“I’m not surprised. We can Zoom anytime you have a free moment. I don’t know if you know anything about Four Twelve, but we rep Rodeo Bandits, J Kay, and Three Times Wrong. We’re always looking for fresh, diverse musicians, and you are exactly what we are looking for.”

Annie squeezed Charley’s arm and mouthed “oh my God.” “I’m not performing next Saturday. We can talk then.”

“That’s great. I’ll shoot you an email with details and more about our company. I look forward to talking in the very near future.”

Annie gave Deandra her email address and squealed when she hung up the phone. “Somebody wants to rep me.”

“Yes! Who are they? What did they say?” Charley asked.

“Not much. I’ll chat with them next week. That’ll give me time to research the company, but I recognized everyone she told me they rep.”

Charley grabbed her hand. “This is the first of many calls. I can just tell.”

Smiling at Charley’s words, Annie tamped down the need to shout out her good fortune. She was afraid to embrace it because it could disappear. What if the crowd wanted somebody else? She was already sitting out of six upcoming concerts because of previously scheduled openers. What if they liked that band or singer more?

Charley waved her forefinger at Annie. “Quit overthinking this. I can practically see your doubt. Once you get a manager, they can do all the worrying for you,” Charley said.

“What if I pick a bad company?”

“Ask Bristol. Or Lizzy. She’s Bristol’s manager, right? Maybe she’ll offer to rep you, too.”

Annie wanted to pace, but they were walking through a casino, which wasn’t great for pacing. Her anxiety was ramping up at the thought of her career blowing up. She understood how musicians got overwhelmed. “Can we talk about something else? I need normalcy right now. How’s the business? How was the last open-mic night?”

That was enough to get Charley talking. “It was a good turnout. Lots of queer babies were there hoping to get a glimpse of you. Some people didn’t know you were out on tour, but when they found out, they were super excited.” She kept talking as they sat and only paused to give the waiter their order.

“All that’s for you?” Annie asked after hearing everything Charley ordered.

“I’m hungry, and I’m in Vegas to indulge. Oh. Peyton and Sarah stopped by the open mic. They come in on a regular basis after checking on Raven.”

“As much as this saddens me, my cat doesn’t miss me,” Annie said. Sarah had sent photos of Peyton and Raven and a few selfies of her close-up, with Raven off in the distance. They made Annie smile, because Raven really hated everyone except for Peyton.