Page 10 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Alex grinned. “An honorary Manc then. I’m knew I’d like you.” He flung his arm over her shoulder. “I’m going to get a drink. Can I get you something?”

“No, I’m good thanks,” she said.

She turned, and Jase was staring at her, a frown darkening his features. “How did the Shure microphone work out for you?”

“You tell me. How did it work out for me?”

“The sound quality of your voice was great, especially when you connected to the song.”

“What do you mean,whenI connected with the song?”

Shit.Cerys looked down the corridor for her father, wondering what he’d say about her slip. “Sorry. It’s up to Jimmy to work through this with you.”

“No. Tell me when I wasn’t connected to the song.”

“Okay, fine. The second song. You wanted to be anywhere other than here singing it. It was like you were faking it.”

“Says the woman whose only experience is two degrees. You’re only qualified on paper.”

“Says the guy recording his first label album and happens to be two years older than me. You’ve not exactly been on the fast track.”

“You’re basically an intern.”

As hard as she tried to not let it show, the barb hurt. She’d thought the same thing. Her father hadn’t even created a proper role for her. Beyond giving her a micro-office and the job of preparing bands’ welcome packs, she wasn’t using the skills she hoped to hone.

“Nothing to say?” Jase said.

She shook her head. “Jimmy doesn’t like musicians who can’t take feedback. You might want to work on that for the remaining”—she glanced at her watch—“thirty-seven minutes before he lays it all on the line for you.”

And without a second glance, she stepped into the studio, took her chair, and never once looked back up at the man she could feel was staring at her.

* * *

Jimmy doesn’t like musicians who can’t take feedback. You might want to work on that.

Her words rattled through Jase’s head as he sat down in front of Jimmy. Instead of a band meeting, it felt more like a firing squad, and he was the one tied to the post.

“First things first,” Jimmy said, holding rolled up sheets of paper in his hand. He waved them like they were a baton, and he was the conductor of an orchestra. “I can see why Upper Street signed you guys. You have potential. You have talent. You have presence. But that’s all you have. Potential, talent, and presence.”

Jase could feel the pending kick in the balls before it even started. Could feel his own shrivelling up tighter than they had in the frigid February temperatures.

“What do you mean, that’s all we have?” he asked.

“Well,” Jimmy said, opening his sheets of paper. He glanced down at it for a moment and rubbed his chin. “Those three things are all very natural to you guys, but you haven’t figured out how to channel them. If you had, you’d have had more success by now. And I think we all know that you bubbled to the top of the recording pile because of that video-app woman using your song. That’s pure luck. Nothing to do with any of the three things you have.”

“She wouldn’t have picked the song if it was a bad song,” Matt said.

Jimmy tapped the papers against his palm. “True. But I think it’s more likely your lyrics expressed exactly what she needed them to, rather than it being her favourite song of the moment. And to ride this wave, you need to give people who loved that song and paid for it, more like it. You need some cohesion to your catalogue, it’s all over the place.”

Jase looked over at Matt who leaned back in his chair. To Jimmy, he probably looked like he was paying attention, doing all the right things, but when Matt ran three fingers along the side of his face, next to his ear, Jase knew Matt was already pissed.

Over the years, he’d heard Nan ask Matt about it. Everything from did his ear hurt or did he have a toothache, to the realisation it just meant he was angry but remaining silent.

Served him right for hogging all the songwriting.

“Here’s the thing,” Jimmy said, pacing in front of them. “You are so lucky you don’t even see how lucky you are.”

Luke huffed. “Lugging drums up and down the country for nearly a decade doesn’t feel all that lucky.”

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