Behind Closed Doors (8 page)

The girls in the audience were screaming their high-pitched cries as Marc counted the band in.

“He is so frickin” hot,” I heard Victoria say from behind me. She was obviously into him, but I was sure the feeling wasn’t reciprocated.

Marc sang 
Breakeven
 by The Script. His smooth voice suited the song and his performance was impressive. The judges, especially Dion, sang his praises and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Marc would be sticking around for another week.

I started to pace as I waited for my time to perform. I let out a startled gasp when two large hands gripped me around my waist.

“Did you watch me sing?” It was Marc.

“You were amazing and the girls love you.” I turned and took a step back, just out of his reach.

“Hey, what’s up? You look tense.”

“I think tonight will be my last night. This is the end of the line for me.”

“What are you kidding? You are going to win this thing, Kyla.”

I let out a sigh.

“Are still stressed about your song?”

I knew I couldn’t rationalize the feeling of doom I felt. It was easier to blame my uneasiness on the song.

“Yeah, something like that.”

Marc took me into a warm embrace, I should have objected, but his arms were so comforting in that moment.

Shortly after, I made my way onto the stage and looked out into the crowd. I didn’t look toward the coaches. I could only imagine the bitter look on Jayce’s face as I stood before him.

I started to sing and once again, adrenalin kicked in. I sang 
Broken-Hearted Girl
 as if it was my own song. I let myself feel the words, believe them, which was easier than it should have been.

I finished the song and savored the crowd’s applause as one lone tear made its way down my cheek. I wiped the tear away with the back of my hand and chanced a look in Jayce’s direction. He was leaning back in his chair, not clapping or smiling, just a detached expression on his face.

Nadia strutted toward me, speaking into her microphone. “Wow, Kyla! What an emotional performance from you tonight. Pixie your thoughts?”

“Amazing, I love this new side of you, Kyla. It was probably the most emotionally charged performance we’ve seen tonight. I loved it!”

Nadia patted me on the back before turning her attention to Jayce.

“Now over to the judge whose opinion truly matters, Jayce, what are your thoughts on Kyla’s performance?”

“It was quite good. Kyla wasn’t keen on the song choice to begin with and I thought it might influence her execution. Hopefully that performance was enough to keep her safe tonight.”

It was quite good? 
Even Nadia was taken aback by his short, aloof answer.

“Okay, thank you, Kyla! We’ll see you back here for the elimination.”

I walked off stage and Emily and Marc greeted me with smiles on their faces.

“Good job, Ky,” Marc said.

“Yeah, you did so well.” Emily forced a smile, but I could see a hint of concern on her face.

“My coach didn’t seem too impressed,” I responded.

“He just acts that way to build up the anticipation for the eliminations,” Marc said and Emily nodded. “You’ll be fine.”

When the six remaining members of Team Jayce were called on stage, I expected to be eliminated. The realization that my singing wasn’t my undoing was a bitter pill to swallow.

Jayce gave his usual speech about how we were all extremely talented and it was unfortunate that someone had to go home. Then he started announcing the singers who would remain in the competition for another week.

Leo, Katerina and Laura were all announced as safe. Elation was clear on their faces as they walked backstage, one by one. It was Harrison and I whose fate remained undecided. Harrison held my hand as Jayce began to speak, my palm was warm and clammy, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“This was a hard decision, but in the end I had to go with my instinct and save the person with the most potential.  I would be an absolute idiot if I let this person go, so I’m choosing to save…” he paused for what felt like an eternity, but was closer to five seconds. “Kyla.”

I locked eyes with Jayce.

“What?” I mouthed, as my eyes remained fixed on his face.

“Let’s hear a round of applause for Kyla,” Nadia shouted behind me as I left the stage.

Emily came rushing to my side and placed a reassuring hand on my back.

“That was close,” she whispered.

“Too close.” I agreed.

I was thankful to remain in the competition, but wondered if it would’ve been better to be sent home. At least then, the emotional torture would be over.

