“He’s not even that good-looking.”
“He’s not good-looking at all. He thinks he’s so hot the way he struts around with his body doing that body thing and all, but he’s just average really.”
“And he does that hip thing on stage. I bet he practises that every night in front of the mirror.”
“Yeah, and he’s like, ‘oh Alex, you’re so hot, oh I love you, Alex’.” I puckered up like Alex kissing himself in the mirror.
We both sighed.
“I really need to get over him,” Sally said. “I love my job but it kills me having to work with him.”
She looked grim. I could well imagine how awful it’d be liking someone, and having to see them every day, when they cared nothing for you.
“Well, there are other clubs in this world.”
She nodded. “He really does like you.”
I wasn’t so sure. Was it me he cared about or was it just his guilt? I had no idea how his mind worked. Maybe I should just be playing his guilt, taking everything he gave, but I couldn’t be that person. I could talk about it and daydream it but, when it came to crunch time, I was too damn good mannered.
“Anyway,” she said. “What about those songs?”
“Huh? What songs?”
“Those songs he does with Zero that were written with your brother.”
“What about them?” I’d never heard Alex play any of The Jackals’ songs. Thankfully. I’d never even thought that he might still be playing them. I had no idea how I’d handle hearing those songs again.
“He doesn’t play them often, and usually only does them solo, but there are a couple of songs from his old band that he does from time to time.”
My mouth dropped. I had no idea he’d do something like that. Alex was such a bag of dicks. He’d stopped me playing “Fifteen Minutes of Sunshine” but he was happy to play Jake’s other songs. What a damn hypocrite.
“Are you sure they’re Jake’s songs?”
“Yep. He should have your family’s permission to play them. And be paying you royalties.”
“Wait? I can get money for this?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Hey, how do you know this?”
She tapped the side of her nose. “I know everything about Alex. And I have no moral issues with snooping. Alex thinks he can just dump his shit in my office whenever it suits him. Well, maybe that was because I told him he could, and also he owns the place. But, if it’s in my office, I can read it. Or listen to it. Or crack the password…”
“But how can I prove it? He could just say that he wrote them. It’s not like Jake’s alive to defend himself.”
“True,” said Sally. “I guess I can’t hack his laptop again. He got wise to that. Do you have emails or phone messages from your brother discussing the songs? That could be evidence.”
I’d wiped the hard drive on Jake’s computer then donated it to a local charity but Mum still had his phone.
Sally stood up. “Anyway, I should get to work.”
I nodded. This definitely seemed like an avenue for revenge, a grave that Alex had dug for himself. If I got Mum to send me the phone, I could prove something.
But, did I still want to destroy Alex? That was the question.
Alex
Three days after the gig, I got a call. The call. Even though we’d played the worst gig of my life, they were keen. I had no idea how we’d done it, but those label guys didn’t care. My dreams would finally become a reality.
“Are you free to meet up this week?” the guy had asked on the phone.
“I think I could see my way clear. Just me or the whole band?”
Of course I was free. I was nothing but free. I’d pretty much reschedule anything to make that meeting. They weren’t just any label either; they were one of the top three labels in the world. Well, a branch of that label. Same thing.
“The whole band, of course.”
They set a time and I called the other guys. If those bastards had babysitting duties or work or any other kind of lame excuse for not making this meeting, they needed to know that I would cut their throats.
“You sly dog, you kept this quiet until now? Now I see why you were such an edgy bastard at rehearsal,” Hedley said.