Page 28 of Broken Melody
“I cannot endure another second of this.” I say.
“I think my ears are bleeding. Are they? Someone look.” Nixon requests, but we all ignore him.
“Why the hell are we being put through this torture?” I look angrily at Rocco as if it’s his fault.
“Jace said Rick had a few more leads he wanted to check out and that he wants to be sure before engaging Sailor,” Rocco explains.
“But Jace told him that we have now agreed to Sailor, right? Yes, he said he told him that already!” Henley says, his aggravation as intense as the rest of ours. We direct our questions to each other because Jace has assumed a position mid-way between us and Rick – kind of like in neutral territory.
“Yeah,” I agree. “I don’t get this at all.”
“This feels suspicious to me,” Nixon says.
“Yeah,” Henley adds. “I get the feeling this has less to do about us and more about the fact that Rick has had a change of heart.”
“A change of heart about Sailor?” I ask in disbelief. “No way. She’s phenomenal.”
“She is. Which is why I think he’s hoping we can find someone else and he can sign her as a solo act instead,” Henley says.
“He wouldn’t,” Nixon growls.
I shrug, “Well he can offer that to her no matter what, that’s his choice. We can’t stop him.” I say angrily.
“Oh, god. Maybe he already did and she accepted, and that’s why we’re all having to endure this,” Rocco says and I don’t like the way that theory makes me feel. At all. Hard to believe how quickly my feelings have changed, but it’s no use denying them any longer.
“Well, he’s about to be really disappointed then,” I tell him.
“Oh, God,” Rocco says in dread.
“She sounds like a bird caught in a mouse trap or some shit. I can’t stand her god-awful screeching. Awful, honey, just awful,” I state loudly enough for the woman auditioning for our band to hear. Rick frowns at me and I shake my head at him and make a cut it gesture across my neck.
“Oh god,” Rocco says again.
“Yeah, I agree,” Henley says loudly and if I wasn’t so shocked, I’d smile, “Next!”
The girl that was singing stomps out of the room, but I’m too annoyed to give a fuck. Maybe this is serious and Sailor isn’t an option now, I don’t know. But I’m sure as hell not going to make the fact he may have made that decision without us easy on him. Besides, that chick will just chalk it up to us being a bunch of pretentious douche bags. I can live with that.
We aren’t waiting long before they usher someone else in, “Guys, I’d like you to meet Rebel. We’ve received her demo and think she could be a great fit.”
“Doubt it,” Nixon says loudly enough for her to hear. “But give it a shot. Let’s hear what you’ve got.”
Rick looks frustrated, but murmurs a few words to Rebel, which is clearly a fake name – it has to be and I’m not impressed – and she goes to the front of the room and starts singing. There’s no introduction, no niceties, or small talk because we aren’t having it. We are pissed and Rick and Jace know it, in fact, I know Jace agrees with our assessment and communicated that to Rick, but he’s ever the professional, and likely feeling caught between us and Rick. We’ve never questioned his advocacy for us, so we owe him if he thinks we need to endure this. It’s likely a bit more of a tightrope walk than any of us understand – our desires versus respecting Rick’s so we can keep a relationship with this label. Question is - how long are we all required to endure this too?
“Seriously? You thoughthervoice would blend well with ours?” Henley directs his question toward Rick and looks pleadingly at Jace, arms crossed and sporting a scowl so fierce a lesser person would piss their pants.
“Not even close,” Rocco adds. “Unless you think we all sound like squealing pigs.” He turns and directs his next comments to Rebel, “Listen honey, you should be looking for a heavy metal screaming band. Not pop rock.”
Nixon, Henley and I all look at Rocco like his dick is hanging out of his pants because we can’t believe the insult he just laid down, “Good one,” Henley says with a laugh.
Rebel stops singing, and looks at Rick, fury on her face. He sighs and shows her out. When he comes back into the room he approaches us, arms crossed. “Alright, what the hell is going on?”
“We believe Jace already explained our position, but in case you didn’t hear or understand or simply weren’t listening, let me repeat it.” Nixon says in frustration earning a furious look from Rick while Jace shakes his head at us behind Rick’s back. He’s making a slashing motion across his throat telling us to knock it off and shut the hell up. At least that’s my interpretation. “With all due respect,” Nixon adds and I almost want to laugh.
Rick turns to Rocco, which really, is quite smart. He usually is the rational one among us, although after that pig comment, I’m still surprised. Rick sighs deeply, “Rocco,youexplain.”
“Sir, we like Sailor. Her voice mixes with ours – we have a great sound. She’s unmatched, and therefore this all feels ridiculous and like a waste of time.”
“That’s hilarious considering you guys have been fighting this every step of the way,” Rick says. “Why the sudden about face?”
