Forbidden Ballad - Rock My World (3 page)

BOOK: Forbidden Ballad - Rock My World
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“Hi, Carly,” he says warmly, “I’m Jake.”

I rise and shake his hand. “So nice to meet you. Thanks for making time for me.”

“Of course,” he leads the way to his office and I follow him down the hall.

“You look different than I expected,” he muses.

I blush and take a seat. “Yes, I know.”

I look around his office, which is furnished, in sleek silver and grays. Floor to ceiling windows take up the back wall behind his desk, and I have a bird’s eye view of the city.

“So, Quinn tells me you’re her best friend, and looking for a break in New York.”

I swallow, and twist my hands in my lap. I’m going to have to be brutally honest. I can hear the skeptical tone in his voice.

“Yes, that’s correct. I left my band mate, Walker Stevens, and now I’m trying to pursue a solo career.”

“But weren’t you going on tour this month?”

“Yes. Yes, we were. But,” I hesitate, “there was a change in plans.”

Jake brushes at some papers on his desk. “I haven’t seen that the tour was cancelled.”

“No,” I say furrowing my brow, “I’m not sure why because we are definitely no longer a group.”

“You were also romantically involved, correct? I believe you were engaged.”

Damn. Jake Ryder has done his research.

I take a deep breath. “Yes, Walker and I were engaged. Last week, I walked in on him and another woman,” I flounder, feeling heat flood my face, as I try to explain the worst moment of my life. “So, as you can see, I couldn’t imagine going on tour with him, or working with him after he cheated on me.”

Jake leans back in his chair, and surveys me shrewdly, templing his hands.

“I see.”

Does he? I squirm in my seat.

He sighs, and leans forward. “I’m going to be honest, Carly. It’s going to be hard for you to find work. There is nothing country-related here in New York. And you weren’t big enough yet in the industry to stand alone, and labels are going to wonder why you walked away at the brink of your success. It looks bad.”

“I know. I know it looks bad. But I just couldn’t work with him!”

I’ve gotten emotional now, and I take a deep breath, and close my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize.

“Please, don’t tell me you’re sorry. I’m sure you’re going through hell right now. Look, I know you’re a great singer. I listened to your new CD this morning, and you’ve got a set of pipes. But right now, everyone knows you as a country star, and you can’t just go changing into someone new overnight.”

I hang my head. “I know,” I say in a small voice.

“That being said, I do have something small I could offer you, but I’m not even sure you would be interested.”

I snap my head up. “I’m interested,” I say a little too quickly. This visit has been a reality check for me. Things are worse than I had originally anticipated, and I needed to be humble and take whatever I could get. Even if that meant singing in a bar in the city.

“I have a rock band about to go on tour and they just lost one of their back up singers. They are currently in rehearsals, so it’s an immediate need.”

I bite my lower lip. A back up singer for a rock band? That’s so far out of my league that it’s almost laughable. Almost.

“What group?” I ask.

Now, Jake shifts uncomfortably.

“Cobalt.”

Cobalt. Holy crap. They are one of
the
biggest rock bands, and their lead singer, Leo Nash, was known for being a complete sleaze ball when it came to women.

“And why is it that they need a backup singer if they are already in rehearsals?”

This didn’t sound good.

Jake gives me a pointed look. “I’m not sure of the specifics.”

Bull shit.

“But, I do believe that Leo Nash may have been involved with the singer who quit.”

There it is.

And ironically, it sounded similar to my own situation.

“So, I would be a back up singer for Cobalt? Singing their music?”

I know how stupid that question sounded.

“Yes, that’s the idea. If you’re interested, I’ll call them and tell them that you’ll be at tonight’s rehearsal. They’re working in a space downtown.”

I wanted time to think about it, but I knew that time wasn’t a luxury I had right now. And Jake had told me that this was the only thing he had.

I must be crazy.

“Alright, I’ll take it.”

“You will?” he asks incredulously.

“As you just pointed out, I just left a successful music career back in Nashville. If I’m going to start over, I have to start somewhere, right?”

“Yes,” he says, excitedly, rifling through his papers. “Sit tight. I’ll call right now.”

Oh god, did I really just agree to this?

Jake picks up the phone and dials.

“Mark? It’s Jake Ryder. Yes, things are good. Great, even. I’ve got a singer here who agreed to fill your vacancy.”

There is a pause.

“Trust me, she can sing. She had a bit of a career out in Nashville, but she’s looking for a different scene now. Her name is Carly Michaels.”

Another pause.

“Great! That’s great! I’ll give her the address and send her over this evening.”

He hangs up and smiles at me.

“Well, he’s happy! And he’s heard of you.”

Jake saw the look on my face. “Not to worry. He sounded ecstatic to have you on board. I’ll get all the paperwork together this afternoon, and message it over to their rehearsal space. You can take it home tonight to look it over, and then drop it back off here tomorrow. Does that work?”

“Sure, that’s great.”

Jake stands up, and I follow his lead.

“Thanks for helping us out, Carly. I’m sorry that it’s probably not what you had in mind, but I’m glad we were able to offer you something. And who knows? Once this tour ends, maybe we can look into some bigger things at the label.”

I nod and shake his hand. I still can’t comprehend what I’ve just agreed to. I’m going to be going on tour with Cobalt. I must be insane.

“Thanks, Jake. I appreciate your help.”

“No problem.”

He walks me out into the lobby and presses the elevator for me. The last thing I see is his gorgeous, white smile before the doors close shut.

 

Leo

 

“That’s bullshit!” I yell angrily into my phone.

