“That’s tough.”
“Even if he had a change of heart and turned himself in, there’s nothing that can be done. Dad was obsessed with it after Jake died and tried to get them to arrest Alex, but he just wore himself out over nothing. He took it as far as he could go, to the higher ups in the police and all, but they said it was too late. They have real criminals to catch, all that shit.”
“You could make him fall in love with you, then grind him under your heel like a worm. That’d be fantastic.”
I didn’t want to say but that was the worst idea ever. I couldn’t imagine how I’d get Alex to fall in love with me without getting all messed up and hurt in the process. The best thing I could do was slowly extract myself from the hold he had over me. Well, over the entire band. To do that, I had to get Pete on my side. He was so firmly under Alex’s hold, but the one card I hadn’t played yet was his ambition. If we could get better gigs for the band, somewhere far away from here, then Pete would forget Alex in a heartbeat. That was the kind of guy he was.
“What about you?” I asked Sally. “What are your plans?”
“Lately, I’ve been thinking of getting away. Throwing it all in and going to explore the world. I have nothing to keep me here. I love my job but it’s just a festering pot of misery, having to see Alex every day.” She grinned. “And, if Carlie goes on tour with Holden, nothing would hurt Alex more than me leaving. Ha, he’d have no staff left to run Trouble.”
She was right about that. It’d be the worse blow she could deal him. Sally was so much better at revenge than me. She could be my revenge mentor. I could talk about it all I wanted but I had nothing. My plans hadn’t involved having all these awkward and stupid emotions.
“Or I might just stay here and date the barista. He’s pretty cute and he makes awesome coffee.”
I turned in my seat to get a look at him. I’d never really noticed him that much. Long hair tied up in a man bun, chiselled cheekbones, full lips. Sally really had a type.
“That’d be awesome,” I said. “Their red velvet cake here is super delicious too.”
“Yeah, and I could get him to spit in Alex’s coffee every time he comes in.”
I chuckled.
“I should get to work,” I said. “I’m on the late shift tonight and those kids need someone to sell them band shirts and twee dresses.”
“Yeah, well, don’t forget what I said about the song royalties. He’s screwing you over and, if you want to get to him, that’s the best way. It’s his best material. You could make him your bitch.”
I left with that idea swimming in my head. Alex as my bitch, that could be mighty sexy. Mum had sent Jake’s phone to me when I asked her. It’d taken her a few days to find it and I hadn’t received it yet. The thought of going through his messages now, after all this time, felt a bit ick, but revenge isn’t easy.
Alex
There’d been some delays in getting the contract signed but finally we went in for the meeting. I’d been working hard on negotiating the contract and I had no intention of screwing it up.
Matt came to reception and showed us into the same meeting room.
“Today’s the big day, guys.” He grinned.
Fabian rubbed his hands together. He’d have signed his life away for loose change if I’d not been around to protect us. This would be a huge step forward but that was no reason to sell out cheaply.
“We’re looking at stepping up the release process for this, so it’s timed with your festival performances. We want to maximise the exposure.”
We had a support spot coming up for Holden’s band too. I’d mention that to Matt, try to get some marketing together.
I nodded and read through the final version of the contract.
“Just one thing,” he said. “We want to change the feature track. There was one hidden away on the demos that we think will work best. Everyone was in agreement. ‘Fifteen Minutes of Sunshine’. Man, that’s a killer. Why isn’t it on your live set?”
Shit. How had that gotten on the demos? I’d recorded it once, a few years ago but with no intention of live release.
“That’s not possible,” I said. “We don’t do that song.”
“We could do it,” Fabian added. I shot him down with a glance.
Matt scratched his head. “Well, that’s the thing. We really want you to do it. It’s money in the bank.”
This was the last thing I wanted. Fabian didn’t look at me, but I’d given him the job of compiling the demos. He’d put that song on it? I didn’t want to say it but I’d not written that song. I did not want to play that song. That song was poison. Did no one listen to the lyrics? It sounded like a sweet love song, all hooky and feel-good but that song was a joke. A literal joke. Jake had written it about his love for the nose candy. It wasn’t explicitly stated but tha
t’s the full story. That’s why I’d pulled the plug when Dee started playing it. And now they wanted to release it as a single?