All the Right Things (Love in LA) (6 page)

Excited now that she had made her decision, Annie called Casey as soon as she started the coffeemaker the next morning.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said, answering on the first ring.

“Good morning… you sound really awake.”

“Well, I’ve been up for four hours, and I’ve had plenty of coffee.”

“I just started mine a minute ago, so I’m still waking up. Anyways, I’ve thought about your… proposition… and I decided—” she trailed off, drawing the suspense out.

“Mmmhmm?”

“Okay,” she said as she smiled into the phone.

“Okay? Okay as in yes?”

Annie laughed and agreed. “Okay as in yes.”

“That’s great, Annie. I can’t wait to see you. Text me your details so I can book your flight.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I can pay for my own flight,” she assured him.

“No way, I insist. You’re coming at my invitation—I should pay for your ticket.”

“No arguments. I pay or I don’t come.”

“Ugh, you are one stubborn woman.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Alright, well, everything else is on me while you’re here, okay? And no arguments. You pay for your flight only.”

“Deal. Well, I have to start getting ready for work… just wanted to call and give you my answer.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a pick-up rehearsal starting soon anyway. Have a great day at work and maybe I’ll talk to you later tonight.”

“Okay, sounds good. Talk to you later.”

As she hung up the phone, Annie couldn’t help grinning as she practically danced her way into the bathroom. For some reason, she had
Man, I Feel Like a Woman
by Shania Twain stuck in her head, so she sang loudly as she hurried through her shower.

Life was finally starting to look up for Annie. She had a possible audition coming up and then she was going to San Francisco the following weekend to see Casey perform and spend some time with him. He’d mentioned cuddling and she was thoroughly looking forward to that. If she judged by his hugging skills, then she was in for quite the cuddle treat.

It wasn’t until Tuesday night when Annie remembered to tell Casey about the upcoming auditions for the talent show. She was talking to him on the phone after she got home from work, thankful that he had a night off, allowing them to finally have a longer conversation than usual. It had actually been Casey who jogged her memory when he mentioned that his friend had called him that morning to see if he could manage a quick day trip back to L.A. to audition with a dance crew he used to perform with.

“Yeah, there’s some new talent show on TV called
The Next American Superstar
, so they want to audition for that this coming weekend.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that. I’m actually thinking about auditioning myself.”

“Really? That’s awesome! You should totally go.” Casey sounded excited for her.

“Are you going to come back to audition with them?”

“Eh, I don’t think I’m going to be able to. I’d love to, but I’ve got a show on Friday night and on Saturday night. I doubt there’d be any way I can squeeze it in, but I’ve still gotta look into flights and see if I can make something happen. What time does the line start on Saturday morning?”

Annie pulled her laptop over to look it up online. “Hold on a minute. I’m checking the website.” She browsed the page for a minute before finding what she was looking for. “Um… I think it starts at five a.m.”

“Ouch… so yeah, I’d have to take a red-eye flight out right after the concert and would have to join the guys in line and hope that I get there before it’s their turn. And then I’d have to jump back on the first flight back after we were done and hope I got back in time or I could lose my spot on the tour.”

“What about rehearsing?” she asked curiously. “Wouldn’t you need to practice with them before auditioning?”

“We have several pieces that we’ve worked on for years, so no, it wouldn’t be an issue.”

“Wouldn’t it be exciting if you were able to come back and you made it through? What if we both made it through and got into the finals?”

“Yeah, that would be pretty dope. So what are you going to sing?”

“Well, I didn’t say I was going to audition for sure.”

Casey laughed. “Come on, what—you too chicken?”

“No, shut up. I’m not chicken. I just… I don’t know.” Annie stood up from the couch and started pacing nervously around her living room.

“What have you got to lose?”

“Nothing, I just—”

“Yeah, I think you like making excuses. I see how it is.”

Rolling her eyes, she waved her free hand in frustration. “Argh, I’m not making excuses. I’m seriously considering it, but I just haven’t made up my mind, yet.”

“Nothing to lose,” Casey said matter-of-factly.

“Geez, you are persistent. Look, I’m probably going to. I think.”

“Okay fine. Let’s just say that hypothetically, you decide to audition. What would you sing?”

“Well, I’m kind of digging this Gin Wigmore chick I’ve been listening to lately. I was thinking of doing something by her… or maybe Duffy. I definitely don’t want to do Adele because
everybody
does her.” Annie returned to her laptop to look up the lyrics to
Black Sheep
by Gin Wigmore.

“Yeah, all of those would be good, but I agree. I think both Adele and Duffy have been overdone… I like the Gin Wigmore idea. You should stick with that. I love her voice.”

“Me too! It’s very sexy.”

“You’re very sexy.”

“What?” Annie laughed, her cheeks beginning to burn a little when she realized what Casey had just blurted out.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yes, you did. You said I’m very sexy.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Okay, maybe I did.”

“Heh, well thanks. So are you.” Annie was sure that the grin she was wearing was about ready to split her face in two.

“Aw, come on now. You just said it because I said it first,” Casey said in a pouting tone.

She laughed. “No, no, really. You’re actually pretty damn sexy.”

“Sexy like Usher sexy?”

