Chapter 12: The Note

I stared at him.

For a second the words did not mean anything.

Then I laughed, short and sharp.

"Echo did not tell you anything."

"Two weeks before the party," Devon said. "October ninth."

"I wrote to Echo, the way I always do, late at night."

"I'd remember that."

"What did you write?"

He wiped his face with the back of his wrist.

"It's on my phone."

He found his jacket on the floor and dug out the phone, and his hands shook so badly he dropped it once.

Finally he held it out.

I took it.

It was an email thread with the single word Echo at the top.

I scrolled up to October ninth.

His message was long, and it was not written the way he spoke.

"Echo," it began. "I'm in a situation and I don't know who else to ask."

"I've been seeing someone for two years. She works for me."

"Hank says the fans want me single, so I made her promise to keep quiet."

"She never complains. She never asks for anything. I can't tell if that means she's fine or if I'm being unfair to her."

"Do I keep her, or do I let her go?"

"I'm scared that if I'm honest I'll lose the tour, and scared that if I'm not I'll lose her."

I read it twice.

I remembered that night.

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