Jax groans. “If we’re going to the studio then we aren’t meeting until the afternoon. There’s a chick eyeing me down and I have every intention of not going to sleep anytime soon. Feel me?”
I snort as Zayne balls up one of the cocktail napkins and tosses it at Jax’s face. My first mate tells our bassist in his slight Boston accent, “You do realize you’re always the one that wants to meet up early to get shit done, right? We always want to sleep in.”
The point goes over his head. “Is three good? We can grab some food after. We all know this one will keep us as long as it takes until we get the best track.”
All eyes turn to me as I slide out of the booth. “What? You think Reg is going to take half-assed bullshit? Better if I tell us to do it over before that twat does.”
They snicker. None of us like Reggie, but he’s a damn good producer. One of the best in the industry these days.
Zayne tilts his chin up. “You out then?”
“Yeah. See if the little is home.”
He grins. “He still leaving the house and heading over to your mom’s place?”
Chase thinks Mum won’t rat him out, but she’ll always text me when he arrives. The first time he stormed out of my place he did catch up with friends for a while. But since, he’s just gone back to his basement bedroom at our mother’s until he thinks he’s allowed to come back.
“I told him he could come out with us, but he said he had other plans.” The guys shake their heads to some varying degree over the boy they all consider a brother. “He’ll get over things on his own.”
It’s Manning who brings up the legal battle Chase has been battling. “Did the ‘suit get dropped? Last I heard they didn’t have shit to go on and the trial would have been a joke.”
I nod. “Yeah it was thrown out.” It’s a good thing too, because I would have invested serious money to help him clear his name. The guys told Chase the same thing because they consider him family too and want the best for him, and we all know the man going after him thinks the name attached to his business means he can drain my little brother dry. It’s bull.
But Chase has always been adamant on doing things his own way—with his own money—so he wouldn’t have allowed me or my bandmates to throw any cash in his direction. The only exception was when I got my first big paycheck and bought him an expensive pair of retro Air Jordan sneakers he’d been eyeing. Mum couldn’t afford them at the time, but I could. Just like I could afford a house for her and the ability to keep her comfortable like she did for me growing up. She never asked for it, never demanded a cent like some people do when their own kids make it big, which is all the more reason to show her how much she means to me for supporting my crazy ass life despite going at motherhood alone.
When she and Dad divorced it was over a job Mum was offered at a ritzy hospital in California. He didn’t want to leave Australia, where he’s lived his entire life. Both their families are there to this day, and besides a few occasional birthday and holiday cards from my grandparents, we hear nothing else from extended family. Dad and I talk when we can, sometimes he’ll send care packages from back home, but the conversations never last long because we don’t have enough in common. He never fails to tell me he’s proud of everything I’ve done though, and even attended a few Violet Wonders shows that we had in my home country during that leg of the tour. We’d met up backstage after we were finished and caught up before I was called away by someone on my team for meet and greets and interviews.
I know for a fact that my parents were having issues long before the job opportunity came up though. But the job was what cemented their separation. Mum wanted another kid but couldn’t have anymore, and Dad didn’t want another child unless it was his own. My mother thought the well-paying job in the Golden State would be the perfect chance to start fresh, so that’s what she did when she told him she was accepting the position.
I don’t blame Dad for not wanting to leave, but I wish he’d tried harder. That he would have fought for my mother. It’s his loss in the long run, because Mum is the best woman I know. She’s irreplaceable.
Out of solidarity for Chase, I try not bringing up my irritation over it. His adoption was a closed one, and he’s never asked once about his biological parents. I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t think he’ll get answers, or if he generally doesn’t care. Mum adopted him when he was a baby, so she’s the only mother he’s ever known.
Waving off the guys, I escape out the back entrance to avoid the crowds of people. One of my favorite bouncers slaps my hand in passing as I wish him a good night before walking into the brisk air. I’m stuffing my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket to dig out a Lifesavers hard lolly. Peeling off the wrapper and popping it into my mouth, I make my way toward the parking lot where my car is amongst a few other expensive sets of wheels.
Except for one that clearly doesn’t belong.
Usually I’d let it go, not caring of others around me if I don’t have to. But something draws me in the direction of the beaten-up Altima parked haphazardly off to the side, like someone may have done