“Sexy like
Magic Mike
sexy.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“I’ve gotten that before.”

“Yeah? You seriously could almost be his double, especially with that red baseball cap you wear.”

Chuckling, Casey paused and cleared his throat. “Aw, man. Now I don’t know if I’ll ever wear that hat again. And it’s my favorite, too.”

“Why not? I love you in that hat.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. It makes you Casey sexy, which is ten times better than
Magic Mike
sexy.”

“Now you’re just trying to make me blush.”

Annie giggled as she rolled her eyes, twisting around on the couch to get into a better position with a throw pillow stuffed under her neck. “Is it working?”

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know? So why don’t you sing me a bit of the song you want to use?”

“What? Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“Ahh… um… seriously? Like just start singing right now?” Feeling put on the spot, Annie hemmed and hawed and tried to think of an excuse to get out of singing to Casey.

“Yup, just start singing. Come on, how are you going to be able to audition this weekend if you can’t even sing to me on the phone?”

Biting her lip, she groaned and stuffed the pillow in her face. She knew he was right, but he made her feel so nervous. What if he hated her voice? Even if he did, she figured he probably wouldn’t say anything so he wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

“Okay, okay. Just give me a minute here.” Jumping up from the bed, Annie made a beeline for the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.

“I’m waiting…”

“Patience! I had to get some water.”

“Man, you are the queen of excuses, aren’t you?”

“Shush.” After taking a swig of water, she placed her phone on the counter and put it on speakerphone. Taking a deep breath, Annie began to sing the first verse of
Black Sheep
by Gin Wigmore. She winced as she heard her voice crack a tiny bit, but by the time she got into the chorus, she loosened up and really started to belt it out. When she finished, Annie gingerly picked the phone back up and turned off the speakerphone.

“Okay, there. You happy now?”

“Annie… that was amazing.”

“Shut up.”

“No, seriously. That was really good.”

“Right… my voice totally cracked in the first verse.”

“Doesn’t matter. You have a very sexy singing voice. I love that gravelly sound.”

Blushing, Annie couldn’t help but smile. “Well, thank you.”

“Yeah, that was great… just keep practicing that song and I think you’re going to knock their socks off.”

“You really think so?”

“I’m no expert when it comes to female vocalists, but I’ve danced back-up for quite a few, and I can appreciate quality, and you definitely have a quality voice. Now, the only thing is that I would suggest having a back-up song—maybe even two—prepared by this weekend.”

“That’s a good idea… thanks for the tip.”

“No worries. Aight, well, some of the other dancers want to grab drinks, so I’m going to let you go, but I’ll call you tomorrow night. Think about some other songs you like for your back-ups. I want you to sing them to me.”

“Ugh, really? I have to sing more?”

“Yes, really.”

“Okay, I guess if you’re gonna twist my arm.”

“Great. Oh, hang on a sec. Someone’s at the door.”

There was a moment of silence, and Annie assumed Casey was answering the door. Just then, she heard a girl in the background.

“Everybody’s waiting for us,” the voice whined petulantly, making Annie’s eyebrows shoot up. “Will you put some clothes on so we can go?”

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” Casey promised the girl before returning to the phone call. “Alright, I’m so sorry, but I’ve gotta go.”

“Uh… who was that?”

“Oh, Kelli—she’s one of the dancers going out with us tonight.”

“And she just saw you naked?”

Casey laughed. “No, I’m not naked. I just got out of the shower right before I called you and I haven’t put a shirt on, yet.” The image his words conjured to her mind were more than massively appealing, and she shivered as she imagined what she’d do if she were there with him. But that didn’t distract her entirely from thinking about the fact that this Kelli had just seen him like that in person and not her. All of a sudden, the fact that he was going to be gone on tour for the next several weeks took on a whole new meaning.

“Hmm, okay, well… have fun, and I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks, and remember, I’ll be waiting for those extra songs.”

“Right. Well, goodnight.”

“Night, princess.”

The line went dead and Annie stood there staring stupidly at her phone. What had she just gotten herself into? She didn’t want to be feeling insecure and worrying about what he might do with other girls he met while on tour. They weren’t together in a committed relationship. Even if he had expressed interest in taking her on a date when he got back into town, he had no obligation to stay loyal to her. Her gut told her that he wasn’t the type of guy who would do that, but experience told her that in the end, he could end up doing whatever he damn well pleased.
Fuck my life!
The next few weeks were going to be hell.

When Annie got home from work on Wednesday evening, she jumped on YouTube and started looking up different songs that she thought might make good audition pieces. After careful and lengthy deliberation, she finally settled on
Stay
by Rihanna and
Free
by Haley Reinhart.

She played the songs over and over again as she worked on memorizing the lyrics, even recording herself as she sang so she could play it back and see what she needed to work on. By the time she was ready for bed, she felt like she had a good handle on both songs, and with a little more work, she’d be more than ready to perform them at the audition on Saturday.

Humming, Annie reflected back on the last time she’d tried to do anything about her music career. Right out of high school, she had tried to answer some ads in
LA Weekly
and had joined a band for a few months. But even though she liked the other guys in the group, she didn’t really jive with their style of music, and they ended up parting ways before they ever performed together.