MOON

08

"I get so sick of myself
Can't stop overthinking
I heard you're happy somewhere else
But I don't forget too well"

Renee finishes her last song of the night effortlessly like she always manages to do. It's been exactly a month since I started working for her and so far, it's amazing.

I snap a few photos of her audience as they absolutely lose their minds at her exit. I smile and laugh as I head backstage as well, Reneé meets me back there.

"Let me see a few photos!" She yells out as she basically chugs a bottle of water.

I stand next to her and tap through a couple of the photos. My personal favorite is one of the last ones I took of Reneé performing her song 'Too Well'.

"God, you're amazing! These are beautiful, Tatum!" Reneé praises me, causing my stomach to do flips.

I smile and let my camera hang around my neck, "You did great tonight, Reneé. It seems like you had a ton of fun out there."

"I did!" She laughs and wraps an arm around my shoulders so we can walk together. "What do you say we go out for a couple drinks? On me. I'm sure Alissa will wanna come too!"

Alissa Carrington. They're.. nice in their own way. They really only like Reneé. We met twice and honestly, I'm not sure I'm on their good side.

"I don't think I should.." I hesitate, not really wanting to go out with Alissa.

"Come on, it'll be so much fun!"

She doesn't give me any chance to object as we exit through the back door. I wrap an arm around her waist as we walk through the flashes of the paparazzi. Renee shields her face the best she can from the flashes but she's struggling, so I remove my sunglasses and put them over her eyes. "Better?"

"Much. Thank you, honey."

When we arrive at the bar, Alissa practically runs up to Reneé and lifts her out of my embrace and into theirs. They glare at me for a moment as Reneé giggles, unable to see our interaction.

"You did great tonight, babe." Alissa says into Renee's hair.

"Thank you!" Reneé pulls away from the hug and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the bar. I glance at Alissa and shrug with a smug expression on my face. I can almost see steam coming from their ears because of anger.

"Reneé, can I ask you something?"

"Go for it, I'm an open book."

We sit on two barstools. I face Reneé but she faces the bar, trying to get the bartender's attention.

"Is there something going on with you and Alissa?" I ask blandly.

Renee scoffs and shakes her head, "No. Well.. not anymore I should say." She orders two tequila shots from the bartender. "We had a.. fling for about a month. It was fun until the media turned it into something bigger. Alissa started getting more and more.. what's the word.. obsessive. They got more obsessive every day, letting the headlines get to their head."

Part of me feels relieved that they are no longer a thing, but I still have another question.

"Do they still like you?"

"I don't know. I made it pretty clear that I'm no longer interested in anything with them." She shrugs and takes the tequila shot like it was water, not having any reaction. She turns to me and leans forward, lifting the second shot to my lips. "Open up."

Renee stands up between my legs and grabs my throat, tilting my head back. I part my lips and she pours the shot into my mouth, I swallow all of it.

She stays standing in the spot for a moment before Alissa comes over and pulls Reneé against their body, almost as if they're protecting her. "Hey guys, how's everything over here?"

"Perfectly fine. Did you need something?" I ask, showing no emotion whatsoever.

"No, just coming to get a drink and ask Reneé to dance with me." Alissa shrugs. "Want to dance, sweetheart?"

"I'm okay, thanks for the offer though." Reneé pries herself out of their grasp and stands behind me, leaning against me slightly.

"I'll be over there if you need me." Alissa points over to the dance floor. I grimace at the sight of over 75 people all grinding against each other's sweaty bodies. Alissa takes their drink and leaves us.

"She won't." I mumble.

"What?" Reneé asks and leans her head closer so I can talk into her ear.

"Another shot." I say, Reneé smiles and orders four more tequila shots, two for each of us.