?”

“Yeah, still bitter,” she said. “And you don’t give