Page 56 of Bewitched By the Siren
“She doesn’t want to sign with anyone,” I say, stressing the last word. “There was no point in trying to sneak a recording when there’s no chance we’ll convince her.”
“That decision wasn’t yours to make, Howser. Just because you couldn’t manage to close the deal didn’t mean someone else couldn’t. You’ve wasted my time and resources. They’ll be coming out of your paycheck, as well as the cost of me sending another agent down to get what I asked for.”
“You should just save your money. I spent all week with her. She has valid reasons for not wanting to be famous. Sheisn’tgoing to sign.”
“Then I’ll go myself,” he says. “I’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse.”
“You’re not hearing me,” I say before thinking, and he shoots me a stern look.
“And you’re not hearing me,” he growls. “I sent you to do a job, and you failed. Failure wasn’t an option, and you did it, anyway. You’ll be scrounging around the beach bars looking for local talent from now on.”
“No, I won’t.”
I say the words before my brain has a chance to censure my tone, and Julius’s eyes widen before narrowing again. He opens his mouth, no doubt to berate me for being insubordinate, but I hold up a palm to stop him before he utters even a word.
“Save it,” I say. “I quit.”
My chest hollows out with the words, then fills up with a sense of rightness I’ve never felt before. I know this is the right thing to do. The best thing for me. This place has been sucking my soul dry for long enough.
I don’t know what I’ll do, now. I don’t know where I’ll go.
But the one thing I do know is that I want to behappy. Hali taught me that. Seeing the joy in her expression at the turtle center. Her elation when she’s singing, onstage or off. The lovein her eyes when she looks at her mom. Her internal peace when she’s on the beach, staring at the ocean.
I want that. All of it.
And I know for a fact that I’ll never find it here.
“Thank you, Julius,” I say as I rise from my seat.
“For what?” he grunts, his face red with anger.
“For showing me what Idon’twant out of life.”
And without another word, I walk out. I nod to the assistant as I pass, and she grins at me like she heard our whole conversation and wholeheartedly approves of my choices. I smile back, then pick up the pace. I’m running by the time I exit the building, and I stop in the middle of the lot, panting as the sun beats down on my head and shoulders.
I did it. I broke free.
And I know exactly what I need to do next.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Hali
I swipeon a couple of coats of mascara, then sit back in my chair to stare at my reflection. The crowd outside my dressing room door is getting louder by the minute, but the electricity I normally experience on a Friday night atMemaw’sfeels more like crippling anxiety.
I thought I’d never do this again. Hell, I thought I’d be living in a different part of the country, some obscure piece of coastline where no one knows anything about me.
But here I am, getting ready to go on stage for my regular Friday night gig.
Mom and I took Brendan’s advice last weekend and called the police to report my stalker. Harvey Wayne Sheridan was picked up and arrested fourteen hours later. And just like Brendan predicted, he ranted and raved, accused me of being a siren and telling them all they needed to do was throw me in the ocean to get their proof. So, yeah, he was quickly assessed by a court-appointed psychiatrist and committed to a mental health facility in Savannah until he’s found fit to be arraigned for stalking, assault, and harassment.
The local news outlets have been having a field day with the story, but thanks to a gag order, my name has been kept out of it. “The Mermaid of Circe Key” has already become a local legend, but thankfully, no one has connected the dots to me.
It doesn’t make sense, really. I mean, Harvey fingered me as the siren in this very bar a week ago. But it’s like no one who was here heard him. Not a single person has come forward to get their own fifteen minutes of fame when they could get it instantly by naming me as the supposed mermaid.
It’s weird.
Even weirder, I have no idea how or why Harvey zeroed in on me in the first place. How did he know to watch me? Did he spot me during my last night swim? Watch me as I beached myself and dried my tail from some nearby hiding spot?
