by Bryce Oakley
Collins laughed, knowing she wasn’t exactly known for dating brainiacs. “They’ve never been that bad,” she said defensively.
Jake snorted. “The last woman you dated that I met was four cents short of a nickel.”
Paul nodded. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was a Flat Earther. Meg is a flippin’ catch,” he said.
“Okay, there are so many reasons it’s never going to happen. It’s complicated. We work together. And she is currently the most difficult obstacle standing between me and my goal. Obviously, she’s beautiful and smart and all those things,” she said, raising both palms to Jake as if she was innocent. “But I’m pretty sure she genuinely hates me with the passion of a thousand suns.”
“I saw passion, that’s for sure,” Jake said with a smirk. “Invite her to my birthday dinner. I’ll make sure nobody makes a big thing about it. But don’t waste this opportunity.”
No way in hell would that be happening. “I’ll think about it,” she lied.
When she got back to her hotel room, Collins went over the day in her mind. What a rollercoaster of a day. She had been high-strung from the moment she opened her eyes, focusing so hard on being named director. For the briefest of moments, she thought it might all fall into place without her having to work too hard, but she wasn’t surprised that she would need to earn a “yes” from the band.
She had expected a fight — she always expected a fight — and she was more than willing to fight and work hard to get this job. It’s what she had always done: work hard, fight hard, don’t take any shit.
On top of that, the night had been incredible. Meg had been so much fun. She glanced at the stuffed snake lying across her hotel bed.
She wasn’t surprised that Meg led the charge to keep Collins from the director role, but she also didn’t think that Meg’s anti-Collins campaign would last too long, either.
She even had a plan to bring Meg around to her way of thinking. When they broke for the day, her plan had been to spend the next day getting input from each of the band members, with special attention being paid to Meg’s opinions since Micah had explained her importance.
If she was honest with herself, she had been selling Meg short. She hadn’t seen her as the substantial member of The Shrikes that she obviously was. Meg goofed around a lot, but she was devoted to her craft. Collins had to respect that. And she was more impressed than she would ever admit when Meg pointed out the very real reasons that Collins might not be the ideal director for them. It showed how seriously she took her work.
When she ran into Meg at the hotel bar that evening, she never could have predicted how the night would go. Sure, she had always been attracted to Meg — how could she not be? Meg was adorable with long pink hair and big brown eyes. Her style was more eclectic than the rest of the band, even after Zoey’s input. She was just so carefree, and she exuded a certain… something. Not to mention that it was also pretty hot that Meg didn’t need Collins. Most of the women Collins had dated recently had all wanted something from her — an edge into the music scene or an introduction to a record label exec, but that wasn’t the case with Meg.
The way Meg was able to prioritize her own happiness was intriguing. Collins had never given the idea of happiness much thought. She was driven to attain success, but not necessarily happiness.
Being with Meg tonight, she had forgotten about her constant need to show she was talented enough, good enough, or that she knew enough. She continually felt that way more and more in recent years, but it had started out in her professional life.
That kind of carefree mood was a lovely feeling, no matter how bad and unrealistic the idea of dating Meg might be. No matter what the morning brought, she was happy she had spent that time with Meg.
There was, after all, a distinct possibility that the morning might bring a shit show.
Tuesday
Collins woke up in a fantastic mood, sure that things were going to go well for her today. She knew exactly how she wanted to handle the band, and Meg in particular, to get everyone on board with her directing.
The camera crew would be arriving the following day and Collins was hoping Micah would arrive before then. She had sounded a little off on the phone the last time she talked to her, like maybe she had just woken up.
Collins was just hoping Micah could get her ass out to Colorado as soon as possible. As hopeful as she felt about getting the band on board, she knew things would be infinitely simpler if Micah were there to help guide them toward the right decision.
Collins arrived at the warehouse to find that the band was getting ready to start rehearsing. She mentally kicked herself for not getting there earlier. There was nothing she hated more than feeling like she had to play catch up.
She stepped back before they noticed she was there. It was crowded, with lots of people coming and going, setting up lights, and adjusting equipment so it was easy for her to blend.
She respected The Shrikes for their talent and their drive. They weren’t afraid of hard work, but goodness gracious, could they complain.
“I just don’t understand why we couldn’t have enjoyed a little more coffee time and maybe even some breakfast before coming in today,” Domino whined at Billie.
“If you hadn’t had so much to drink last night, maybe you would have gotten up early enough for breakfast,” Billie shot back.
“Mama Billie, always offering her opinion,” Domino snapped.
“Well you have nobody to blame but yourself, you knew what time we needed to be here.” Billie fidgeted with her guitar, not even bothering to look at her sister as they argued.
“Good God, you guys have got to stop bickering,” Zoey piped in. Collins saw the sisters look at Zoey and then at each other before falling silent.
Collins was starting to get nervous. She needed the band to be on their A-game. She wasn’t going to cut them any slack just because she wanted them to support her for the director role. She still expected their best and wasn’t about to start sweet talking musicians at this point in her career. She’d never been that kind of producer and she never would be.
