Page 58 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

I blinked. I couldn’t help it, but that was the last thing I was expecting her to say. “Like a shrink?”

She burst out laughing at that, causing both Aiden and Kaeli to turn and stare at her with surprise. “God no. I think I’m the last person who should be delving into people’s minds. I’m talking about physiotherapy, or occupational therapy, or maybe even rehabilitation. After listening to those talks though, I like the sound of being a dietitian too.” She shrugged. “I don’t know now. I guess I have a lot of thinking to do.”

“A dietitian huh?”

“Sure, why not? Someone’s going to have to keep on you guys about not falling into the trap of the rocker lifestyle.”

I laughed loudly. “You think we’re all going to turn into drug taking alcoholics with a thing for fast food?”

“Maybe not all of you,” she said slyly.

I bit the inside of my cheek thoughtfully. “Yeah, you could be right. Matt and Aiden could be loose cannons…”

“I would’ve said you too a couple of weeks ago, but now I’m not so sure…”

I would’ve fucking said me too, but she was right. That shit had no attraction for me now. “What about Dean? You don’t think he’s the type?”

Her expression turned serious as her gaze flickered down the table to where Dean sat with Lila. “I’m worried about how he’s going to react when things turn to shit with Lila. I think he’s going to need you guys a lot, and if you all decide to help him how most guys like to help, by ploughing him full of alcohol and pushing girls on him, I think things could get pretty bad for him.”

I studied her for a while, slightly stunned by the depth of her thoughts. I hadn’t really thought about Dean’s situation like that before. I didn’t think the thing with Lila would last either, but I certainly hadn’t thought about how it would affect him. Thinking about it like that, I knew she was right. Dean was a pretty sensitive guy, and it was pretty typical for us guys to deal with that kind of shit by getting drunk and hooking up with girls. Thinking about it from Mia’s point of view, I could totally see how that could have the opposite effect on Dean. “So if you don’t think getting drunk and hooking up with a lot of girls would work, what would you suggest?”

She smirked. “Talking. He’ll want to talk it out. And work. He should definitely put everything he’s feeling into his music. You guys will need to help him channel it into the right place. It’s either going to be destruction or creation, and how you guys guide him will depend on the direction.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Damn. I was impressed. “You sure you don’t want to go into shrink work?”

She laughed softly and shook her head. “Definitely not. What about you? Did you get anything out of the talks today?”

I gave her a pointed look. “A headache?”

Her laugh had Aiden giving her another sideways glance. Good. He needed to see we were good together. I ignored him.

“Yeah, I guess there’s no point,” she continued. “The second you guys release an album, people are going to be lining up to buy it. Do you know how many people are buying tickets to a Dark Hybrid concert just so they can see you guys?”

I nodded soberly. “Yeah, it’s crazy huh?”

“Overwhelming, but certainly not crazy. You guys are going to get better reviews than The Dark Hybrid.” She giggled. “They’re going to hate you by the end of the tour.”

I hadn’t thought about that. I wasn’t sure if that’s what would happen, but it’d be as funny as shit if it did. “Rich said someone from Leighton Records will be there on Friday night.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? I thought he was holding off you guys signing until after the tour?”

“Apparently Leighton’s are pushing to have us on board for the tour. They want to use the exposure to promote us and get some sales established.”

“But that would mean you’d have to record an album before the tour…”

I nodded. “That’s why they’re coming Friday. If they think our material’s good enough, they want us in the recording booth next week.”

“Holy crap. Is it even possible to produce an album in three months?”

“That’s a good fucking question. I asked the same thing. Apparently, if all our songs meet their standard for recording, and we lay the tracks for them in just a day or two, they said they could have it all produced and ready to go by the time the tour kicks off.”

“Wow. What does Rich think?”

“He doesn’t want us to rush. He says what they’re offering’s pretty good, but he thinks they can do better.” I shrugged. “He thinks we’re in the power position because we’re the ones willing to wait, and they’re the ones with the time restrictions. I don’t know. It makes me nervous to think about it. If Rich wasn’t so experienced, I’d have signed with the first label that asked.”

She bit her lip thoughtfully. “Yeah, but he’s right. You guys do have the upper hand because the public have already decided they want you. It’s easy for the labels to just pick an up and coming artist out there and promote them to fame, but when the consumers pick someone, they lose the control.”

I inhaled deeply. Yeah, I was pretty fucking happy Mr. Thomas researched all the agent offers we had and chose Rich. He was worth his weight in gold. There were so many things I hadn’t even thought of when it came to recording contracts. I could understand a label handing out a low royalty for the first album of an unknown artist, but locking them into the same shitty rate for six or so more albums after that? That was like fucking ass raping them over and over again.

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