Page 87 of Your Echo
“So, how does getting dropped from a label actually work?” he asks. “What happens now?”
For the first time that day, Matt seems to lose control on all the stress he’s feeling and drops his head into his hands.
“I don’t know,” he admits, rubbing his eyes. “I’ve been reviewing our contract and doing some research, but without a manager to help us out, I think we’re going to have to hire a lawyer.”
“Can we...afford that?” Cole asks.
“I’ve looked into it. A good entertainment lawyer is going to cost us a lot. I know we’re all making enough to live off our music now, but we’re not exactly moving into penthouse suites, are we?”
JP pats his beanbag. “I already have everything I will ever need.”
“Good, because that chair might be all you’re left with once I’ve sorted this out,” Matt tells him.
“I’ll help,” I offer. “You shouldn’t be the only one looking up lawyers and shit. I’ll help you deal with it.”
The guys are all staring at me like I’m speaking a foreign language. I’m starting to get the impression that I’ve got a reputation for being even more of a shithead than I thought.
“Thanks,” Matt replies. “That, uh, that would be great.”
Another silence descends. Cole stretches his arms over his head.
“Câlice, I’m hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast. I was with Roxy all morning...”
We all give him questioning looks.
“Is that a good or a bad thing?” Matt asks.
A shadow passes over Cole’s face. “I don’t know. With us, I just never fucking know.”
JP jumps up out of his chair. “I’ll make you a sandwich. I have ham.”
He says that like he’s announcing the secret for eternal happiness. In his mind, he probably is. Matt heads out after that to see Kay, and then it’s just me and Cole left in the living room.
“Have you talked to her?” he asks.
I don’t need him to clarify who ‘her’ is.
I shake my head. “I texted and called, but there’s been nothing. I think it’s the end. It has to be. There’s...There’s no coming back from something like that.”
“Hey.” He claps my shoulder again, and I try not to wince. “If anyone knows anything about ‘the end,’ it’s me. Trust me, if you two...If you two feel even a fraction of the kind of thing Roxanne and I have—and I think you do—then it’s going to take a lot more than this to bring about ‘the end.’”
That’s the most emotional thing I’ve ever heard him say.
“If you both still feel it, it’s not going to let you go.” He stares down at the carpet. “Even if you wish it would.”
Poor fucker.
“I’d hit you on the shoulder too, but I kind of have a fractured rib,” I tell him.
He lets out a huff of air that I think is a laugh.
“You’ll work it out with Roxy,” I insist. “You have years between you. Stéphanie and I have only had months. I don’t think she can forgive me. I don’t even know if I can ask her to. It’s all my fault...”
Cole’s face hardens.
“Look, I’m not gonna try to convince you it wasn’t your fault. If you feel like you’re to blame, you have to work that out for yourself. You either find a way to let it go, or you do something that makes you feel like you’ve fixed it. You only have those two options, man. Otherwise, you’re just going to burn up from the inside.”
We stare at each other for a moment. I don’t know about everything Cole’s had to face in life, but I’m starting to realize it might be more than I thought.
“Jambon, jambon, jambon!”
JP sings out the French word for ham in an opera voice as he delivers a heaping plate of sandwiches to the coffee table.
“All of those are for Cole?” I ask.
“Non,” JP replies. “One is for Cole. The rest are for me.”
