Page 17 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze
"Eve!" Lily's face lights up and she jumps up from her seat to greet her with a hug and I watch them, confused. How do those two know each other? "Where did you come from?"
"Mia is on the Japanese leg of her tour and I had to be there,” Eve tells her with a chuckle as she returns the hug. "I wanted to get here earlier, but her last live here was yesterday so this morning was the soonest I could leave from Osaka. And now here I am. Thanks for saving me a seat."
I only now realize that sometime during our conversation the space between Lily and me freed up.
“You’re so welcome,” Lily tells her with an eyeroll and sarcasm dripping from her voice. Lily sits back down and Eve follows suit, nudging me with her elbow in the process.
"Walker. How are you doing? Did I miss anything interesting?"
"It’s good to see you, Eve. But as if I'd tell you," I chuckle and shoot her a wink. "You’d tattle to your Dad and he’d leave me in the dust. Not a chance."
"I’ll share my notes with you," Lily offers, and Eve sticks her tongue out at me before holding up her hand for a high five for Lily.
“Ah, nostalgia,” she mutters and the two of them burst into a giggle.
"How do you two know each other again?"
Eve’s been in the business for a while. She already started working at Joe, her dad’s, music label almost a decade ago if I remember correctly and jumped right into artist management.
But Lily? I have no idea what she did before she joined Siren’s Talent. Was she even in the entertainment business or did she move over from another job?
"We went to college together," Eve tells me with a wide grin while Lily turns to Felix as he whispers something into her ear.
"College?" I raise my eyebrow. I didn’t even know she went. I kind of thought Joe had just taken her under his wing and she was learning by doing.
"Yep."
Eve nods and Lily on her other side is now in a hushed discussion with Felix. The two of them are staring at a woman across the table, and Lily seems giggly, her cheeks flushed with heat, fueled by alcohol.
"I think we got paired up during the A&R module," Eve continues in a low voice, shooting me a knowing look. "She's got a mad good eye for potential."
"So I've noticed," I tell Eve with a grin which she returns.
"Let's just say you don't want her as your enemy,” she continues solemnly. “Trust me, she can do a lot more than she’s showcased so far. Don't make the mistake of underestimating her."
"I won’t,” I promise with a nod. “What else?" Eve leans back and narrows her eyes at me.
"What do you mean, what else?”
“Tell me about her," I ask, lowering my voice and leaning a bit closer. “What was she like in college? What makes her tick?”
“I’m not going to help you craft your warfare against her,” Eve scolds me playfully. “I’m having way too much fun watching you get knocked down a peg.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
I gulp and Eve’s eyes grow wide before she breaks into a grin. “Oh my God. You’ve got acrush.”
Thank God she says it in a whisper. I shoot her a sharp glance anyways.
"Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Now, let me think.” She taps her lip, tilting her head as her eyes stare into nowhere. “She's a coffee addict."
"So I’ve noticed." I grin and shake my head that she’s mentioning the most obvious fact.
"No matter how early our lectures started, I'd always see her with a giant cup from the local coffee shop in her hand. If not two.” She shakes her head at the memories. “She's not a morning person at all. I know a lot of people say it, but when it comes to Lily, I can only recommend you don’t talk to her before she’s had her first coffee."
I nod along, making a mental note of it. Although I guess I kind of did that when approaching her after the flight and I still live to tell the tale.
"She's also very direct, and I’ve never seen her afraid to speak her mind.” She takes a sip of the beer that has suddenly appeared in front of her, and I motion the waiter for another one for me. “I remember once she tore into a professor who was a misogynistic dick," Eve continues, before making an approving sound and looking at her drink. “Damn, this is delicious. Anyways, she and I got grouped for a presentation and busted our asses, only to score twenty percent lower than a boys' group who bullshitted their way through keywords and a Powerpoint containing copyrighted pictures and no sources. I was ready to let it go, just to not deal with that dick of a professor, but not Lily."
