Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
STONE
Hazel is spending the day shopping with her mom and grandma.
It’s good she’s taking a break from writing.
Even though the story is coming to her easily, it has been weighing on her heavily.
I probably don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to creating art, I’ll push myself right to the brink of burnout, but something about watching her do it to herself makes me want to protect her.
Not to mention, I’ve written so many songs we could easily release a double album. Maybe we will. That’s why I asked Darren, Xan, and Tobias to sit down now that we finished sound check to have a conversation.
We’re in the VIP room of a local steakhouse that has a two-way mirror looking out into the rest of the restaurant. Tobias sticks with water while the rest of us order actual food. After the server leaves the room, all eyes move to me.
“I have nearly thirty songs written. A few need some tweaking, but I’m sure they’re all good enough to be put on an album.”
“Thirty songs?” Tobias’s brows shoot up.
I pull my notebook out and slide it across the table to him.
“Do you want them all on one album?” Darren asks.
I nod. “I was thinking of a double album. Thirteen tracks each and then four bonus tracks, one on each variant the label will want to do.”
“These are all love songs.” Tobias taps his thumb on the edge of the table.
“What?” Xander pulls the notebook away and starts flipping through the pages.
I clear my throat. “Not every single one is a love song, but yes, it would be a majority.”
Darren’s phone rings, and he excuses himself from the room to take it.
Xander reads a line that has his lip quirking up at the corner. “Holy fuck, dude. You’re in love with Hazel. These are all about her.”
“I am,” I say quietly. “She’s not ready to hear it, though, so this stays between the three of us.
” I look at my two best friends and let them see how serious I am about this.
The last thing I want to do is scare her away.
Not that I’d ever let her leave me, not without a fight. Both of them nod in understanding.
“We might need to switch up our sound for this, but I love what you have,” Xan says.
“Switch up what?” Darren asks as he walks back in.
“The vibes for the upcoming album. The music might have a softer edge to it.”
“That’s the opposite of what the label wants.”
The three of us glance at each other.
“We don’t give a fuck about what the label wants. Blue Sunday is our band,” I say.
“They cut your checks, so you better care about what they want.”
“Actually, knowing this would be the opposite of what they want, makes me, us, want to do it all the more.” Tobias leans back in his chair, chewing on a toothpick as he scowls at Darren. “You’re supposed to be on our side.”
“I’m on your wallets’ side.”
“Christ.” Xan scrubs a hand over his face.
“What if we record a few tracks in my home studio over our break? Then we can give them to the label to try out.”
“I guess that would work. You guys are only contracted for one more album with them, and then you can part ways and go independent if you want. Or reach out to another label with a better contract giving you more control. You might just have to play nice with the suits until you have more bargaining power.”
“Our bargaining power lines the walls in the form of two Multi-Platinum albums and four Grammys. I don’t give a fuck what some asshole in a C-suite who couldn’t even play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the piano thinks about our music.
” Tobias stands, his chair scraping the wood floor.
“And fuck you for never having our back.”
Xan and I share a look to try to decide who’s going to go after him.
Darren picks up his drink and drains it, ice rattling against the glass. He slams it back down on the table and pushes to his feet, tossing his napkin down. “I’ll go.”
“What was that about?” Xan asks. “I don’t disagree with Tobias, but that was intense, even for him.”
“I know. Probably just Darren being a dick and Tobias bottling it up.” The server brings the bill, and I drop my card into the leather bill presenter waiting until she exits the room to keep talking. “Let’s use the bus ride to go over the schedule and find time to record a couple tracks.”
“I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.”
“Same.” Although I can’t complain about my current sleeping arrangements.
“Do you know what Hazel is going to do when we break?”
“No. I’m thinking about asking her to spend some of the time with me.”
“I think you should.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know I was worried when you started getting close.”
I laugh bitterly. “Everyone was.”
“But she seems good for you.”
“She is.”
“Who would have thought Mark O’Malley would be the one to inadvertently kick this whole thing off?”
“Fucking douchebag. If I never have to sit across from his smug ass face again, it’ll be too soon.”
Xan looks down at his phone. “They’re waiting in the car for us.”
There’s an emptiness inside me when I glance to the side of the stage and only see Darren and our tour manager hanging out watching us perform. I’m being ridiculous because I know Hazel is still here. She’s still watching. It’s just that she’s not within touching distance.
She’s in a suite we had set up for her mom and grandma. Jade is up there, too, which could explain the way Xan keeps looking out past the crowd. I have a sneaking suspicion that there’s more going on with them than either of them are saying.
Now’s not the time to let my mind wander, though. I put all my focus back into the performance. Our fans deserve it.