The Darkest Days

19. Ready, Set, Fly

Vanessa groaned in her sleep and slammed her hand on her nightstand to silent her ringing phone.

She had barely drifted off to sleep when it rang again.

Furious, she sat up. "What in the seven hells-" she picked it up. "What do you want, Audrey?"

"You have to fly down here. I mean, to Santiago."

Vanessa yawned. "Look, I was up all night last night, I'm trying to take a nap. Leaving everything to come meet you is the last thing a sleepy girl like me would do."

"V, wake up! Stop dreaming in your head and start living them here!"

"What? And why Santiago? I thought you were in Peru for two more days?"

Audrey proceeded to explain her the scenario.

"So to set it all up, I talked to Kit and scheduled next week. At that time, I'll be in Santiago."

Sleep had left Vanessa's mind. This was not even an opportunity knocking at her door, this was the said opportunity breaking in through the door, gathering her up in its arms and hugging her tight.

"I-I don't think we should rush it.. um, maybe there's a loophole or something-"

"There's not. I've thought it through."

"What about that girl, Lily? I'd be snatching up her career deal."

"I didn't bother to ask the details but from what I've been told by Kit, she's not holding her ends of the deal. She's already trying to violate the contract and is not doing what she's asked to."

"Violation of a contract?"

"Yep, once they have another contract signed and are guaranteed of a stable artist, they'd sue her."

"How old is she?"

"I think around my age, twenty."

"But- but what if I'm not what she is? They want a replacement so someone who's like her, right?"

"Vanessa, don't even try to underestimate yourself. Monica F*cking Heart heard your ten second clip and it got so deep in her mind that when asked, yours was the first name in her mind."

Vanessa felt shivers all over her body as her heart felt so light that she thought it had dissolved into her blood.

Audrey continued, "and didn't you just say a couple days back, that you wanna do something big? V, dropping out of college and going on the tour was the biggest but best decision ever of my life. I'm not stressing about money, well, not at least as much as I used to."

Vanessa chuckled, her mind running a million miles an hour.

"Travelling helps you live your life. Sometimes, it makes you sad and lonely, I know. But I'd choose this every time. Doing this, will help mom and maybe the problems at home you speak about will resolve. Jake and Kylie will finally have normal home environments. It'll also prove that a**hole ex of yours what you're worth and all those kids who laugh at you for your passion? They'll know that seriousness in your passion lands you someplace big. So big."

"They don't laugh," Vanessa rolled her eyes playfully, "ever since our break up, they just don't approve me and my singing anymore."

"My words hit home and you know it."

They really had. Everything that bothered Vanessa was answerable with this. Again, an opportunity exactly how she needed, coming over and hugging her.

"It's not a topic of debate," she chuckled. "I just, I don't believe it. I mean, how does one even say no to that?"

"See? I told you you shouldn't give up and keep practicing. One might say I had it all predicted."