Page 43 of Playing With My Heart Strings

baylor

Storm Warning

After the live concert in Chattanooga, we come back to Nashville for a couple days before we hop on a plane to Atlanta later this week.

We’ll each have a solo date again, but an elimination will take place at the end of the live concert, so it’s important this week to not only further my relationship with Dusty, but also maintain a positive impression with the viewers so I can stay another week.

Because that’s what I want. To stay.

I’m walking through the production building hallway again when I’m yanked into an office.

“Ow!” I yelp. “Dusty, we can’t keep—” I start to protest, but I cut myself off when I see it’s not Dusty who pulled me out of the hallway. It’s Daniella.

“I’m going to ignore what you just said in the name of love, but we need to talk.” She shuts the door and locks it, pulling the shade over the window so no one can see us.

I’ve never seen Daniella act so serious. “What’s going on?”

“I found some information on Aspen, Baylor, and it’s not great.” She huffs out a breath as she sets up her laptop on the desk in the corner.

“Not great, how?” I proceed slowly as my eyes narrow.

“This is how.” She flips the computer to show me what’s on the screen. I have to really train my eyes to understand what’s in front of me. It’s a picture of Aspen singing on a stage, but she looks about four years younger and has blonde hair instead of her current dark color.

“What exactly am I looking at?”

“The background of the image. Look familiar?” She puts her hands on her hips after she zooms in closer on the image. It looks like the set of a television show… oh no .

“There’s no way.” I shake my head.

“She was a fucking contestant on that other singing competition show SSP put on, Baylor. She literally placed third.”

My head starts pounding, and I press my fingers against my temple. “How the hell did no one realize it was her? How did Colette not realize? This is bad, Dani. I worked directly with those contestants. What if she remembers who I am?”

“Well, first of all, none of us thought you would end up being on the show and she was chosen for auditions before I made the drunken mistake of posting that video of you online. Still kinda feel guilty for that, by the way, but then again you’re literally fucking Dusty Wilder, so you’re welcome.

Secondly, she’s gone, so even if she did remember you, it’s unlikely anything will come of it. ”

“What if she goes to the media?”

“I highly doubt she would do that. She signed an NDA, and Colette would squash any gossip articles immediately. I don’t think Aspen is that stupid.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” As if she senses I would ask her why she even brought it up, she says, “You wanted to know if I found any information on her, and this felt important for you to know.”

“I appreciate it. Do the producers know?” I ask, wanting to cover our bases.

She nods. “Alex knows.” I don’t miss how she breaks eye contact with me for a split second and her face has a slight pink tint to it.

“Hold on. Are you and Alex?—”

At the most convenient timing, Daniella’s phone starts ringing.

“I’m so sorry, I really need to take this.

Don’t worry about Aspen, okay? Just keep doing what you’re doing.

Maybe besides sneaking around with Dusty Wilder, but in terms of your on-camera chemistry, you’re doing great!

” she babbles as she quickly slips out the door.

I take a few breaths before following, careful not to let the office door slam and alert anyone who might be in the hallway.

It doesn’t matter, though, because once I pick up my head to continue walking down the hall, I run directly into Colette, nearly stepping on her feet.

“H-hi, Colette. So sorry, I didn’t see you there,” I fumble over my words as I try to step around her. Instead of stepping out of the way like I expect her to, she grabs my arm to stop me. “Did you need something?”

“Final four, Baylor. Who would have thought? You must feel pretty good about yourself.”

I squint, giving her a sidelong glance, as I try to figure out if it’s just Colette being passive aggressive or if there’s something else she’s trying to say.

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened.” I shrug, trying to be as nonchalant as possible while keeping my voice low. “I trust Dusty’s judgment, though.” I’m not going to let Colette St. James scare me. I mean, she does scare me, but now that I know what I want, I’m not going to let her take it away.

“Hopefully he makes the right choice in the end.” She purses her lips as her eyebrows raise just a little bit. “Don’t you agree?”

“Mhm,” I hum, finally deciding to just step around her so I can get away from this uncomfortable situation.

“Oh, and Baylor? No one can know who you really are, remember.” Her condescending tone makes me pause. “It would be bad for ratings. Imagine what would happen if the viewers knew you worked for us. Not to mention what Dusty would think.”

My back is still turned to her, so I nod, acknowledging her…warning? Threat? There’s no telling when it comes to Colette.

“It would be career-ending,” she continues, and my shoulders tense. “I know you have big goals. Just keep that in mind.”

I do have big goals, or at least I did before I came on the show and realized music was something I actually wanted to pursue.

I never thought about what would happen if I didn’t make it to the end.

I assumed my job would still be there, but now Colette has me questioning things.

She must suspect my intention to eventually leave Sparks Studio Productions and pursue public relations in a different sector.

I slowly turn around, ready to ask her what she meant or make some kind of retort, but she’s already walking away.