See You Later Broadway (Broadway Series Book 2)

by Melissa Baldwin

  With tears in my eyes, I hug both Liv and Miranda. I have no idea how this came about or what inspired them to do this for me. As much as I love performing, lately I’ve really found my voice through my songwriting. In recent years when aspects of my life have been difficult, I’ve been able to find clarity through my writing.

  I’m completely in a daze as I make my way backstage to collect my thoughts. Trevor is waiting for me when I get there.

  “Hi.”

  I give him a curious look and I can tell he’s had a few drinks.

  “Hey.”

  “I just wanted to tell you that you were amazing tonight. Gran would have loved your song. Thank you for that.”

  I smile faintly. “I appreciate you saying that.”

  He moves closer to me. “I know things are weird right now, and I’m not sure what went wrong between us.”

  Is he really going to do this right now? I’ve just had the most amazing few minutes of my life, complete with Zack rushing into the ballroom in the nick of time.

  Trevor kisses me gently on the cheek, and whispers in my ear, “I will give you the space you want for now or for as long as it takes. But we will find our way back to each other.”

  I close my eyes and shake it off. Trevor can think what he wants, but there’s only one person I want to see right now.

  ~*~*~

  As soon as Zack sees me, he jumps to his feet and holds his arms out. I run straight into his outstretched arms. He picks me up off the ground and spins me around.

  “I can’t believe you came all this way.”

  He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me in to kiss me right in front of my family.

  He puts me down gently. “It took a lot to get here, but seeing you perform that song was more than worth it.”

  He hands me the beautiful bouquet of roses I saw him holding when he came in.

  “Oh, look at this,” Mom slurs. She moves between us and pulls us in for a group hug. I guess Cassie was unsuccessful in limiting her drinks tonight. I can’t blame her, though, because I know she’s feeling really crappy.

  “Zack is quite a guy, good job, honey.”

  I cringe, but Zack is a very good sport.

  “Thank you for the compliment, Mrs. Forrester.”

  “I know Mother is looking down right now and she’s so proud of you,” she adds, fanning her face with her hands. She grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. I make my way around the table as my family members are hugging me and congratulating me. When I get to Georgie, she has a smug and almost guilty look on her face.

  I glare at her. “Why are you looking at me that way? What did you do?”

  She shrugs innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The remainder of the evening is a complete blur. Other guests have been coming up to me to introduce themselves and compliment me on my performances, of course I will never be able to remember them. Zack is a hit with my family, not that it’s a surprise. Poor Cassie almost gets sick at the table but thankfully makes it to the bathroom just in time to throw up in a trashcan. Ash actually congratulates me and asks if I would be interested in recording some music with her. Talk about making a change, Ash was the one instructor who threw a fit about doing group performances at Do-Re-Mi. I must still be in shock from everything that’s happened tonight because I say yes. Zack and I finally have a minute alone after Cassie, Mark, and my parents leave. He looks exhausted.

  “Is everything okay at the restaurant?”

  “Yes. It’s just a waiting game now.”

  I frown. “You should be there. I feel so bad.”

  He shakes his head, and then reaches for my hand.

  “I wanted to be here for you. I’m just sorry I missed the entire party. Thankfully, I caught the most important part.”

  I shrug my shoulders. The reality is this man made every effort to be here to support me tonight. He realized how important this night was to me. Looking back, Kyle never embraced my dreams. And he was dead set against moving to New York, of course that’s obviously changed now. Trevor was encouraging but never could get out of his own way and figure out what he wanted. This hasn’t changed.

  “Do you remember the first night we met?” Zack asks me.

  I roll my eyes. “Of course.” If he mentions me thinking he and Layla were together, I will pour my drink on him.

  “Do you remember one of the first things I asked you that night?”

  I think back to that night. “You asked me to sing for you.”

  He throws his head back and laughs. “Yes, and you said no.”

  I giggle.

  “What else did I ask?”

  I think for a few seconds. “You asked me to invite you to my first Broadway show.”

  He nods. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  I don’t say anything, but I do put my hands on his face and lean in to kiss him.

  “Thank you again for being here and for everything.”

  He kisses me again.

  “You’re welcome. Now I have one more request for you.”

  I lean back. “What is it?”

  A mischievous grin spreads across his face.

  “When are you going to invite me on this wedding cruise?”

  I shake my head. Typical Georgie, I’m going to kill her.

