4. Ronan
ronan
. . .
The party is winding down, thank fuck. I wanted to leave about two hours ago, but I couldn’t do that to Brandon. Not that I’ve had much time to talk to my brother. His new wife has monopolized most of his time.
Usually, I wouldn’t be bitter about that. Funny how overhearing an out of context conversation, and a fifteen-minute chat with the woman of my dreams, has me questioning my new in-law.
She’s been giving me funny looks most of the night. Partly because I called her Franny in my speech, which will be forever memorialized in her wedding video. I felt kinda bad about it for a short while.
After Cora and her sister left, I slipped away from the main crowd and kept to myself, or the few people I trust.
And I watched Franny, trying to figure her out. I never would have spotted it before, but I see it now and then. That pinch of something distasteful in her expressions, a judgmental frown or fake smile.
I have to give her the benefit of the doubt, she married my brother after all. Unless he falls out of love with her, she’s a fixture now.
At least one good thing came out of today. Cora gave me her card. It was only after she was gone I realized it didn’t have her personal number on there, but it had her business number, email, and address. She was trying to make a point while giving me what I asked for. I’m not even mad about it.
She also chose two songs for the mixtape. Both I’ve never heard before. ‘ Dancing With Tears in My Eyes ’ by Ultravox and ‘ Shallow Tears ’ by Light Asylum. There is a theme there but I’m not sure yet what it means.
It’s a simple process to record digital music on a cassette tape. As the sound manager at the recording studio can attest to. I’d be lost without him.
I’m itching to go listen to the two songs she chose. I like she picked something obscure. At least to me.
They’ll definitely be on ‘Cora’s Mixtape’. It’s going to take a bit more time to get to know her for a full list of tracks. And I want to get to know her. Depending on tape length, I can get a good hour and a half listening time on one cassette.
Before he leaves, I discretely talk to the wedding photographer and get him to show me the photograph Cora said he took of her and Emma. I wasn’t convinced until he showed it to me and said it was the only one he caught of them before they split apart.
I handed over my email address and asked him to send it to me, without letting on to the bride and groom. Sometimes it helps to be who I am. I won’t tell Cora he is sending it to me and not her. It’s another excuse to see her again.
There is no way I’m going to get her out of my head. I’ve never been so enraptured by a woman before. She’s a complete contradiction from one second to the next. Not in a split personality kind of way either.
Diego walks past, drawing me out of my thoughts. I jump up and catch up to him in the hall where he is talking with one of the drivers assigned to take guests home if they’ve had too much to drink.
Only a few people are staying in the house itself. Me included. There is a wedding breakfast I have to attend in the morning.
“Hey, you’re leaving?”
Diego yawns as he turns to face me, making me laugh. Then again, not everyone is used to my sleep schedule, which is minimal. I’m used to going to bed as the sun is rising.
“I need to ask you something.”
“If it’s about Cora, then I’m not sure you guys are compatible, but she’s a good person. Her and Emma are close. And I’d rather you didn’t disrupt that.”
I’m also used to people thinking shit like that about me. It’s water off a duck’s back. I’ll not be deterred. But that isn’t what I wanted to ask him about. As diplomatically as possible, I tell him what I overheard and the background of me calling the bride Franny .
“Yeah, that didn’t go down too well. You had them right till the end with that speech.”
“Bullshit. The only person who was annoyed was Franny herself,” I snicker. “Back to my question.”
“I don’t know. But based on that conversation, I’d say it’s all about Cora.”
“She’s a troublemaker then?”
He thinks for a minute. “She speaks her mind,” he settles on. “She’s Em’s sister and they’re close.”
“You don’t want to say anything bad?”
“Not at all. I get on with her fine. If there is an issue with her and Francesca, I don’t know what it is. Want me to ask Em?”
“No.” I shake my head distractedly. I’ll find out myself. I slap my cousin’s shoulder in thanks, say goodbye, and head to the stairs.
I’m not going back to the party now. I need to do some research.
The wedding breakfast is about as fun as I imagined it would be. Especially after I got a lecture from Mom about calling Francesca ‘Franny’. I played innocent and got away with it, swearing I won’t do it again, and telling Mom I’ll apologize.
They’re heading off on their honeymoon straight after this and despite the minor hiccup, Franny, I mean Francesca, is smiling as she and my brother get into the car.
My bags are already packed, and Stefan is waiting for me when I finish saying my goodbyes to family and friends.
I’ve no idea when I’ll see them all again .
This was a pleasant reprieve from the shit storm brewing in the band. It can’t be put off forever. I call Perry while Stefan makes the half hour drive back home.
Perry is the closest friend I have. We’ve known each other for years, being the first two to come on board with Velvet Echo. He plays bass and is our main songwriter.
“How was the wedding?” he asks.
“Interesting.”
“That doesn’t sound good. What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“ Who did you do?”
“No one, fuck, man, what do you take me for? It was my brother’s wedding.”
“No hot bridesmaids wanting to fuck a rockstar? Would have been different if I was there.”
I make a gagging sound. He’s not as big-headed as that came out, especially as he’s happily married.
It’s stupid banter. Avoidance. We have a problem, and we both know it. We cut the small talk and arrange for me to come over to his and Dru’s place once I’ve got home and cleaned up.
