The Debt 8 (Club Alpha) (3 page)

“Oh, Jake.
 
That’s so amazing, and so sweet of him
to tell you that.”

Jake cleared his throat.
 
His eyes met hers.
 
“That’s because of you, too.
 
I don’t care what else happens,
Raven.
 
For my Dad to call me and
tell me that…it means more to me than a five-star review in Rolling Stone or
hitting The Billboard Top Ten or whatever else people get excited about.”

“You deserve it,” she told him.
 
“The song is that good.
 
I knew people would agree with me when
they saw you playing it.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,”
Jake said.
 
“But I think it’s a
hit.”

Raven smiled.
 
“I think you’re right.”

***

Over the remainder of the evening, the
song’s popularity continued to increase.
 
Raven had never seen anything like it, and from Jake’s reaction, neither
had he.

By the time they went to sleep that
night, the video had received over a million views and 25,000 likes, with only
a few hundred dislikes.
 
The
comments were overwhelmingly positive too.

But there was much more happening then
just views and comments on the one video she’d posted.
 
There had also been other videos posted,
some from the bloggers and various insiders she’d emailed earlier.

Those videos all had thousands and
thousands of views as well.

There were already blog posts, tweets,
and short articles, the vast majority of them positive and glowing, discussing
how this new song had gone viral and noting the overwhelmingly positive
reaction it was garnering from people around the globe.

Too Far From Home was a phenomenon that
seemed to transcend Jake’s celebrity entirely.
 
People that didn’t even like
Jake,
loved his new song.

There were already dozens of video
reactions and Vines posted of people crying while listening to Jake’s song in
the background.

All night long, Jake’s cell phone buzzed
with texts and calls from various friends and associates telling him how happy
they were and also moved by what he’d done.

Eventually, Jake turned his cell phone
off and put it in a drawer.
 
“I
don’t want to deal with this right now,” he said, as they got ready for bed.

“But this is wonderful,” Raven told
him.
 
“Don’t you want to take it all
in?”

“Someone smart once said that if you believe
the critics when they tell you you’re great, you’ll believe them again when
they inevitably decide you suck.”

Raven thought about it, nodding.
 
“I guess that’s true.”

Maybe
I still need to learn that lesson.
 
My whole life, I’ve been listening to critics, listening to the people
who judged my life.
 
And for what?
 
In
the end, the only opinion that matters is my opinion, and only I know whether
I’m happy or not.

Jake was watching her now, a tiny grin
playing on his lips.
 
“What are you
thinking about?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she sighed.
 
“Just that I wish I’d taken that advice
over the years.
 
It would’ve saved
me a lot off grief.”

Jake climbed onto the bed and grabbed her
hands, pulling her towards him.
 
Raven squealed, falling on the mattress as Jake took her by the waist
and scooped her into his arms.
 
“You
let me handle the haters and the critics, okay?
 
You don’t need to worry about everyone
else.”

“Sounds good,” she admitted, smiling at
him.
 
“I’ll just worry about you.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

Raven ran her hands up and down his
chest, shivering.
 
“Promise me that
we’re not going to let this change us.”

“Let what change us?” Jake asked her.

“Now that your new song is such a huge
success, things are going to happen.
 
People are going to want your time, they’re going to make demands and
you might start to get pulled away from me.”
 
Just admitting that this fear existed
felt scary to her, but also embarrassing as well.

Jake caressed her cheek softly.
 
“Hey,” he said.
 
“Look at me, Raven.”

She looked up at him.
 
“Yes?”

“I’m not going to let anyone or anything
pull us apart.
 
You’re going to be
with me.
 
I need you by my side
always.”

“But—“

“No.
 
There are no buts.
 
No
exceptions.
 
You will always come
first for me, ahead of my career, my music, the fans, the movies, the
money.
 
That’s how much you mean to
me.”

Raven sighed.
 
“I love you, and I’m sorry if I’m acting
crazy.”

“You’re not acting crazy.”
 
He kissed her lips softly.
 
“You’re perfect.”

That night, she fell asleep in his arms
again and didn’t wake up again until early the next morning.

When she did wake up, Jake was sitting on
the edge of the bed, talking on his phone in a low voice.
 
“I’m open to it for sure,” Jake said,
clearly in mid conversation.
 
“But
you understand I have some legal issues to sort out with my old label.
 
It could take awhile.”

There was a long pause as Jake listened
to whoever was on the other end.
 
He
listened for a long, long time, so whomever he was chatting with must have had
a lot to say.

Finally, Jake straightened.
 
“Okay, well we’d be happy to come to
Miami and stop by.
 
I’ll bring the
demo tracks with me.”
 
Another lengthy pause.
 
“Sure, I can be there in a few hours.
 
See you then.”
 
Jake hung up the cell and sat there for
a long moment, not knowing that Raven was watching him.

She was trying to decide if he was
apprehensive or just thoughtful.
 
The truth was, she couldn’t tell, but something in her was anxious
now.
 
