Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (6 page)

“Knock off the drama.” I’m beginn
ing to lose my patience. I’m getting tired of her attitude. If I didn’t feel so indebted to her, I’d replace her ass.

“Jack
, that song along with a ton of speculation will be all over the Internet tomorrow.”

“So?”

She gives me another bug-eyed look. “I’m disappointed in you if I have to explain why it’s not a good thing.”

Leila
interrupts, “Jen.”

Our agent levels Leila with her gaze. “W
e’re sorry we didn’t tell you. That was entirely my fault. I wasn’t ready and I convinced Jack to hide our relationship. If this caused you problems, I apologize.”

Jen looks surprised by
her apology for exactly two seconds. She then turns towards me, essentially ignoring Leila’s presence and points a finger at me. “You should have told me.”

“
Jen, do not treat me as if I’m invisible.” Jen blinks slowly, crossing her arms defiantly. Her face betrays her shock with Leila. Leila has never spoken up towards Jen. In an eerily calm voice she adds, “Like I said, Jack kept this from you because I asked him to. It was my choice to keep our relationship a secret.”

“Until now? Jumping him b
ackstage doesn’t help your plan,” Jen bitchily replies.

“I lost myself for a minute. It wasn’t planned.”

“I’m sure no one we need to worry about saw us,” I add.

“Jack,
don’t be so naïve. If the label gets wind of this, heads are going to roll.”

“
Why would the label care? It’s not their business.”

“
It is their business and we need to thoroughly think this through. Jack you were single and available when we signed with the label. You have a persona to live up to. A sappy love-struck relationship isn’t part of that persona.”

“Why are you being such a bitch?”

“It’s because I am a bitch, that got you where you are right now. I need to think clearly since you obviously aren’t.”

“
Screw you, Jen.” Clenching my fists, I am now beyond angry. Jen shakes her head and turns to storm out. As she exits, I call after her, “Oh, and get me security...please!”

The minute
she is out of the room, I turn to face Leila. “Do not listen to a word she said.”

“I’m sorry I scre
wed up. It’s that Jack Lair voodoo that gets me every time.”

Smiling at her admission, I shake my head stubbornly. “You did not screw up.”

“Yes, I really did. It was stupid.”

“Babe, stop.”

After a heavy sigh, she shrugs. “I guess we should have expected that from her.”

“No. There is
absolutely no excuse for her to act that way. She still works for us.” Bending to kiss her gently, I ask, “Did you like your song?”

“
You couldn’t tell from my sexual attack backstage? Jack, that was so beautiful. I loved it! Thank you.”

“I wrote it after the night
we hung out in your apartment. Even then, I knew.” Leila wraps her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

“Well
, I love it. Thank you.”

Kissing the top of her head, I quietly say, “
Everything will work out. Let’s get out of here.”

We aren’t on the bus five
minutes before Jen and Dylan show up. Dylan looks like he just found out his best friend died. Confirming my suspicions that our tour manager does have feelings towards my girlfriend. This shouldn’t be news to me. I knew he wanted more than friendship based on what Leila admitted to me in New York.

Dylan
joined us this evening and will be traveling with us for most of the remainder of the tour. Now that he knows, it’s going to be awkward to say the least. Thankfully, he’s on the other bus with our drivers and roadies.

“So much for keeping it to yourself.” I grumble at Jen.

Without any preamble or remorse, Jen says, “We need to figure this out, tonight. I may have to do some damage control soon, and we all need to be in sync with what our statement is.”

“Damage control?
Aren’t you overreacting?”

“Yes, d
amage control and no, I’m not overreacting. You are on the way to being the hottest rock stars in the nation. I’ve worked my ass off to get you there. Relationships this new to the game can cause damage.”

The guys all sit uncomfortably during our exchange.
I’m sure they are wondering how this will affect them and their own significant others. I, on the other hand, have no doubt Jen is not referring to their love lives. She’s always seen me as a sex symbol and has made no secret about it. The old Jack loved it but the new Jack…not so much.

I know
we are supposed to be heading out to Hartford as we speak and I turn towards Tom, our driver to ask, “Will it screw you up if we pull out in an hour?”

“Nope, that’s fine
.”

“
Thanks, Tom. Jen, you have one hour.”

No offense to my buddies
, but I’m not having this conversation on the bus. This is way too personal to be discussing it in front of an audience. “We’ll be back soon.”

I lead Le
ila, Jen and Dylan off the bus to quickly find an empty holding room in the arena.

Once inside,
Dylan speaks first. “You both need to be comfortable with the statement we need to prepare.”

“
Why do we need to prepare a statement?”

“Because
, Jack, if we don’t control the info we want everyone to know, rumors will be running rampant.” Jen speaks to me like I’m a two year old.

“The rumors
have already been running rampant. Where were you when all those posts were appearing from the Leila haters? Suddenly you are concerned about rumors?” Dylan flinches at my words while Jen sighs impatiently.

Turning towards Leila I ask,
“I worry about you. Are you ready to go public?”

“Jack, don’t worry about me. I’ll do whatever is best for the band.”

“Too late,” Jen quips.

“Jen, I’m
warning you. One more comment and we’re out of here.”

“Jack, she does have
your best interest at heart.” Dylan tries to pacify me. While glaring at Jen, he adds, “Even if her methods suck.” She dramatically rolls her eyes and makes it difficult to appreciate all that she does for us.

Ignoring
her, I choose to focus on Dylan. “We are getting nowhere. How do you think we should handle this?”

