Epilogue
NAZ
“I still can’t believe you kept all this from us. We could have helped.”
I give my best friend a sympathetic look.
It’s not that I don’t know how he feels, I do.
I felt it when he had so much going on in his head that he was struggling to process or let go of.
I didn’t know how badly he was struggling until it was too late.
And I felt it when I found out that Scott had been getting those texts and dealing with the stress of it on his own.
The important part is that we’re all okay. It’s over, and Francis is finally getting what he deserves. He’s going to pay for his crimes, especially since those friends in high places he thought he had didn’t even send him counsel, much less bail him out like he was certain they would.
“To be fair, you’d just been through a pretty traumatic experience with the boat fire. We legitimately thought someone was trying to kill us.”
“Honestly, if we could have kept Naz out of it, we would have,” Scott says from his place behind the couch, standing next to Cory. “But you know how he is.”
I finger the soft collar Scott gave me all those months ago, the one I’ve taken to wearing pretty much constantly, and roll my eyes.
Cory snorts. “How they all are.”
Jesse scowls at Cory. “Rude. Tad, you’re my new favorite.”
Tad doesn’t even look up from whatever book he picked up off a shelf in my grandparent’s living room. “Lies. We all know Luc is your favorite.”
“He’s not part of the security staff.”
“Could have fooled me,” he says, looking pointedly at the bandage on Luc’s calf.
“Well, you’re my favorite when he leaves me later this month for training camp,” Jesse pouts, crossing his arms.
“It’s going to be a long season if you’re already feeling salty about the schedule,” Luc says, pulling Jesse against him so he can kiss his temple.
“We’re thinking about scheduling some studio time to keep him busy,” Will says, looking to Blake for confirmation. “Do you think Emmy can get us in for some time in Raleigh?”
“You planning on sticking around?” Despite having a condo in the same building as me in the city, Will and Ari don’t usually stick around Raleigh for long. Too many bad memories here, plus they might run into their foster dad.
“Grams has basically adopted us, so we can’t leave.”
Ari clears his throat.
“Okay, fine. Grams has adopted Ari and tolerates me. So we’d like to stay a little longer, if that’s not too weird for you.”
“I mean… Yeah, if that’s what you guys want, and my grandparents are cool with it.”
Is it weird that my chest feels kind of full? Like when you’re trying to hold in a cough, but less painful, just… Full. Maybe I have pleurisy. I’ll have to ask Simon to listen to my lungs later, since he’s become the official band medic. Emmy put him on the payroll and everything.
Speaking of Emmy…
“Is Emmy still dealing with things at the office? I know Kathy reporting the listening device to the police shook things up a bit.”
“Yeah, um… About that.” Blake shifts in his chair, leaning forward to put his elbows on his knees, hands clasped like usual, then he straightens back up again. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Blake Holland fidget. “There’s a lot more you need to know.”
Blake looks around at us, gathered in the living room of the house I built for my grandparents.
Luc is sitting in the corner of the sectional, arms wrapped around Jesse, who leans back into his chest, legs pulled up on the chaise end of the sofa.
Will and Ari are on the other end, Will with his arm thrown over Ari’s shoulders.
Cory, Scott, and Zane are behind them, Scott leaning casually against the wall, Cory standing in a relaxed version of his crossed-arms bodyguard pose, and Zane is sitting in one of the dining room chairs.
Eric and Tad are sitting on the far end of the living room, in two armless accent chairs set on opposite sides of a small bookshelf that displays journals, biographies, textbooks, and articles that my grandparents had a hand in writing.
And Blake and I, who have been relaying most of the events of the last week, are sitting in armchairs facing the couch.
My grandparents and Simon are on the back patio, giving us some privacy and enjoying a small break in the oppressive heat we’ve been experiencing.
It’s still so strange having them all here. Both sides of my world in one place. I never thought I’d see the day, but I think that maybe I never gave it a chance. I guess it goes to show that even when bad things happen, sometimes they create new beginnings.
“So, two things really. The first is that Emmy quit. He left a letter of resignation, effective immediately, on my desk the morning of Francis’ arrest.”
All of us speak at once.
“What?!”
“Why would he do that?”
“His letter said that he took full responsibility for Francis’ ability to infiltrate the secure platform that he’d set up. When the label told him to give the new employees access, he didn’t think to question it or confirm it with me, which I probably would have signed off on, too.”
“That wasn’t his fault. He was instructed to do something by his superiors. He couldn’t have known that would become a problem.”
“I know. I’ve been trying to reach him to reason with him, but I’ve been unable to get in touch with him. I have a hunch he’s in LA, but I haven’t been able to confirm.”
