Page 19 of I Dreamt That You Loved Me

Pull yourself together, Cleo. He was talking about art, nothing more.

We were here to support Annika, so I shoved all thoughts of Gabriel out of my head and focused on the stage as the first eerie notes played.

The set looked like a dystopian version of New York City with buildings reduced to rubble and dancers dressed in torn rags sifting through the dumpsters and debris.

Annika rose from the ashes in a diaphanous white dress with a crown of braids woven into her hair. She moved like liquid silk, so fluid and graceful that I was transfixed.

Next to me, Gabriel looked awestruck. If he wasn’t already in love with Annika, I think tonight sealed the deal.

I guess I’d better make him the damn shirt.

A peace offering.

CHAPTER SIX

Our birthdays were onlya day apart, Gabriel’s on November 13th, mine on the 14th. He was turning twenty-four, and I’d be twenty-two.

We were both Scorpios. Stubborn and independent. Loyal, intense, passionate. But if you do wrong by us, beware the sting. We weren’t so quick to forget or forgive.

I’m not sure if Gabriel and I brought out the best in each other or the absolute worst but when I told him that he needed to be honest with his songwriting, he took it to heart.

He might as well have said, “Fuck you, Cleo. You want honesty? Well, here you go.”

On the Tuesday before my birthday, Annika burst into the boutique with flushed cheeks and her eyes shining bright.

“Goodbye, doll,” Marti called over her shoulder on the way out the door. She was in full drag with sequins, feathers, and winged eyeliner. “Make sure to stop by for drag brunch one of these Sundays. Bottomless mimosas.”

“I will,” I promised, phone to my ear, my hand over the mouthpiece to mute it.

I held up one finger, asking Annika to give me a minute and got back to my call. “I’ll send a messenger with the contract. If you could get it signed and back to us by the end of the day, we’ll be good to go.”

I hung up and called the messenger service, nestling the phone between my ear and shoulder while I scribbled the address on the manila envelope.

I’d already ordered 80 percent of our spring/summer inventory and was sweating over whether it would sell but other than that, my new role wasn’t that much different to my old one.

When I finished my call, Annika handed me a cardboard cup of coffee and plunked a white bakery box on the counter. I grabbed a black and white cookie from the box and took a big bite of cakey dough, rich chocolate and fondant. I might have moaned.

“What’s the occasion?”

She gave me a big smile. “You are. It’s an early birthday present.” Annika unzipped her down jacket and bounced on the balls of her feet like she was bursting to tell me something big. “I wish you would have come to Monks with me last night. Gabriel wasamazing. He showed up with all this new music and blew everyone away.”

I’d been avoiding Gabriel since Annika’s dance performance. Self-preservation was a skill and I’d honed mine to perfection. But curiosity got the best of me so I couldn’t help asking, “What were the songs about?”

I grabbed another cookie. My lunch.

She hummed a tune under her breath then chewed the inside of her cheek, her eyes narrowed. “I want to get it right. It’s pure poetry and I know you’ll appreciate it.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to?—”

Annika held up her hand. “Wait. I’ve got it.”

She closed her eyes like she needed to be back at Monks listening to the song for the first time, and I cursed my curiosity for asking.

“It starts with him looking out the window at the rain shimmering on neon streets. He sings about a goddess of moonlight…a haunting refrain in his caffeine dreams…Something about kiss me, lover, with your honey lips…silky pearls and longest sighs…Your smile holds all the secrets of the universe…”

I choked on my cookie. Annika smacked my back a few times then pressed the cup of coffee into my hand. “Here. Drink.”

I coughed for a few more seconds then drank some coffee and swallowed the bitter taste of bile on my tongue while my head spun in dizzying circles.