Page 8 of Knot Their Opening Act

“Good idea. Ms Jacobs, what will it be? Is this the worst idea you’ve ever heard?”

I look around at the Fable guys, averting Kai’s gaze but taking in the firm set of his chin, and something I can’t quite read there.

I have this shot. And if I don’t take it, I might play Viv’s last three booked shows and then not again for another year. Or ever.

“Will I have to share anything but a stage with them?”

Ash keeps his gaze locked on mine, and doesn’t bat an eyelash.

“Yes. For part of the tour, you will be traveling in a tour bus together. I can’t lie to you; your take on this tour will be a good deal smaller than Fable’s earnings. I’ll get my merch people to work with you, and we’ll get as many copies of your albums printed as we can for the road. But if we pay for separate transportation for you, it would eat mightily into your earnings.”

Share abus? I’ve been on a tour bus, once. Tristan got us backstage for an older but still popular rock band because he’d gone to school with the new drummer. We stepped on their bus for five minutes, got a tour. We’re talking five bunks for five bodies, a huge flatscreen TV, a kitchenette and a sofa area. It was lush, don’t get me wrong, But after a few days, the smells, the proximity, and the lack of privacy?

And how are Fable okay with this?

I chewed my cheek and felt Viv’s impatience rising off her skin. And also, my chance, lifting off like a rocket, slow at first, but it’d be gone soon.

“Well,” I say at least, then clear my throat. “That’s what noise-cancelling headphones are for, right?”

This means you’ll have to share a toilet. How many tour buses have two toilets?

Ash chuckles but knows this is not an answer. I feel the Fable guys’ gazes searing into me, and my cheeks are surely ablaze. They’re probably hoping I’ll say no now.

“What about my band? I’m aware I don’t exactly have one right now, but presumably I will. Where are they going to be?”

Ash nods with an answer ready. “They’re not earning the same as you, and even if they were, it wouldn’t be financially logical to hire another bus and driver for you and your band to travel separately from Fable. You and Fable are the biggest earners on this tour, therefore, we’d like to have you in the best possible accommodation for the longer travel days. Most of the time you’ll be in hotels, so this is not every night. I understand your concerns, Jez, but trust me that I’ve been through this before.”

And no one has murdered a fellow musician in their sleep. That’s what he’s trying to say.

I look over and focus on Nico’s face, for some reason. He’s actually smiling while Thomas is staring at the back of Ash’s head, Kai is fuming and frowning with arms crossed, and Holden is fidgeting with his smart watch.

I have to be a grown up. If they won’t, I will. And I’ll be the one with the biggest gains out of this if I do.

“Yes. I accept your offer, Ash.” I look over at Kai, who’s now staring me down. “I’m not afraid to play for your crowds. But don’t you dare try to interfere with mine.”

I step toward Ash and shake his hand, then take Viv’s arm and walk out the door, head held high.

But my insides quaking.

CHAPTER4

Thomas

“For fuck’s sake—hasAsh gone absolute fucking bonkers since having a second kid or what? I mean, does he know what he’s doing to us? And don’t just spout out at the rubbish about how everything he’s done so far’s turned to magic because every fucking cunt screws up now and then and he’s bound to, isn’t he?”

Kai has been going off like this for the best part of an hour, on our ride back to our house and since I cracked a beer open, sat down in front of the 85-inch TV screen and logged into my MMO.

I’ve been playing this online video game for over four years and am no closer to catching up to the latest patch as I was on day one, which was already several years after its release. But it’s just what I need right now: gorgeous graphics, a fantasy world, and an endlessly-sprawling story to take me out of the reality of Kai’s continued diatribe.

“I mean, does he know how hard it’s been to keep our own fans energized, and now along comes Whisper Girl and we’ve got just pull belief out of our arseholes that our crowds are going to play nice? The diehards who’ve been around since that shitty talent show are going to sniff her from a mile away and tell us to fuck off all over the internet. Or at the very least ask what we’ve been smoking to go on the road with her!”

I flip through some screens to check which quest is the least time-intensive but the most distracting for the moment. I wish he’d take his pitiful soliloquy elsewhere, like his bedroom with the door shut, or out onto a rowboat on the Thames or something because honestly, I’ve had enough.

But I stay quiet, choose a quest, and then end up farming minerals for twenty minutes anyhow. The beanbag chair beneath me sinks a bit as I shift around to reach for the bowl of crisps Nico brings through from the kitchen. I nod thanks and he plops down on the sofa behind me.

Amazingly, Holden is asleep on one end of it, though as usual, with his earbuds in. Either that or he’s pretending to in the hopes that Kai simmers the hell down. Holden sets a bowl of crisps down near Holden’s head for when he wakes up. Always the thoughtful and industrious one, Nico.

Through a mouthful of crisps, he asks, “Will you ever get tired of this game? And that’s not a leading question. Genuine curiosity, bro.”

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