by K. A. Linde
Trihn started reading the article with shaking hands.
CHLOE AVANA’S ROMANCE WITH DJ DAMON STONE WAS STRICTLY OFF-LIMITS.
Add another guy to the increasingly long list of people Chloe Avana has been photographed with during the last couple of months. Even before their single “We Never Met” rocked the charts, the two had been spicing it up behind the scenes.
Relatively unknown Damon Stone supposedly rose to fame after playing a remixed version of Avana’s hit single “Heartbreaker” at a Las Vegas nightclub. But an anonymous source close to the couple says that they’d known each other long before that moment, and no doubt, things had been hot offstage long before the couple came out as the sizzling new duo.
Trihn stopped reading after that. Her heart rate leveled out, and she very carefully replaced the magazine in the stand.
What rubbish!
These tabloids always made something out of nothing. Whoever this anonymous source close to the couple was clearly didn’t actually know Chloe or Damon.
Trihn had been the one to introduce them in the first place. He’d never come close to meeting Chloe, and in fact, he’d been a total unknown, not relatively unknown, before that moment.
The one incriminating picture with his arm around Chloe was probably because she had been freaking the fuck out about the crowds. The press didn’t know about her fear of crowds and the panic attacks she suffered from. But Trihn and Damon both knew that happened, and he had likely just been protecting Chloe and trying to calm her down. All the other photographs looked as if they had been taken on tour or during promotions. It was probably a fact of life that if he was going to be around Chloe, then Damon was going to be photographed.
Trihn reached for her phone and sent a text to Damon.
I love you.
He responded almost instantly.
I love you too.
How is Orlando?
Don’t know. I haven’t seen anything other than the airport, hotel, and arena.
No Disney World then? Harry Potter world? Platform 9 ¾? Butterbeer?
Nope. Chloe said we’d have to get a backstage pass to the park to even go. No standing in lines. No wandering around and taking in the scenery.
That sounds awesome. Well, the lines part.
I’d rather go with you.
Maybe once you’re off the tour we could go.
I’d like that. How’s NYC?
The same.
Have you seen your family?
Lydia picked me up at the airport unannounced.
Sounds like her.
Yeah. She was fine I guess. Didn’t wave her ring in my face or mention the wedding at all actually.
Well, I hope it stays like that. I have to get in for a sound check. I’ll try to call you after the show. I love you.
I love you too.
Trihn pocketed her phone, feeling better about the stupid tabloid that she’d read. She hadn’t doubted Damon. She’d always figured that 99.9% of everything in those things was fake, but it was surreal to see her boyfriend in there and the ridiculous things it’d said about him and Chloe. What’s next? Chloe was going to be pregnant, but she wouldn’t know who the father was? They’d both end up on cocaine and in rehab and have a secret wedding? Because…everyone had secret weddings.
Trihn felt like she’d made so much progress since she and Damon had started dating. In the grand scheme of things, it hadn’t been that much time, but she’d been feeling stronger and stronger in their relationship. A few months ago, she wouldn’t have been able to take the sight of that tabloid, even knowing it was false. Now, she just shrugged it off, texted her boyfriend, and daydreamed about going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios with him.
TRIHN STOOD OUTSIDE of her parents’ townhouse in Brooklyn, contemplating whether or not she wanted to walk inside. She had promised her dad that she would stop by for dinner one night while she was in town. And since she had finally completed everything she needed for the fashion show, as listed on her itinerary, and she would be flying back to Las Vegas tomorrow, she figured tonight was the night.
She was actually excited to see her dad. And while she wanted to see her mom, she wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable wedding conversation.
So far, Trihn had avoided talking about it. She wouldn’t mind avoiding it altogether—or at least waiting to have Damon’s support.
But she pushed her shoulders back and entered the house anyway. “Mom! Dad!” she called, nudging the door closed behind her.
“Trihn!” her mother said. She rushed from the kitchen into the foyer and tightly hugged her daughter. “It’s so good to see you. I have missed you so much.” She held Trihn at arm’s length and examined her. “Did you get taller? Skinnier? Are you eating?”
Trihn laughed. “Yes, Mom, I’m eating. And God forbid, I get any taller.”
“It feels as if I haven’t seen you in ages. I don’t think I could go another six months. You have to come back before Christmas.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be back when Damon is in town for his show and for the fashion show.”
“Maybe you should just stay here until the fashion show.”
Trihn blanched. “I can’t. I have a lot of work left to do for it.”
“Of course you do.” Her mother, Linh, walked them into the living room. “You’re a Hamilton. We’re all strong and independent. Now, tell me more about everything. Your boyfriend, Damon, is a musician, right? And the fashion show—well, I know all about that since Glitz is a sponsor this year. Let me get you a drink.”
Trihn was about to tell her not to worry about it, but it seemed like she was excited to do things for her daughter. Instead, Trihn just took a seat in the living room and drank in the familiarity of it all. She’d missed this, being home. It felt right here, like this.
