Sofia had been at the studio when Hannah called her on the way to the hospital. As Hannah knew she would, despite everything going on between them, Sofia had dropped whatever she was doing and rushed straight away to be at Andrea’s side.
So now she, Sofia and Seth, who had driven Sofia to the hospital, were sitting in the waiting room, for Hannah and Sofia’s parts, waiting for Tommy to come out of Andrea’s room so that they could visit their best friend and sister.
Hannah was sitting in a leather chair next to Sofia, nursing what was now a cold coffee, staring out of the window at the stillness of the blue sky beyond. It seemed strange that it would be such a nice day outside. Even with her first pregnancy, as surprised as she was, Hannah had loved her baby before it was even a foetus. She just couldn’t imagine the pain Andrea would be going through.
‘I can’t believe I never even got around to congratulating her on being pregnant and now this,’ Sofia said. ‘I told her I hated her. I was evil.’
Hannah broke from her own thoughts, reaching out a hand to take Sofia’s.
‘She knows you don’t hate her, Sofia. You love her. She knows that. I’m sure it hasn’t always felt like it and I know she has gone the wrong way about some of the things she’s done but Andi has always, always had your best interests at heart, Soph.
‘She screwed up with Hunter and she knows that. Believe me, she’s punishing herself more than anyone else could about it. But the stuff with XM Music Group and Jay, those things she truly thought she was doing in your best interests. Now, I’m not saying there weren’t some perks for her along the way but just hear me out.’
Sofia looked to Hannah and nodded.
‘Andi despised Jay, you know that. She never thought he was right for you. But when you decided to marry him, she realised you had made your decision and, whether she liked it or not, it was not her choice to make. She didn’t want to become embroiled in admin and finance tasks when she went to Stellar, Soph, but it was a good opportunity and she thought that the only way she could let you live your life with Jay and not fall out with her, would be if she left Sanfia Records.’
Sofia’s brows furrowed as she seemed to process Hannah’s words. ‘She left Sanfia so that Jay and I could run it together?’
Hannah nodded. ‘Don’t get me wrong, the lure of Stellar was big for her but she only considered taking a meeting with them about the move in the first place because she knew something had to change at Sanfia.’
‘She never told me that,’ Sofia admitted.
Hannah gave her a sad smile. ‘That’s not Andrea’s style. She’s always tried to play the silent angel.’
‘It doesn’t excuse what she did with Jay. She tried to poach Sanfia.’
Hannah shook her head. ‘I was hoping that you and Andi might have talked through this at some point and, again, Andi knows that she shouldn’t have stepped in when she did. That was why she was coming to speak to you the other day at the studio. She’s sorry for the way she went about things and she wanted to explain that. Of course, no one expected that Jay would sign himself out of rehab before his thirty days were up.’
‘But Jay said…’
‘I don’t know exactly what Jay told you but here’s the truth. Andrea and your dad were worried about you. You were exhausted, Soph, and when you got that black eye… Andi went out to New Jersey to see your dad.’
‘She did?’
Sofia was right to be surprised, since Andrea never made the trip out to visit their dad. Hannah nodded. ‘They talked and they both knew, in their hearts, that even if you were unhappy, you would never leave Jay.’ Hannah smiled and gripped Sofia’s hand tighter. ‘You’re too loyal for your own good sometimes. You always have been.’
‘Funnily enough, I’m not feeling loyal at all today.’
‘Andi asked Jimmy to try to convince Jay to go to rehab. She offered to pay anything that insurance wouldn’t cover.’
‘I didn’t realise that.’
Hannah shrugged, as if to say, Well, that’s Andi for you. ‘Jimmy stuck to his end of the deal and, though he didn’t know exactly what she had planned, Andi figured her role was to give you the chance to break free of Jay and have a chance at something, someone better.’
At that moment, Tommy Dawson stepped into the waiting area, dragging a hand roughly through his hair. His eyes were red and Hannah knew in that moment that she had never misunderstood how much Andrea and Tommy had felt for each other in the times they had briefly been seeing each other in the past.
Hannah stood. ‘How is she?’
Tommy tried to speak but his face contorted with pain and he shrugged. Hannah wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek, trying to convey her thanks that he was there for her best friend and that she was sorry for their loss.
Tommy brought his hands around her waist and as he held onto her, he said, ‘She loves you, Hannah.’ Then he pulled back and looked to Sofia. ‘Sofia, she loves you so much. Please go to speak to her.’
Sofia stood and inhaled deeply, nodding. ‘I will.’
