Turning on my heel, I leave them to make their own way inside. I shut the front room door as I want to keep my private area exactly that, private. Trent’s the first to join me in the kitchen and announces that he’s going to put the coffee on. Now that I can have my chance to talk to Sean, I’m suddenly lost for words. My list of questions I’d written are all a jumbled mess in my head, and I try to make sense of the here and the now. The tension in the air is electric. Trent’s pissed at me, I’m pissed at Sean. Hannah and Sean are pissed at me. As much as I want to hear Sean’s side of the story, I would much prefer to sort out the Madelyn situation.
“So, what do you have to say?” I ask Sean as he and Hannah take a seat at the dining table.
“I know you have questions. I know you want answers, and I’m going to give them all to you, but I’m going to ask you to hear me out first.”
My arms cross my chest. “Why should I give you anything?”
“Because it will take longer to get you those answers if you interrupt me,” Hannah interjects.
“So, just so everyone is clear here. The band was Sean and me. No girlfriends and no nosey people who say they want to have a coffee while getting their free entertainment.” Trent doesn’t even stop to acknowledge my comment. “So, if we are going to talk, then it’s the people who were in the band. Me and Sean.”
The look Hannah gives me doesn’t go unnoticed. She can give me all the looks she likes, it’s not going to bother me. “See, this is one of the reasons. It’s Reece’s way or no way,” Sean starts. “You were fucking clueless of how you ruled the roost. Stand over tactics is not the way to win friends and influence people.”
“Hannah,” Trent calls. “Do you mind giving me a hand over here? Can’t carry everything.”
Hannah eyeballs me one last time before turning to Sean. “Are you boys going to play nice?” She waits for both of us to respond before slowly moving towards the kitchen.
Sean leans forward and looks me right in the eye. “I said to you two years ago after the gig in Tokyo that I wasn’t happy with how the band was heading. You and David had decided what was going to be happening. So before you get on your fucking high horse, you remember who you made all the so-called decisions with. Someone who wasn’t in the band.”
“David is our manager. We were paying him to make the best decisions for us.”
“Yeah. Best decisions for you, Reece. I told him that same night that I didn’t want the band to head that way. You know what he told me? That I should be lucky that I even have a job considering everyone thinks Backbeat is Reece Ashton with some guy on drums.”
Ouch. This is where I know I’ve changed. Before I wouldn’t have given a shit, but now I’ve stopped and thought about what it would have been like for him to hear that. “He said that to you?” I look up at Trent as he sets down mugs and he gave a ‘told you so’ glance that I didn’t miss.
“Numerous times. He told me that he could make you into an enormous star if it weren’t for me, so I thought I would do you a favour. You weren’t listening to me, and David was happy to see me go. Even wished me well on my travels.”
Huh? “He what? He knew you were leaving?”
Sean nodded. “He encouraged it. Said he would help me pack my bags and book my flights personally.” My urge to punch something was rising again.
“He told me he knew nothing about this. That you hadn’t said a word. That you’d be happy for me to go.”
I turn in my chair to look at Trent. “Not a fucking word out of you please.” He puts his hands up in defence. “Keep talking. Can you please start at the beginning and tell me everything?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
REECE
Our coffee cups have been refilled three times, Sean talks 'til his throat is hoarse and I have been taken through what it’s been like for him in the band. He’s offloaded so much. So much bullshit that could have been sorted had he said something and at times if I’d listened. As much as I want to be furious with him, I can also sympathise with him. For two years, his comments and requests are denied. He even said he tried to talk to me, but David booked my schedule so we would only cross paths if we were in the studio. This was a slow manipulation to undermine us. I remember thinking it was weird that Sean had laid down his parts, and I would come in later to do my pieces. We both deduced that this was part of David’s plan to divide and conquer.
There are some things that I make a mental note to come back to, as I let him get it all out. At some points, I thought he was going to break down and cry. At other times, I thought it was going to be me.
I hold my hand up to stop him. “I know I said I’d hold all questions to the end, but I have to ask. We were gearing up. We were right on the cusp of taking on the world. This is what you and I dreamed about growing up, taking on all those shit gigs. And you fucking bail on the dream? On me? You couldn’t send me an email? Ring me?”
“I’ve been trying to talk to you for two years, Reece. David said to me ‘what better way to get your attention and be heard, than to walk’?”
And it hits me like a tonne of bricks. David has orchestrated this whole debacle. Motherfucker. I sit in stunned silence, and when Sean goes to speak, I raise my hand to stop him. “I just need a minute.” I rub my hand over my forehead and try to erase the headache that’s starting to pound. Everyone remains silent while a thousand thoughts cloud my mind. David has some explaining to do. “So if you left and David knew about it. What’s the deal with the assets being frozen?”
Sean sat back in the seat. “That I don’t know about. I never said anything to the tax department. The accounts were fine the day I left. We both need to visit the tax department to get it sorted. Everything is above board, it’s all accounted for and can be shown. Then we can work it out from there. First port of business, we need to officially sort out what’s going on with the band. If we decide we want to call it quits, we have to sort out the finances. If we decide we want to be a partnership again, we have a lot to talk about, and one of them is that I’m not going to work with David.”