  Chapter 31

  When my parents decided to sell their house and move to the beach, I was really upset. When I finally said good-bye to my childhood home, I did the ugly cry. Saying good-bye to my office at Selena and Company may be even worse. Of course, it’s not just the office, but the people, too. Selena is kind enough to throw me a small good-bye party. It’s almost heartbreaking to say good-bye to the students, especially Francesca and Reagan, but I promise to visit them as often as I can.

  Everything has been a whirlwind since the night of the party. Once Zack had to leave on Sunday, I immediately began working on a few new songs. I actually have a folder of songs I’ve started over the years. Writing is definitely a good distraction from him having to go home. He won’t be back in town for two weeks. The good news is that the possibility of a second location is looking very promising, and we’re already making plans for me to visit him upstate. I’m really excited to see the restaurant in person. We’re really trying to take things slowly, so I guess the distance works in our favor. Luckily, the writing and my new job keep me from being sad.

  Even though it’s only been a few days since the big launch, Liv has already hit the ground running. She’s filling our calendars with workshops and different meet and greet events. In addition to London, she’s booked us trips to LA, Miami, and Denver. Giselle has completely immersed herself in decorating and setting up the office. I was very impressed when I saw the space for the first time. Granted, my office is not as big as the one at Selena’s, but it’s still bigger than my bedroom, which is just plain sad. I was feeling generous, so I let Ash pick her office first. Speaking of Ash, she’s like a new person, and ever since our debut song together, she’s gone out of her way to be nice. Of course, she’s already reminded me that I said yes to her about recording together. I owe Sophie a phone call soon. I can’t wait to give her the update on my newfound friendship with Ash. I’ve actually thought about talking to Liv about bringing Sophie on, especially because she wouldn’t have to move here.

  When I get home from my good-bye party, I find Layla on a yoga mat in child’s pose.

  “Look at you,” I say. I sit down on the chair and take off my shoes. “Don’t tell my sister this but I actually miss yoga,” I say sadly.

  She laughs. “You need to get back into it. It’s so good for you.”

  I roll my eyes because I definitely don’t need another person to lecture me on the importance of things that are good for me. I actually haven’t seen much of Layla lately. It seems like we’ve been on opposite schedules, and I’m pretty sure Kyle has already found a place here in the city. The more I think about it, that’s probably a good thing. I
don’t mind Layla hanging out at his place because that certainly makes things a little less awkward around here. It’s not awful or anything, but I still think it will take some time. She comes out of her child’s pose and sits back on her heels.

  “I’m glad we finally caught each other. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about a few things.”

  I give her a curious look. I hope this isn’t anything weird, like her wanting to know private information about Kyle. Or worse she’s going to move out and leave me roommate-less once again.

  “Sure. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  She spins her body around and sits Indian-style.

  “The first thing is about Kyle.”

  Crap, I knew it.

  “Is everything going okay with you two?”

  She blushes. “Everything is really good. I wanted to let you know that Kyle told me about the marriage proposal.”

  I grit my teeth. Even though I didn’t accept his proposal, I did hold on to the ring and think about it.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about that. I just figured Kyle would tell you when he was ready. I hope that isn’t going to make things weird . . . well, weirder than they are.”

  She shakes her head. “No, it doesn’t. It’s . . . well, I know you keep saying you’re okay with me and Kyle, but I’m sure it’s still a little uncomfortable. That’s why we’ve been spending more time at his new apartment.”

  I was right.

  “Maybe a little,” I admit. “But not because I have feelings or anything like that.”

  “Oh, I know.”

  I relax a little. It worries me that she would think that, especially because this situation is even more complicated now because I’m seeing her brother.

  “I was actually worried you were going to tell me that you were moving out.”

  She laughs. “Definitely not. I like living here. I’m even starting to get used to the mouse.” She looks around her. I’m surprised she’s even sitting on the floor.

  “Which brings me to my next question. Are you going to tell me what’s happening with you and my annoying brother?”

  I smile. “I don’t think he’s annoying at all. In fact, I think he’s pretty great.”

  I tell her all about Zack coming to the launch party even with all the issues at the restaurant. I tell her how he walked in at the exact moment I was starting my song. I must have a ridiculous grin on my face because she starts laughing at me.

  “I suppose he’s a good guy after all,” she says with a giggle. “The fact is I’m probably the annoying one being that I’m the little sister.”

  “I can definitely relate to that. Except I have an older sister.”

  Layla and I talk for a while, and I’m glad the awkwardness from the Kyle conversation is over. I’m sure it will come up again but it will fade in time.

  I haven’t spoken to Georgie since the party. There could be two reasons for this, either she’s on shift or she’s avoiding me. It’s probably a little of both. After Zack walked into the party and completely wowed my family, she wasted no time telling him about her wedding cruise and the fact that I was dateless.

