Page 58 of On the Power Play

They listened to the opening monologue, and Jack realized he’d forgotten how funny Ken was. He'd gotten his start in stand-up—he'd even done a stint at the Stampede. Jack had seen him live accidentally his first summer in the city. Then he'd taken over the late night slot on CBC before Christmas.

Ken announced the guests in order of appearance, Katie Mackey, an actress in a sitcom up for multiple Emmy awards, then Delia, then Zack Prior.

Clara coughed. "Zack Prior? Holy hell. He's . . ."

"He's what?" Oscar shifted on the couch under her.

"Uh, I think some women find him attractive."

Jack snorted. "Some women?" Clara's cheeks were pink.

Oscar looked unimpressed, and Clara cuddled closer. "I didn't mean it, baby. You're the only one hot enough to handle?—"

"Yeah, thank you." Oscar tickled her ribs as punishment.

Jack's heart twinged, and he turned back to the TV. He loved spending time with Clara and Oscar. Loved that they were happy. But sometimes it hurt.

He thought of Delia texting him in the green room. She'd said she was alone, hadn't she? Had there been time where she would've interacted with the other guests? With Zack Prior? Clara was massively understating his sex appeal based on the number of times he'd seen women go catatonic the second he showed up on screen or on a billboard at the mall for a cologne ad. He'd had to wipe Clara's drool more than once while they were Christmas shopping, and there had been a fan club blocking the entrance to the Apple store.

That was Delia’s life. She saw guys like Zack on a regular basis.

Jack tensed as they watched the interview with Katie. She seemed vapid and boring, but he didn't say anything since Clara seemed to be enjoying her lame-ass responses. After the commercial break, Jack's insides started to shiver. He was cold and hot and couldn't get comfortable on the chair.

"You okay, there?" Clara smirked. Jack ignored her and turned so he could rest his feet on the coffee table.

"Our next guest, I'm so excited about this you guys, she has been absolutely dominating the charts with her new releases." Ken slapped a CD cover up on his desk, showing off the artwork to the camera. "If you haven't heard of this woman, you've been living under a rock. She has some of the most poetic lyrics and her voice—well, I'll let that speak for itself. Everyone, welcome the beautiful and talented, Delia Melise!"

The camera view flipped to Delia standing with her guitar in front of a mic stand. She wore Mary Janes. Jack didn't know why that was the first thing he noticed, but it was. His eyes eventually lifted past the little black straps over her feet, and he took in her cropped pants. They shimmered like satin. Her Victorian style blouse tied at the neck, and there were her perfect auburn waves that framed her face. Her eyeliner was thick, giving her eyes a smoky ring that made the blue edging of her irises pop.

She started singing, and Jack recognized the song immediately. It was the one she'd recorded in the studio. He was surprised, considering that song hadn't been released yet, but maybe that was the point? If she was doing a media spot, she wouldn't want to play something everyone knew. Or maybe it was better to do something people knew. Jack couldn’t help overthinking it to give his brain something to fixate on outside of her voice. At least on TV it was removed. He couldn’t feel it reverberating through him like the live show or in the studio. That helped.

A thrill went through him as the studio audience cheered, and he thought of all the people watching the show around the country. All the clips that would be reposted on social media. He’d seen firsthand how hard she’d worked on that song. She deserved it. All of it. He wanted them to love her.

"She's incredible." Clara sighed into Oscar's chest. "How does she do that? Look so at ease in front of all those cameras?"

Jack grinned to himself. She probably thought she was going to throw up at any moment. At least that was how it was for him. For the first shift anyway. Then he could usually drop into the game and forget everything else, but sometimes it wasn't that simple. If he wasn't playing well, it was easy to look up and see the angry faces. Let them get in his head.

At least on a late night show, nobody was her enemy. Those would come later online. He thought of all the YouTube comments he'd read over the years, and they all carried more weight now that he knew there was a real person on the other end of it.

Delia finished her song to more cheers and applause, and then Ken was standing on the platform with her.

"Delia Melise, everyone! Wow, that was incredible!" He put his arm on her shoulder and presented her to the audience like she was something he created, then motioned for her to come to the desk. Delia handed her guitar to a man dressed in black and followed Ken to the couch where Katie Mackey was already seated. Katie stood and gave her a hug. Delia's smile slipped just a little, and Jack grinned to himself. Not a real hug.

He was probably a prick. Shouldn’t he want her to make friends? Especially after her conversation about loneliness? It was late and his life was a runaway train. He was grappling for control over something, but it needed to not be Delia.

Ken settled behind his desk. “Delia, congratulations on your latest single hitting number one. It must be wild to have had so many massive hits in less than a year."

"Thank you, yeah. It's surreal, honestly. Every artist dreams of reaching people with their music, and seeing this kind of response is just . . . it's beyond words."

Katie Mackey leaned in. “It’s not surprising, though. I saw clips of your pop-up show in Calgary. You were incredible.”

“That is so nice of you to say, thank you.”

Ken leaned back in his chair. “Speaking of that pop-up, that was the first time you were spotted publicly with a certain special someone.” He grinned as Delia blushed. “Are we allowed to talk about it?” Ken looked behind him as if checking with his producers. “That’s not an off-limits topic is it?”

Delia shook her head. “No, it’s fine. That was the first night we had a chance to sit down and talk.”

Ken leaned in with a goofy smile on his face. “I think everyone’s dying to know how this all happened. Did you message each other, or . . .?”