Fortune (Camren)

Chapter 10: I've got my work cut out for me

Since today is my b-day I thought I'd be nice and take the time to post something. Here ya go sorry for the wait but not really since I've been busy living life. Hugs, love and good vibes.

-X

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Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable." - Jane Austin

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"I promise if it sucks, we'll bail." Lucy turned to Carson on the front porch of Normani's  house. He looked dubious but nodded slightly and adjusted his black-rimmed glasses before wiping sweaty palms on the front of his shirt, and then he pressed the button on the doorbell.

The noise of the doorbell jarred the group in the kitchen out of their conversation, and Normani set her wine glass down on the counter and hurried to answer her door.

Dinah, busy munching on a carrot stick, turned to her boyfriend Siope. "I bet that is Lucy and Carson. Promise me you won't totally freak out on them. They're not here to give autographs."

He looked down at her, eyes wide and a hurt look on his face. "Can I help it if I love the band? Isn't it good that they have fans?"

Dinah leaned up and kissed his cheek, smiling indulgently around her mouthful of food. "It is. You're sweet."

Troy snickered from his place at Ally's side. "Don't feel bad, bro. I already got the 'talk'," His fingers were in the air making the sign of quotes, and Ally nudged him in the side to shut him up.

When Normani walked back into the kitchen, Lucy and Carson were following behind her. Camila moved quickly to greet them and introduce them to the members of the group they had yet to meet.

"Lucy and Carson, I'd like you to meet Dinah and Ally. You already know Taylor." They all shook hands, and Lucy eyed them shrewdly, remembering Lauren's description of the diminutive marketing guru and the bubbly talent scout. Then Camila gestured to the men. "And this is Troy, Ally's fiancé, and Siope, Dinah's boyfriend."

"No ring on my finger yet," Dinah groused with a teasing wink at Siope as he took in the band members with an awed expression.

Lucy laughed and barreled through the awkwardness of their first meeting with a command, "Well get me a drink, and let's get to know each other." As the group bantered back and forth, she decided she liked all the girls in their talent agency, even Normani whom she'd met at the door. Lauren was wrong about the lawyer; she was smart and sharply witty, and Lauren and Normani had disliking Taylor in common, as was clear from Normani's forced smiles and sideways glances at the girl. Taylor herself, however, was another matter entirely. Lucy watched her interactions with the people in the party, and the one word that came to mind was "calculating."

"Wait. So the roadie lost Craig's lucky drumsticks?"

Lucy giggled as she answered Ally's question. "Yeah. After the fuckwad showed them off to his cousin, he left them in the bar in Boston, never to be seen from again. Craig was so fucking pissed. When we told him what happened, he threw a cymbal. It's probably still stuck in that dressing room wall."

Siope looked like he was choking. "I play the drums. If I lost my drumsticks, I'd freak out too."

Dinah nodded vigorously, "It's true. He sleeps with them under his pillow."

Carson chuckled, the first real noise he'd made that night, "Craig does too. I think it must be a drummer thing."

Lucy looked up at him, "And what the fuck do you sleep with under yours? Sheet music?"