Happily Ever After

Cadeau Johnson started at the sudden voice, her blue eyes darting to the woman standing in the living room entrance. She knew her, recognized her immediately even with the change in hair color. Sage Monroe, lead guitarist of Say Goodbye, the woman who spoke about the abuse she faced as a child, the helping hand to all her fans. She appeared taller in person than in the interviews and posters Cadeau had seen, but she was no less beautiful, no less perfect.

The minor disagreement between the Young twins and Blake disrupted, silence fell over the group, Saylor’s hums like cricket chirps in the stillness. Awkward. No one said anything for a moment, Cadeau stuck in awe of meeting another member of the Say Goodbye and the rest seeming shocked at Sage’s appearance.

She hadn’t made much, if any, noise walking into the home.

“Your hair is blue,” Hayden gushed, shattering the silence.

He darted across the room, excitement overwhelming him, and caught Sage in a hug, the impact causing her to grunt. She struggled in his grip, wiggled in an attempt to shake him. Her lips twisted in a scowl, irritation brewing in her hazel eyes.

“Get off me,” she demanded.

“We could be twins,” Hayden continued, ignoring her. He glared at his biological twin. “I’m replacing you.”

“Fine,” Hunter said, his calm tone a drastic contrast from his brother’s enthusiastic behavior. “I want my face back.”

Hayden opened his mouth to retort, no doubt to say something incredibly nonsensical, but he was shoved to the ground, his vice grip on Sage broken, before a word could pass his lips. Sprawled on the hardwood floor, he stared up at her, jaw hanging. As if his inane behavior never drove his band mates to shove him out of the way. Sage glared at him, and he didn’t flinch under the harsh gaze, didn’t cower in fear of her wrath, just maintained his appalled expression. Her cold eyes turned to Cadeau. The harsh assessment shattered her star struck state. She fidgeted, ran a hand through her hair, resisted the urge to grab her compact out of her purse and check her makeup. She wanted Sage to like her. She did. Sage’s opinion of her was crucial to her time part of the Say Goodbye team.

Oh, God, why didn’t she wear longer shorts, a nicer shirt, something better?

Sage looked at Blake, not appearing any friendlier than she had the moment she walked in. “Does Saylor know you’re bringing groupies to the house?”

Ouch. Groupie. Cadeau didn’t think she looked that bad.

“She’s,” Blake hesitated, “not a groupie.”

Not a groupie. She was more than “not a groupie,” and for Blake not to introduce her by her official place in the band hurt. She thought she held some importance. Enough to be introduced properly.

But she caught sight of Blake’s stiff back, tense shoulders, the nervous twitch to her smile, actions that reminded her of a child attempting to hide a bad deed from their parent. Something about introducing her to Sage made her uncomfortable, so uncomfortable she was prolonging the admission of her title.

“Who is she, then?”

“Sage,” Blake paused, walking across the living room to stand next to Cadeau. Presumably to buy herself time. “This is Cadeau Johnson, our new drummer.”

Silence. Deafening, anxiety-filled silence. And then, Sage laughed. A pretty laugh that Cadeau would have appreciated had she not been in front a one-woman firing squad.

“I’m sorry,” Sage said, her laughter subsiding. “I thought I heard you say we had a new drummer.”

“I did.”

Her smile began to fall, amusement shifting to confusion. “You’re kidding.”

“No.”

No one told Sage the replacement drummer had been picked. A shocking revelation but her reaction to Cadeau’s presence made sense. She was a stranger. She had seen enough interviews to know Sage was not inclined to be friendly to people she didn’t know, unless they were obvious fans, and someone intruding on band practice, her territory, was definitely not welcome. Regardless of Cadeau’s legitimate reason for being there, the very reason Sage hadn’t been informed of.

She supposed nothing she knew about soothing grumpy children would keep Sage from attacking her.

“You picked a new drummer while I was gone?” Sage asked.

“Maybe,” Blake said, fright forcing a higher pitch to her voice.

Looked like Cadeau wasn’t the only one afraid of being attacked.

“I don’t fucking believe this.”

