Losing My Mind

Chapter 40

They could sense that this live performance today was different. They wanted it to be easy, but it wasn't. Ryleigh was aware of Blake's mistake, but his song and performance shouldn't be made accountable. He wrote a good piece about how his father raised him alone.

Ryleigh played third, and her song was a success. She received more applause from the audience and maintained her composure on stage. The feedback from the judges was tremendous, and they empathised with the deep emotional connection.

Jayden went next, and then Blake. The crowd completely turned and began to boo hysterically. Still, he performed as they all watched backstage in the green room.

Despite the judges' moderate comments, the audience became so silent that you could hear a pin drop. He left the stage and never came back to the green room. If Ryleigh was being booed at, she probably never performed and thought that was brave of him.

The last performer, Rory, had a clean, sharp voice without a misplaced note. Each word he sang had a sense of his suffering; you could tell it hurt him dearly to sing it.

Coming back on stage for the results, Blake was there but didn't say anything to anyone, and he became the next one to leave. Excessive booing and cheering were heard from the audience as he left. After the evening ended, Blake chose to leave that night with no farewell party - it wasn't worth it in his eyes.

'That was a tough night.' Elliot spoke while they all lay on the sofa.

'Yeah, it wasn't an easy one.' Ester said.

Ryleigh slumped back, staring into space with Rory next to her. He wondered what she was thinking, and she caught him.

'I felt sorry for him.' Ryleigh quietly said, 'He shouldn't have that from the crowd.'

'It's not just about what you do on stage. It's off-stage too.' Rory said to her. She heaved a heavy sigh as she put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

She felt movement at some point throughout the night and heard someone telling her to go to bed. Rory allowed her to sleep on him. He also dozed off but woke up feeling uncomfortable in the empty, dark living room. He did consider whether they could get cosy laying on the sofa together as she slept peacefully, but he decided against it.

It's been a long time since Rory had ever had a girl on his mind this long that it hurts every time she's not around. He had a different feeling when he met his ex-wife, Stacie.

When he was in a band doing small bars, she was working at the bar while he was performing. Even if he was high and drunk, he locked eyes with her and couldn't resist her smile. So that evening, he made sure to get Stacie to spend the whole night talking, and he said to her, "When I finish my tour, pack your bags. You're coming with me." So she did, and he became a husband and dad.

Rory was disturbed by the pressure Stacie went through when he was arrested but resented finding out she cheated on him. It concerned him deeply whether Layla was his and paid for a private DNA test. Even if she wasn't, he would've wanted to be in her life. Luckily, the results came back positive. While he was in prison, she filed the divorce papers and for him to give away custody of his child, but he refused.

Rory's mother helped out find a way to keep his daughter in his life, and he hated the idea as he never had his dad around and didn't want Layla to suffer the sadness that dwells on him daily.

•·················•·················•

Ryleigh woke up feeling awful because she had woken up in the middle of the night, but she had no intention of going back to sleep. She checked her phone and saw a message from Kelsie,

"Thanks for letting Josh get a break for a bit. You want some lunch today? My treat xxx"

Ryleigh returned by saying she'll meet her after midday. The drama from this week was covered throughout the Tv show, and it was impossible to avoid it when it was making headlines all over the world. She even started to receive tweets from other artists taking her side, too, telling her she was inspirational and a true warrior.

She hasn't been at all disturbed by the famous aspect. She doesn't appear to be under any stress from tweeting and taking photos while also anticipating being attacked by trolls. Ryleigh has had one or two comments, but Kelsie seems to have it all under control. She's forever grateful for being around and thinks about what she could do to thank you for being her first friend here.

Ryleigh got a cab and met at a deli where she was told it was Kelsie's favourite. She never got to see Rory before she left, but Ester would tell him on her behalf. Sitting down at the diner, placing their order, Ryleigh just dived right into asking the most crucial question.

'How are you and Josh then?'

'It's going alright, we haven't made a move on each other yet, but we want to go steady and see what will happen. Plus, we don't want any other staff members being suspicious since Barry got fired.'

'Who's Barry?'

'Blakes PA.'

'Shit.'

'Yeah, a bit of a shock. I don't think it's his fault. Blake was a hard character to deal with.'

Ryleigh nodded. Their food arrived, and she bit into her meatball steak sandwich.

'Are you going to do anything about Rory then?' Kelsie threw a similar subject back to her.

'Like I said, it's not a good idea while we're in this competition.'

'What are you planning to do after this?'

Ryleigh swallowed the sandwich. She first planned to stay here, but the next day she decided to just return home and return to her job. She's been sitting on the fence for a while.

'I'm not sure, to be honest.'

'Well, if you stay here, I've had calls from different labels by their managers asking if you would like to be featured in their songs for their album. I've had loads of requests.'

Her eyes pop out. 'Wow, really? That's amazing!'

Kelsie nodded. 'I think you should stay here. Come live with me for a bit until you get your feet on the ground. What do you say?'

Kelsie liked having Ryleigh around and knew she just needed a nudge to get her going, that's what Josh did to her, and now she's paying it forward.

'Won't you and Josh will be moving in together by then?' Ryleigh teased.

'We're just trying dating at the minute. There is no need to rush this.'

'But you want me to do it with Rory?' She raised her eyebrows at her.

'No, but it's written all over your faces, and the fan base is picking it up. They even created a shipping name for it too.'

Ryleigh cringes, 'I don't think I want to know.'

'It's Rorleigh.' She moaned from it and red, bright red. 'It's cute. Go with it.'