Chapter 36
‘Roly, you shake that beautiful tush of yours, and grind up against Zack.’
They were rehearsing for the video of what was to be the first single off their new album, once again working with Boo Sanchez, choreographer to the stars. Roly liked Boo, but he’d always hated his ideas. He was talking them through the dance moves for the video.
‘Zack, you’re doing the same. Then you turn to each other at the same time. Big moment.’ He held his hands up, palms open. ‘You eyeball each other. Eyeball, eyeball, eyeball – three beats. Then key change, crescendo, crescendo crescendo – and you kiss.’
‘We what?’ Boo had really lost the plot this time. Liam and Alex sniggered.
‘You kiss.’
‘Me and Zack?’
‘Yes. You cup the back of his head, pull him in and then you kiss. Fireworks, confetti, whatever. The end.’
‘So… we kiss to the end of the song? That’s, like… a whole minute almost.’
‘I know, so romantic!’ Boo clutched a hand to his heart. ‘The fans will love it.’
‘They’ll go nuts for it,’ Zack grinned. ‘And it’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?’ he said to Roly.
Roly groaned. ‘Yeah, right. I’ve always wanted to get with you, Zack.’
‘Come on, we all know it’s true. You wrote a whole book about it.’ He smirked.
Back in the day some uber-fan had written a torrid fan fiction story about him and Zack falling in love and having sex all the time.
It had blown up in their fandom, and Zack thought it was hilarious.
It had been a running joke with him that Roly was the anonymous author, and sometimes when he was high he’d insisted on reading out long, lurid passages to everyone about them lusting after each other and sucking each other’s nobs.
To Roly’s mortification, the novel had eventually been picked up by a publisher and became a huge bestseller.
‘It’s the only reason I came back,’ Roly said now. ‘To get inspiration for my next porno blockbuster.’
‘I knew it!’
‘Okay, let’s take a break,’ Boo said, clapping his hands. ‘I’ll see you back here in fifteen minutes, and I want you two ready for some serious lip action.’
‘Seriously, though,’ Roly said as Boo left the room, ‘I don’t think I want to do this.’
‘I won’t slip you the tongue, I promise.’ Zack laughed. ‘Unless you beg me to, of course. Come on, don’t be such a wuss. It’s just one little kiss.’
But it wasn’t just one little kiss. If it was in the video, they’d have to perform the routine night after night, at every concert, including the kiss – the fans would expect it.
They’d demand it. He could already hear them baying for it.
It would be there every time the video was played, giving rise to endless prurient speculation and gossip about his love life, his sexual orientation… But it wasn’t just that.
He didn’t want to spend his time bickering with producers over songs he didn’t really care about anyway and scrabbling for the limelight with Zack.
He didn’t want to keep singing the same songs he’d sung ten years ago.
He wanted something new. He wanted to wake up feeling excited about what he was doing, like he’d been when he was writing with Phoenix.
‘I don’t just mean the kiss. I mean all of it. The video, this song. I hate this song.’
‘You wrote it.’
‘Co-wrote it. And I hate the arrangement. I hate the cheesy as fuck dance routine, I hate the whole video concept.’
Maybe Charlie was right and he’d been lucky to quit when he did.
Being in Oh Boy! was all about compromise and sucking up.
That was fine when they’d been a bunch of gormless teenagers, but now they were five grown-ass men with their own ideas, their own creativity, pulling in five different directions and none of them getting to go where they wanted.
‘Look, we don’t like it either,’ Liam said to him.
‘You don’t?’ He looked around at the four of them. ‘None of you?’
‘No.’ They all shook their heads.
‘Of course not.’
‘You’re not the only one who thinks Boo has his head up his arse, you know.’
Roly was astonished.
‘You really think you’re the only one with taste?’ Zack asked. ‘You think you’re above all this now just because you sang one song with Walking Wounded?’ He flopped onto a sofa and uncapped a bottle of water. ‘Suck it up. It’s just one video.’