Linh returned a minute later with a glass of lemonade.
Trihn took it from her hand and sipped it before answering the deluge of questions, “Yes, Damon is a musician. He’s on tour right now with Chloe Avana.”
“Your father mentioned that. It must be hard.”
“It is,” she admitted. “He’s in Orlando right now. He’ll be in Atlanta tomorrow.”
“And will you get to see him anytime while he’s on this tour?”
“Well, when he’s in New York City.”
“Yes, but from the details Gabriel gave me, that’s a month away.”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It all happened so fast.”
“We make time for the ones we love. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Trihn couldn’t decide if that was a backhanded comment about her not coming home enough or not. So, she just chose to ignore it.
“And you won the fashion show at school. You’re up against some stiff competition. Your father showed me the images he had taken of your designs.”
“He did?” Trihn asked, surprised. She hadn’t really discussed this with her mother, but it made sense that she would keep up with her daughter’s life even if she weren’t as involved as she used to be.
“Yes.”
“What did you think?” Suddenly, Trihn felt as if she were holding her breath.
After all, her mother, the fashion magazine senior executive, judged these things for a living. Normally, Trihn wouldn’t have even asked for her opinion. Her mother was a critic. That was her job. But Trihn couldn’t help herself this time.
“They remind me of you, but besides your final piece, they weren’t expressly original,” Linh said.
“Oh.”
“They are excellent for a second-year student though, Trihn. You should be proud of your accomplishments. Just because I don’t think your line is boutique wear doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t sell exceptionally well to the masses. There is a huge difference.” Linh shrugged her dainty shoulders. “You’ll find your place. Now, come on. Dinner is almost ready. We should go into the dining room.”
“The dining room?” Tr
ihn asked.
With only three of them, it always made more sense to eat in the breakfast nook for most of their meals.
“You’re here for one night. I’m doing a bigger meal!”
Then, Linh traipsed into the kitchen, leaving Trihn feeling uneasy.
Trihn followed her mother and stopped dead in her tracks. Of course. She shouldn’t have been surprised, yet she was.
Lydia and Preston were standing side by side in front of the stove. Preston had his hip leaned up against the oven, and his eyes were fixed on Lydia as she was stirring something in a large pot. Lydia was wearing a simple sundress that came to her knees and hippie hemp sandals. Her hair, hanging loose to her waist, was a soft blonde color with platinum highlights. Preston looked as if he had just come from work in a blue plaid button-up with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and slim-fit charcoal slacks. He was well-groomed with short hair and just a five o’clock shadow gracing his chiseled jawline.
No matter how many times Trihn saw them together, she always felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. She just remembered the time at the Hamptons when everything had flipped on its head. Preston was Lydia’s. They were engaged.
Trihn felt as if she were intruding on a private moment. But as soon as she started to inch back out of the kitchen, Preston turned his head and looked straight at her, freezing her in place. Bright blue eyes wrapped her in a spell and rooted her to the spot on the floor. A slow smirk stretched across his face. It was painful to witness.
“Hey, Trihn,” he said casually.
When Lydia whipped around, there was no semblance of his dirty smirk.
“Trihn!”
“Uh, hey.”
“So glad that you decided to have dinner with all of us.”
“Yeah…”
“Mom made your favorite.”
“I’m just going to go find Dad.” Trihn slowly eased out of the kitchen, making sure not to look at Preston. She only saw Lydia’s distraught face at her own apparent fear before she hurried from the room.
When she turned back to the living room, she found her dad striding into the room from upstairs.
Trihn walked right up to him with her arms crossed. “Thanks for the heads-up about the ambush.”
Gabriel chuckled and pulled her in for a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, but you said we were just going to have a small family dinner.”
“We are. There are only five of us.”
“I thought you meant just the three of us,” she accused.
“I never specifically said that, and anyway, as soon as I told your mother that you were coming, she invited Lydia. There was no way around it. You should have known that.”
Trihn sighed. “If I slip out the front door, maybe no one will notice.”
Her dad gave her a stern look that told her even he wouldn’t let that slide. He likely didn’t want to hear the complaints from everyone at the table if she disappeared.
“Come on. You can sit by me.” He put his arm around her shoulders, and they walked into the dining room.
Trihn took the seat next to her father while her mother fluttered back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, depositing dishes. With the number of plates out, it was practically Thanksgiving.
Lydia carried in one last dish and placed it at the center of the table. She took an empty seat, and Preston walked in a second later, sitting down directly across from Trihn.
Trihn sighed and looked toward her father. “Any interesting shoots lately?”
“Besides yours?” he asked with a smile.
“Oh!” Lydia said, jumping in, uninvited. “Tell me all about your fashion show. Can I come to the one in New York? I’ll be a free photographer or whatever you need.”
“I don’t know, Ly. Details are kind of up in the air on whether I’m going to have anyone with me, aside from the models. The show is even providing an assistant.”