“Leo, come on,” Mark, my manager, says quietly. “We all saw you two hanging all over each other. Are you going to deny that you slept with her?”

“Of course not,” I scoff, “I slept with her and about twenty others!”

“Okay,” Mark says, and I can hear the annoyance in his tone, “Well the other twenty aren’t coming forward and saying that they’re having your baby. And thank God for that!”

I clench the phone tightly in my fist. “The bitch is lying!”

“Why?” Mark demands. “She says you were the only guy she has been with in the past three months. You’re going to have to do the paternity test!”

“Fuck!” I pace back and forth and look out at Manhattan. Skyler had been a great screw, and I had loved how she had been around all the time while we were recording our album. I was able to have a piece any time I wanted. And she seemed to ignore the fact that I was still bringing other girls around.

“So what do I do?”

Fuck! I swear she had told me she was on birth control! This was a first for me, and something I always feared. And the media would have a field day if this leaked.

“I think you comply. Agree to the paternity test next week. And if this is your baby, then you need to make right by it, Leo.”

A kid. If this were my kid, I would have to support it forever.

“Dammit!” I mutter, sinking onto my couch.

“Try not to think about it, and I’ll find out when Skyler is setting up the appointment for the test. On another note, I just heard from Jake Ryder at the label, and they have a new singer starting tonight. She’s supposed to be good.”

“Whatever,” I say.  Right now, I could care less if they hired Big Bird as our backup singer.

“Leo, you need to take this seriously,” Mark reprimands.

“I fucking am, alright?”

“Okay. I’ll see you at rehearsal.”

“Yeah. See you then.”

I hang up the phone and look around my condo. How the fuck could I have screwed up like that? Maybe I can talk Skyler out of having the kid. If she’ll agree to sit down and speak with me.

Fuck.

Rehearsal is in five hours, so I figure that gives me plenty of time to have a couple of drinks. I walk over to the wet bar and pour myself a scotch.

I toss it back, letting the liquor burn my throat on the way down.

The pain is good.

I pour another one and toss that one back, too.

And just for good measure, I pour one more and gulp it down.

I head back to the couch and lay down, looking out at the city. I’m not sure how long I lay there, but suddenly the light in the condo is different and I glance at my phone to check the time.

“Shit!”

I leap off the couch and race to the bedroom. I’m supposed to be at rehearsal in twenty minutes. I throw on a fresh t-shirt and brush my teeth so I don’t smell like booze. I pull my sunglasses on and make my way out of the building. The doorman says hello to me, but I ignore him. The rehearsal space is only a few blocks from my condo, which is convenient. I’m going to be a few minutes later, but who gives a shit? It’s not like they can start without me.

We’re rehearsing on the second floor of the building and when I walk in, I notice that my presence hasn’t even been missed. The band is on one side of the room talking to one of the producers. I see Mark in a corner talking to our remaining back up singer, Amber and a brunette who has her back turned to me.

I saunter over to the band and Maddox, our keyboards player, gives me an annoyed look.

“So nice of you to show up.”

“Screw you.”

“We have nothing better to do but sit around and wait for your ass.”

Maddox is only half-joking. He had a thing for Skyler and was pissed as hell when she and I began hooking up. He’s going to hit the fucking roof when he finds out I knocked her up.

If
I knocked her up.

“Did you see the new singer?” Kyle asks, as he tunes his bass.

I shrug. I only saw her from the back, and I really don’t care who they put in to replace Skyler. I’ve got enough shit to deal with right now. All I care about is that the chick learns our music and sings it well.

“She is hot!” Kyle exclaims.

“Yeah, she is hot, cuz,” Jacie chimes in. Jacie, our drummer, also happens to be my cousin. We grew up playing music together, and we were always considered the outcasts of our family. I could never live up to my older brother and sister, and Jacie could never live up to her big sister. Jacie is a knockout, from a purely objective standpoint. She’s got a killer body, and knows how to dress it, and her dark hair always has some funky colored streaks in it. Like right now, she has hot pink streaks, and it works for her.

The funny thing is that Jacie is a lesbian. Guys go ape shit over her because she’s a hot-ass girl playing the drums, but Jacie is only interested in the ladies, and she gives the rest of us guys a run for our money. Somehow she always manages to pick up the super hot girls who are into experimenting.

Lucky bitch.

“Alright! Alright!” Mark calls out. Everyone quiets down and turns towards him. I sneak to the back of the room to get myself some water before we begin. I’m sure whatever Mark has to say doesn’t concern me.

I hear him introduce the new girl, Carey or something, and he tells everyone how great Amber is to be helping. Amber is a fucking kiss-ass so I’m sure she loves the attention.

Once everyone takes their places to start rehearsing some of our numbers, I make my way to the front to join the band.

“You could at least act like you’re interested,” Jacie hisses.

I give her a small grin. “Why? All I need to do is stand here and sing my shit.”

“Unbelievable,” she says, shaking her head.

My head still feels a bit heavy from the scotch, but I’ve performed in way worse conditions before, so I know I’ll be fine.

We start off with one of our new songs,
Nothing Left
, and we’re interrupted throughout as Kai, our director, starts giving us notes, and calling out to the assistants who are taking notes for lights and other special effects.

We work like that for about two hours, stopping and starting songs, until Mark calls out a fifteen-minute break.

I haven’t smoked in almost a year, but something about the stress with Skyler today has me craving a smoke. I head downstairs and leave the building in search of a pack of cigarettes. I find some in a cramped newsstand, and light up and take a deep drag as I slowly make my way back to the building.

BOOK: Forbidden Ballad - Rock My World
11.87Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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