  “I got your texts,” she answers. “I’m trying to work as many extra hours as I can before the wedding.”

  “Yeah, about the wedding,” I interrupt. “How is it that I left you alone with Zack for a few minutes and in those few minutes he somehow found out that I wasn’t bringing anyone to your wedding?”

  “Don’t be mad, it just kind of came up while Dr. Scott and I were talking to him. I mentioned you were going solo and . . .”

  “And you took it upon yourself to invite him?”

  She laughs nervously. “I didn’t invite him.”

  “No, but you made sure I would.”

  I know she’s trying not to laugh right now.

  “And . . .”

  I smile to myself. “Oh, shut up. You better call the cruise line and book another guest.”

  She cheers so loudly I have to pull the phone away from my ear.

  “On a serious note, we really like Zack,” she says. “He’s so down to earth. Not to mention he’s hot.”

  “You should see him without a shirt,” I blurt out, thinking about the first night we kissed. I start to daydream.

  “So, did you talk to Trevor at all?”

  Seriously, she has to interrupt my awesome memory by bringing up Trevor. The truth is I’m trying not to think about him, especially after my last interaction with him.

  “Ugh. He was backstage waiting for me after my song.”

  “He was?” she shrieks.

  I tell her about how Trevor told me he thinks we will still end up together. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future and I’m tired of worrying about it. I just want to enjoy the present, and right now the present includes Zack.

  ~*~*~

  “There sure is a lot of pink in here,” Miranda says, looking around the lobby. I try to keep from laughing. I don’t think she appreciates all of Giselle’s decorating choices.

  “They’re just accent pieces,” Giselle says defensively.

  It’s a good thing Liv is there to break up what could’ve been the first disagreement over creative decisions. I escape the drama to check out my office. When I walk in, I find there’s already a desk and a keyboard waiting for me. I sit down in the chair and exhale.

  “It sure is different from those tiny closets we had at Do-Re-Mi,” Ash says, standing in the doorway.

  “That’s for sure,” I say with a giggle. “You should have seen my office at Selena and Company, it was huge. I still don’t know how I got so lucky to score that office. I just think no one wanted the hassle of moving their stuff.”

  Ash is lingering in the doorway. She looks like she wants to say something.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask.

  She shrugs.

  “I know this is long overdue, but I wanted to apologize for how things used to be back home. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of. I guess jealously got the best of me.”

  I hold up my hand to stop her. “Ash, you don’t have to say another word. That’s all in the past, so let’s concentrate on our future here at LivElle.”

  She nods. “That’s a deal.”

  Before I leave, I pop my head into Liv’s office.

  “Did you work out the whole ‘too much pink thing’?”

  She shakes her head. “This is what I get for having so many strong personalities here. If disagreements over all the pink is the worst issue we have, I will consider myself lucky.”

  Chapter 32

  I crawl under the covers and stretch out on my bed. I cradle the phone in my neck while I listen to Zack tell me a story about breaking up a fight at the restaurant. Apparently, a guy caught his wife with another man at the restaurant. The guy flipped their table over and broke a wine bottle over his head.

  “Wow. The most exciting thing that happened at my office was Giselle and Miranda almost getting in a fight over all the pink décor at the office. Liv had to break up that fight.”

  We both laugh, and then get quiet for a few seconds. It’s been a week since the launch party, and we’ve both been so busy that we’ve barely had time to talk. The nice thing is that the silence isn’t strange. It doesn’t feel like either of us is worried about trying to come up with something to talk about.

  “I miss you,” he says.

  The butterflies return to my stomach and my pulse picks up. I feel like a teenager with her first crush.

  “I miss you, too,” I say calmly.

  “I know this distance is hard, but it won’t be like this forever,” he insists.

  He must be a mind reader because that is exactly what I was thinking. I have no idea how this is going to end up, but I don’t feel anxious about it at all. I just want to enjoy things the way they are right now.

  “I know it won’t be, and don’t forget I am taking you on a cruise soon.”

  He snorts. “Yeah, only be
cause I begged you.”

  I scowl. “Whatever. Just promise me you won’t laugh when you see this bridesmaid dress Georgie has chosen.” I cringe just thinking about it. “It’s nothing like I ever would have imagined, but she really wanted this stupid theme wedding. I’m going to get her back, though, trust me.”

  The infamous sailor dress is hanging in my closet as we speak. I’ve even considered accidently on purpose forgetting it. There will be nothing Georgie can do when I show up in Miami without it. I could also accidently on purpose let it fall overboard.