“I know.” Liam moves toward the wall and leans back. “Remember that first gig we had? God we opened the door and they were there, every square inch was covered.”
“I remember.”
“What’s all this?” I stand behind Liam and JD, surveying the room. We knew when we signed with Moreno Entertainment that we’d get the star treatment, but this may be over the top. “Did we ask for this?”
Liam turns and looks at us, we both shake our heads. I’m a guy. Simple things amuse me. I definitely don’t need a room full of roses… so many in fact that you can’t see the furnishings.
“Sam thought it would be a nice touch,” Mr. Moreno says. He’s a short, pudgy man. He sort of reminds me of a gangster, always wearing a fedora that covers his balding head. He’s never without a cigar hanging out of his mouth, even though I’ve never actually seen him light it. He looks at Liam and winks.
“I don’t think we like it,” Liam says and JD and I nod. I’m not a flower guy. I mean I’ll send them to my mom, but can’t say I want them stinking up my place. The room looks like a funeral home – a red one to boot. Red roses cover every available inch, leaving barely a space for us to sit down.
“Can we go someplace else, Mr. Moreno? This isn’t us,” I say.
Mr. Moreno rubs his portly belly. “But my Sam did this for you, Liam. She said you’d like it.”
I hear Liam sigh. He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. “4225 West doesn’t need or want this. Can we please have it cleaned out or go to a different room?”
Mr. Moreno pats Liam on the back. He doesn’t pay attention to us. I mean why should he? Liam is the talent behind the band. I’m just a lowly house-band drummer that he asked to come play with him when he got signed and JD joined after answering an ad in the paper. For Moreno Entertainment – Liam is their prize.
“My Sam did this especially for you, Liam, I think you’d want to accept her gift.”
“Mr. Moreno, with all due respect to you and Sam, this room is supposed to be a place for us to relax before going out to perform. I know for me, and I’m assuming for Harrison and JD as well, we can’t center ourselves in this room when the over-powering scent of flowers is trying to kill us.”
Mr. Moreno chuckles, his belly bouncing up down as his menacing laugh carries on. Liam looks at us, we both shrug. We don’t know what’s going on, but from the sound of Mr. Moreno, we aren’t going to like the result.
“Liam, you’re young and new to all of this. It’s best you let me decide what you like and don’t like. Sam is merely trying to show her appreciation and make you feel comfortable. I suggest you repay her in kind.”
Mr. Moreno walks out, leaving us in the middle of the red
funeral room. There isn’t any place for us to sit down, let alone hang our coats.
JD starts walking around, pulling the cards from each bouquet.
“Good Luck, Liam. Love, Sam.”
“You’re the best, Liam. Love, Sam.”
“You’ll be amazing, Liam. Love, Sam.”
“Dude, did you sleep with her?” I ask. Liam shakes his head.
“No, and maybe that’s the problem. I’ve rebuffed her advances. I just want to keep things professional and earn our way to the top.”
“Yeah, well, I think Sam is making it very clear that the way to the top is by shagging her.” JD says as he drops the cards on the floor.
Liam starts picking up the vases and moving them into the corner. He stacks them on top of each other, breaking the flowers underneath. JD and I follow and soon enough we have a minimal amount of space to sit down.
“I’ll take care of it.” That’s the last thing Liam says before we start going over the set list.
We’ve been down this path before in the early stages, just after we signed with Moreno Entertainment. Liam and I were so new to this side of the industry we didn’t know what to expect. JD said his dad was a total diva when it came to his dressing room, but never to this extreme.
Who does that? Oh right, Sam does because she’s completely unhinged.
“Katelyn is your friend and you know her better than I do, but what happened back there, you can’t let her see that type of anger. She has no clue what she’s done wrong. She’s learning the ropes here. We hired her without any experience so-”
“I’ll take care of it.”
The last time Liam said that, Sam got worse.