Scratched

Fifteen

FIFTEEN

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If I knew anything about the music industry I had learned that it all came down to publicity. Even before I broke into Savage I had known about this. It was all over every magazine in the grocery store and on talk shows. Faces plastered on billboards and stories sold to papers. People wanted to hear about who was doing what. It was the nature of small people. I knew because I had been one of them. I used to grab up everything I saw with Led Zeppelin sprawled across it.

And Savage knew this.

Savage had long had a record of having the biggest muscians out there. They had this honor because they had a proven recipe on how to make a person big—fast. They'd been practicing it for years. And they practiced it with me. That was how I found myself here now in this crammed sitting room surrounded by men. This was there game and I was just another piece in it.

"I spy something red," Reed said.

"A curtain?" Toad questioned him.

Reed shook his head, a smile spreading across his lips. I looked over at them, watching this exchange. They'd been up to it since we'd sit down. It was always non-stop between the two. Why couldn't they just sit down and wait like everyone else here? "Keep going," Reed told him as he adjusted his position beside me. I scooted, trying to put more space between us. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to get this interview over and kick off the tour.

The plan was to get an interview with the boys and Love & Squalor. They'd talk about their music and the new tour they'd be kicking off soon. And while all these questioned were being answered they'd explain how I'd be opening for them and who I was. I, of course, was not being spared the twenty questions. They wanted to know all about me as well. Luckily, I was elected to go last. But that was a small miracle. I hated interviews, especially when they were about myself. I wasn't one for going on about myself. I never had been.

"The couch?" Toad guessed again.

"Come on! Think smaller."

"Is it a shirt?" he asked Reed.

Reed clapped his hands. "There you go!"

I socked him in his leg lightly. He whipped his head around, a confused look written all over his face. "Will you both shut up?" I said frustrated. I was stressed as it was. They were only adding to it. I was trying to relax before I would be pestered for hours. Was it so much to ask for some peace? "I can't even hear myself think with you two." He patted me on the shoulder. I glared at him but he didn't even seem to notice.

"Come now, Piper! Is that anyway to be?" he asked me with a condescending look. Oh god. How was I going to stomach a whole tour with him. He'd be breathing down my neck the entire thing. In small doses I might be able to handle him, but any more than that was pushing it. "I think you are taking your feelings out on us. If you're nervous that's fine. Everyone is their first interview."

I ran a hand through my hair, closing my eyes for a second. "I am not nervous," I told him. I opened my eyes, looking back at him. Toad was now looking away as if he was no longer a part of this conversation. Did he ever pay attention to anything? His attention lasted for literally five minutes before straying. Reed, however, was grinning. "Do you have any idea how to be quiet?"

"I have so very much to say though!"

"I'm sure everyone could do without."

He smiled. "It'd be a shame to waste."

Just then a man came in, grabbing up the members of Love & Squalor. I watched as they took seats in front of a man. He smiled at them. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Eric," he introduced. The members all mumbled greetings. "Let's get to it then. So there has been a lot of talk about the direction your music is taking. Some think its lost some of its... depth.  What do you think of this?" I looked up at this question. This guy didn't mess around getting to the heart of things.