Two Intertwining Melodies (Will Ramos)

XXI.

We had a few shows booked before we headed to Bloodstock festival in England. They were the first gigs where we'd play through the majority of our new album, which was totally nerve wracking. Will had some free time so he was joining us, it was a relief to know I'd have my human comfort blanket with me.
We'd approached Lorna Shore about performing my collab with them at the shows, it was the perfect opportunity with Will being with us and luckily they agreed.
Initially we'd both worried that we were pulling each other out of the bag a bit too often but the demand for us to work together was through the roof. In fact, we'd joked that at this point we may as well just go with it and have our two bands tour together.

We finished up our final show in Ohio and headed to the hotel bar to spend some time together before we flew back home.
We were deep in a discussion about a podcast we had coming up next week, with a notoriously rude man named Tony Sniders. He was absolutely unashamed when it came to what he'd say, which was intimidating but Tom had reassured us that we'd be able to handle him.

"I mean really what's the worst thing he could say to us?" Maria shrugged.

"That's what terrifies me. He's made people walk out, several times. The dude's a fucking dick." I took a sip of my drink "have you guys ever spoke to him?" I looked at Will.

"He reached out once but after we saw how he'd acted with other artists we turned him down"

"See!" I pointed at Will.

Danny sighed "The good thing is, we know what we're up against, we know he's going to act out of pocket. We go in there and we'll be sharp."

"We'll just take your muzzle off and let you eat him alive, we'll be fine" Alex nudged me with a chuckle.

"I don't know if my teeth are sharp enough. One mention of me and him" I cocked my head towards Will "and I'll be ready to bail."

"We know for a fact he's going to mention your relationship, it's low hanging fruit. We need to worry about the unexpected." Maria had a faint grimace on her face.

"Whatever he says, we'll be ready for him. Any publicity is good publicity right?" Oli held Maria's hand and gave her a reassuring smile.

|_______________________________|

Judgement day had come, we sat waiting to be called in to speak to Tony. My foot was shaking uncontrollably, Maria looked close to tears and Danny had bitten his nails so much that I was surprised he hadn't hit bone. We'd prepared as much as we possibly could, watching hours and hours worth of his previous encounters with other artists. Armed with knowledge of how he worked, we strode into the studio with confidence that he would not beat us.
After a brief introduction, we got straight into it.

As he had with everyone else, he started off nice enough, buttering us up with praise and seeming to have a genuine interest in the journey we'd taken this far, including our past projects. Everything was pleasant enough for a good while - until shit took a colossal U-turn.

"So you and the other girl are dating, that's right isn't it?" He turned his attention to Oli.

"Her name's Maria" Oli gestured towards her "and we are, yeah."

"Yeah that's the one, so how did that come about?"

"How most other relationships start I imagine. We had a shared attraction." Oli sat back, already clearly agitated.

"Stockholm syndrome at it's finest, I bet! It'll all be over when she comes to her senses. And you" he turned to me "you're with Will Ramos from Lorna Shore."