Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 38 of 78

The next morning, sun filled the tall windows of the manor. The puppy slept in his den by the piano. Kylie made two cups of tea and set one by Arianna. Monday was two days away. The label wanted an answer. But Kylie had learned to ask before she planned. "I have to tell you something," Kylie said. "And I need you to tell me the truth back." Arianna wrapped both hands around her cup. "Okay." "The label wants to sign us. Both of us. As a duo." Kylie watched her face. "I almost said yes on the phone. Then I stopped, because I did the thing I promised I wouldn't do. I planned your life without asking." Arianna set the cup down. "You want it. I can see it." "I do," Kylie said. "But wanting isn't the question. You never asked for a music career. You wrote me letters. You wrote one song, for me. That's different from tours and studios and cameras every day." Arianna went quiet. The puppy shifted in his blanket tent. Kylie's heart pounded. This was the moment she could ruin. Push too hard, and Arianna might feel like a project. Say too little, and she might feel unwanted. "Tell me what you actually want," Kylie said. "Not what would make me happy. If you want to go home to your grandmother's kitchen and never sing again, I'll call the label and end it today. I mean that." Arianna stood and walked to the piano. She touched one key. A single note rang through the bright room. "When I wrote you," she said, "I didn't want to be famous. I wanted you to hear me." She played another note. "But on the ship, when we sang together, I felt something new. I liked being heard by more than one person." Kylie waited. She did not fill the silence. "I don't know if I want a whole career," Arianna said. "That's the honest answer. So I don't want to sign a big deal that owns us for years." She turned around. "I want to make one more song. With you. On our terms. If people love it, we make another. If I hate it, we stop." Relief moved through Kylie's chest. "So we say no to the duo deal." "We say no to their deal," Arianna said. "We offer ours. One song at a time." Kylie crossed the room and took Arianna's hands. She had asked instead of assumed. She had not broken the trust. She had made it stronger. "I'll call my mother," Kylie said. "She tells the label our answer, not theirs." Arianna smiled. "Together this time." Kylie picked up the phone. The puppy lifted his head, calm, and settled back down. The door to the label was still open. But now Kylie and Arianna would decide how far it swung.