Stefan sticks around and gets me where I need to be before clocking off. He doesn’t need to drive me around and follow me everywhere, but the wedding was an unknown. According to our security, anyway .
Dru greets me at the door, and I give her a quick hug. Perry and Dru got married a couple of years ago, but we’ve all known her for years. She works for our record label, so she understands the business. Always helpful when you’re in the music industry. It’s difficult dating a ‘normal’ person.
Her dad was in a rock band. Her mom a groupie. She took off when Dru was about eight, which meant Dru spent a lot of her time on the road, seeing plenty of things a kid her age shouldn’t see. She grew up with it, so nothing fazes her now. Dru isn’t afraid to call people out either.
Some called it nepotism when she got the job at the label her dad was under, but she started at the bottom and worked her way up. I consider her a good friend.
She’s perfect for Perry and gets on with everyone in the band, too. Or she did. If her demeanor is anything to go by, something is wrong.
“Before you see him, you should know what happened last night,” she says, closing the door.
“Fuck, what now?”
Dru leads me into the kitchen and pours us both a glass of elderflower water from a jug in the fridge. I used to think it tasted like dirty dishwater but enjoy it now. She settles back against the counter and lets out a heavy sigh.
“This is gonna piss me off, isn’t it?”
“Understatement.”
Wow, she is really pissed. That’s not something you see often in Dru.
“Another one came out claiming she’s pregnant.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“About this, no.” She lets out a derogatory laugh. “This is the third one.”
“I know that. But hey, who’s counting?” It’s a problem.
Worse if they turn out to be Christopher’s kids.
Legal will be on it, but the record label will be losing their shit again.
It’s not just about knocking up groupies.
It’s the drinking. And the ‘creative differences’ he’s raging on about, causing a huge fucking rift in the band.
The dick knows as the lead singer he has a certain level of protection. Which is utter bullshit. But it’s one downfall of being in a band. It’s not just us and the label we have to worry about. It’s the entire fandom. They love the prick.
“Perry got into it with him.”
“What?”
From her angry expression, I can tell it wasn’t good. Which becomes clearer when Perry steps through the doorway to the basement where his recording studio and gym are.
He has a black eye.
Well fuck, I thought it was me who was going to end up throwing down with Christopher. Perry is a lover, not a fighter. The simmering rage I’ve kept a lid on the past few weeks blows up.
“Tell me he’s worse off.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“We’re all worse off,” Perry says, coming to a stop in front of me.
“Meaning?”
“The press saw everything.”
Well shit. I place both elbows on the island in the center of the kitchen and stare at the marble patterns running through it.
“Where are Caden and Gray? ”
“On the way over. We talked last night but agreed we’d wait till you got back to get into what we’re going to do.”
“What are we going to do?”
Perry and Dru exchange a look, then he shrugs.
“We’re kind of fucked then,” I say, straightening up.
“He should be kicked out for what he did.” Dru stares at her husband’s black eye.
“Not that easy, baby, I told you.”
She folds her arms and huffs. A sentiment I can get behind. No one wants to see the band fall apart over this. Problem is that is what it might come down to.
When the twins, our rhythm guitarist Caden, and lead guitarist Grayson arrive, Dru leaves us to talk shit through. None of us would have kicked her out, but Perry explains she is pissed and upset. She’s already threatened to kick Christopher’s ass.
“We won’t be the first band to switch out lead singers,” Gray says. He’s tossing a baseball between his hands, leaning back on the sofa.
“How often has that worked out?” Caden asks.
When we first met, it was impossible to tell them apart. Now Caden’s hair is long, everyone can differentiate. Although I like to think if he cut it off, I’d still be able to tell. I’m 95 percent convinced I could.
“He’s right.” Perry nods. “Gray, I mean. Caden, you can sing as well, if not better than Christopher. You pick up most of the overlay and backing vocals on the recordings.”
“It’s different.” Caden shakes his head. “I’m not a lead singer. ”
“Fuck off.” Gray elbows his brother. “You’re a million times more a lead singer than he is right now.”
“Our mom is,” Caden quips.
“Let’s get serious, huh?” Perry takes a seat on the coffee table. The rest of us are facing him. “We have to decide. You know the label is going to want to do something drastic. He’s pushing their buttons way too much, causing a headache.”
“You brawling with him in front of the paparazzi last night didn’t help matters.”
“He swung on me,” Perry snaps at Gray, who holds up his hand.
Last thing we need is more in-fighting.
“Let’s go downstairs,” I get up. “Play some music. Get this shit out of our system. Then Cade you can take the lead on some tracks, see how it feels. What do you think?” I look around.
“I don’t have any better ideas.” Gray shakes his head.
No one wants to think we’re going down here intending to prove we can do this without our lead singer.
He’s gone too far. We’ve put up with this shit for over two years now. He makes everything difficult. And about him.
He says shit to the press that none of us have discussed. He argues with our management. And now he’s trying to take the music in a direction none of us want to, writing shit songs which make no sense musically or lyrically.
We’ve reached the point of no return. Punching Perry, the gentlest guy you’d ever meet, was the last straw for all of us.
Fuck knows how this is going to go down. Badly. Very badly.