The Masked Singer

[Chapter Twenty Seven]

Pushing the door open, I turn to walk inside. Someone grabs my arm, tugging me back.

"Goodnight my Sienna." Alex presses his lips against my forehead and then disappears.

I'm left standing in my doorway shocked and a little confused. It wasn't the kiss I was hoping for, but it's cute and I like it. My body feels tingly and fluttery. His short lived courage is still adorable none the less. And I need to stop over analysing things. Alex Bray, Alex Bray of many popular reputation titles just kissed my forehead.

I need to go scream into a pillow for the next week.

This time, I slowly creep into the hotel room and pray I'm going to be lucky. Dad might already be asleep and won't find out about my adventures until tomorrow morning where I'll be off working. I want to dive into my bed and sleep, I don't want a long lecture tonight, and I'm too tired for that.

As I walk through, the room stays dark and I breathe in a sigh of relief. But as I open my bedroom door, my beside lamp turns on.

"Shoot," I mutter to myself.

Dad's sitting on the end of my bed with an unamused expression on his face. And my good mood is quickly ruined.

"I hope you understand your actions tonight are irresponsible. Your mother and I are disappointed in you," he calmly says.

"I'm sorry," I start, "things got out of hand, I panicked, I'm sorry."

"You are supposed to stay with Archer so that he can protect you from these hazards. There are bad people in this world that don't like you, they'll squish you if you give them the motive."

"What are you talking about?"

"Pictures will say a thousand words the writer wants them to mean. Don't think that being famous is a fun ride of a career. People will cut you down to better themselves. If you want to succeed, pull your head out of the clouds and act like a professional."

"What are you talking about?"

"Go to bed Riley." Dad gets off the bed and moves to exit the room.

"What are you talking about, Dad?" I call out again.

"Be careful who you trust, you're not the only one wearing a mask."

"You're starting to scare me." I chew on the bottom of my lip.

"From now on, you'll be under the vigilant supervision of both Ava and Archer. I have business to attend to at home, so I'll be leaving them in your care."

Frowning, "Both? Are you serious? You can't do that!" Please tell me I didn't hear that correctly.

"You broke the rules, now it's time to deal with the consequences." He crosses his arms over his chest.

There's no going back, I've received my sentence. I just need the matching orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

"What happens when I finish here?" I ask.

"You'll go to New York to record and promote, you're going to be flying solo from now on, and it's what's best for you." Dad shifts uneasily, but his clenched fist shows he's trying to stay strong.

"Who does it feel like I'm being kicked out of my house?"

"Being famous and touring the world isn't all what it seems. One day you have to leave it all behind, you can't always travel with your family." Sometimes I forget I'm talking to an expert about this subject. The business man himself has probably spent more of his marriage inside a lonely hotel room than with my mother.

There's no way I can change his mind, so I accept the facts.

"When are you leaving?" Just watching my father squirm on the spot upsets me, so I look up to the ceiling and try to blink away the tears. There's not enough funny cat videos on the internet to make me feel better about being alone.

If Dad thinks I can't play this game, why is he leaving me to fend for myself? I can't run a music career with boys on the side! I don't know anything about boys! What do you do? Leave them in the corner to look pretty?

"Tomorrow afternoon. We can have breakfast in the morning," he offers, "and before you know it, we'll be back out watching your first performance in New York." He tries to grin.

"I'll cancel on Alex tomorrow." I frown.

"You should get some sleep," he comments.

"Yeah, it's late," I agree.

Dad closes the remaining space between himself and the door. He pauses briefly to say, "Don't run around by yourself while I'm gone."

"I won't." I chuckle, "learnt my lesson." As I look down at my feet, I'm reminded of the blistering pain on the tops of my toes, and how the tops of my feet felt when we were running.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." When he exits the room, I chuck my shoes off and fling my body onto my bed. Standing on solid ground is beginning to make my feet cramp up.

The next thing I do is dial Lucy's FaceTime and wait for her to answer. It takes me three rings until she accepts the call and her face pops on the screen.

"What?" She frowns.

Lucy is still snuggled under her blankets and half asleep. She's squinting at the bright screen and battling to keep her eyes open. I feel bad, but, I need to talk to her.

"We need to talk."

From those words, she perks up slightly and her eyes become curious.

"What's happening? Why the late call?" Her voice sounds nervous.

"Dad's leaving and I don't know what to do."

"Your dad's left you before, you big fool! Do what you always do. Toughen up princess, the world doesn't end because the ball is in your court."

"He hasn't left me in a whole new city by myself."

"So you'll have no contact to Alex, Archer or your manager?" asks Lucy.

"No but –"

"So you'll have plenty of people around you?"

"I guess." I pout.

"We define ourselves as we see fit, we define our family to those who care."

"But."

"No buts Riley, you'll be fine. Just keep your head down and write music."

"Okay." I nod my head a little happier, "I'll try."

"That's good to here. Now go to bed!" She grumbles.

The video call finishes and I'm left feeling satisfied. I chuck my phone on charge and change into some loose clothing for sleeping. The second my head hits the pillow, I'm out for the night.