Off-key Lovers

Scarlett Bianci
7:43 AM

The sharp, insistent vibration of my phone yanks me out of sleep. It rattles against the nightstand like a warning, but I ignore it at first, curling deeper into the tangled sheets.

Sunlight streams through the curtains, too bright, too harsh. My head is still foggy from exhaustion.

The buzzing doesn't stop.

I groan, blindly reaching for my phone, fingers brushing over the cool glass screen before dragging it to my face. The brightness stabs at my barely open eyes.

HELEN - 6 missed calls

Shit.

I barely sit up before the phone starts ringing again. I answer, voice rough with sleep.

"Hello?"

"Scarlett, what the fuck did you do?"

I blink slowly. My brain is still catching up.

"Good morning to you too, Helen." I mutter.

"Don't pull that shit with me," she snaps. "Do you have any idea how much damage control I've had to do in the past six hours? Reporters emailing me at four in the morning, PR running around like headless chickens, your label breathing down my neck and why? Because you and Nash can't stop fucking with each other online!"

I frown, swiping at my notifications with sluggish fingers.

Articles. Tweets. Instagram posts. Comments.

The entire internet is dissecting every interaction between Nash and me like it's a murder investigation.

'Scarlett Bianci claps back at ex-bandmate and ex-lover, Nash Armani with old lyrics to his polaroid post. Coincidence or petty revenge? '

' Nash Armani throws shade. Scarlett bites back. What's really going on between the two? '

I let out a slow breath.

"I didn't do anything." I say evenly.

"Bullshit," Helen fires back. "You posted lyrics from one of your old songs with him right after he posted his cryptic bullshit. What did you think was gonna happen? I know he was wrong to post that too, but did you have to bite back unprofessionally?"

"He started it." I mutter, my jaw clenching.

Helen scoffs. "And you finished it. Gosh, Scarlett. why are you even entertaining this? Your song drops tonight. We need people talking about your music, not your ex."

I stare at the ceiling.

"I'll handle it." I say.

"Damn right you will," Helen snaps. "And for the love of God, stay off social media."

The call ends with a sharp beep.

I drop my phone onto the bed, rubbing my temples.

Because Helen is right.

But that doesn't change the fact that Nash started this.

And I have a feeling he's not finished.

▌║█║▌│║▌│║▌║▌█║

4:32 PM

I just got back to my apartment from the studio, early because we just needed to finish the touch up's of my new song and the music video. That is releasing tonight. Great.

It's gonna be the last song of my album, " Lost Verses "

Yeah. My album about Nash, entirely. It's a breakup album. Which was lame. Who knew I could write a whole album about a guy?