Chasing Melody
Erin Cristofoli
Copyright © 2020 Erin Cristofoli
All rights reserved
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, any event, occurrence, or incident is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created and thought up from the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.
Cover Design & Formatting:
Red Umbrella Graphic Designs
Editing:
Schwartz Fiction Edits
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Erin Cristofoli
About the Author
For Chantelle,
My sister and friend.
For the memories we’ve shared as children
too numerous to list,
And for the memories we make now as grown women.
I hope our kids grow up loving each other and having the kinds of memories we have shared together.
Love you.
Chapter One
Elle
Standing in front of the little vanity mirror in the bathroom, I applied the finishing touches to my face, feeling a bit on edge. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had been too nervous about a potential job that I’d been unable to sleep. In fact, I’d spent a good portion of the night sitting up on the couch, going over and over in my head all of the good things I could say about myself. If I hadn’t been worried about disturbing my best friend, Mark, who was asleep in the next room, I probably would have paced the floor. With a glance at my phone, I knew I had better get going.
“You can do this, you are going to rock this,” I told myself, trying to boost my confidence as I looked myself over one last time in the floor length mirror by the front door before heading outside to catch a bus.
The details of the job that I was interviewing for had been pretty vague, which might have scared off most people. However, I wasn’t most people. When you’ve run out of options for work and you’ve taken all your friends up on their offers of hospitality so that you don’t starve, eventually shame and guilt force you to be ready to take on just about anything. When Mark had forwarded me an email that he’d received from a friend, I was determined to make myself seem irresistible.
As my appointment time approached, my manufactured confidence began to waver with each step. I slowed my pace, the address I had been directed to go to was just ahead. The building wasn’t much to look at – just a plain grey stucco with no other identifying signs, except for mirrored windows and a buzzer to the right of the door. With a deep breath, I pushed the button.
“Yes?” a deep voice responded immediately.
“Oh hi, I’m here to see Claire.”
“Name please.”
“Uh, it’s Elle. I’m a little early.”
I received no reply. I looked around, confused. Did I say something wrong? A small click alerted me that I’d been granted access and I entered the building into a dark hallway. I stood rooted to the floor until I saw a petite woman with a warm smile approaching me from the end of the hall.
“Mel? I’m Claire, we spoke via email.”
I smiled brightly, hoping that my nerves didn’t show through. “Please, call me Elle. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet me.”
I followed her as she returned the way she had come.
“So how do you know Mark?” she asked.
“He’s one of my best friends,” I explained.
“Ah, well I’m sorry I wasn’t able to give you a more detailed description of the job at the time.”
She turned off to her right where the door was open to a small office where we sat down.
“I’ll need you to fill out a non-disclosure agreement before we can get into any of the details.”
“An NDA? What on earth did Mark throw me into?”
My eyes widened and I shot a hand to my mouth, but it was too late, I’d say that all out loud.
“I’m so sorry, I’m just a little nervous.”
Claire smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, I assure you, Mark did nothing but speak highly of you. The agreement is just to ensure everyone’s privacy.”
While I was a little surprised by this document right off the bat, I nodded and scribbled my signature on the paper.
While Claire was taking care of the clerical portion and making copies of the document on a small printer behind her, I took the time to take a further look around. The walls everywhere I could see had been a dark charcoal grey. There were a few unmarked doors and a few glass windows but their interiors had been blacked out so there really wasn’t anything to go on to figure out what this building was used for. Finally curiosity got the better of me and so I asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what is this place?”
“It’s a recording studio,” Claire laughed, “not that you would be able to tell from the outside. But privacy is of the utmost importance to the owner and anyone that he lets use the facility. No one wants a lot of fan fare while they are trying to focus on their music. So, let’s get down to the details, shall we? You will be working for Chase Brighton.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. Superstar Chase Brighton? “I’m not sure what job I could possibly do for him. Does he need a secretary for the studio or something?” I stated feeling slightly confused.
“Well, you wouldn’t be providing services for Chase per se, you’d be looking after his daughter. For your reaction, you didn’t seem all that excited when I said Chase’s name.”
I shrugged. “Should I? He’s just another celebrity.”
Claire studied me a moment. “Huh. Most women would fall at his feet.”
Rolling my eyes, I replied. “Well I’m not like most women who lose their mind over someone’s fame. Fame can lead to a big ego and I’m no ego-stroker. I definitely don’t have any kind of ridiculous crush on Chase Brighton.”