Sage’s elegant hands resembled claws, long nails becoming more a hazard to those in her line of fire. Blake the first victim and Cadeau second, simply for existing. She eyed the tense jaw. Behind the scowling mouth, she feared Sage’s teeth may have elongated into razor-sharp, canine blades. All the better to eat them with.

“Look, Reese—”

“I’ve only been gone for a month,” Sage snapped, ending Blake’s attempt to explain.

“I know—”

“And you decided to hold auditions while I was gone? You didn’t think that, maybe, you should have included me in the decision? What the hell is wrong with you?”

She wasn’t yelling, not quite. Her voice had risen to a level that shouldn’t have been terrifying, nor intimidating, but it was just that.

“We didn’t hold auditions,” Blake said.

They hadn’t. Cadeau’s “audition process” was coming to practice and working with Reese. She hadn’t needed an audition. Not because she was a world renowned drummer. Hardly. The students she taught loved her, the customers she encountered at the music store she worked for enjoyed her impromptu performances, but that was as far as her fan base extended.

She knew Reese from high school, had been in his friend circle, still talked to him on a regular basis. He and his wife had been her rock during her darkest times. And when he came to her asking for a favor, she felt she owed him. There had been no audition. Reese knew she could play, felt it best to avoid bringing a complete stranger into their band, so she became his first pick to replace him. His only pick.

But she didn’t think telling Sage she hadn’t auditioned, without some follow-up explanation, would earn her friendship.

Sage’s laugh was harsh, taunting. “Did you pick her because she was pretty? You saw her walking down the street with her chest hanging out and stopped thinking straight? I bet she doesn’t know what a drum set is.”

Excuse her?

“My chest is not hanging out,” Cadeau blurted.

She had enough respect for herself not to walk around exposing her breasts. Maybe a respectable hint of cleavage but nothing more. She had to be a role model for the children looking up to her, both those related to her and her students, and for Sage to insinuate she lacked enough class to walk around clothed infuriated her.

“Shut up, Barbie.”

Barbie? Was that the best she could do? Cadeau had been called worse in high school and at work, though her coworkers never meant anything more than friendly teasing behind the names. She didn’t fit into the rocker, grungy, starving musician stereotype. She didn’t want to. In fact, Barbie was a compliment.

Cadeau was prepared to stoop to Sage’s level and make a childish declaration about Barbie being her idol, something she knew would fuel her anger, but the perceived insult broke through Blake’s terror.

“Sage, stop it,” Blake said, voice firm, parent-like reprimand coloring her words. “Reese recommended her, she’s here to stay. If you don’t like it, tough. Quit being a bitch.”

Sage glared at her, mouth a tight line, then turned on her heels and stormed from the room. To the kitchen, where Saylor would catch the end of her unnecessary rage. Poor Saylor, Cadeau liked her.

Silence followed Sage’s dramatic exit. The one-woman firing squad gone, Cadeau relaxed, her thoughts no longer focused on pissing Sage off further. She had no right to consider doing so. Sage was upset over a change in her environment. Her empty insults weren’t worth skewering her over. Cadeau needed to help her through the change. After she took a moment to get over her melt down. Like she would for any child. Not return her attacks.

“That went well,” Hunter said, smiling in amusement.

He enjoyed people’s pain far too much to be normal.

Blake sighed and looked at Cadeau, remorse swimming in her blue eyes. “I’m sorry about Sage. She doesn’t handle new people well.”

“That’s okay,” Cadeau returned.

It was. Sage hadn’t hurt her, she’d live, things would be okay. Her place in Say Goodbye may have been threatened by Sage’s problems, but she had been supporting her family for years and she’d continue to do so, no matter what happened.

She’d overcome far worse in her life. Some woman hating her was nothing.

“What are you talking about?” Hunter asked. “I think Sage likes her.”

“She’s already plotting your murder,” Hayden said.

“She won’t murder you,” Blake said.

“Just maim you,” Hunter mumbled, earning a chuckle from his twin.

Blake shot him a look. “You’re going to scare her away.”

“Yeah, Hunt,” Hayden said, “don’t be such a jerk.”

“Only if you stop being an idiot first,” he countered.

Ignoring the argument beginning between the pair, Blake rested a hand on Cadeau’s shoulder. “We need you, okay? Sage will come around. Give her time.”