“That’s great, honey,” her mom said, entering the room and taking a seat. “Though I know Lydia would love to work with you in her spare time while you’re here.”
“I really would.”
Trihn nodded. “Yeah, but like I said, we’ll have to see.”
Everyone dug into the food, saving Trihn from having to say much more about it.
“So, are you really dating that guy who sings that new song with Chloe Avana?” Lydia asked.
Trihn squared her shoulders. “Yeah. Damon.”
“Damon Stone. Is that his real name?” Lydia asked. “Don’t they all have fake names?”
“Yeah, a lot of them do, but no, that’s his real name. We went to a show for this guy named DJ Poet, but his real name is James Poe, and the studio thought that was boring.”
“I’ve heard his stuff before,” Preston said. “Poet, that is.”
“But…I’m confused. What happened with Neal? He was so sweet,” Lydia said.
Trihn clenched her jaw. “It just didn’t work out. Damon is a much better choice.”
“Do you get to see him much? Mom said he’s touring.”
“He just went out on the road. He’s normally in Vegas. He was a DJ at a nightclub I frequent. That’s how we met.”
“Interesting. It must be hard to be away.”
Trihn nodded. “Yeah, but we talk a lot. So, it’s not the end of the world.”
“That’s good,” Lydia said.
The conversation switched to other topics, and Trihn actually found herself relaxing. She’d been home a couple of times since the Preston fiasco, but usually, she had been so uncomfortable that she would have to leave the room to get away from the tension. Preston put her on edge, and she knew he liked to do it on purpose. It must have been Damon who changed all of that.
“Trihn?” Lydia said.
Trihn jerked her head up out of the pasta she had been eating. Her mother’s food really was delicious. She hadn’t realized that she had completely zoned out of the conversation.
“What?”
“We were just talking about going upstairs after this. I’d like to try on my wedding gown, so you could see it.”
Trihn swallowed hard. “I didn’t know you had already purchased one.”
“Well, you don’t return my calls,” Lydia said softly.
“I, um…probably have to go right after this.”
“Trihnity,” Linh said. “You can stay for a bit to see her dress.”
Trihn bit back a snide retort and looked at her meal. She didn’t think she could stomach seeing Lydia in that dress. But maybe with the way things had been going, it wouldn’t be that bad. Trihn could just disconnect the who and the why and only see the amazing craftsmanship because she was sure that their mother had had it custom-made.
“Sure,” Trihn finally said. She looked back up.
Lydia lit up like a light bulb. It was like she had just come downstairs on Christmas morning. “Great. I’m excited.”
Preston reached over and took Lydia’s hand in his. “When do I get to see it?”
Trihn swallowed back the rising bile in her throat.
Lydia giggled. “Not until the wedding day, of course.”
“That seems fair.” He slowly drew her hand to his lips, and just as he placed a light kiss on the top, he turned and looked at Trihn.
She nearly choked and shoved her chair back. “Excuse me. I just have to…take my plate in.”
“Don’t be silly, Trihn. I’ll clear the table,” Linh said.
“No, it’s fine. I want to do it.” She scooped up her plate and left the table. So much for being comfortable.
Trihn tossed her plate into the sink with a sigh. Resting her hands on the counter, she leaned forward and tried to regain a sense of equilibrium.
“You made a quick departure,” Preston said, appearing in the kitchen a minute later.
“What do you want?” she asked with venom in her voice.
“Just came to check on you.”
“I’m fine. You can go now.”
“Yep. Damon is amazing. He really loves me.”
“I’m sure he does. What’s not to love?”
Despite her best effort, she winced at that comment.
“I read a few interesting things about your boyfriend.”
Trihn glared at him. “I really don’t want to talk about this with you.”
“Do you honestly think that he isn’t sleeping with Chloe Avana?”
“You’re an asshole. That shit isn’t true.”
“Is that what he’s saying?” he asked, leaning against the counter and looking down at her.
She hadn’t realized he had gotten so close. He was practically hovering over her. She took a steady step backward.
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“You can do better.”
She scoffed. “You don’t know anything.”
“Come on, Trihn. You and I both know that some new guy could never compare to me.”
Trihn snapped her eyes up to him. She couldn’t believe he’d had the gall to say that to her.
He’d teased her about Neal when they were together, but she had always extracted herself from the situation as soon as possible. And then she’d blocked the memory from her mind. This was different though. This was about Damon, and Preston hadn’t even fucking met him!
“You’re right,” she said finally.
Preston smiled wide.
“Damon doesn’t compare to you. In fact, I’d never, ever want to put you two in the same category because Damon is twice the man you’ll ever be.”
Trihn pushed past Preston and went back into the dining room. “I’m leaving.”
“What?” Linh said.
That was shortly followed by Lydia’s, “You can’t leave yet! My dress!”
“You can tell that to your fiancé.” Trihn shook her head. “It was good to see you guys, but I have to go now.”
After she grabbed her bag, her mother tried to stop her at the door. “Trihn, please don’t go. What’s wrong with you?”