The Best Deceptions (Want You Bad sequel)

Chapter 15

"Hey guys!" I answered the video call with a wave. "I hope you don't mind my assistant crashing our meeting," I gestured to where Levi was nestled against my chest in a baby wrap.

Rick chuckled and shook his head. "I didn't even expect you to agree to a conference call. When my kids were little, I wouldn't have gone to any."

Tammy had a warm smile on her face. "It won't take long, Nat. How are you finding motherhood?"

I smiled down at my sleeping baby before looking back at the faces on the screen. "Honestly, it's exhausting, but it feels right?" I shrugged. "Like, I feel like I know what I'm doing, which is new for me." They chuckled. "My mom has been staying here, and so has Louis, so I've got some help. I just didn't know I could love anyone as much as I love my little gummy bear."

Tammy quirked an eyebrow. "Speaking of Louis, do you know how hard you have made my job this past month? Announcing that you had a baby on Instagram after keeping the entire pregnancy a secret? You couldn't give me even a little bit of a head's up? Especially since your baby's father is Louis? Honestly, Natalie, I am earning my paycheck lately."

I made a face and tried not to laugh. "I was under the impression that this meeting was about my album sales."

Rick snorted a laugh. "I told you she wouldn't talk about it, Tam."

I stuck my tongue out. "I'm just trying to stick to the agenda; there's a metaphorical time bomb sleeping on me right now."

Tammy shook her head with a slight smirk. "This isn't over, Miss Reed," she said in a teasing tone.

Rick cleared his throat. "Alright, so, like you said, Natalie, this is about your album sales. Have you been keeping up with them?"

"Um, Rick, with all due respect, no," I chuckled. "We dropped it on New Years Day. I was focused on being pregnant. And once Levi was born, the album honestly didn't really cross my mind."

"Well, I'm just going to cut to the chase. It's not looking great. The label is very underwhelmed by the number of sales. So much so that they have opted out of sending you on tour."

"Oh, okay."

Tammy sputtered. "That's your response?!"

I shrugged. "I mean, the fans are used to Silent Playground's sound. I put out an album with a singer/songwriter feel to it. It's different. People don't like different. I made the album I wanted to make, and I'm happy with it. The world just, apparently, isn't." I adjusted the bun on top of my head. "Plus, we already talked about how a tour was out of the cards anyway."

They sat quietly for a few moments before Rick spoke again. "Okay. Well, that's all that I needed to talk to you about. I'll make sure to forward you any further correspondence on the matter."

Tammy looked at her watch and grinned at me. "Since that's taken care of, can I please ask you some questions on the publicity side?"

I grimaced. "I would rather not." I bit my lip. "I honestly haven't been on social media since I made the announcement about Levi. I don't wanna see all the bad things people are saying."

Tammy frowned and made a sympathetic noise. "Sweetheart, it's mostly positive. Mostly things about how happy you look. There are a lot of questions, though, obviously, and people are getting frustrated."

I sighed. "That makes sense." I felt Levi moving against my chest and looked down to see him stretching in his sleep. "I'll get on Twitter soon and try and answer questions."

"Okay. In the meantime, I could release a statement if you wanted?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Just something that says Louis and I are co-parenting, thank everyone for their well wishes and love, and that I have honestly never been happier with my life."