by Marie Meyer
At this moment I really wanted to think of Leo as the bad guy, but I knew he was only looking out for Amphion’s bottom line. He had no reason to show us any loyalty, we hadn’t proven shit. This turn of events rested squarely on Adam’s fucking shoulders.
“Well, gentlemen.” Leo passed me a manila folder and stood. I placed the contract into the folder and stood as well. “I am looking forward to hearing from you,” Leo said, walking to the end of the table. “Mr. Daniels, if you change your mind, you have my number. I know talent when I see it.”
Shit. This was so fucked up.
Leo shook hands with the guys, none of whom said a word to him. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you.” His voice remained pleasant even though he’d basically just told my friends they sucked ass.
When Leo made his way to me, he proffered his hand, waiting for me to offer mine. I took it, giving it a firm shake even though I really wanted to tell him to fuck off.
“Think about what I said, Mr. Daniels. You’re talented enough to make it on your own.”
I let go of Leo’s hand. “In all honesty, Mr. Dane,” I responded with the same amount of artificial warmth, “If I can’t work with these guys, I don’t want a recording contract. We’ll find someone to help us out. You get Mine Shaft or you don’t get any of us.”
Turning my back on him, I followed Adam out the door.
Erin uncrossed her legs and stood as we came into the lobby, a huge smile spreading across her face.
“Thank you again, gentlemen. I really am looking forward to working with you. I’m hopeful everything will work out.” Leo shook hands with each of us one more time. “Here’s to Mine Shaft and Amphion, and a promising future together.”
“Thanks,” Thor mumbled, reluctant to give him any kind of gratitude.
Leo nodded and walked back down the hall.
“Well?” Erin asked. “How’d it go?”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and drew her to my side. “I’ll tell you later,” I whispered.
Her expression clouded over. “OK?”
Pauly, Adam, and Thor gathered behind me while I ushered Erin toward the door. With the recording contract in hand, I stepped out into the humid September air, feeling like I was drowning.
Chapter Eleven
What the fuck was that?” Adam shouted in the parking lot. “The Griffin Show? What? Are we your bitches now?” Adam got right in my face, not even considering Erin standing beside me.
“Whoa, calm down, man,” Thor said, stepping between Adam and me.
I had no intention of starting something with Adam, especially with Erin there. I knew he was hurt. Hell, I’d have been hurt if I had just been tossed aside like yesterday’s garbage. His anger was meant for Leo, and I made the perfect substitute.
Stepping back, I put myself in front of Erin. I didn’t want her hurt in the event that Adam did lose his temper. “I’m sorry, Adam. I had no idea he’d do that. You know how I feel about Mine Shaft. I’d never fuck you over like that.”
Adam growled and turned, kicking the tire of the van in the process.
“Dude, don’t go breaking your foot, too. We can’t afford any more injuries,” Pauly said.
It was quiet for a minute. None of us knew what to say or do. There’d never been this much tension between us, but now it was as thick as the St. Louis air.
I stared at the ground, shoving a rock with the toe of my boot. It was in my best interest to stay quiet. Erin still stood behind me, a firm grip on my hand.
“Why don’t we get something to eat and figure shit out?” Pauly suggested, pulling at his beard nervously. “The usual?”
“Yeah, whatever.” Adam dismissed us and walked back to Pauly’s car.
Thor nodded his answer as he turned to unlock the van.
I looked at Erin. “Want to go?”
Her lips pressed into a frown and she shook her head, checking her watch. “Sorry, Griffin, I have practice, and then I have to get to class.”
“No problem. I’ll hitch a ride with Thor.” I looked at Thor and held up a finger for him to wait, then locked my eyes back onto Erin’s. “Call me later?” I pulled her over to the passenger side of the Mustang, away from the guys.
“The guys are really pissed. What happened in there?” she asked when we were out of earshot.