‘But it’s not, is it?’ Roly sat down beside him. ‘It’s one video, one single, then it’s just one album, just one tour. And then it’s interviews and chat shows, and concert after concert singing the same old stuff, doing these stupid dance routines.’
‘Come on, it’s not that bad. It’s not exactly working down the mines.’
‘Yeah, that’s the only other option.’ Roly laughed, rolling his eyes.
‘All this because you don’t want to snog me?’ Zack pouted. ‘I’m hurt.’
‘It’s not even about that. I don’t mind kissing you for one video.’
‘Course you don’t. It’s your dream come true. We all know that.’
‘But I don’t want to make it my career.’
‘Beats working down the mines.’ Zack grinned.
Roly laughed. ‘And it’s all the crap that’ll come with it – all the rumours and gossip, and people writing stuff about our sex lives.’
‘You could get another novel out of it. Pen a bestselling sequel to Blue for a Boy.’
Roly laughed, then shook his head. ‘I don’t think I can do this.’
‘You mean…’
‘I mean the whole reunion.’
‘But the song—’
‘You can have the song. I don’t care. I’ll even do the single with you if you want – if Vince will allow that. But I’m not going on the tour.’
‘But you can’t quit.’ Charlie was wide-eyed, horrified.
‘Ah, but that’s the beauty of it. I can.’
* * *
‘You can’t pull out.’ Vince’s eyes were chilling, his jaw set.
‘I can, though.’ Vince was one intimidating dude, but Roly was determined not to be cowed by him. ‘I haven’t signed anything.’
Vince was almost trembling with rage now, his jaw clenched, his hands balled into fists on top of his desk.
It had been his idea to keep Roly’s involvement hush-hush for now.
They were rehearsing behind closed doors, Roly under strict instructions not to let anyone see him coming and going to the studio or hanging out with the other guys.
There had been rumours, of course, but nothing had been announced yet. And Roly still didn’t have a contract.
That had been Vince’s idea too. He’d kept stringing him along, saying they’d wait and see how it was working out first, if he gelled with the band, if he could handle the pressure, if he could keep his nose clean – basically making him audition like some wannabe.
Roly knew the idea had been to humiliate him.
Vince was making him pay for screwing things up all those years ago. But now it had shot him in the foot.
‘I don’t have a contract. I can quit whenever I like.’
Vince eyeballed him, his mouth a hard line. Roly suppressed a shiver, and tried to enjoy the moment. He had the upper hand now, and Vince knew it.
Vince sighed and leaned back in his chair. ‘Fine. Go ahead. Bale on everyone, like you always do. Leave your friends and colleagues in the lurch. I should have expected this. You always find a way to fuck up, don’t you, Roly?’
Roly shrugged. ‘Yeah, I guess I do.’
‘Have you any idea the lengths everyone’s gone to to accommodate you? The strings I’ve pulled? The work everyone else has put in just so you can prance around on stage for a few hours wiggling your arse? Which is twice the size it should be, by the way.’
‘You’re saying my bum looks big in this?’ Roly just let it all wash over him. Vince was nothing but a thug, a playground bully, apoplectic because someone was standing up to him.
‘You’re such a loser, Roly.’ He shook his head. ‘Well, we gave you a chance and you blew it. Again. If you’re going, go. We’ll pick up the pieces, as usual. That’s weeks of rehearsals down the drain. You’ve wasted everyone’s time. Boo will have to rethink the video, all the dance routines—’
‘I’ll do the single, if you want, and the video. I’ll even turn up at a couple of the shows if you like, and do a guest appearance. But that’s it.’
Vince’s face turned very red. Roly didn’t care either way, but this was what Vince wanted, and he couldn’t stand Roly having a hold over him.
‘That’s very big of you,’ he said drily.
‘Well, think about it. Let me know what you decide and my agent will be in touch about the contract.’
He turned and walked out of the room without looking back. Then he ran down the stairs and jogged half the way home, fired up on adrenaline.