True Love Waits

Chapter 382 Three For Supper

What happened on July 7th was beyond belief. Every copy of Debbie's albums, a million all told, was sold out on the day of release. An aggressive promotional cycle including hourly Twitter and Instagram updates fueled a number of pre-orders. Most of the physical products, which contained limited edition posters, signed photos, and a DVD of the music video never made it to the shelves.

When Ruby told Debbie the news, she thought she was lying to make her feel better. "Come on! If all of my albums were really sold out in one go, I'll hold twenty concerts in a row to thank my fans," said Debbie.

Ruby handed her iPad over to Debbie. She could clearly see the sales figures on the AMOLED screen. Debbie's heart skipped a beat when she saw Ruby's serious expression. 'So she's telling the truth?' she wondered.

Debbie took the iPad from Ruby, and the screen was filled with small, closely-written figures. She scrolled the screen all the way to the end. It showed that a million albums had been sold out in a single day and the sales had reached $17 million.

"Know what, Deb? You're the most popular singer now!" Ruby was practically in tears; she was so excited. Debbie was number one among all the singers with the best album sales.

Debbie clenched her fists without uttering a single word. Her head was spinning because of the figures on the iPad. She had only one thought, 'That's a lot of money!' Of course it wasn't all going to her, because the company needed to be reimbursed for its efforts. The promotional cycle came to $500, 000 easily, and that wasn't chump change. But neither was how much Debbie would be getting. Of course, when Debbie held a concert here before, she was already a popular recording artist.

Maybe she was both excited and exhausted. She slept for 32 hours straight, alone in her apartment, after being notified of the album sales. After that much sleep, she felt better. She hopped in the shower and went through her morning routine before heading to Curtis' house to take Piggy back to her own apartment, planning to spend the rest of the time with her.

At dusk, Debbie went downstairs, holding Piggy in one hand and Harley's leash in the other. She decided to go the garden of the apartments, and that was where she ran into Carlos.

Last time she saw him at the hospital, she had decided to change her methods. So she walked right past him, pretending not to see him.

However, to her surprise, Piggy shook off her hand and rushed headlong towards Carlos. She held onto his leg, looked up at him and called out, "Uncle Carlos!"

Harley saw Carlos as well and barked excitedly. And loud. If it weren't for the leash in Debbie's hand, Harley would have already pounced on him too.

Carlos couldn't help but curl his lips when he saw Piggy. "Evelyn," he said, greeting her softly.

"Uncle Carlos, I'm so happy to see you," Piggy said cheerfully.

Carlos looked past Piggy, and then saw Debbie with her dog. He squatted down on the ground and scooped her up in his arms. "Did you have supper, Evelyn?" "Yeah! Mom cooked. Yummy! Uncle Carlos, you want to eat?"

the adults were

save Carlos from embarrassment, Debbie chipped in, "Uncle

with Uncle Carlos," Piggy said with a hopeful

can't!" Debbie turned her down without hesitation. It was harsher than she intended, but she was

she was too smart for her

up his time. Piggy, be a good girl, okay? Let's go

him. What if he found out Piggy was his daughter? What if

she had to listen to her mom. So she said to Carlos,

Piggy's dejected look. Turning down this little girl would be a dick move. He turned to Debbie and said,

eyes and snapped,

a little wronged. 'What's wrong with her? She gave up easy. Is

act. In a feigned sad voice, he told Piggy, "Evelyn, I'm starving. I need to go home and

children her age, and she realized that her mom wasn't willing to cook for Carlos. She blinked her innocent eyes and pleaded, "Mom, please cook spaghetti for me. I want to eat it." Debbie was at a loss whether to cry or

walked towards the building where they lived,

Carlos' neck and said cheerfully, "Uncle

gave her a broad

said you

floor. A family of three and a dog walked out. When they entered the apartment, Debbie walked

had supper. Piggy is actually

Carlos, I don't think spaghetti is enough for

planned to make beef and noodles for him. She opened the fridge and then saw the frozen wontons she

so excited that she took out all of her toys to show them to Carlos and kept chatting

stared at father and daughter through the glass door, her eyes

Piggy was laughing the whole

sense Debbie's tense gaze even with his head lowered. He raised his head and his eyes met