Novels by I.Excellent

By the third week, Kairo had gotten used to the constant movement. There was barely enough time to settle into one city before he had to leave for another. His days followed much the same pattern, with performances, long drives, flights, and hotel rooms that he would barely spend enough time in to get comfortable. Even his days off came with something scheduled, whether it was an interview, rehearsal, a photo call, or another call from Priya about something that couldn’t wait.He had learned to work around the exhaustion. He knew how little sleep he could get and still make it through a show, how long he could go without eating before it started affecting him, and how to keep going even when all he wanted was a few hours to himself.Sometimes, he woke up in the middle of the night and had to check his phone to remember which city he was in. The rooms all looked alike, and after a while, the days started blending together. He was getting used to it, but that didn’t mean he was enjoying

Kairo already knew how the day would go before he stepped into the first room. Radio interview at eight. Morning show at nine-thirty. Two print interviews at eleven and twelve, one right after the other. Lunch with cameras at the table, which meant he probably wouldn’t eat much. A podcast at two, a fan event at four, and a photo call with Sienna at six. Priya had arranged that weeks ago, and neither of them had been able to get it moved.He’d done enough of these days to know how to get through one without thinking too much about it. Years of interviews had made the entire thing familiar. Once, during a European tour, he’d managed an entire day of interviews after barely two hours of sleep and without eating breakfast. He couldn’t remember most of what he’d said afterward.It didn’t matter. That was what he’d learned about press days. He could be exhausted, distracted, barely listening to the questions, and still give everyone what they wanted. All he had to do was show up, say the r

The first time I saw Kairo Anderson in person, he was standing by the water table, holding a bottle and looking in my direction.I noticed him as soon as I stepped into the studio. I recognized Kairo immediately, of course. It was difficult not to recognize one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Still, I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I gave the room a quick once-over, acknowledged a few faces, and went about settling in as if there wasn’t a celebrity standing a few feet away.Kairo kept checking his phone, though he didn’t seem particularly interested in whatever was on the screen. There was something about the way he stood there that suggested he was waiting for someone. I didn’t give it much thought. I’d worked with enough artists to know that famous people were just people, and I wasn’t about to start acting differently because one of them happened to be in the room.Up close, Kairo looked exactly like his posters. Which was a little strange, because I’d always assumed post

Tech week lasted eight days, and by the end of it the show had finally come together.Kairo had done this enough times to know what to expect. The long hours, the repeated cues, the adjustments that seemed endless until everything clicked. None of it was new to him. What was new was how hard it was to keep his attention where it belonged.He knew when the lights were supposed to change, when the band came in, where every dancer needed to be. He could do most of it without thinking. And yet he kept noticing things that had nothing to do with the show.Tech week was mostly waiting. A dancer could have a movement down perfectly and still repeat it twelve times because the lighting was off by half a second. A song could sound perfect and the whole room would grind to a halt because one camera needed a different angle. Kairo had learned years ago not to let any of it touch him. The first days weren't about performing. They were about building a show, and until all the pieces fit, there was

The assistant who’d posted the clip got suspended the morning after the interview aired. Word moved through the tour quickly, the way it always did. She’d been pulled into a room with someone from the label’s social team and came out an hour later pale and red-eyed. Her access to the internal archive was revoked, and within the hour, a formal apology went up on her own account.“I take full responsibility. I should have known better. I’m so sorry to the whole team.”Nobody blamed her out loud. If anything, most people seemed to feel a little bad for her. She was twenty-three, after all, and one impulsive decision had landed her a suspension. Kairo felt bad for her too, in the distant, complicated way he’d felt most things that week, somewhere underneath a much larger weight that had nothing to do with her at all.Rehearsal that day was a disaster, though nobody could have said exactly why except Kairo, and he wasn’t saying anything. Every time Zaire’s hand found his waist on the count

Friday morning Kairo walked into rehearsal having slept maybe three hours, the skin under his eyes doing nothing to hide it. He spent the first twenty minutes of warm up relearning how to exist in a room with Zaire without his voice doing anything strange.It was not that anything had changed on Zaire’s end. Zaire said good morning exactly the way he always did, tossed him a water bottle without looking, asked if he had eaten anything before call time, same as any other day. It was Kairo who felt like a different more fragile version of himself had shown up that morning, one still carrying the specific rawness of a Thursday night he had not told a single living soul about except Sienna, in fragments, over the phone.He got through it. That was the only victory available to him, getting through an entire day of close contact choreography, of Zaire’s hands at his waist on the count, of easy conversation at the water table, without once letting any of what he had cried out in the back of