Suddenly, she saw Billie grab the back of her head where she’d been struck, then duck as another projectile flew past her and smacked into Domino’s cheek. Domino wailed and Zoey wasted no time. She hit the deck, hands over her head.
“Heads up, losers!” Meg yelled as she continued to pelt her three band mates with what Collins realized after a moment were donut holes. “Where do we leave our attitudes when we’re at band practice?” Meg said it with a flourish of her arms, as though she was conducting a chorus.
“At home,” the other three women groaned in unison, still cowering or ducking behind furniture for cover.
“Damn right,” Meg stopped pummeling them as soon as she heard what must have been the right response. Her whole demeanor changed and she offered to share the rest of the breakfast.
Zoey politely declined, but Billie and Domino each took one, and to Collins’ surprise, they smiled and tapped them together in a cheers. They were laughing, and the atmosphere felt dramatically lighter. The four of them were chatting and smiling.
Collins shook her head, baffled by how quickly they had gone from snapping at each other to laughing and being friendly again. She watched as they all took their places to begin.
At Meg’s request, they started with “Just Another Howl At The Moon,” but Meg stopped them about halfway through.
“So here’s where I want to add in a drum solo, can I play you what I came up with?” She said, spinning a stick in her hand as she waited.
Collins watched Meg go bonkers on the drums. She was such a different person when at her instrument, it was as if nothing else existed to her. She seemed so incredibly focused and at peace. She almost appeared like a cross between the muppet Animal and Mick Fleetwood. Her pink hair flew around her shoulders, but she hit each beat in perfect time. Collins had never been able to even rub her stomach and pat her head at the same time
, but each of Meg’s limbs was doing something entirely different and yet, all of the beats were in unison.
Back when they were recording Kaleidoscope, Collins had seen this laser focus in Meg. It had surprised her then, as had Meg’s sass, but it hadn’t stopped her from making Meg do take after take until it was exactly right.
After all, what sense was there in recording an album if it wasn’t perfect?
Collins was impressed with the solo after Meg finished. Some drummers looked as though they were making it up on the spot, but Meg seemed like each sound was for a specific purpose. Collins thought she remembered seeing that Meg had helped to write “Just Another Howl At The Moon,” which was one of the faster, wilder songs on the record.
“Good morning everyone,” Collins greeted them with her typical unsmiling hello after they finished playing through the song.
“Meg, I like that solo, but I want to work on it a little more,” Collins said, giving Meg only a cursory glance. She wanted to make sure she wasn’t being overly nice to Meg just because they had been friendly the night before.
“Work on it how?” Meg asked, and seemingly had the same idea about not being overly nice. She practically spit the words at her.
“By making it better, obviously,” Collins said, and surprised herself by giving Meg a wink the rest of the band couldn’t see.
Meg seemed to relax a little.
Collins got straight to work, as always, but also stuck to her plan of making sure she was listening to the band as much as possible.
Billie and Domino had spoken to her about the set list, they had a plan to change things up from their standard concert and Collins had heard them out. She hadn’t agreed to everything, she could never do that, but she had listened to their vision and changed it just a bit so that they all walked away happy.
Collins had approached Zoey, asking her to lend her fashion expertise to the crew so that The Shrikes would really look their best. Collins knew that Zoey always handled the styling for their tour, but the filming for the special would take place over several days, so Collins was trying to get ahead of the situation to avoid any problems. There was nobody better suited for the task than Zoey.
Meg had been the easiest and yet the hardest person to interact with throughout the morning. Collins found that she wanted to spend all her time with Meg, but she was also acutely aware that she needed to keep a very obvious wall between personal and professional.
They had discussed Meg’s solo and Collins had offered some advice on small changes Meg should make. She had agreed to think about it and they planned to work on it together later in the afternoon. What was it about Meg that made her feel so nervous?
Daydreaming about a woman was not at all like Collins — what was she doing?
Focus, Collins, focus.
Hours later, everyone was clearly exhausted from going over the specifics of the show.
“Before we break for lunch, I just wanted to go over a few items,” Collins said, pacing in front of the spot where the band was rehearsing. “I think we’re all hoping and praying that Micah will get her ass here soon. Has anyone spoken to her today? Any chance she’ll be here before the cameras arrive tomorrow?”
“I got a text from her this morning,” Billie said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “She’s set to arrive early tomorrow morning, so she must be feeling better.”
There were cheers all around. It seemed to Collins like the band mates were legitimately concerned about Micah being sick.
“Oh, thank God,” Collins said aloud and noticed Meg raise an eyebrow at her. “She’s an amazing manager, so she’ll be able to deal with a lot of the question marks that still need to be handled.”
“Let’s go over the schedule for the week so we can make sure we’re all on the same page,” Collins steered the conversation to what she really wanted to discuss. “Tomorrow will be a big day. The camera crew for the special will be here tomorrow morning, then we have the radio interview to hype the Red Rocks concert.”