‘She’s sleeping now but they’ll let her out tonight. Maybe you could speak to her before then.’
‘I will,’ Sofia repeated.
Tommy seemed to notice Seth in the room then. He dragged in a breath, composing himself, and moved to Seth, holding out his hand. ‘Hey, I’m Tommy.’
Seth stood and smiled sombrely. ‘I know. Seth. I’m sorry, Tommy. I don’t know what else to say.’
Tommy patted Seth on the arm. ‘Listen, I was hoping you and I could talk?’
The look of confusion on Seth’s face was a match for Hannah’s and Sofia’s but in that moment, it seemed neither of them had the energy to ask questions or worry about anything other than Andrea.
‘Ah, sure,’ Seth said.
The men left Sofia and Hannah, who went back to their seats next to each other. ‘You were going to tell me about Andi visiting Jay,’ Sofia said.
‘Right. Well, Andi wanted to buy Jay out of Sanfia. What she actually wanted was to buy him out herself but she couldn’t because she is contracted to Stellar and has restrictive covenants. So, the only way she figured she could make it happen would be to have Stellar buy out Jay’s share of the business.’
‘So, it was never about her taking Sanfia over to XM Music Group?’
Hannah shook her head. ‘No. Obviously, it wouldn’t have hurt Andi’s reputation at Stellar and that’s partly why she wanted to explain everything to you before you found out from someone else. But I saw the deal she had drawn up, Soph. If Stellar had bought out Jay’s share, she was going to make sure that you were still able to run Sanfia as you wanted to do. But the part Jay didn’t tell you was that Andi made the deal conditional on Jay filing for divorce.’
Sofia stood from her seat. ‘She told me. I was… am, furious.’
Hannah stood, too. ‘I know. She shouldn’t have meddled and Andi knows that too. She was going to call it all off after she had confessed to you.’
‘She was trying to play God with my life,’ Sofia scolded.
‘She made a mistake. But she also thought it would be a test. See, in Andi’s mind, if Jay didn’t take the deal and he got sober, she would have left you to it and accepted that you had to be left alone to work things out between you. If he took the deal, it meant…’
‘He didn’t love me,’ Sofia said, sadly. ‘As it happens, he didn’t take the deal, so maybe he loved me enough not to sell me out to Stellar. Or maybe he just despised Andi enough not to want her to win but for him to still get cash. Either way, he still left.’
Sofia moved to the window and stared outside. ‘Andrea was wrong to mess with my life with Jay. Yet, I have Sanfia. And Jay has done what I probably could never have asked him to do – he’s left. In a warped and messed-up way, maybe things have worked out for the best.
‘But I still have the problem of having to buy Jay out of the label,’ Sofia said. ‘I can’t afford to do that.’
‘Have you considered asking Rosalie?’ Hannah suggested.
Sofia gave her a look of incredulity. ‘In Rosalie’s mind, I must be tied to Andi in this whole thing. She’ll probably never speak to either of Andi or me again, let alone offer to lend me money or buy into the label.’ She looked back to the outside. ‘I wouldn’t want to abuse her friendship like that, in any case.’
‘All I’ll say is, Rosalie truly doesn’t have a malicious cell in her beautiful, immaculate body. She wouldn’t hold something that Andrea has done against you, Soph.’
Hannah retook her seat. ‘Well, now you know the truth, how do you feel?’
Sofia shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’m mad at Andi but I’m pleased I understand now what she had been thinking. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter now. She’s my sister and she’s hurting.’
An hour later, Hannah and Sofia crept quietly into Andrea’s room, where she was asleep, fragile and pale. As Hannah took a seat at one side of the bed, Sofia leaned her head next to Andrea’s on her pillow as she sat in the chair by the other side of her sister’s hospital bed, both of them watching Andrea sleep.
Andrea had made a huge mistake getting involved with Hunter but maybe it would have never happened if she hadn’t felt like she had to leave Sanfia Records and let Sofia run the business with Jay. Her goodness had been misplaced when it came to her actions with Sofia and Jay, meddling in their lives. But her good intentions were there. Hannah was sure that, deep down, Sofia knew that those good intentions had always been there.
‘I don’t hate you, Andi,’ Sofia whispered. ‘I could never hate you. I love you with all my heart and it’s breaking for you right now.’
Andrea’s hand rose and she brought it to rest on Sofia’s cheek, her eyes still closed. ‘I love you,’ she whispered, turning to kiss Sofia’s brow.