I shook my head. “I’ll tell you later.” I didn’t feel like rehashing what Leo had said at the moment. Adam’s reaction had me worried about what the rest of the guys were thinking, and it wasn’t something Erin or I could fix by talking about it in the parking lot.
“OK.” The corners of her lips turned downward. “I’ll text you when I get out of class?”
I gave her a halfhearted smile and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, bringing her into my arms. Even though I hadn’t told her what had happened, her presence helped ease some of the discord I felt. In the end I was glad she’d come.
I gently kissed the corner of her frown. “Sounds good. I’m not sure where I’ll be, or what I’ll be doing, but you can meet up with us later, if you want.”
She kissed me back, then put both hands on my chest and pushed away. “I will. I’ve got to get to practice. I can’t be late, or Coach will kick my ass. Whatever happened in there, Griffin, you guys will work it out.”
Taking a step back, I reached around her body to open the car door. “Yeah, we will.”
She smiled and got in. “See you, Rock Star.”
I waved as she backed out of the parking space. Walking back to the van, I climbed in the front seat and slammed the door. Thor didn’t say a word, just started the van and pulled out behind Erin.
As I sat in the passenger seat, beside Thor, the silence was excruciating. Of all the guys, I knew he was probably the most hurt by what Leo had offered. He and I had started Mine Shaft. For Leo to offer me a contract and not Thor too was inconceivable. We were a team.
“You know I’d never…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
For the first time since we’d left the conference room, Thor looked me in the eye. “Yeah, I know.” He nodded and turned his attention back to the road.
Uncomfortable in my own skin at the moment, I shifted in the seat. “We need to find someone.”
Thor pulled out of the parking lot, the tires squealing in protest. “No shit.”
Watching the trees blur outside the passenger side window, I ran through the list we’d made last night. There had to be someone talented enough to pick up Adam’s sticks and help us out.
I leaned back and closed my eyes, resting my pounding head on the seat. In a million years, this was not how I’d envisioned our big break.
Thor’s voice broke through the thrum of the tires against the road. “What about an open audition?”
I opened my eyes and turned my head, not bothering to lift it; it weighed too much. “An audition?”
“Yeah, we can hold an audition at Fifth’s. Bax will let us use the party room in the back of the bar, I’m sure of it. He’d even advertise for us.” Thor pounded the steering wheel with his fist.
I raised my head. My mind skipped over the party room at Fifth’s. It could work. “Think we can pull it off on such short notice?”
“The second we get to the Waffle House, I’ll put a call in to Bax.”
“You think Adam and Pauly will be down with an audition?”
Thor glanced my way. “As far as I’m concerned, Adam’s opinion means shit. We wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for him.”
“Good point, my friend. An audition it is.” I sat up, clapping my hands together. “We need to start auditioning people tonight. As soon as we get a yea or nay from Bax, I’ll post info on our website and social media sites.”
“You do realize we’re going to have every Tom, Dick, and Harry coming out of the woodwork for this,” Thor grumbled.
“If this contract”—I swiped it off the dash and held it up—“is something we’re serious about, an audition is our best shot.”
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“You’re right. We’ll get it worked out.”
I let out a big breath and hoped that something would go right for us today.
* * *
Inside the Waffle House, the air smelled like stale bacon and maple syrup. My boots slid easily across the grease-coated linoleum. We’d spent countless nights stuck in our booth, drafting songs, working on set lists, and doing other tedious band-related shit, all the while packing away mounds of bacon and stacks of waffles.
We took our usual seat at the booth in back of the restaurant. I slid in first and then Adam plopped down beside me. Thor and Pauly took up the other side, like they always did.
Pauly drummed his fingers on the yellow envelope sitting in the middle of the table. “So what’s the plan, dudes?”
“Forty-eight hours doesn’t buy us a whole lot of options,” Adam said.
Thor ran a hand over the stubble on his head and sighed. “Griff and I think we need to hold an audition.”
I tore at a napkin sitting in front of me and nodded. “It’ll bring the talent to us.”
Pauly nodded in agreement. “Cool. Where and when?”
