When I had spoken with my publicity team earlier today—the team Kelsey is a part of—there had been no mention of this. She had been on that call but had remained silent, letting some of the higher-ups on the team take the lead and work on perfecting the PR statements. At the time, my head was still spinning, and I hadn’t thought too much of it, but now that she’s here sitting in front of me trembling, I suppose I should have.
Kelsey inhales a shaky breath and turns her tear-filled eyes to mine. “I want to start by saying that I’ve really loved working for you and getting to be a part of your team.”
“Kelsey—” I start, but she shakes her head, cutting me off.
Reaching into her bag, she pulls out my notebook, the exact same notebook I believed to be back in my condo in LA, stuffed among all of my other items I brought with me to my last recording session.
“What... how did you get this?” I ask, confused.
“When you were recording your last session in studio a few weeks ago, Callum approached me.” I frown. Kelsey is onmyteam, but I sometimes forget that she has ties with Silver Shadows as well. “I didn’t really think anything of it, at first. He was talking to me about this and that, trying to get a feel for our current PR ideas and what not. But then he turned things around on me.”
“What did he want?”
“He played me.” She shakes her head, her tone growing hard, as if she’s berating herself inside. “He told me you had discussed a song that you wanted to run by him, and that you told him you’d give him your notebook to review it.”
My blood runs cold. So my songwasstolen right out of my notebook. Hayes comes back to the living room and sets down the glasses of water on the table in front of us before perching on the arm of the couch, hovering above me protectively.
“He told me you probably got sidetracked with recording and forgot to give it to me. I should’ve been more cognizant, especially when you explicitly asked me to put the notebook in your bag. If you had really meant to share it with him, you would have told me to give it to him, or told him where to find it. Or given it to him personally.” Kelsey squeezes her eyes shut. “Things have been so busy, and I’ve been so overwhelmed that I haven’t been sleeping—so I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
I reach over and grab Kelsey’s hand. Despite it all, I’m sympathetic toward her. Kelsey and I have worked together for years now. I have no doubt she wouldn’t hurt me with malicious intent.
“You gave him my notebook?” I ask her, even though I know by now that she did.
She looks regretful. “I did. I promise I put it in your bag when you asked me to, but then Callum asked me to give it to him, and so I did. I took it back out of the bag and handed it to him while you were busy talking with Bethany.”
I draw in a deep breath and roll my lips together. Kelsey bows her head, ashamed, and picks at her fingernails. The truth falls between us like a barbed wire. Both of us unsure how to move forward now.
Inside, I’m a mess, my head reeling with the implications of what she’s saying.Shetook my notebook with my lyrics in it and delivered it to Callum personally. While I was in thesameroom. I should’ve known it would be someone close to me professionally. My stomach sours and I wonder if I might throw up again, only this time with disgust at myself. Here, I thought Hayes betrayed me like that.
Before I can fall into a full-blown regret spiral, Periwinkle peeks around the edge of the couch.
The Shih Tzu notices Kelsey and saunters up to her, tags jingling with every step. She nudges Kelsey’s leg, grabbing her attention. Kelsey reaches down and rubs at her ears. I get up from my seat and go over to Peri, scooping her up and setting her on the couch right next to Kelsey so she can pet her better.
“She’s cute,” she murmurs, rubbing the little dog, who is eating the attention up and grunting like a guinea pig.
“Let me get this straight,” Hayes interrupts. His voice is level, but I catch the hint of annoyance at the situation. I’m sure it’s frustrating to him that she’s sitting here, petting his dog like shedidn’t just stab me in the back. “Instead of asking her to confirm Cal’s story, while she was right there, you went ahead and went through her things until you found herprivatejournal, which she asked you to put in her bag, and then gave it to Callum. Knowing that things between the two of them are what they are.”
Kelsey blinks a few times under Hayes’s scrutiny. Her eyes well up again with tears, but she fights them back. Her gaze cuts to mine, and she nods, not hiding anymore. “Yes, I’m so, so sorry. Jersey. I had no idea it was because he was planning on stealing from you. I wouldn’t have if I had known, I promise.”
“I’m not sure what to say,” I tell her, truthfully.
“I know there’s not much I can do at this point. It’s too late. But it was really important to me that you knew what happened. That it was my fault.”
I pause for a second, still overthinking everything. I turn to Hayes, only to find his eyes already on me. His eyes narrow a smidge, as if he’s trying to read what’s going on in my head. When he finds whatever he’s looking for, his chin dips slightly in acknowledgment. As much as I want to rage and cry and wreck everything, I can’t. Kelsey is a victim here too.
My voice is level as I say, “It was your fault... but it was also Cal’s. He tricked you, knowing that you respect him and his instructions, and you’d do what he asked without question. He took advantage of you, Kelsey.” I take a deep sigh.
“I’ll have to tell your bosses,” I continue, keeping my voice even. “From that point, it’s out of my hands. I don’t know what they’ll do with the situation from there.”
“I understand,” she whispers. A tear sneaks out of the corner of her eye and she is quick to wipe it away. “I’m the one to blame. I should be fired for this.”
Despite everything, I have nothing but sympathy for Kelsey. Maybe it’s seeing how she’s sitting in front of me, looking sodejected. I can see the self-loathing rolling off her in waves, and that breaks my heart.
She made a mistake, at my expense, but she is still a good person.
“Come here,” I say, reaching for her. Kelsey comes willingly and falls into my arms. I hold her tightly, hugging her and rocking her back and forth.
“I’m so sorry, Jersey. I never wanted to hurt you.” Her voice breaks off at the end and her shoulders shudder with a sob that she’s trying to control.
