I paced myroom.
I opened the doors to my balcony and listened to the tide rushin.
I watched the sunrise over the ocean, recalling how Noah told me we only had so many to see. And that’s when I realized, no matter how far I ran, I couldn’t escape the sunrise. I’d always have one thing that reminded me of how it felt when I believed he lovedme.
40
Noah
People on the sidewalk stopped and snapped pictures as I passed by. I just kept walking with the phone pressed to my ear while Grandma berated me about the video I’d posted. “Boy, you done gone and lost yourmind.”
I couldn’t help but laugh because she sounded a little like DMX. “I’m fine,” I promised as the glass doors with the Capstone Records logo slidopen.
“I’d be ill as a hornet if I was her. Asking the entire intraweb to findher.”
“It’s the internet,Grandma.”
“Whatever web it is, I’d be angrier than a three-legged dog in heat.” I pressed the button to the elevator. “No privacy. Bless her soul, if you find her tell her I said to whack you upside the head for me, youhear?”
“I’ll be sure to do that, seeing as how I’m a masochist andall.”
“I don’t need to know about any of that devilstuff.”
I rolled my eyes. “Look, I gotta go talk to Debra about some tour stuff, but I’ll check on you later,okay?”
“Well, alright. But you know, you should’ve just sent her some roses and chocolates. That’s real romance. Hunting her down like you’re dogblasted J. Edgar Hooverain’t.”
“Alright, Grandma. Loveyou.”
“I love you too, youhoodlum.”
Within two hours of me posting that video three people that worked with her had sent me a message. I won’t lie, I smiled just a little when I found out she was in Australia of all places—the farthest away from Rockford you couldget.
The elevator doors dinged open and I stepped out, following the dark hardwoods down to the office at the end. I tapped on the door and it pushed open an inch. Debra sat behind her massive mahogany desk with the phone pressed to her ear. She glanced up and waved me in before smoothing a hand over her gray dresssuit.
“It’s fine, George. It’s fine. We’ll have the copyright department go over the rights and we’ll be in touch with the lawyers. Stop worrying!” She slammed the receiver down on the phone base and sighed. “Since when have men become such divas? What do you need.” She wasn’t even looking at me when she grabbed a stack of papers and started thumbing throughthem.
“I, uh...” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I need to take some timeoff.”
She laughed, still thumbing through the papers. “Funny. What do youneed?”
“Three daysoff.”
Her eyes fluttered shut on an agitated groan. She slammed her hand over the papers before glancing up with one of her signature fake smiles. “You can have three days off when the tour is over in, oh…”—she checked her computer and squinted—“threemonths.”
“Debra, just threedays.”
“You’re serious?” She glared at me without saying a word for a good two minutes, every once and a while drumming her manicured nails on the desk. “You’ve lost your mind.” She tossed her hands into the air. “That is the only thing I can thinkof.”
“I’m asking for threedays!”
“In the middle of atour.”
“Actually, it’s more like the tailend…”
Her nostrils flared like a bull and her entire body shook. “You can’t just…”—she frantically waved her hands around—“flit off whenever youwant.”
I sunk down into the chair and groaned. “It’s anemergency.”