“I’m sure as fuck not going to either.”
Sean looks over my shoulder and gives a quick nod. Hannah returns to his side and sits down. “Actually, if you decide to work together again, you have to employ David. That’s the contract you signed.”
The rasping sound of my hand against my whiskers provides an unsettling comfort while I mull the fine details over. Trying to get out of the contract would take years and millions of pounds. I’m confident in my own abilities as a solo artist, but before all this, working with Sean has been great.
“Well, that depends on you and your thoughts on working with me again.”
“I would never say ‘never again’ but for now, I want to try something else. Have some breathing room. I know this was your dream, and I feel shit for fucking it up for you, believe me, I do.” Sean reached over and took hold of Hannah’s hand and brought it to his lap. “I think I’d like to try life on my own. I’ve spent years with you by my side. I want to see what it’s like to make my own decisions.”
“Well, you won’t be doing that now that you’re married,” I bark and instantly regret it. I can see how I have slipped back into my reactionary mode. “Sorry. Shit. I just meant, no offense, but Hannah here seems to wear the pants in this relationship.”
“I hold my own.” Sean gritted out. “You’re just so fucking caught up in your own ego that you never gave anyone a chance. I’m not here to name call. I’m here to sort this shit out so we can both move on. It’s not as if you’ve been slumming it. Look at you. You’re like a fucking cat. You landed on your feet. Seems like you took no time in moving on.”
“I’ve been moving on since the minute you left.” I rub my hand along my jaw again. The dishwasher starts to chime to say the cycle has finished. I’m done with the name calling and the blaming. I just want to move forward. “Where do we start?”
“We need to speak to David. Find out what his
end game is.”
Trent clears his throat, and it sounds like he’s stifling a laugh behind me in the kitchen. I hadn’t forgotten that he was there, part of me was ignoring him. “Don’t forget about your big important conversation that you so desperately wanted with my sister.”
I swivel in my chair to look at him. “I haven’t forgotten. Quite the contrary, it’s even more reason for me to see her. I want her to come with me back to the city when I take this up with David.”
Trent shakes his head and scoffs, “Good fucking luck with that.”
“You have a girlfriend?”
“No…” Trent and I answer at the same time, and I finish with “Not officially, no.”
“Well, he might have numerous girlfriends by all reports, my sister is not one of them,” Trent tells Sean as he crossed his arms in front of himself.
I look back to Sean, who has a big shit eating grin on his face. “She’s not my girlfriend … yet. I want her to be.” I see Trent’s head snap in my direction, but I keep my head facing Sean. “It’s all new.”
“I see being on your own has been very good for you. Self-proclaimed bachelor forever, wasn’t that what you said? No chick’s gonna stop your dick? Why buy the cow …”
I know I said I wouldn’t do it, but I narrowly missed his nose as he sat back to dodge my fist coming for his face. I’ve said a lot of stupid shit in my life, but to have one of the people that will fight so fiercely to protect his sister hear all that stupid shit that I have said wasn’t helping my cause.
“Hey!” Hannah yells and slaps a laughing Sean on the arm. “Are you deliberately trying to get punched in the face?”
“Not at all. I just can’t believe it. She must be a heart-stopper then.”
“You have no idea. She’s just … amazing’s not even the right word. She’s kind. She’s thoughtful. She’s trustworthy. She’s honest.” I burst out laughing at Madelyn’s honesty. “To a fault actually. She’s funny, she’s gorgeous, and she’s just … she’s like no woman I have ever met before, and I think that’s why I’m so taken with her. She’s been the one keeping me alive. Helping me with shopping, showing me things I was missing out on. She’s as patient as all fuck, but she’s tough on me too.” I think back to the bathroom, the dishwasher, the driving – even when I wanted to stop, she encouraged me to keep trying. Like she believed in me for the right reasons. “She’s made me accountable. She’s definitely made me a better person. I’ve changed. I know. We’ve all heard it before. I’ve spent hours looking over our past, watching interviews. I can’t even stand the Reece I was.” And I honestly do. It’s like watching some stranger spew proclamations of how awesome he is. It’s like I was watching a completely different person. “I think the old Reece is a jerk, and I never want to be that way again. If this didn’t all happen, I would have still been the arrogant Reece Ashton that everyone expects, I’m not that guy. I guess the only way to prove it is to show it.” I get to my feet and hold out my hand for Sean to shake. “To be honest, you’re the one living the dream. I wish you well for the future, congratulations again on your marriage. When are you heading back to the city?”
“We’re staying at the pub, it’s just a few minutes down the road, and we were going to head back tomorrow morning.”
“Is it alright if I get a lift with you? We can make an appointment with the tax department and get that whole shit storm sorted and then sounds like we need to call a meeting with David.”
Sean got to his feet and took hold of my hand. “Yeah, sure. I think once we get that all sorted out, we will have a better idea of how we can both move forward.”
I pull him into me and wrap my arm around his shoulder. “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel lesser than what you deserve. You have an amazing talent. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently. I think it might be best to not tell David we are coming. I want that fucker strung up by the balls for what he’s done to us. Lying son of a bitch.”
