Page 2 of His Secret Addiction

“The label is terminating your contracts!”

Outcries of “What?” and “That’s not fair” and “They can’t do that” are quick to follow. The hangovers seem to be a non-issue now as they argue with our manager about how unfair it is before switching to anger and threatening to sue everyone involved. I don’t listen to any of it, too busy trying to talk myself out of murdering these three assholes. My gut burns with anger at all three of them for ruining a career we worked so hard to build.

We could have achieved so much together.

These three might be party animals with no sense of direction, but they are so goddamned talented. They know how to set the stage ablaze and get the fans screaming their lungs out, and to think that this is the end…

“What happens to Foster?”

I look up at the mention of my name, pushing back my furious thoughts, but I am sure they show on my face. Angry does not begin to cover what I am feeling. I wrote and co-wrote at least four of the songs on that damn album, and all that effort just went down the drain.

“The label hasn’t decided,” Gary says. “Foster was not with you last night or filmed in any of the videos. He did not breach his contract with the label, and he is the only one with any grounds to sue if his contract is terminated early. There’s a code of conduct clause in all of your contracts, or did you idiots forget?”

Four sets of eyes stare at me with varied degrees of envy and hate.. I can see they want to say something, but they must read the fury in my face because none of them says a word, which I find disappointing. I would love to for one of them to start something so I have an excuse to act on the rage bubbling under my skin.

But they don’t dare. Among our fans, I am known as the quiet and mysterious one, but I am no mystery to my bandmates. They all know that I am not one to mess with if they don’t want to end up with a broken nose or worse.

Right now, I am pissed.

“Fine, if the label wants to kick us, they can try. We’ll sue their asses until they go bankrupt,” Alex threatens after a while before storming out of the room. The other two follow behind him, leaving me and our manager behind.

The room falls into an awkward silence before Gary finally speaks. “Look…” he starts, his words trailing off when he realizes the door is open. He walks toward it and shuts it before running his fingers through his white-streaked hair, his brown eyes deeply troubled. “The label can’t terminate your contract because you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I know.”

“But if the label keeps you on, they’ll have to decide whether they want to put you with another band or promote youas a solo act. You know the boys will not be happy and the fans might also protest the decision.”

“Yeah.”

“Dammit, Foster, doesn’t this bother you? I know you are a man of few words, but does this not bother you?”

Of course, it fucking bothers me, but raging will do little to help the fury burning inside of me. “There is nothing I can do about it. We just have to wait for the big bosses to make a decision.”

Gary walks over to me and settles on the seat across from mine. His eyes are firmly on me when he speaks next, and I can tell he has already cooked up a plan. “I think there’s a way to convince the label and the fans that you as a solo act would be the best thing for everyone. If we work hard and fast, we might even convince them that the tour planned for the next album should be your solo debut instead.”

“And how do you propose to do that?”

“By elevating your image,” he says. “You need to put it out there that you are nothing like those three drug addicts and back stabbers. Show the fans and the label that you don’t need a band. Get everyone talking about you in a positive way, but also a way that distracts the fans and the label from this latest fiasco. Make everyone want to defend you!”

“That sounds great, but I have no idea what to do to make that happen.”

“Find a girlfriend.”

I wait for the punchline. This is not the time to be making jokes, but even so, I wait for Gary to get to the funny part. Maybe he’s trying to make me feel better about everything, and if that’s the case, he’s gone about it all wrong.

“Tell me you are joking.”

He shakes his head. “I am serious. This band is known for more bad than good. This could be a fresh start for you where you show everyone that you’re different. But I’m not going to lie to you; it’ll be an uphill battle. You don’t have the fan base that the other guys do. You’re too quiet, too reclusive. We need to find you a loveable girl and give the fans a romance to root for.”

A romance, really? I do not do relationships they are messy, and my life is chaotic enough as it is. I respect myself too much to be in a fake, contracted relationship. Heck, I thought he was going to suggest I do a few private shows or something, but a girlfriend? No, that is out of the question.

“How is a fake relationship going to help with anything?” I ask him.

“It establishes your image,” Gary says. “The label will see that you’re settled, stable, and the fans will get to see another side to you. We’ll play up the relationship for social media and establish you as America’s next pair of sweethearts. If you are to succeed, you need to distance yourself from the band and its image before it’s too late. We’ll tell the fans that you were with her to explain why you were not partying with your bandmates last night.”

“I could always just say I was writing music, since that’s what I was actually doing.”

“That’s boring, and there’s no one to corroborate it. No one will believe that after the hatred the guys spewed about you last night. Everyone will think you actually hate each other. But imagine how the fans will react when they learn that the mysterious Sebastian Foster is dating someone,” he says, gesturing wildly with his hands. “Your news will overshadow this bad publicity, which will make the label happy. Everyone willwant to know who this girl you are dating is. How did you meet? How long have you been together? Who serious is it? Every gossip news site will be talking about it about you.”

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