Things were changing, just as
she’d feared they might.

Perhaps
, Raven thought,
I’m going to regret posting his song on YouTube.
 
Maybe the success of it will be our
undoing.

But then she reminded herself not to
think that way.

Trust
what you have.
 
Trust Jake.
 
Everything’s going to work out.

As she was lying there, watching Jake and
thinking about her conflicted feelings, he turned his head and saw her watching
him.
 
“Hey,” he said.
 
“How long
you been
up for?”

“Not that long,” she said.

He turned his body towards her.
 
“You have a weird look on your face.”

“I do?” she said, acting as if she had no
idea what he was talking about.

“Yeah, you do.
 
What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.
 
Maybe I’m just tired.”

Jake got up and stretched his arms over
his head, the muscles flexing, reminding her of just how incredible his body
was.
 
Reminding her of what he’d
done to her the previous day on the couch.

God, she wanted him so badly all of the
time.
 
He wouldn’t be able to stand
her much longer.

“Well, I’m going downstairs to make some
pancakes on the griddle,” he said.
 
“You like pancakes?”

“Who doesn’t like pancakes?” she said,
running a hand through her tangled hair.

Jake grinned.
 
“And I put chocolate chips in the
batter, it’s fucking incredible.”

“That sounds delightful.”
 
She forced a smile to her face.

Jake was about to leave the room, as he
pulled a t-shirt on over his head.

“Jake,” she called out.

“Yeah?”

“Who was that on the phone?
 
You’re taking a meeting today?”

He nodded.
 
“
We’re
taking a meeting today.”

“Oh.
 
With who?”

“Come downstairs when you’re ready.
 
We’ll eat chocolate chip pancakes and
I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
 
He laughed maniacally and jogged out of
the room, his laughter trailing and echoing as he went down the stairs to the first
floor.

Raven got up, listening as she heard Jake
in the kitchen, banging around, apparently because making pancakes included
making a loud racket.

She wasn’t sure why she was feeling so
strange—so nervous and edgy.

What had she heard in Jake’s voice, in
that phone call, which had spooked her so badly?
 
Or perhaps it was far simpler than
that.
 
Maybe she simply couldn’t
allow herself to feel happy.

She had to make something out of nothing.

Raven went into the bathroom and
freshened up.
 
She’d take a shower
after breakfast.
 
When she was done
brushing her teeth, washing her face and then putting on a shirt and shorts,
she went downstairs and found Jake standing over the griddle, spatula in hand.
 
There were circles of batter with chocolate
chips sprinkled liberally over them.

And in a pan nearby on the stove, bacon
sizzled and popped.

“Wow, this is quite the meal,” Raven
said, surprised.
 
“I like how you
look in the kitchen.”

Jake winked.
 
“I can do it all, baby.”

“I know you can.
 
It’s very sexy.”
 
She sat down and watched him cook.

Before long, he was presenting her with a
plate of pancakes, a large dollop of butter and cream on top, with bacon strips
on a smaller side plate.

He sat down moments later with his own
plate of food and dug in with gusto.
 
“Having a hit song really works up an appetite,” he said.
 

“Yeah,” she agreed, chopping at the edge
of a pancake and then bringing it to her mouth.
 
The pancake was moist and delicious, but
somehow she couldn’t quite enjoy it.

When she looked up, she realized Jake had
been watching her eat.
 
“What’s the
matter, no good?”

“It’s wonderful.”

“Then why do you look so miserable?”

Raven sat back and put her fork
down.
 
“I think I might be crazy.”

He laughed.
 
“You’re not crazy.”

“Then why can’t I just be happy?”

“I don’t know.
 
Why don’t you tell me what’s on your
mind?”

She took a deep breath and let it
out.
 
“It’s just embarrassing.”
 
She picked up her fork again and pushed
it into a piece of bacon, playing with the food rather than eating it.
 
“I’m scared that you’re going to leave
me, basically.”

“I already told you that’s not
happening.”

“Well who was on the phone just now?” she
asked.
 

Jake raised his eyebrows.
 
“That was a very strange and unexpected
call.
 
Mack Zee-have you heard of
him?”

“Of course I have.
 
He sang that famous song…uh…what’s it
called…”

“Mesmerize
You
was the name of it,” Jake said.
 
“But that was just the one big hit he did on his own.
 
He also produced and wrote many, many
number one songs for a lot of different artists over the last decade, and then he
opened his own label about five years ago.
 
His label’s been incredibly successful in the last few years.”

“So he wants to meet with you?” she
asked.

“He wants to meet with
us
.
 
You and me,” Jake said.
 
“We’re a team now, remember?
 
Why can’t you accept that?”
 
He dug into his pancake, shaking his head in confusion.

“I just feel like somehow the rug’s going
to get pulled out from under me,” she said.
 
“I know it’s not rational.”
 
She continued playing with her food.
 
“The thing is, I don’t want to just be
Yoko Ono.”