Sean returns the hug before taking a step back and dropping my hand. “What’s the plan? Just barge into his office unannounced?”
I nod my head at the suggestion. “I think so. It’s the best way to get him, we can get him on the back foot. Will be interesting to see what lies he can spin when we are both in the same room. Let me know when you are heading out and I’ll have a bag ready to go.”
Trent clears his throat before speaking. “Again. Don’t you have to have a talk with Madelyn before you up and go back to your big city life?”
The strain in his voice is to the point of seething. “I am not leaving to go back to my life. The whole world knows there’s shit to get sorted out. Doesn’t mean I’m leaving her.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Sean asks.
Again we both speak at the same time.
“I’m the brother—”
“He’s the brother—”
With a flash, that shit eating grin re-appears on Sean’s face as I turn to Trent. “Oh man. You really have changed. There is no way you’d be caught next to a sibling unless it was a sister on the other side of your arm.”
“Not helping, Sean.” I refuse to break eye contact with Trent. “I’m only just getting to know Madelyn, and I want to keep getting to know her. I can’t do that if I’m in the city.”
“And where do you think you’re going to live? Once David sees you washing your hands of him, do you think he’s going to let you back in here? The David I know…”
“How do you know David?” Sean asks.
I fold my arms across my chest. “I’ve been waiting for the answer to that question myself.”
We all watch and wait for Trent to give up the details as to how he knows David.
“David is a very old family acquaintance to some members of my family. You guys must have been living under a rock if you haven’t heard about my sister. Madelyn used to spell her name the normal way. You know M A D E L I N E until her ex-boyfriend put everything about their relationship up on the Internet.”
“Oh shit,” Sean says. “I remember her. Dude, I’m sure you have too.”
Trent’s clenching fists catches my attention, and I look back to Sean. “If I did, I certainly don’t remember it, and I don’t want to. I had enough in front of me so I didn’t need to resort to porn.” Shut up. Just shut up, Reece, I tell myself.
Hannah finally pipes in quietly. “I remember her. Not for the footage or anything about the relationship. It’s the vile way she was portrayed in the media. Your poor sister.”
I vaguely recall the details, to be honest, I was too busy making my own sexual memories to be bogged down in what others had going on in their lives.
“She’s never forgiven James or his uncle, David Steel. Turns out David was the one helping James in how to get it out to the media, we just could never pin it on him.”
Trent continued to tell us about the long-standing love-hate relationship between the families where David was in love with Trent and Madelyn’s mother, when she upped and married their father. “Can you see why Madelyn and I are private people? This is enough fodder to keep the celebrity rags in business for years. Mad’s is part of the celebrity world by default. She doesn’t want any part of it. She tried. At every turn, someone has a cruel comment about latching onto our dad’s coattails or saying that she had a hand in her sex tape being released. It eroded every piece of her confidence and shit like this sticks. Badly.”
My head is pounding from information overload. If I wasn’t fucking livid before with all of this, the learning of how David might have helped in ruining Madelyn’s life – I’m off the fucking charts angry now.
“What’s going on with your eye, Reece?” Sean asks.
“I am fucking angry. That’s what. How could anyone do that to Madelyn?”
“Because James Hollingsworth is a spineless, soulless, attention seeking whore. Remind you of someone?” Trent said. “He was all over the media and then when my father’s lawyers put an order on him to stop, he faded into the f
orgotten oblivion, but it didn’t matter. The damage was done.”
And I’m just about done with all the snide comments from Trent. I slowly turn to have my whole body face him. He must sense my change in demeanour as he straightens and the muscles tick in his jaw. We stand there for a moment sizing each other up. His comment about being a spineless, soulless, attention seeking whore didn’t slip past my radar.
“And you saying that makes you just as bad. All you know about me is what’s portrayed in the media. You think I’m some prick trying to get an easy lay? How much media attention have I had since I’ve been here Trent? Huh? You’ve judged me on everything that has been carefully orchestrated by David to give an idea of who and what I am. Have I in any way brought attention to this town? To Madelyn? To myself? No. You just stood there bitching and moaning about how people were treating your sister, yet you dispense the same kind of hypocrisy on me so easily. You don’t know me. I’m so fucking grateful that your sister doesn’t judge me the same way you do.” His gaze doesn’t sway from mine. “The only person that matters to have the right opinion about me is Madelyn.”
Sean shuffles beside us, and I wait for the tension to ease.
“Why would someone do that? What benefit does David have from doing that?” Sean asked what I was thinking.
“Only he can answer that. Even if I had the chance to get the answer, I would be too busy beating his arse to hear his reasons.”
Mine and Sean’s phone chime within seconds of each other. I reach into my pocket and pull it out while Hannah hands Sean’s to him.
My message read,
We need to have a catch-up. Need to get your face back out there and beating Sean at his own game.
While Sean’s read.
Reece is out for your blood. I suggest you remain underground while I sort this out.
“I have an idea of how we can play this out. If you do want to work with me again, let me know, but for now, I have a girl I need to talk to and reassure her that I’m not a wanker.” I turn to look at Trent. “Where is she?”
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