“How’s your night going, Darcy?” Shelby asked, settling in. “Arika treating you right?”
“You know I always am, shut it,” Arika reproached from Darcy’s other side.
Darcy grinned. “Yeah, of course. She’s been awesome. So has dinner. Seriously, thank you for inviting me to be on the album. I know I’m pretty new on the scene…”
She couldn’t help but dart her eyes over to Juliet, because shesworeshe felt Juliet looking at her. But when she checked, Juliet’s attention was firmly turned away.
Right.
She managed not to narrow her eyes when she turned back to Shelby, who was giving her a questioning stare.
“Sorry. Just… taking it all in.” Kind of true.
Shelby nodded. “Yeah, well, the thing is, everyone’s new at some point. But talent is talent.”
She felt her stomach somersault. Shelby Linwood was sitting here, telling her she was talented. Whatever Juliet was playing at was small potatoes compared to this.
“It’s kind of surreal,” she confessed, turning her entire attention to Shelby. “You know, thinking about where you came from, to all of this.”
She gestured around them, positive that Shelby would understand that she was referencing this insane house.
Shelby’s smile wasn’t sheepish, though, it was proud as she looked around. “Yeah. It is surreal. And you know what the trick is?”
If there was a trick, Darcy would kill to know it. Whatever trick there was to keeping her sanity as she navigated through their album’s release, through Juliet Jacobs, through… everything.
“Sometimes you just have to tell yourself you belong here, even when you might not feel like it,” Shelby imparted to her, pursing her lips. “Not always easy. But nothing’ll do you in like your own head, honey.”
“Yeah. That… makes a lot of sense,” she agreed.
It did make sense. And Darcy didn’tnotfeel like she belonged here. But… she didn’t want to belong here alone.
When Shelby got up to continue her mingling, she turned back to look at her dessert. She wished she’d taken Emerson or Blythe with her tonight, despite the Juliet of it all.
As someone came by to start clearing dessert plates a little while later, Darcy felt good about leaving. She’d confronted Juliet, even if it hadn’t really given her many answers.
Okay, no, that was a lie. The answer was Julietwasn’thitting on her. And it had been the most logical scenario in the first place.
And she’d gotten some sage wisdom from Shelby herself. Overall, a success.
Other people had started to stand, getting a nightcap, mingling. She was one of the only people left sitting at the table.
She noted that the woman clearing the plates had her stack pretty high, so she grabbed her own and walked with her to the kitchen.
“Thanks,” the woman gave her a small, appreciative smile.
“No problem.”
“Darcy?” The woman asked before Darcy turned to leave.
She paused. “Uh… yeah?”
Not that she really minded, but she did find it super weird that someone who worked forShelbywould stop her to ask for a picture or something.
The woman didn’t ask for a picture or say anything about music, though. Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper that had Darcy’s name scrawled across it in pretty penmanship. “This is for you. I’d planned on giving it to you when I cleared your plate.”
With that, the woman shot her another politely warm smile and went back to the dining room.
Darcy blinked after her, confusion sliding through her.