Perfect Distraction | James Hetfield

Chapter 5

All four of the guys were jamming in the main recording room, laughing with each other, and taking a break from perfecting their parts for the master tapes. The atmosphere was relaxed until Bob's voice came barking over the intercom.

"James! Get your ass in here right now!" Bob was staring daggers at him through the glass.

The smile fell from James' face. He wasn't sure what he'd done to anger Bob, but he knew it must be serious. The other three attempted to keep the smirks off their faces when James turned to them for reassurance.

"Man, what did you do?" Kirk stifled a laugh.

"I have no idea. Maybe I drank the last beer?" James tried to joke off his anxiety.

"It was nice knowing you, dude." Jason slapped his shoulder as a farewell.

"Fuck you all." James left them laughing and readied himself for the onslaught of Bob.

...

"What did I specifically ask you not to do when Fi turned up?" Bob had his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

James opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Bob bit out the answer.

"I told you not to scare her off. And what have you nearly fucking done?"

"I don't know what you're going on about." James was genuinely confused.

Bob's face was slowly turning red, and his patience was wearing dangerously thin.

"Don't be such a fucking idiot Hetfield." Bob wanted to reach out and shake James, he was so frustrated. "You're telling me nothing happened this morning in the listening room?!"

James' face dropped. He couldn't look Bob in the face, so he took a seat and started fiddling with the controls to avoid answering the question. James knew Bob would find out eventually, he just wasn't expecting him to be so mad about it.

He tried to brush it off as rockstar behaviour. That's what this life was supposed to be about – music, beer, and women. He'd been fine living this way for the last 10 years or so, but he had to admit it was starting to get tiring.

"It was just a bit of fun." James' voice was barely audible.

"Well, no more. It stops now. You don't go near Fi again, do you understand?" Bob had never been this intimidating, or angry before.

"Why are you so defensive of her? She's just a tech." James was covering his embarrassment with a nonchalant attitude.

"Because she has no-one left to defend her, James." He let out a sigh and slumped into his chair at the control station.

James finally looked at Bob, to see a solemn expression painted on his face. Bob was deep in thought, remembering how young Fi was when she lost her father and how cruel life had been to her since. Bob wasn't going to tell James, even if it would help him understand, it wasn't his story to share.

"What do you mean no-one left?" James asked.

"Never mind." Bob shook the memories from his head, "From now on, you'll do the weekly tape reviews with me."

"Fine. Whatever." James shrugged and headed back to jam with the band.

...

"So, do we need to look for a new frontman?" Kirk asked sarcastically as James walked back into the room.

"Can I audition?" Lars raised his hand and the three of them burst into laughter.

"No, and no." James refused to joke along with them. He was still deciding if he was more embarrassed or angry about being told off. He wasn't used to being talked down to, and it had been so long since someone had called him out for his recklessness.

All he wanted was a stiff drink to calm the voices in his head. They were merciless when they wanted to be, and James could only hold them down for so long. He hadn't wanted to upset Fi and he knew he should have gone back after chasing Lars away, but he had no idea how to approach the situation.

"Come on James, it didn't look like Bob was that hard on you." Jason was trying to gently coax James back from the edge.

"Let's just get back to writing, okay guys?" James didn't want to discuss it right now, and he knew if the guys kept pushing he would eventually boil over and snap at them.

"Was it because of what happened with Fi?" Lars casually offered up the question forgetting Kirk and Jason weren't aware of the morning's incident.

James shot a death stare at him, almost baring his teeth, willing Lars to shut up and say nothing further.

The room was silent. Kirk and Jason looked at each other in confusion before turning to Lars hoping he could offer an answer.

"Oh yeah, no I don't really remember anything..." Lars sheepishly turned away from the group to mess with his cymbals.

"What did you do to her, man?" Kirk's voice was full of concern for Fi and James hated the way it made his heart ache.

James sighed and shook his head, "It was only a kiss."

"It was more than that, he spat in her godamn mouth!" Lars tried to cover a laugh.

Kirks eyebrows were almost in his hairline, his face was a picture of disbelief.

"It was consensual, Jesus Christ." James thought if he acted cool about it the guys would move on.

"Man, why are you so freaky dude?!" Jason laughed loudly which helped cut the solemn atmosphere of the room.

The laughter bubbled over and quickly filled the recording space just as it did before Bob waded in.

"Wait, I saw Fi in the common room earlier and she was super upset. Are you sure she was okay with it?" Kirk questioned James.

"The common room? When?" James recalled the conversation he had earlier with Lars in there.

"I don't know, around half four maybe?" Kirk checked his watch.

"Oh god, oh fuck you Lars." James ran a hand through his hair, "This is your fault."

"What?! How?!" Lars' brain hadn't quite made the connection yet.

"I bet she was sitting on the upper deck when we went into the common room." James was talking to himself now, trying to figure out how to approach Fi without Bob unleashing his wrath again.

He hadn't meant anything he said to Lars in that room, he just wanted him off his back. James tried to remember exactly what he said, other than denying there was anything going on.

His stomach dropped when he remembered the "not pretty" remark. No wonder Fi was upset. He'd insulted her and worse than that, she'd heard him.

James got up and left the room abruptly, he didn't even register them calling after him. He had to find her. He didn't care that Bob would be hellish if he caught him with Fi again.

His first stop at the listening room was a failure, her chair was empty. James noticed Fi's denim jacket wasn't hung up and looked at his watch.

5:05 PM

She would have just left. If he ran, James thought, he might be able to catch her before she even got in her car.

James was out in the parking lot and frantically looking around for Fi in an instant. She was stood by her car with a man James didn't recognise. The stranger grabbed at her arm; Fi tried to back away but struggled against his grip.

James saw red.

"Take your hands off her. Now."