“I’m not sure how much fun it’s been lately, Val. Even so, I’m still committed to the band.”
“Now you have Mallory too. You don’t need them as much as they need you.”
As much as I know my future resides in New York at the head of the Devil Demons MC’s table, I’ve never envisioned music not being a part of my life. “I’m not throwing in the towel, yet. We still have a platinum album to earn.”
She smiles at the memory. One of the first things Val asked when she started working with us was to define our biggest goal. We’d easily said having an album go platinum with the eagerness of a green band with no fucking clue how the music industry works.
“You’ll do it. Jacob and Garrett might be backstabbing fuckers who deserve to have their dicks rot off.” She takes a breath. “But I’ll always be team Kickstart. I’m rooting for you to go all the way.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Mallory
While Chaser catches up with the band, I listen to the fifteen or so messages from my agent and give her call.
“What’s up, Marilyn?”
“Jesus, please tell me you’re finally back in town?”
“Just got in.” I yawn as the three-hour time difference wallops me upside the head.
“Good. Listen, Shallow End wants you to come in again. The casting agent was adamant that she wants you.”
“Really?”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s a two-episode gig, but I have a feeling that if they like you, it might turn into a recurring role.”
She gives me the details of when and where to show up. I hang onto my professionalism as long as possible but finally whoop for joy after hanging up the phone.
“What’s got you so excited?” Chaser asks as he walks in the door.
Breathless, I relay everything Marilyn said.
“Seriously? The show Pamela snagged?”
I growl at the reminder. “Yes, supposedly, they specifically asked for me. It’s only two episodes but—”
“That’s fantastic. I’m so proud of you.”
I slap his chest. “We can talk about that later. What happened?”
Chaser shares the details of his visit with Valerie. While she might not have been my favorite person in the world, I can’t help but feel bad. “Poor Val. I’m proud of you, though. It took guts to go visit her.”
“I wanted her to know I didn’t agree to letting her go. If I’d had a problem with her representation, I would’ve said it to her face.”
“Naturally.” One thing Chaser’s not afraid to do is share his opinions.
“Enough about that. What else did your agent say?”
“I need to be on set Thursday.”
“Wow, that was fast.”
“I know, right?” I bite my lip. “What’s next for you?”
He shrugs. “As much as I don’t like it, I guess I have to sit down with Thom and give the guy a fair shot.”
Chaser
I’m trying hard not to be an asshole, but I can’t help feeling like our new manager’s a bit of a snake who slithered his way into representing the band.
“Hear him out,” Alvin pleads on the sidewalk outside Thom’s office. “I’m not thrilled about the way it all went down either, but he does have some good ideas for us.”
“All right.” I trust Alvin’s opinion, and it’s not like rehiring Val’s an option.
Thom’s a big, loud, suit-wearing type of guy who stands to shake my hand when I enter his office. “Good to finally sit down with you, Chaser.”
“Nice to officially meet you.” I manage to shave off enough of my sarcastic tone to almost sound professional.
“Now,” he says, once we’re all settled, “I just got off the phone with Cutter. He’s got your demo, and he’ll let us know what he thinks.”
“That’s it?” Alvin asked. So much for giving the guy a chance.
“Well, the record company wants to release the four songs as an EP before you start the Vicious Vandals tour.”
“Fucking great.” Jacob snarls and jumps out of his chair. “Are you kidding me? We bled for every one of those songs and now we’re supposed to drop ‘em on a half-assed EP?”
“Isn’t this what we wanted? To put as much of our heart and soul into our songs and into the world?” Alvin asks.
“Yeah, but an EP is never going to sell as well as a full album,” Garrett points out.
“Not necessarily true,” Thom says. “It’s a good way to keep your name on the minds of people who can’t get to see you in concert. A little give back to the fans. Plus, you’ll have more material to pull from for your set.”
“That’s true.” Jacob finally stops his furious pacing.
As much as I don’t want to agree with Thom about anything, I like his take on the matter. The fact that he seems to be able to get through to Jacob is a bonus.
“They want you to add four live tracks as well,” Thom continues.
Here’s where I need to add my two cents. “We don’t have any decent quality live recordings.”