Shattered

Chapter 2

As Danielle pulled into the parking lot of Viktor's office, Griffin felt his stomach churn. He prayed that Viktor wasn't in any sort of meeting. If there was anything Griffin learned in his 9 years of working with Viktor, it was that the last thing you do is interrupt him mid-meeting, or interrupt him at all. Ever since he won California's national singing contest at age 16, the fear of his manager's critique haunted him. In his dreams, in his performances, in the middle of the paparazzi, the fear followed him everywhere. There were times, like now, where he would look into the past and wonder where he would be if he rejected Viktor's management offer on the day he won. Where would his career be? Where would Arilyn be? It wasn't like he would've rejected the offer, considering at the time he was a beginner songwriter in desperate need of backup, but he would find the thought floating his mind often. Griffin couldn't possibly imagine himself in a life without Arilyn. He couldn't imagine where he would be if he didn't accept Viktor's offer to work with her and make bank under his management. Would he even be happy? He definitely didn't regret his decision, but the emotions he'd go through would leave him questioning it.

He always saw his feelings towards his manager as valid. Griffin worked with multiple coaches and teachers over the years, but none of them gave him the feeling he had when Viktor made that certain face. None of them made him lie, or sabotage the way Viktor did. Then again, Viktor was the reason he and Arilyn had each other, the reason he had his current friends, the reason he had the booming fanbase he had always dreamed of. Arilyn never saw anything wrong with Viktor, but Arilyn also wasn't great at seeing through red flags. Then again, maybe she was just used to it. She had worked with him longer and had less experience outside of him, and it wasn't like her sister treated her any different when it came to her career. Either way, Viktor was very different from anyone Griffin's worked with in the past.

"Do you guys need a ride home?" Damien asked as Danielle parked and the singers got out of the car. "We should be able to pick you up."

"I think we'll be alright," Griffin replied. "I should have enough money to call an uber for us." While he refused to admit it out loud, getting a ride from Damien and Danielle was never the first choice. Their car was drenched in filth, first of all, and there was always a chance you wouldn't make it out alive when Danielle was in front of the wheel. With that in mind, Arilyn and Griffin said their goodbyes and headed towards the building.

The air was fairly frigid considering it was the start of September. It made Griffin wish he brought a sweatshirt along with the hat and sunglasses he always carried around with him. Arilyn's light brown hair flowed with the wind as she put her hands in her sweatshirt, hanging her head low in an attempt to avoid any unspotted paparazzi. After signing into the building, the two headed towards Viktor's office, which from the outside window, appeared to be pitch black on the inside. When getting no answer after knocking on the door, Griffin peaked through the window, revealing an empty, unoccupied room. With that in mind, both singers were left believing that their suspect had already left.

"Do you think he's already headed out?" Griffin asked his partner.

Arilyn shook her head. "It's 1 in the afternoon, there's no way he's already left; he might just be with a different client. Give it a few minutes and if we don't see him then we'll try again tomorrow." Arilyn walked over to the wall behind them and leaned against it, where Griffin joined her shortly after. He let the comfortable silence fill the room for a moment, before he felt the need to speak.

"They really took that well, didn't they?" Griffin mentioned, with a hint of amusement arising in his voice.

"Yeah," Arilyn chuckled, looking her best friend directly in the eyes. She didn't fully blame them for their reaction. The idea of doing something different with Griffin seemed unnatural to even her, despite how much she craved the change. She couldn't imagine what they must've thought. Still, the reaction she received wasn't the reaction she hoped for. Especially from Iris, oh God Iris. Over the years, there were many small details that Arilyn's picked up on when it came to her close friends. Griffin wasn't the type to sit in silence, or admit that something was wrong, or give advice to others problems. Faith wasn't the kind to sit still when she was anxious, Joshua wasn't the kind to go one month without a new partner. Then there was Iris. Iris wasn't the type to let her opinions go silent. No matter what, Iris always had some form of criticism that would find its way under Arilyn's skin, and her opinion of this thought out career decision was a perfect example. "I don't even know why they care so much about what we do with our own lives." Arilyn replied. "I mean it's not like we're killing ourselves, it's a stupid show. It's not like we haven't been on TV before."