She seemed satisfied by my response. “Good, because I need this to work out. So as I said, you would be taking care of Chase’s three year old daughter, Ivy. We’re going on tour, you see, and he wouldn’t agree to go unless she came with us.”
“That’s understandable. So I would be babysitting her.”
Claire nodded. “More like a live-in nanny.”
“Wait a minute, do you mean I would be going on tour too?”
“Yep, that’s the job.”
I leaned back in my chair and let out a breath. “Wow that is a lot to take in.”
“Look, Mark said some wonderful things and told me that you would be up for just about anything. Mor
e importantly, you are the first woman in a long time that hasn’t practically fainted after hearing his name.”
I sighed. “In all honesty, I need this job more than I can express. There would be no risk of my screwing it up by getting doe-eyed just because he is famous.”
She clapped her hands together with a grin. “Excellent. One last question, is your passport up to date? All of our tour dates aside from three here in Canada are in the States.”
I nodded. “It’s good for another seven years.”
“Good. There will be a bit more paperwork to fill out, but first let me take you on a tour of the studio and then I’ll show you where you will be living for the next couple of months, and of course you should meet Chase at some point before you leave.”
We walked down the hall a little way before peeking into the first room, and it was just like everything I had seen in the movies, half the room filled with a soundboard and recording equipment and the second half of the room, being separated with glass, had a piano and some microphones set up. We carried on to a large metal door which led us to the back of the building where there was a fenced in compound where three overwhelmingly large black buses stood. Claire paused and with a flourish of her hand declared, “These are the tour buses!”
I laughed at her enthusiasm. “They sure are.”
“Don’t you worry, they are all pretty fabulous inside. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Before we could take another step, a deliciously husky voice behind us said, “And who do we have here?” The rich sound sent a shiver through me and I knew who it was – Chase Brighton.
“Ah, there you are,” she said cheerily. “I would like you to meet your new nanny, Mel, er sorry… Elle.”
I turned and blinked, adjusting to the sun in my eyes. Chase Brighton leaned leisurely against the wall, one foot propped up and his muscled arms crossed across his chest. The scruff on his face was thicker and even sexier than what he normally wore, his full lips looking good enough to kiss. The sun was shining down on his dishevelled hair, and for the life of me, I don’t know why but it reminded me of the rich colour of my grandma’s pecan pie. God I missed her. I wondered what she would say about all of this.
I blinked and came out of my thoughts, Chase still watching me. I couldn’t deny how his sexiness seemed to roll off of him, and I could see why women fell at his feet. Except I wouldn’t be one of them if I wanted to keep this job, I would be the exception. With a small smile I spoke up. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Brighton.”
“This is who you found to watch my daughter? Claire I told you we don’t need anyone else.”
I was a little offended by his tone. She sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “Listen here, pal. You can think that if you want, but I am your manager, not your babysitter. You know I love Ivy as if she were my own, but this tour is important for your career and I can’t effectively take care of my managerial duties if I’m watching Ivy as well. You knew I was going to find someone, and now I have.”
He grunted with clear displeasure, then pushed himself away from the wall and approached me. “What do you know about her anyway?” he asked as if I weren’t standing right in front of him. Then his eyes locked on mine. “Admit it, you just want a chance to get close to the famous Chase Brighton, don’t you?” he asked snidely.
I scoffed. “You think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you? Well I’m sorry, but you won’t get any bigger of a head with me around. I didn’t even know that this job had anything to do with you until about ten minutes ago.”
He smiled knowingly, and I returned his look with a scowl.
“Okay,” Claire interrupted, trying to break the tension that was growing. “I guess we can check out the buses some other time. Elle, why don’t we go back to my office and finish up the paperwork.”
With a nod, I turned to follow Claire. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Brighton.”
We didn’t wait to hear a response.
Once we were inside and out of earshot, Claire apologized. “I’m sorry for what happened out there, but you have to understand that he is really protective of his daughter. The paparazzi are ruthless, and he would love nothing more for her to grow up with some normalcy in her life.”
“I can’t blame him for that. I’m sorry, I probably didn’t give off a very good impression. But there was something about his assumption about me that really got under my skin. I hope I didn’t ruin my chance for the job.”
As we settled back in the office, she smiled with a wave of a hand.
