Page 75 of On The Edge
“If you would’ve just asked me today, I would’ve said yes.”
EIGHTEEN
“Every fucking timewe make progress with her, you do something monumentally fucking stupid!” Markus explodes at Reis; his eyes wide and twitching with anger, frustratedly running his fingers through his long hair, while pacing back and forth on the carpet in front of the chair.
Out of us all, I’m kind of surprised it’s Markus who yells first.
“I just, I can’t believe this,” Markus puts his hands over his eyes roughly before dragging them down his face. “Explain it to me, Reisyn. In what world did you think taking her clients away from her, giving them away, forcibly moving her across the country, was a good idea? A romantic gesture? And to make matters all-the-fucking-worse, you didn’t even fucking talk about it withus! But it sure as shit looks like we were all in on it! Fuck, goddamn it.”
“Look, we’re going to help her business. We’ll talk to some other bands, some other PR people and call in some favors. We can make this big for her. We owe her that.” Reis slices his hand through the air like he’s tired. Fuck that, I’m tired. “We all want her to stay, we asked her to be with us. So why is this such a big deal? Win-win-win, right?”
“But you didn’t ask her. You didn’t talk to her, or us, for that matter.” Adam grumbles. “It’s just like seven years all over again.”
Reis stops. His entire body freezes abruptly and his eyes widen with shock.
“It’s not though, I was helping her this time.” He looks down at the floor, unseeingly, with his brows pinched together. “That’s not it. I’m doing right by her! We’re providing for her business so she’s independent, like she wants, but she can live with us, like I know we all want.”
“Goddamn it, Reis.” I shake my head. “Look at me,” I demand, and when his eyes meet mine, I put on a hard glare.
“You’re shit with communication,” I say bluntly “and it better not cost us all. Give her a few hours, but then you go and you fix this. I’m tired of helping you clean up your messes with her. You need to grow the fuck up.”
“Ineed to grow up?” Reis scoffs.
“Yes, you need to grow up. I did, I owned my shit, the part I played in this, and I begged for forgiveness.I learned. We’ve let you run the show for the last seven years, and rightfully so. You brought us to all this; the band, success, fame, fortune. But you also caused all this pain and hurt because we were being childish. You can see that now, can’t you?” I press.
His shoulders drop, like all the fight has left him.
“When I told Louis to do it, I just wanted to keep her here. I knew she’d leave as soon as she could figure out how. I wasn’t going to let that happen. You guys were so enamored and willing to do anything she wanted, that I figured if we talked about it and she declined, you would fucking let her walk out.”
“Has he confirmed with you?” Adam asks. “I don’t think she’ll ask for us to, but in case she does, can you reverse this?”
“No, he hasn’t,” Reis shakes his head, pulling his phone from his pocket to double check. “He’s not the biggest fan of Melody.”
“I don’t give a single fuck. He better not pull that groupie shit again. He thought we were angry before, I’ll murder him now,” I snarl, remembering how he talked to Melody after the concert.
“It’s none of Louis' business who we are with romantically or what our relationship is. He’s meant to help us navigate the rock world, get us gigs, and take care of what we ask him to.” Reis shrugs, sitting down and putting his hands on his knees. Adam looks troubled, like he’s trying to unravel a knot with his mind.
“What is it?”
“Why is Louis so against Melody? He’s never had issues with the other girls we have… had a dalliance with. But from the moment he’s met her, he’s been an asshole about her. Why?”
It’s a good question.
“He’s always been protective of us,” Reis mentions.
“Yeah, but this is different. Don’t you think?” Adam asks. I sit back to try and remember the last time any of us brought a girl around. It’s been at least a year I think. Reis slept with some rando after a show; a short girl with black hair and thick thighs… coincidence?
“Did he care about the last girl you fucked?” I cross my arms over my chest, pointing the question at Reis.
“Dude, shush!” He throws his hands out quickly, looking over his shoulder. “Keep it down!”
“What, you think she thinks you’ve been celibate?” I chuckle. Melody’s not naive, and she’s not the type to hold our past sex lives against us.
“I don’t. I just…” Reis sighs. “Shut up, man. Anyway, I actually think Louis was the one who brought her to my room backstage. Had her sign an NDA, too.”
“So, why is he such a dick to Melody?” Markus repeats.
Reis pulls his phone out of his pocket just as it dings.
