I went into her office and plunked my tired self down in a cream faux-leather armchair. Yui Ito had been with Attain Records for almost as long as I had. She’d started out as an intern and was now one of the independent record label’s top publicists.
She was also the closest thing I had to a long-time friend. We saw each other about once a year, maybe less. Sometimes I crashed at her place when I was in L.A. Yui was gorgeous, no-nonsense, good at her job, had a secret love of root beer ice cream, and never dated anyone for longer than six months.
And that was the extent of my knowledge of her. It was hard to stay in touch when I traveled so much, and while most people used social media to keep up with their friends and colleagues, I had zero social media presence. I didn’t even have my picture on Attalon’s website. Just my name and a vague description of my job.
“Your hair is cute,” she said, lowering herself into her industrial office chair. Her desk was glass and metal, her entire office impossibly cool. “I didn’t notice it last night.”
“Thanks. Mermaid hair.” I ran a hand down my thick, wavy hair. I’d let it grow the whole time I’d been on the road, so it was long. And multicolored.
I was a serial hair-colorer. Over the years, I’d dyed it almost every color imaginable. Platinum blond, red, brown, purple, blue, silver. I’d even had a regrettable black hair phase. Right now, my base color was my natural blond, but I had a partial rainbow of turquoise, blue, lavender, and purple mixed in.
“It works on you,” she said. “How long do you think you’ll be in town?”
“I’m not sure, but judging by Oliver’s early summons, probably not long. I’ll be out of your way in a few days at most, I’m sure.”
She shrugged. “It’s fine. You’re easy company. I barely know you’re there.”
“Thanks. After all the hotels I’ve been in, it’s nice to sleep someplace where I’m not worried about what that stain on the wall might be.”
She winced. “Gross. How was the tour?”
I’d spent the better part of the last year on an international tour with Outbound Platinum. I loved those guys, but coaxing a rock band through their first completely sober tour had been exhausting. I’d been with them since they’d almost imploded while recording their last album. Oliver had sent me in to keep them from going nuclear.
My job title was producer, but around here I was known as the rock-star whisperer. I’d calmed the members of Outbound, soothed their frayed nerves and helped them redirect all that angsty energy into their music. The results had been fantastic. Their album was still topping the charts well over a year after they’d released the first single.
I didn’t always tour with artists. Usually I just went into the studio—helped with songwriting or got them back on track with the recording process. But Outbound had still been too fragile, and Attalon had a lot riding on their tour. So I’d gone along, like a glorified rock-star babysitter.
“Long. Busy. Exhausting. But also awesome. Pretty much everything you’d expect when you’re trying to keep five newly sober rock stars from killing each other.”
“I don’t know how you do it.” She tipped her fingers together. “You must have the patience of a saint.”
“Not really. I don’t even have kids, but I definitely had to break out my mom voice regularly. But they’re such good guys. They’re trying really hard to keep it together. I probably could have come back a month ago, but by that point, I figured I might as well finish the tour. Plus, the last stop was Australia and I’ve only been there once before. I really wanted to go back.”
“Please tell me you banged some hot Australian guys while you were down there,” she said. “The accents alone. My god.”
I laughed. My attempts at relationships never lasted. I didn’t stay anywhere long enough to make it work with anyone. A quick fling was nice sometimes, but those were starting to feel pretty hollow. “Not this time. But I totally agree about the accents. Hot.”
My phone rang and I set my coffee on Yui’s desk so I could dig it out of my oversized purple handbag. Half my life was in this bag. I shuffled through makeup, a hairbrush, my planner, a few cords, several power adapters, headphones,