Thor lifted his phone into the air, ready to give Bax a call, when Maggie, one of the waitresses who regularly worked our table, stepped up, balancing a tray of water glasses over Adam’s head. I wished she’d drop it. But, being a seasoned professional, she juggled her note pad, pen, and full tray like a champion. “Hi, guys. What are you having this morning?” she asked, passing out the glasses.
Adam ordered the All Star Special, Pauly ordered chocolate chip waffles and a double order of bacon, Thor stuck to a heaping mound of scrambled eggs, and I ordered my usual—cheese ‘n eggs with bacon and raisin toast. My thoughts instantly went to Jillian, because she always ordered the same thing. But, with her quirky eating habits, she’d always douse her cheesy eggs with syrup. Jillian was known for putting the strangest food combinations together. Not that I’d ever admit it, because I loved giving her shit about ruining food, but it was one of her most endearing qualities.
Maggie smacked her gum and wrote down our orders. “I’ll have this right out for you guys.”
“Thanks,” we replied in unison.
With her sneakers squeaking on the linoleum, she turned to go.
“I’ll call Bax.” Thor held up his phone just as it lit up with an incoming call. He turned it around, quickly swiping a finger across the screen. Pressing the phone to his ear, he stood. “Hey, let me take this outside. Hold on.” Lowering the phone, he looked at us. “Be right back.”
“Who was that?” I asked, smirking.
Thor cleared his throat and straightened his back. “Just a girl I met the other day.”
“A new woman?” Adam asked, wagging his eyebrows. “What’d she do, steal your number before she took the walk of shame?”
Thor stared Adam down. “Harper. And no, I gave her my number.” He motioned toward the door. “I’ll be back.”
I threw a pile of shredded napkin onto the table. “Back to the audition,” I said loudly, calling order to our meeting. “Adam, we’re out of time. Stop screwing around.”
“Fuck you, Griffin.” Adam turned toward me, holding up his middle finger. “What do you care anyway? You have a record contract with or without us.”
My fist itched, begging to be planted into Adam’s jaw. I bit my lip, trying to rein in my temper. “You’re the reason we’re in this goddamn mess,” I growled through gritted teeth. Like a balloon deflating, Adam sank farther into the booth and averted his eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
The three of us sat in silence. Our plan hinged on Bax’s answer, and until we had his approval, there was nothing more to discuss.
Leaning against the wall, I pulled my phone from my back pocket, hoping Jillian had called. Nothing new popped up when I opened up my text messages. It was almost ten a.m. in Rhode Island. I wanted to call her, but I knew she was in class. I had no interest in typing out a lengthy text message detailing the meeting with Leo. I’d call her between auditions tonight.
“Hey, we need to pick a winner for that damn contest you made up last night,” Pauly said, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, you’re right.” I swirled a finger through my pile of shredded napkin. “Let’s see what we got.”
I clicked on the Instagram app, my feed loading sluggishly. Once the app fully loaded, I clicked on the small starburst at the bottom and typed #mineshaft into the search box. Instantly hundreds of pictures filled my screen.
More pictures came into view as I swiped my finger up the page. “Shit, guys. There’s a ton.”
Adam opened his palm. “Let’s see.”
I placed my phone in his hand. He scrolled some more, whistling when a picture met his approval. “This one gets my vote.” He turned the phone around so Pauly and I could see. Someone had taken a picture of two girls making out.
“Now this is what I’m talking about,” Adam said. “You could give one a bass lesson and I could give the other a drum lesson. Then the two of them could get together and make beautiful music and we could watch.” Adam’s head bobbed up and down as the fantasy took shape in his head.
“Yeah, only one problem, dipshit. You had to go and hurt yourself.” I held my hand out for my phone, waving my fingers for him to pass it over.
Adam laid it in my palm and I took it back, scrolling through more pictures. “How are we going to choose a winner?”
Just then Maggie arrived with a huge tray of food. “Here you go, guys.”
