One #2
“All I know is that I don’t want anyone questioning the integrity of Shaughnessy.
” He held up a hand to stop Matt before he could say anything.
“I hate that you’re going through this, kid.
I really do, but you guys worked your asses off for far too long to let something like this take you down.
I need to do damage control and do it quickly and shut down the rumors.
I need you out of the way. You’re a distraction right now. ”
Again. Logic.
Matt waited a minute and let his knee-jerk hissy fit calm down before speaking. “Have you talked to the guys? What are they saying?”
“Riley’s going to do the late-night talk show circuit starting next week. You know it’s a topic that’s going to come up, so he’ll do what he can there. We’re putting out press releases, and I have people who owe me favors. This whole thing should die down in the next couple of weeks.”
Matt jumped to his feet. “You have favors and you’ve waited until now to call them in? What about when it all hit the fan for me? Why the hell weren’t you doing anything about it then?”
Mick nearly leveled him with a glare. “You wanna know?”
Matt held his ground. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
Slowly Mick came to his feet. “Because this Broadway thing was your own fault. I warned you not to do it. You’re not an actor, Matty.
You’re a guitar player. You’re great at backup vocals, but you’re not a front man.
” He threw out his hands. “You did this for your ego and you weren’t going to listen to anyone who didn’t think it was a good idea. This was all on you.”
It was on the tip of Matt’s tongue to tell Mick to go to hell, but he refrained.
It was obvious Mick knew exactly what he was thinking. “You can cast me as the bad guy all you want, but it’s not going to change anything. I want you to get out of town for a while. Let’s say a month. I’ll call you when the smoke’s cleared. Okay?”
“Like I have a choice?”
“Sure, you have a choice. Stay in town and keep getting harassed. Become more of a joke than you already are.” He shrugged. “And know you’re the reason your bandmates are going to go down with you.”
It was one thing to be defiant when he was only hurting himself. There was no way he would take Riley, Dylan, and Julian down with him. No matter how much he wanted to stick it to Mick.
Raking a hand through his hair, Matt nodded. “Fine.” He turned and headed toward the door.
“Where are you gonna go?”
He stopped with his hand on the doorknob and faced his agent. “Probably better if you don’t know. The fewer people who know, the better. Right?”
Mick gave him a sympathetic look. The first one he’d ever seen on the man. “It’s not forever, Matt. You know that.”
“Yeah” was all he could say. Pulling open the door, he stepped out and shut it quietly behind him.
Now he just had to figure out how he was going to get out of the city and to Aaron’s without anyone knowing.
Vivienne Forrester was on top of the world. Spinning in her office chair, she giggled with pure glee at the current turn of events in her life. For years, she had been blogging and freelance writing for any online site that would let her, and now all of her hard work had finally paid off.
As of ten minutes ago, she was officially an assistant editor for Modern Lifestyle, an online lifestyle magazine.
All the food and restaurant trends, reviews, and blog posts were now her domain, and she couldn’t be happier.
No more doing it all on her own and hoping for a site to pick up her work; now Vivienne was in charge of picking the topics and which posts would be used.
“Yay me!” she squealed and gave herself a final spin. When she stopped, the room was still seemingly in motion, so she gave herself a moment to let it all come to a stop before she stood. “Aaron,” she said and immediately turned to pick up her phone. “I need to call Aaron.”
When her parents retired and decided to move back to her mother’s birthplace, Paris, Vivienne had been thrilled for them.
What she didn’t realize was how they were pretty much retiring from being active in their children’s lives too.
It had bothered her a lot at first, but Aaron had pointed out that it was only fair for them to live the life they wanted and that he would always be there for her.
And he was.
Honestly, she couldn’t have asked for a better brother. Scanning her phone, she pulled up his number, hit Send, and then waited, bouncing on her feet the entire time. “Hey, you’ve reached Aaron. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you…”
It was the third time this week she’d gotten that message and she was starting to get concerned.
She knew he was leaving for London next week, but he hadn’t mentioned he’d be unreachable until then.