***

Once we got home, we made our way to the outside deck. My mood had picked up considerably. The cocktails Katerina made helped immensely.

“What is this called again?” I asked as I stood on the opposite side of the bar.

“Shaved pussy,” Katerina answered as if it weren’t the most stupid name for a cocktail.

I watched her add a squeeze of lime juice before handing the drinks over the bar to us.

“No little umbrella?” Emily teased.

“Just drink it and tell me what you think,” Katerina ordered.

“Tastes really good, Kat,” I said as my taste buds started to dance.

“Yeah, you better get to work on the next round,” Emily added.

After our third cocktail, Katerina, Rosa, Emily and I, jumped in the jacuzzi. The conversation was flowing as freely as the alcohol.

“So, are you doing it with Leo, Kat?” Emily blurted out.

Katerina and Leo had been spending a lot of time together. I saw them kissing in the kitchen a few days ago, but hadn’t told anybody. Clearly, other people had noticed the newfound romance.

“Doing what exactly?” Katerina countered with a cheeky grin.

“Don’t play innocent with me,” Emily said. “Are you 
doing
 him?”

I was embarrassed for Katerina, especially with Emily’s direct style of questioning, but Kat didn’t seem to mind the inquisition.

“We have slept in the same bed, yes. But it really isn’t very comfortable in these single beds.”

“Not comfortable for sleeping or doing 
other
 things?” Emily raised one eyebrow.

“All of the above.”

“Someone’s getting some action!” Emily yelled.

“Leave me alone, I’m not discussing this anymore,” Kat said. Even in the dim lighting, I could see her cheeks turning a deep shade of pink.

“Okay, okay. I have a good one for you guys,” Emily said. “Which coach would you rather hook up with?”

I felt my body tense at the mention of
coaches
and
hooking up
in the same sentence.

“You first.” Katerina said to Emily.

“Jayce, hands down.” Emily answered without hesitation.

“Don’t worry, I wont tell Noah,” Rosa teased her.

“Come on, this isn’t real life. It’s hypothetical.” Emily pouted.

“I would definitely go Jayce too. There’s just something about him,” Rosa admitted. I felt a pang of jealousy that my own roommates found Jayce so desirable. I chose to ignore the irrational feeling.

“Don’t tell Leo, but I kind of have a thing for Dion,” Katerina said quietly. ”He is just lucky I’m on Jayce’s team.”

“Kyla, your turn,” Katerina prompted.

I paused to contemplate my answer. There was no way I was uttering Jayce’s name and I didn’t want the others to think that I had a thing for Dion.

A grin spread on my face. “I think I would have to go for Pixie. She is hot!” 

All three girls giggled at my response, sensing my comment was said in jest, rather than an admission of my attraction toward Pixie. I was glad when they didn’t question me further.

It was two in the morning before I finally made my way to bed. I was tipsy from the cocktails and after an emotional day, I was exhausted. I picked up my phone to set my alarm when I noticed I had a new message from an unknown number.

Your performance was amazing. It really was.

I re-read the message twice and wondered if someone was playing a prank on me. The show didn’t air on television until the following night. The message had to be from someone who was at the studio.

Another contestant? Someone from the audience? I had Marc’s number, so I knew it wasn’t him. Victoria was the next person who came to mind. I could imagine Victoria and Laura huddled over a cell phone waiting for my response so they could try and rattle my cage. I walked over to Emily’s bed.

“Hey Em?” I whispered, poking her shoulder. “You awake?”

“I am now,” she answered with mock annoyance.

“Do you have Victoria’s phone number?”

“Yeah. Why would you want that?” She passed her cell to me and I scrolled through her contacts.  The number didn’t match Victoria’s. I quickly scrolled to Laura’s name and it wasn’t a match either.

“Thanks, Em. I was just curious.” I placed the phone on her bedside table and she mumbled an incoherent, “goodnight.”