She passed out the plates, refilled our drinks, and asked if we needed anything else. We shook our heads and mumbled, “No.”
Not waiting for Thor, we dug in. My stomach growled. We sat quietly for a while, enjoying our breakfast. I shoveled another bite of eggs into my mouth while I continued to scroll through the Instagram feed. “Isn’t there a way for us to choose a random photo?” I asked.
“What are we talking about?” Thor asked, sliding back into the booth.
We stared at him. “Did you talk to Bax? What’s the verdict?” Pauly asked.
“Everything’s good, gents,” Thor said with a smile. “Bax is letting us have the back room for the next two days. As long as we want it.”
“Nice,” Adam muttered around a mouthful of food.
Thor piled his fork with eggs and took a huge bite, not speaking until he swallowed. “Soon as we’re done here, we’re headed to Fifth’s. Bax is spreading the word. What were you saying about random photos?” he asked, shoveling in another bite.
Pauly, with a large amount of waffle in his mouth, said, “That contest Griffin started last night. What about that random website?” he asked, turning to me.
“Dude, chew your damn food.” Thor punched him in the shoulder. “No wonder you can’t keep a lady around.”
“Hey.” Pauly rubbed his arm and swallowed. “I was just trying to help.”
Thor held up his index finger and chewed his bite of eggs before he spoke. “Are you talking about random.org?”
Pauly took another bite of chocolate chip waffles and nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one,” he said, opening his mouth real wide, giving Thor a nice look at his masticated waffles.
I picked up my phone and opened the web browser, typing in the address. On the page was a number generator. “How many pictures do we want to include?” I asked. “Don’t make it too high, though. Someone’s going to have to count the pictures until we get to the winning number.”
“Uh, that someone would be you.” Thor said, pointing in my direction. “This was your brainchild, I’m giving you full control.”
“Touché.” I nodded. “Fifty it is.”
“That’s not really fair to those who come after fifty, is it?” Adam asked.
“You want to count?” I held my phone out for him.
Adam shook his head and chomped on a piece of bacon. “It’s all you, big guy.”
“Looks like we have a winner.” I held up my phone, showing Th
or, Pauly, and Adam the number seventeen.
“Count it up. Who’s the lucky winner?” Pauly asked.
I pulled my phone back and clicked on Instagram again. I counted to seventeen and stopped. An older woman smiled back at me. “What the hell?” I said.
“What? Let me see.” Pauly grabbed my phone and winced. “What was she doing at our concert?”
Pauly passed the phone around the table so the other guys could see. “Here it says, ‘Perks of being a house mom.’” Thor read the comment below the picture. “Looks like Carol Hall will be getting your ‘undivided attention’, Griff,” he laughed.
Adam had just taken a drink and nearly sprayed Thor and Pauly, only clapping a hand over his mouth at the last minute. He swallowed and then burst into laughter. “House mom? Shit.” He set his glass down and turned his body in my direction. He placed his hand on my shoulder and pressed his lips together before he spoke. “I didn’t know what you were doing when you came up with that idea, but I’m glad it’s working out for you, bud. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Erin.” He patted my shoulder and turned back to face the table, laughing.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. It’s just a week. Who knows? She may not even want the damn lessons.” I shrugged. The contest had served its purpose…I got my text to Jillian.
Chapter Twelve
By the time auditions rolled around, I was already beat. It had been a long damn day. After breakfast with the guys, I went to work, spending the afternoon giving private guitar and bass lessons to wannabe teenage musicians who thought they were the second coming of Kurt Cobain. I already had the headache from hell and it was about to get worse.
Opening the back door to Fifth’s, I pulled off my sunglasses and walked down the hall. I followed Adam’s voice, stepping into the room Bax had set up for our auditions. Adam sat behind the kit tapping out eighths on the hats with his good hand.
“Do we really have to go through with this?” I asked, sliding a chair out from under a table so I could sit down. “Just play one-handed.”