Page 34 of Every Shattered Note
Uninvited.
Unshakable.
Every time I close my eyes, I hear him.That stripped-down version of “At Last,” the way he bent it into something new—something that found a place in my ribs and hasn’t left since.
I drag my gaze back to the clipboard in my lap, scanning the half-crumpled to-do list.Notes spiral into the margins—times, names, desperate arrows circling blank spaces.The panic is everywhere, inked into every line like it knew I’d be back here, trying to will myself into control.
This has to happen.
There’s no safety net.No backup band hiding in the wings.I square my shoulders, shove down the nerves, and rise.The room tilts slightly—too much caffeine, not enough food, too many problems—but I push through.I’m a professional.I’ve built entire weddings from the ashes of cold feet and forgotten vows.
I can do this.
My bare feet slap against the hardwood as I cross to the bookshelf where my laptop lives, shoved between a box of place cards and a roll of satin ribbon I keep forgetting to reorder.
I pull it out, plug it in, and crack my knuckles.
One email.One name.One leap I’m not sure I’ll survive.
ChapterThirteen
Private Message | EchoZone Internal Chat
From: AlyEuphoriaEvents
To: MustLoveMusic
Date: February 21st, 2001 9:14 PM
Subject: Demo Request
Hi Rafe,
We’ve got a last-minute opening for a gala this Friday.I need to lock down the music ASAP.
Any chance you can drop off your demo tonight?
Let me know.
—Aly
ChapterFourteen
EchoZone – Private Message Thread
February 21,2001 8:07 PM
MustLoveMusic:I could drop it tomorrow, but you might want to send me your address.I’m a musician, not a magician.
AlyEuphoriaEvents:Cute and sorry, you’re right.What was I thinking?
MustLoveMusic:Hard to say.But you seem like someone currently on the edge of losing her shit.Professionally speaking, of course.
AlyEuphoriaEvents:Yeah, things are unraveling.I forgot to check this week’s events.Got so caught up replacing the ones who bailed, that I didn’t realize we were short a headliner until tonight.I’m hanging on by tape and prayer.
MustLoveMusic:Any other musical fires I should prepare to put out?Aside from this Friday?
AlyEuphoriaEvents:Saturday’s a string quartet.There’s nothing on Sunday.Which is good because maybe I’ll sleep.But bad because we needed one more event to hit our February numbers.