She paused, making sure the band was nodding and paying attention.
“Thursday will be the private show for the radio station. There are only about one hundred tickets, and they’ve been running contests to win seats for the past few weeks, so they’ve really built the excitement,” Collins said, watching Domino fidget, Zoey step out of her heels, and Billie adjust the tuning on her guitar. Only Meg was watching her, and her stare was intense. Collins shifted in her seat, feeling as though Meg could see straight through her.
“Friday will be a day full of filming, they’ll need to get lots of shots of y’all, so be ready. And obviously, Saturday is the big day and I know that we’ll be ready. We’re going to put out a live album that will rival other bands’ studio recordings. Believe me,” she said.
“Now, I have to ask if you have had an opportunity to discuss my taking over as director of the special. I believe I’m the best person for this job and I want your support. I will not promise that it’ll be easy or that I’ll accept anything less than exceptional performances from each of you, but I will promise you that I will make you sound your best.”
After the morning they’d all spent together with Collins listening and receiving input, it was a bit of a different question than it had been the last time she had asked it.
“Well I’m not sure that we’ve come to any sort of agreement—” Billie began.
Meg stood up and interrupted her, which judging by Billie’s face wasn’t something that happened very often.
“When we left yesterday, there were some concerns about whether you would be able to hear us and consider our creative vision for the special. I think you’ve shown us that you can receive input without shooting it down. You’ve definitely shown us that you’re still likely to be about as welcoming as an electric fence, but at least you listened. So long as we have a clear understanding that we’ve yet to agree on an overall vision for the special, I see no problem with supporting Collins as director. Plus, she’s basically already doing the job,” Meg announced, then sat back down.
The rest of the band seemed just as surprised by Meg’s actions as they had been the day before, but as Collins looked around the group, she could tell they would follow her lead.
Micah was right, Meg was the glue.
Beautiful, sparkly, fun-loving glue.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Meg
After ordering their meals, Billie, Dom, and Zoey sat and stared at Meg. She felt as if they were all three waiting for her to either say something or for her head to spin all the way around on her neck or something.
“What?” Meg asked, furrowing her brow.
Still, they all just looked at her.
Dom was openly gawking, her jaw slack.
“What the fuck has gotten into you?” Zoey asked eloquently.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Meg lied.
“You’ve been bitching about working with Collins ever since we found out she would be producing. You went out of your way to block her just yesterday when the rest of us were ready to support her. Then today, we were all gung-ho on backing you up in keeping her at bay at least until Micah arrives, but you jumped in to give her all of our blessings,” Zoey ticked off each of Meg’s perceived mood swings on her fingers.
“Nobody here is going to deny that Collins was able to get our best performances out of us for Kaleidoscope, but she basically bullied us until we were so exhausted that we couldn’t argue anymore,” Zoey continued. “But what’s your deal, Mego? What’s going on?”
“I think she really showed us that she’ll listen to our ideas, that’s all,” Meg tried to sound casual, keeping her expression intentionally blank. It would all be so much easier if they would just leave it alone.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Domino cut right to the chase. “Spill.”
Meg shook her head. The server set their meals down, giving her a moment of brief respite.
“You have a crush,” Zoey said.<
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“No,” Meg said, her eyebrows raised.
Domino narrowed her eyes. “Something happened between last night and today, Meg. You can tell us, or we can hold you over the toilet and give you a swirlie.”
Meg laughed, popping a french fry in her mouth. “You wouldn’t.”
“We’re very knowledgeable in the ways of the swirlie,” Billie said with a sharp nod.
Meg rolled her eyes. “Last night, Collins and I ended up like, hanging out,” she said. “It wasn’t a big deal, so don’t go thinking it was.”
Zoey laughed for a solid 45 seconds straight.
Billie and Domino looked shocked, but handled it a bit better than Zoey.
Once she finally settled down, Zoey patted Meg’s hand.
“I love you, Meg. You’re so wonderful, and I really enjoy your batshit crazy moves sometimes,” Zoey said, making it almost seem like she was giving Meg a sincere compliment.
Meg cringed. “I’m not in love with her or anything, we just hung out. She’s not the harpy I thought she was. That’s all.” She was starting to feel defensive. Who were any of them to judge her? “Nobody at this table has any room to lecture anyone on anything regarding dating, capiche?”
“I think we’re just a little surprised, that’s all,” Billie said. Leave it to Billie to try to smooth things over. “I respect Collins, I think she knows her shit.”
“She sure does. And she also is a bit of a shit,” Dom said.
“Is she a good kisser?” Zoey asked, and Meg got the impression that she was trying to make up for her earlier comments in being nice, but she was very much going about it the wrong way.
“We haven’t kissed,” Meg said.
“Haven’t. Like haven’t yet,” Dom said. “Oooooh, someone has a crush,” she sang.
Meg picked up the ketchup bottle sitting in the middle of the table and pointed it at Dom.