I got back into my bed and propped my head up with my pillows. I read the message again before typing out a response.

Who is this?

I stared at my phone in the dark room waiting for it to light up with a response. The message was sent at midnight. It was possible that the sender was fast asleep and wouldn’t respond at all. A few minutes later, my phone beeped and I opened the message straightaway.

It’s Jayce. I didn’t tell you today, but your performance was amazing. I was proud.

A smile spread across my lips. He liked my performance. It was a relief, but at the same time, I was a little annoyed that he’d acted like such an ass.

How did you get my number? This is a private listing…

I hadn’t given him my number, so the last person I’d expect to get a message from in the middle of the night was Jayce.

I have my ways.

His response was short, but it made me smile. I saved his number to my contacts and I was re-reading his texts when a new message came through.

JAYCE:
 Why aren’t you asleep? It’s late...

I responded instantly.

ME: 
Been celebrating still being in the competition.

His next response took a little longer to come through, just when I thought he wasn’t going to reply, my phone beeped again.

“Will someone shut that phone up!” Emily shouted.

“Sorry, Em.” I whispered as I flicked my phone to silent.

My heart skipped a beat when I opened and read the new message.

JAYCE: 
I couldn’t let you go.

Of course, I was totally reading too much into the message, but that didn’t stop me from staring at the words, my lips curled into a smile. After a few minutes of trying to draft a response, I decided to leave it and not reply. For once, I wanted to leave him wondering what was going through my mind.

Chapter 8

A few days later, when it was time to go back to the studio, I wasn’t sure what mood Jayce would be in. I hadn’t known him long, but I knew I couldn’t predict the kind of reception I’d receive.

When I entered the room, it was empty, aside from Jayce. He was seated in the corner of the room busily typing on his laptop.

He looked up when he heard me walking toward him and a smile spread across his lips.

“Hey, can I speak to you before we start today?” he gestured for me to sit next to him on the couch. “I need to apologize,” he started.

“What, again?” I mocked.

A nervous smile touched his lips. 

“I disrespected your performance last week and made it seem as though you did a bad job.”

“I was sure you were going to send me home due to our, you know… previous indiscretion.”

“I was,” he admitted. His hand moved to the space on the couch between us. For a moment, I thought he was going to touch me, but he didn’t.

“I thought by pretending your performance was bad and seeming neutral toward you it would cover up how I was feeling and erase what happened between us. It was unjust to treat you that way and I was acting immature. I’m sorry.”

“I agree, you 
were
 acting immature,” I said, my lip turning up at the corner.

“In my defense, I saved you before I made the most foolish mistake of my life.”

“I thought I was going home,” I replied honestly. “But I knew it wasn’t because of my singing.”

“I know. I was stressed about it all weekend.”

“About what?”

“About dissing you, making you feel like you weren’t good enough. I really am sorry.”

“Apology accepted.”

I didn’t know whether to bring up the texts and how they had relieved some of my anguish when Jayce started talking again.

“Tell me about him.”

“About who?”

“Your ex, the asshole that cheated on you.”

Suddenly my mouth went dry. I had no idea why Jayce would ask me that.

“What do you want to know?”

“Whatever you’re willing to tell me.”

In my new life in Los Angeles, no one knew about my recent break up. I almost felt relieved to be able to talk about it, even if it was with Jayce.

“Well,” I drew out. “His name is Brody. He’s a police officer with the Seattle PD. We met two years ago when I was working on a case where a woman was arrested for murdering her abusive husband. He was the first cop at the scene, so I lined him up to speak at the trial. He provided his testimony and asked me out on a date in return. We became official soon after.”

Jayce was watching me intently. I cleared my throat before I continued.

“He spent his time between my house and his mom’s. He was saving for a house. A big family home for us, he said. I guess I always knew something wasn’t right between us. I never invited him to move in with me, although we’d talked about it briefly. The day I caught him cheating on me,” I swallowed roughly and desperately hoped I wouldn’t cry.