Meet Me Backstage

29. Treat You Better

SKYE

Jacks opens the door wearing a black and white striped button-up, skinny jeans, and suede boots. His sleeves are rolled up a bit and the collar is buttoned low, revealing a thin gold chain resting on his bare chest. He has mismatched rings on several of his fingers and his nails are painted black.

"Hey, Buttercup," he says with a smile.

"I kind of didn't expect Mister Superstar to answer his own door," I tease.

"Well, security doesn't usually let in the riffraff. I guess they made an exception tonight."

I shoot him a glare and he smirks, holding the door open as I walk in.

His apartment is exceptionally nice, which I guess I should have expected from the fanciness of the rest of the building. Most of it is white—walls, countertops, furniture—with a bright multicolored rug and a navy blue piano adding a bit of personality to the space. There's a near-360-degree view of the Los Angeles skyline through a long stretch of floor-to-ceiling windows.

"You can see everything from here," I say, looking out over the horizon. The sun is just beginning to set and the sky is hazy and orange.

"Yeah. I bought it for the windows. I like how it feels so open." He sits down on the white sofa and gestures for me to sit. "Make yourself at home."

I sit in the chair across from him.

"Is that a problem for you—with paparazzi or whatever? Can't everyone see in?"

"It's mirrored glass. I can see out, but they can't see in." He stands up and looks at me. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Water would be great, thanks."

He nods and walks into the kitchen. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I hit the button to silence it without looking at it.

Who uses phones to call someone these days, anyway? What do people think I'm going to do—pick it up and talk to them? Ridiculous.

"I ordered Indian food for us both," Jacks says as he returns with a glass of water. "I hope that's okay, you said something about liking it so I figured that would be okay."

"Oh uh... I'm vegeta-"

"Vegetarian, I remember." He smiles and places the water down on the coffee table in front of me, then sits back down on the couch. "I ordered all vegetarian. I got a bunch of food, so you'll have plenty of options."

My phone starts to vibrate again and I roll my eyes, clicking the silence button again.

"Already calling you nonstop?" Jacks asks.

"Huh?"

"Greg?" His shoulders slump slightly and he leans his elbows on his knees. "I assume based on your reaction that's not the first one?"

"Oh, no, I don't think so anyway. I just hate when people call me in general and I've gotten several calls in the past ten minutes."

"How are you doing with all that? I mean-"

He's interrupted by more buzzing from my phone.

"Sorry," I say, pulling out my phone to figure out why someone insists on calling me over and over again.

5 Missed Calls: Mom

Oh shit.

"It's my mom. She never calls, I should probably take this. Sorry."