“Hey, it’s me again,” she said cheerily.
“You’re starting to freak me out. Please call me back.
I have exciting news for you!” She hung up the phone and looked around her office—her home office.
It was another perk to the new position.
As a freelance writer and blogger, she was able to write from home; with her new role, she’d get to keep doing so.
Although right now it didn’t feel very perkish.
There was no one there to celebrate with her, no one to laugh and smile and jump up and down with.
Although, if she were honest, there wasn’t very much room for jumping up, down, or anywhere right now.
Boxes were lining all the walls of her home, and in another week, she’d be loading them onto a truck and moving across town to her new place.
This was all part of the new beginning she’d been hoping for, and it just sucked that she had no one readily available to share in her excitement.
While trying to decide what to do about her brother, she checked the day’s news online. Local stuff wasn’t really of interest, but checking out sites like USA Today and MSN helped her see what was trending and what she could use for Modern Lifestyle.
Where in the World Is Matty Reed?
The headline rang out above a picture of Matt shielding his face as he walked into what Vivienne assumed was his apartment building.
Scanning the article, she saw that no one had seen him coming or going for three days.
Some reports claimed he was simply hiding out in shame, while another source stated that he was brutally depressed because of all the negative publicity.
Vivienne shook her head. “Seriously? This is all over a failed musical?”
She couldn’t readily comprehend it. Being in the public eye the way Matt was had never been something she’d aspired to.
No, thank you. Working behind the scenes was more her style.
That’s why the magazine was the perfect job for her—even if it meant she worked alone a lot and sometimes didn’t see people for days.
“Okay, no pity-partying for me,” she murmured. “I’ll just make a couple of calls and organize a girls’ night out to celebrate.”
Vivienne was scanning her favorite contacts when the phone rang. A big smile crossed her face as she answered. “Hey! You’re alive!”
Aaron chuckled. “Was there any doubt about it?”
“Well, you haven’t returned my calls, so I was beginning to wonder.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I had some…stuff to take care of before I leave next week. So what’s the good news?” Stuff? It was so unlike Aaron to be vague. She’d address it later; right now, she wanted to share her news.
“I got the assistant editor job!” she said excitedly.
“Viv, that’s awesome! I knew you would get it! They would have been crazy to give it to anyone else. I’m so proud of you!”
“So how about dinner? I was thinking we could go to that seafood place you like so much—you know, the one where they have the lobster tails as big as your head?”
“Oh…um…tonight’s not good for me. Can I get a rain check?”
“What’s going on, Aaron?” she quickly demanded.
“What… I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t be like that,” she snapped. “First you disappear for a few days without telling me why or where you went, and now you’re passing on dinner. You never do that. Ever. So tell me what’s going on or I’m coming over there and—”
“No!” he shouted and then instantly softened his tone. “I mean—”
“Okay, clearly something is going on, so you can either tell me, or I’ll be there in no time to find out for myself.”
“Hold on,” he said, and for a minute, she could hear the muffled sound of him talking to someone. Aaron came back on the line with a sigh. “Pick up enough Chinese food for three and come over.”
“But…why can’t we go out and celebrate? Who’s the third person?”
“Viv, will you just trust me on this one? Pick up the food and we’ll talk when you get here.”
“You’re freaking me out, Aaron. Why are you so secretive?”
“Look, it will all make sense when you get here. I’ll call in the order, and I’ll see you soon.”
“But…” She never got to finish. Aaron had hung up. For a solid minute, Vivienne looked at her phone, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She and Aaron had no secrets from one another, and the fact that something was going on with him was beyond infuriating.
“Fine,” she said, tossing her phone into her purse. “Enjoy the last thirty minutes of your secret because once I get there, I’m going to give you hell for it.”
Taking a few minutes to freshen up, she did her best not to let this get her down. There was a new job to celebrate, and no matter what was going on with her brother, Vivienne would keep her cheerful mood.
No matter how much she wanted to strangle Aaron.