“Don’t you worry. With time, he will warm up to the idea of you being around, you’ll see,” Claire said, pointing at a new stack of papers in her hand. “If you take a look here, I think you will be very happy with the financial compensation being offered. As I explained earlier, there are tour stops in both Canada and the United States. The tour runs for four months.”
“When does it start?”
“Buses roll out first thing Monday morning. I hope that isn’t a problem for you. “
“No, that’s fine,” I assured her, mentally calculating the countdown of days that I would be sleeping on Mark’s couch.
Claire handed me the contract. “Please give this a look over, the details of payment are all laid out on page two. I’m really glad that you are on board with this, Elle. I think it’s going to work out wonderfully.”
I laughed. “I appreciate your confidence, though I am still up in the air on that at the moment.” I flipped over the page and my eyes fell on the bottom line. “He’s paying me what?”
She smiled. “You will be taking care of the most important thing to him, Elle. That’s worth every penny – even if he doesn’t want to admit it right now. In addition, if you need any money for anything to do with Ivy, you just have to tell Chase or myself and we’ll take care of it. Okay?”
I nodded, still feeling stunned. I’d never made so much money before. It could help me pay off my debts and get me into an apartment of my own. But I didn’t want to get ahead of myself with dreaming, I didn’t have the money yet. The whole situation made me a little bit nervous. I flipped through the rest of the contract and then took the pen that Claire was holding up for me and signed on the bottom line.
Claire stood and pulled me to my feet and into a big hug. “I am so glad that you are joining our team. It’ll be nice to have another woman around. And as for Chase, give him a little time.”
I nodded. “For me, it’s ultimately about Ivy. As long as I can take care of her, I don’t need Chase to like me.”
She walked me back to the front door and we said good-bye. I walked for a half a block before I let out a squeal of excitement. I’d finally found a job and I sure as hell planned on keeping it.
Chapter Two
Elle
Bright and early Monday morning, I arrived at the music studio, nervously ready to take on this new challenge.
The security guard at the front entrance waved me along, and as I stepped from the back of the dimly lit building with my suitcase in hand, the bright sunshine momentarily blinded me.
“Good morning, Elle!” Claire greeted me warmly as she approached with a beautiful little blond girl resting on her waist. “Are you all ready to go?”
I nodded. “As ready as I can be, I think.”
She laughed lightly. “I’ll admit, I had been wondering if you might change your mind after our first meeting, but I’m glad you decided to join us. I’m very rarely wrong about a person and I happen to think you are going to fit in perfectly with our gang. This little sweetie is Ivy,” she said, gesturing to the little girl in her arms. “I’m sure you will get all settled in together in no time.”
Ivy looked up at me for a moment. I offered her a smile and it was as if that was all she needed to accept me; opening up her arms, she leaned towards me. I scooped her up into my arms and she hugged me close. My heart instantly melted.
Claire grinned. “Well, that didn’t take long. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest
of the band. Let me take your suitcase for you.”
Chase stood outside of the buses with three other guys, his eyes locked onto me as we approached, no doubt watching as I held his precious daughter in my arms. Ivy was content, playing with a strand of my hair.
“Who’s this?” one of the men asked, pulling Claire close and giving her a peck on the cheek.
“Elle, this is Stixx, my boyfriend – he plays drums. That’s Brant, he plays base. Ewan plays guitar, and of course, you have already met Chase. Everyone, this is Elle. She’s going to be joining us on tour as Ivy’s nanny.”
“Welcome, sweetheart,” Brant said, grinning as he stepped forward, draping an arm around my shoulders. “I hope you’re ready for a whole lot of crazy, because this tour is going to be fucking mental.”
I looked over at Chase, his eyes narrowing slightly, a scowl resting across his features.
What was this Brant guy trying to do, get me fired before I’d even started? Turning my body so that little Ivy sat on my hip between us, he was forced to stop his arm.
“It’s nice to meet you all.”
“Hi, Daddy!” Ivy giggled.
His features softened into a loving smile. “Hi, sweetheart.”
I let Ivy down off my hip and watched as she walked over and hugged Chase’s leg.
“We’d better get moving,” he said, glancing up at us. “Come on, Ivy, let’s get on the bus.”
They walked away, hand in hand, until they disappeared around the side of the far bus.
Grabbing my suitcase back from Claire, I followed behind the rest of the band. When I turned to get on the bus with them, Claire stopped me with a hand on my forearm.
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