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Death by Rock and Roll

Mackenzie

“This was our compromise, remember Remy? You guys do this winter festival show in Aspen, and you get the holidays off. We can’t back out now.” The rhythm guitar player for Murderous Crows, the band I’ve managed for years, is suddenly trying to get out of this gig, and that is not going to fly with me.

“Yeah, but…Monroe…” he hedges.

I sigh. All of the guys in the band are now engaged, with Remy being the last to join the ranks, and all of a sudden, doing anything band-related has become a chore. Not necessarily Skyler, the drummer, and Logan, the bassist, since they’re engaged to each other, but everyone else seems more focused on their relationships than the band.

And as someone who is married to her job, the situation is starting to get annoying. The music used to always come first, and now it’s like herding cats trying to get them all in one place at the same time to do anything.

“Monroe can come with you, Remy. You know this.” I try super hard to not roll my eyes at how ridiculous it’s getting with these guys.

“But she’s got an exhibition starting soon. I told her I’d be around for support.”

“Then you shouldn’t have agreed to the Aspen gig,” I say, biting the inside of my cheek so I don’t say something I’ll regret. “I’m sorry Remy, but the equipment arrived yesterday, and the crew is already there setting up. I’m about to head to the airport myself. And tickets have been sold out for months. We haven’t canceled a show since we were living in Las Vegas, and I don’t intend to start now.”

Back in the early days, it wasn’t unheard of for one of them to somehow screw up a gig in some way, and usually alcohol was involved. That all stopped the day our drummer Andy died in a drunk driving accident. Since then, everything has calmed down considerably. It wasn’t exactly overnight for all of them, but the message eventually got through to get their shit together.

He’s silent for a long time, and I get the sense there’s more to it than he’s saying. I don’t get involved in the band’s love lives, and don’t intend on starting now, but for Remy to clam up like this is new. He’s usually a pretty open book.

“Look, Remy, I know that you and Monroe haven’t had the easiest time, but I thought since she moved to L.A. and you got engaged things were smooth sailing with you. Did something happen?”

“No, not at all. It’s nothing like that,” he says quickly.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s just…”

Jesus Christ. “What is it, Remy? You can talk to me.”

“You’re going to think I sound like an idiot.” His tone has changed, and now he almost sounds shy, which is not like him at all. Remy is the most outgoing and open of the band.

“I won’t think you’re an idiot. I promise.” I sweep a loose strand of my stick-straight purple hair behind one ear and checkthe time on my digital watch. He’s really cutting it close with this.

After another pause, he says, “I just don’t want to leave her.”

My cold heart instantly melts into a puddle on the floor, and I don’t know how to respond. I’ve never had to deal with something like this. I stay far away from everyone’s love lives on purpose. I don’t want to become a topic of contention between any of them.

Unfortunately, my job puts me in the position of being the bad guy quite often. I’m used to it, but I don’t always like it. Being the voice of reason around a bunch of creatives puts enough strain on us. Adding everyone’s significant other’s into the mix has only made times like this harder.

Lucky for all of them, I’ve never had a ‘love life’ to speak of to get in the way of the band’s progress. ‘Love’ isn’t a factor in my relationships. At least, not anymore.

The LA sunshine streams through my window, glinting off the platinum record I plan to present to the guys in Aspen. It’s our first.

Our. Like I’m in the band...Oof

“Remy…”

“No, I know how stupid that sounds?—”

“Not at all. In fact, that’s probably the best reason you could have given to not want to go.”

“But?”

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