“I think…”

Jen abruptly cuts Dylan off. “We will say that Jack was in a relationship, misses her terribly, and wrote her a song. Leila is jealous and is trying to seduce you. The allure and drama of a love triangle will spark curiosity, but in a good way.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Jen throws her hands up annoyingly.

“Besides the obvious, which makes me look like a wacko, I
thought relationships could cause damage?” Leila asks what I’m thinking.

“Not vague ones. The mystery will cause interest. Knowing you two are together may upset people.”

If we insinuate I was seeing someone at home, it’s only a matter of time before Jessa appears with a healthy baby bump, claiming she is the one. I am not ready to admit that to Jen or Dylan, but then again in a few weeks, I may have to anyway.

“This is ridiculous. Why would
admitting we are together have people turn on us?”

“
You are a hot commodity, Jack. Realistic or not, people connect with you and want to be with you. It’s always a fan’s fantasy to envision themselves in a relationship with the object of their desire.” Dylan patiently explains, remorse in his eyes.

“Plus, t
he Leila haters will multiply,” Jen adds.

My eyes move over to Leila.
“Fuck.”

“
So, now I have your attention?”

“Jack, I don’t care. I’ll deal with my haters.”

“Well I care.” Ignoring her frowns, I turn towards Jen and Dylan. “Ok. I get it. We should be prepared. You can call the label and let them know the situation. Leila and I will call you tomorrow before our show to discuss this nonsense.”

Jen and Dylan exchan
ge looks. Jen goes to speak, but Dylan holds up his hand to stop her. “Fine. I’ll arrange for a conference call tomorrow at three in Hartford.” Dylan looks at Leila for the first time. “You ok?”

Shrugging she says, “I’
m fine.”

He nods, quietly walking out of the room. Jen leaves behind him, a bit more dramatically.

“Are you ok?”

She simply nods, but I can tell she isn’t.

“Babe, don’t worry. She is overreacting.” I wrap her in my arms to hold her tightly. I hate being dishonest. Truth is, I am worried. I hate we need to even deal with this crap and this drama was exactly what she predicted.

She pulls away to look into my eyes.
“Jack, you asked for security. You mentioned the hate posts. The same ones you’ve been telling me to ignore. Please, be honest with me.”

“My worries all stem from Danny. Once we go public and the Internet starts buzzing about our relationship, that will firmly put you on his radar.”

“Oh…”

“We are all spinning our wheels on the unknown. Who knows if that fucker was just making empty threats? We’ll take it one day at a time. Let’s go fill the guys in on what’s going on, and then you and I will talk this through. I’ll call my dad tomorrow for his advice. Ok?”

Nodding she doesn’t look at all convinced. “Ok.”




After filling the guys in, talking through most of the night, and speaking to my dad, I feel like a week has passed by and not merely hours. We are both exhausted.

Why can’t life be simple? You meet a girl, you fall in love, and you live your lives? Those rules apparently don’t apply
if you are Jack Lair.

At least my
Dad was ecstatic to hear our news. He said both he and mom had their suspicions. Mainly due to the perpetual smile on my face whenever Leila was near me. I hadn’t realized I was doing that.

Regarding our relationship, basically he said
we can’t worry about the “what if’s” and what we are unable to control. Honesty would be his advice. I asked him to keep the news of our relationship to himself until I had a chance to call mom and Lizzy personally.

Leila and I
agree with my dad and we rather not lie about our relationship. Hopefully the label feels the same.

So here we are, waiting for Jen to call in with the execs from the label.
I personally feel this is all unnecessary and could give a crap what our fans think. I’ve said as much to Leila, but she worries the label will be upset with our relationship.

I’ve met Louis R. Vassler, owner and C.E.O
. of L.R.V. Media a few times. He is a very influential man in the business with a hard-ass reputation. But those who know him personally say he does have a heart beneath it all. His heavy Texan accent and deep baritone voice overshadow the fact he is height-challenged. His executive vice president, Charles Landon is a lot taller and a lot smoother around the edges.

The tension in this room between
Dylan and us can be cut with a knife. Conversation has been minimal or all together nonexistent. At three on the dot, thankfully the conference phone finally rings.

“Hello?
”

“Dylan, it’s me. I have Louis and Charles on the line as well.”

“Hello gentlemen, I’m here with Jack and Leila.”

Louis’ deep
accent comes roaring through the speaker. “Hello y’all. So I’m guessin’ congratulations are in order for you two?”

“Hi Louis, It’s Jack. Thank you
, sir. I’m sorry to have to drag you into this.”

“
Nonsense. Love is part of life. Being a romantic myself, I don’t have any problems with you two or what you do in your personal lives.”

“Thank you
, sir.”

“
Unfortunately, we are all involved in a fickle industry. One can never tell what can make the fans loyal or what can piss them off. Havin’ said that, you two don’t want negative bull crap affectin’ your popularity so soon in the game.”

My heart sinks at his words.

At my silence, Louis further explains. “Now kids, don’t misunderstand. You boys, and Leila are talented and we stand behind that talent. Your talent will make you a success. But your fans will make you superstars and obviously the label would prefer the superstars. Hell…my wife would have my nuts if she found out I’d said that out loud. I’m no idiot. So I’m deferrin’ the decision to the fans. Let them decide. Your contracts aren’t dependent on the amount of fans you have. They are dependent on how much money you make. Hopefully, the stars will align on both fronts. Understood?” Leila and I exchange glances, both getting the point loud and clear. Bottom line…it comes down to money.