“Okay great. Let’s start this thing.” He pushes a few buttons, and the light dims and the TV turns on.
I hold both Declan and Cooper’s hands and squeeze. Declan glares at Cooper, but I continue holding his hand.
I gasp when my face fills the screen with the intro music barely recognizing myself. Staying in line with the song, we are taken through the story of a couple who falls in love and then endures heartbreak. They incorporated our bedroom scene in the middle and with the chorus. Then they show the break up, where it looks like and running away from him. I’m surprised to see the image of a plane taking off, and then it cuts to Declan sitting alone with a bottle in front of him. As the song goes on, the story unfolds and ends with Declan and me in an embrace. The whole video is beautiful.
When it’s over, the lights come back on, and the room is silent. I have to let go of the guys’ hands to wipe the tears off my face. Mike slides me a box of tissue and grins.
“Holy fucking shit!” Nate screams so loud I jump in my seat. Then the whole room erupts with excitement.
I look over at Declan who is statue still and hasn’t said anything. He doesn’t say a word but gets up and pulls me with him. Turning us around, he sits back down with me and pulls my face to his. “You are so fucking beautiful,” he says before our lips connect. He kisses me with such passion that I forget we’re in a room full of people. I run my hands through his hair and let him deepen the kiss.
“For the love of God! Can you two, please control yourselves?” Charlie yells and I jerk away. I didn’t even know she was in here.
“Charlie, one of these days I’m going to get you a muzzle.” Declan growls at her and the room laughs.
“Okay, so let’s talk about it. Tell me your thoughts.” Mike says trying to bring the room back together in some kind of professional business meeting.
Charlie gives everyone a packet with our agenda and then leaves. We all agree that the team did an excellent job with the video, and there is not one thing to change.
“I got a call today from a reporter at the Tennessean. She wants to do a pop piece on Sayge for the Entertainment Section. She said she had heard of the band through passing but what really caught her eye was the Who’s Who pictures taken at the Warrior Gala. There were several pictures of all of you with Finn, Robbie, and Max and she wants to do some spin on a local group on the rise and giving back. I think you should do it.”
“It sounds fine, set it up.” Cooper tells him.
Mike makes a note and then continues. “What’s next?”
“We’re all set for Atlanta the week after Thanksgiving. It will be the same as last year, but we’ll be the last band of the night. They have volunteers that sell the merchandise and only take a ten percent cut for charity, so I agreed. I’ve booked the rooms and need you guys to work on the set. I think we should incorporate at least half of your new music.” Jay says to the group.
“Done. We already talked about the set so no problems.” Declan tells him.
“Okay, now we need to talk about Raven.” Mike looks at me.
“Me? Why?” I ask shocked.
“Raven, things are about to get complicated. I already got three calls today about you and your place in all this. An anonymous picture was sent to the website today of you and Finn in Paris. All of us in this room know what happened last summer and how it ended up. But the public doesn’t know. There was nothing threatening about the picture, but someone has targeted you. I want to capitalize on everything we are doing and do it right–but do you want your name in the spotlight? If I’m right, things are about to explode around Sayge and you are right in the mix. So I want to give you options. Do you want the world to know you are the muse for most of the album?”
Declan is rock hard under me and squeezes me tight against him. “What the fuck Mike? Are you telling us to hide our engagement?”
“No. I want Raven to know what she’s in for. I’m not going to sugar coat this. Even though two of you are in serious relationships, the four of you together have a reputation locally. As you start to get recognized, there’s a lot of shit going to happen. Everything you read about in the gossip rags is true. Girls you’ve slept with are going to come forward and give interviews, pregnancy claims, stalkers, haters, all of it. There’s a chance Raven will lose her anonymity the minute the press sees her in the video. I need to make sure she is ready for this.”
At the word stalker, the room takes a scary vibe. “Um, Mike, I think we should tell you something. I’m sure you have heard bits and pieces, but you need the whole story.” Then I proceed to tell him the whole kidnapping story and fill the rest of the group in on our conversation last night with our parents. I let them know that we did decide to schedule a meeting between Declan and Christie in December.
Nate looks sick, and Cooper reaches out again for my hand. Mike rubs his forehead a few seconds before speaking.
“Declan, this is a great fucking example of why I need to be in the loop. No wonder James, Robbie, and Finn are blowing up my phone. I will get the new PR rep I hired up to speed as soon as possible. So now it’s even more important that Raven think about how she wants to play this. Someone obviously knows who she is. Several hundred people know about you guys from The Steamroom, but I’m talking about national coverage. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.”
You could hear a pin drop in the room from the silence. I look at Declan, and he looks sad. I let go of Cooper’s hand and wrap my arms around Declan’s neck.
“If you guys don’t care, I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to hurt your sales or female fans, but we’re getting married in seven months. I know he hasn’t been with anyone since July of last year so pregnancy rumors will be silly. But I want to know you all agree to this.”
“Fuck yeah!” Blake.
“Absofuckinglutely!” Cooper.
“No motherfucking doubt!” Nate.
Declan pulls me closer and growls, “If you would had thought otherwise; I would have lost my shit. Even though I’m scared to death of what’s gonna happen, you and I are never hiding again.”
I laugh in his face. I can’t stop myself even when tears stream down my cheeks. He’s not happy, but everyone else is amused. “Sweetheart, lighten up. We’re a team–all of us. We can do this. Now we have to decide how to handle all the other shit. Mike, can you send me a copy of that picture that came in? I’m curious.”