Eleanor was waiting when I arrived at the hotel. She came out wearing a dark green dress that suited her beautifully. Her face lit up when she spotted me by the car.“Oh, good Lord. You clean up well. I’d marry you again on the spot if you asked,” she said.I laughed. “And here I thought you’d learned your lesson.”“Don’t blame me. You look really good.”We drove to the venue in better spirits than I'd been in earlier. It was strange how easy it was to be around her. She had seen me at my worst the night before, yet here she was, teasing me about my driving without making me feel judged.“Have you settled things with him?” she asked as we approached the second traffic light.I kept my eyes on the road.“Adrian.”“Can we not talk about this right now?”She turned towards me. “You’re still avoiding it?”“I have enough on my mind tonight, Eleanor. I don’t want to get into it.”She was quiet for a moment.“All right,” she said, looking ahead again. “But you can’t keep putting it off. If y

The landline rang halfway through the partnership discussion. I glanced at the phone on my desk, surprised by the interruption. I wasn’t expecting anyone to call me at such a time, especially through the receptionist. I hoped it was important.My eyes shifted briefly to Anika, who was seated nearby. Perhaps they had tried reaching her first and, for whatever reason, decided to transfer the call directly to me.I picked up the receiver.“Cole.”“Mr. Cole, someone would like to speak with you,” the receptionist said.I said nothing. A woman’s voice came through faintly in the background, followed by a few muffled words I couldn’t make out. Then I heard the receptionist say something before the phone changed hands.“Hello, Adrian. It’s Eleanor.”I paused, then sat up with a smile spreading across my face.“Wait. Are you serious?”Her answer caught me off guard, and I laughed. I hadn’t realised how much I needed that laugh until it came. The past few days had been difficult, and I’d barel

For a moment, Kai thought he had misheard him. One of his employees.He stood there, looking at Adrian, waiting for him to say something else. Anything else. Maybe introduce him properly or add something that would make the words sound less dismissive. But Adrian said nothing more.The woman smiled, seemingly unaware of the effect her question and Adrian’s answer had on him.“Oh, I see.” She turned her attention back to Adrian, her hand resting comfortably on his arm. “You didn’t tell me you had such a handsome employee, darling.”Darling. Kai almost laughed at the absurdity of it.Adrian laughed. Actually laughed. Kai felt something twist unpleasantly in his chest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard Adrian laugh like that with him. These days, even getting a proper conversation out of the man felt like an achievement.“I’m sure you have plenty to tell me,” she continued, giving Adrian’s arm a gentle squeeze. “It’s been far too long.”“It has,” Adrian agreed, his expression

The next morning, Kai was preparing to leave for a site inspection with Jonathan when Adrian walked past them on his way to the conference hall.“Good morning, sir,” Kai greeted him.Adrian gave a brief response without stopping. His expression was tight, and he looked like he’d already had a long day, even though it was barely morning.Kai watched him disappear down the hall before turning back to Jonathan.He’d wanted to ask Adrian if everything was okay, but they’d barely spoken in days, and he wasn’t sure how the question would be received. He decided to leave it alone for now.The inspection took longer than expected. By the time Kai returned to the office that afternoon, he had barely enough time to settle in before the internal review began.Fourteen people were gathered around the boardroom table. The meeting was supposed to take thirty minutes at most. They would review the revised numbers, assign responsibilities to the appropriate staff, and sign off on the next stage of th

It happened on a Tuesday. They had been in meetings all day, and by the end of it, everyone was tired and short tempered.Things between them had been different since the week before. After Kai noticed Adrian making a phone call while he was trying to enter his office, he suspected Adrian was talking to his father, Marcus. That was the only explanation Kai could think of for why Adrian’s mood had been sour for the rest of the afternoon, though he had no way of knowing what exactly had been said during the call. Marcus had been calling more often lately too, and whatever was going on, the calls seemed only to add to whatever Adrian was already carrying.That afternoon, Marcus called again while they were in a meeting. Adrian ignored the first call, keeping his attention on the discussion around the table, but when his phone rang a second time, he excused himself and stepped out into the hallway, one hand tucked into his pocket.Kai watched him through the glass wall. Adrian stood wit

My apartment was quiet tonight. I had gotten used to living alone when I first moved out of my parents’ house. It had never been much of a problem because Adrian was always coming around after work. Sometimes he stayed for dinner. Other times he brought work he claimed he needed to finish and ended up sprawled on top of me instead. There had always been something to look forward to, even on the most ordinary days.Lately, that had changed. Adrian was busy more often than not, and even when I went to see him, getting his attention had become harder. Calls, documents, late night zoom meetings meetings. I understood, I knew how much he carried, and I had never expected him to put his responsibilities aside for me. Still, understanding why he was busy didn’t make it any easier.I lay in bed with my phone, the lamp still on beside me. It was past midnight, and I had spent forty minutes scrolling through emails without reading a single one. Eventually, I gave up and opened my photos instea