“He’s also blaming himself for the listening device,” I add.
“He texted me and set me up to talk with Kathy, the IT employee who was instructed to bug the cell booster. He said it was his fault. I tried to text him back and called to let him know how much his information helped, but he didn’t answer. ”
“If Emmy is in LA, why aren’t you?” Jesse asks Blake.
“Because I’ve been busy finding out if he’ll have a job to come home to.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“That’s the other part of what I need to discuss with you.
With the help of Sunni and a trip to the owner’s office, I’ve confirmed that a major acquisition is taking place.
The label has been sold to X Media Corp.
If you don’t know, this is the same company that owns ConX Media, a known conservative media channel. ”
“Don’t they run Hoax News?” Ari asks.
“They also produce that dickbag Zach Lawson’s bullshit Keep It Real show,” Will says, getting his hackles up. “Why the fuck would they buy a music label?”
“Because they can, I guess,” I say. “And because Francis and his buddy Curtis Howard convinced them it would be a good way to shut us down.”
“I’d be willing to bet they have a long list of familiar investors,” Will says.
“What does this mean for us?” Jesse asks Blake.
“It’s hard to say this early in the game.
Unfortunately, we’ll be going in at a disadvantage.
No matter who was responsible for the turmoil you’ve all gone through, the fact remains that we’ve been effectively derailed for the time being.
On top of that, it’s likely the new ownership will have a different set of rules and will take control of the band’s branding.
Including what kind of music you put out, or if you release any new material at all. ”
“So, not only are venues unlikely to book us due to the bomb threat and violence at our last concerts, but we could also be blocked from releasing new music,”Ari says worriedly.
“How long is your contract?” Luc asks.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Jesse explains. “The contract is based on albums. We still have one more album to deliver before we can leave.”
“You’ve been working on a lot of new stuff, do you have enough for a new album?”
“It doesn’t really matter if they take creative control,” I add. “If they don’t like what we deliver them, they can stall the contract by refusing to accept or release what we give them.”
“They can really do that?”
“More or less. I’m hoping that the terms I wrote into your new contract when I took over will help protect your better interests, but it is possible that they could stall the contract for quite a few years. Disputes themselves cause delays, which they could use to their advantage.”
“So our music and our mission is at stake here,” Will says.
“What can we do?” Ari asks.
“I am working to pull together some options for you, pulling specific language from your contracts that you could use to protect yourselves, and setting you up with outside counsel I trust.”
“You’ll be there, though, right?” Ari asks.
Considering Ari was the one who fought back against Francis the most, only to be met with retaliation and ridicule, it took him a long time to come around to trusting Blake.
I think it took all of us a long time. Sometimes I think we might judge him harshly just because we’ve had a bad experience with previous management, but he’s always done his best to advocate for us and represent us, rather than only protecting the label’s bottom dollar.
Blake’s expression softens. “I expect my position to be terminated the moment the acquisition is finalized. In fact, I’d expect your entire team to change, from legal to security, in order to enact the changes they want to make.”
“He’s right,” Scott says. “Francis told me as much. They plan to keep a tight leash on you and keep you down once Francis succeeded in getting you there.”
“Can’t something be done about that?” Will asks. “We have evidence that Francis was the one behind everything, and he was working for them. Surely they’re liable as well, or at the very least in breach of some kind of contract.”
“He was never an official employee,” Blake says. “Their official statement is that Francis was only designated as an unofficial liaison to ease the merger transition, and that he acted outside the spectrum of duties he volunteered for. They take no responsibility for his actions.”
“There still has to be something we can use to get out of this,” Jesse says, mostly to himself. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen if we just walk away?”
“Breach of contract would result in a lawsuit and millions of dollars in losses.”
“Honestly, it almost feels worth it,” Will says.
Each of us make noncommittal sounds of agreement, then pause. Slowly, we look around at each other. I lock eyes with Ari. Then Will. And finally, my best friend, Jesse. The one I started all of this with.
“Together ‘till the end?”
“Never forget it.”
All of us turn to Blake. Jesse speaks for us.
“Fuck it. Let’s start our own label.”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Blake says.
“That’s why we have you,” I reply. “But I don’t think you’re going to be able to pull this off on your own, so…” I hold his gaze for a long beat.
Stoic as ever, Blake breaks my eye contact, stands, and straightens his suit. I’m not sure if he intends to tell us we’re all irresponsible and irrational or just walk out.
“Where are you going?” Ari asks him.
He clears his throat.
“I have an assistant to woo.”