Edward dropped some money on the table and took her hand, heading out the back door. “I scooted out this way as a kid when I was drinking beer at eighteen.”
Out back, they found a larger crowd of media had gathered in the alley behind the restaurant. Edward pushed people out of his way as he tried to navigate to the car.
“Somehow they found out where I was, a photo or something. I only told my publicist where I was so she wouldn’t worry, but she wouldn’t tell anyone. Dammit, I didn’t want this to happen.” The flashes looked like strobe lights. A few people pushed against them, but Ami held Edward’s hand tightly.
“Ami is this your new boyfriend?”
“Were you kidnapped?”
“Did aliens abduct you?”
“Ami, Ami…Look this way.”
The questions hit her like a barrage of words scrambled together.
Edward just wanted to get her out of there. They found his car, but he was completely blocked in. He looked at Ami. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m sorry, Edward. So sorry.” Her eyes began to well up with tears. “This was the one part of my life that I wanted to get away from.”
“Ami, it’s Martin, come this way.” He pushed through the crowd and grabbed Ami’s shoulder.
“Edward, Martin is my manager. Let me…” She was yanked from Edward as his hand reached out for her.
“Ami?” he yelled while the photographers turned their attention to him, flashing lights and asking him the same insensitive questions they were asking her. He shielded his eyes from them. “Get the fuck out of my face.”
When the flashes stopped, he saw Ami climbing into the back of a stretch limo with people chasing after her trying to get another photo.
And just like that, she was gone.
Chapter Seven
Ami called and talked to Edward as much as possible but her commitments were vast and overwhelming. Every second seemed to be accounted for. Her sleep was limite
d to a few hours here and there. The weeks turned to months, and that little magic space in time seemed to slowly fade into a memory.
All the guys in the band had been as happy to see her as she was to see them. She was the heart and voice of the music. She’d found clarity but it was slowly being pulled away again with the rigors of this lifestyle. They had families to fall back on—they knew she was basically alone.
She desperately missed the little piece of sanity she’d found with Edward. The short period of time where she could be herself and not the product she was forced to make people see. The relationship they’d had was just starting, and it had been cut off before she could possibly take it to the next level. As Ellen had said, it was a case of “What if?”
Bang bang bang.
“Come on Ami, we have a radio spot to get to after the show. Hurry the fuck up in there! You still have one more encore.”
Ami opened her eyes. Her heart was heavy and the roaring crowd called to her, pulling her back to the present, drowning out her wonderful memories.
She needed to share something with the people she cared for most. The thousands of her fans out there who came to see her perform and hear her words. She needed to tell them her feelings about actually finding someone real in this chaotic, fucked up existence of so-called stardom.
The house lights dimmed and when she walked on stage, the spotlight shone on her alone. She held up a hand, covering her eyes for a moment. The crowd roared, and she walked over to her piano on the stage.
“Thank you—please—thank you so much.” She smiled and stopped her band before they started playing the standard encore song, moving instead to the piano on one side of the stage.
“I was away for a while and appreciate all of you coming out for the start of the new leg of the tour.”
She sighed and thought for a second about what to say. “I wrote a new song, something nobody else has heard and I’d like to play it for you all tonight if that’s okay.”
The crowd erupted in applause and shouts. “We love you” was a common shout by more than a few fans.
“I love you all too!” she shouted back to another uprising of yells. “I know a lot of you have met people in your life that touch your heart. Dear friends, family members or just a random person you meet by chance.”