Chapter Nine
Now:
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"Too much. I haven't had my coffee yet."
Grady smiled and handed me the cup of coffee he finished pouring a few seconds ago. We had about an hour left on the bus before we pulled into the next venue. And I couldn't wait. I needed solid ground soon or I would go crazy. The kids needed to run off some of their energy or the rest of the people on the bus would go crazy.
"Ok," I said after taking a sip. I needed more sugar. "Give it to me again." He smirked and the alternate meaning behind my words smacked me in the forehead. "Don't start," I laughed. "Be serious."
"I didn't say anything." He sat down next to me, refusing to sit in the booth seat across from me, and laid his arm over the back of the seat. "I'm just drinking my coffee."
"And thinking."
"Yeah..."
"Tell me about last night," I said, trying to get back on track. "What did they want?"
He sat his coffee cup down. "They want me to go out to LA for a few months after the tour is over and collaborate with some people."
I stared at my coffee. Thought about that for a few minutes as both of us drank some more and sat in silence. Noise from the TV in the backroom drifted out. The kids were back there with Emory, Hush, and Amy watching cartoons and eating breakfast.
"Tell me the rest," I sighed and turned to face him. "That can't be all."
"It's not. But—"
I shook my head. "Share. We're supposed to make these decisions together and we can't if you don't share."
He took another sip of coffee. "Somehow they found about the music I'm working on right now. They want it." He put the cup down and gave me a long look. I stared back.
"It's a no win situation," I stated.
"Precisely."
"What did you decide?" Since I knew he had to make the decision already.
"The band isn't ready for another album. They're too tired and they'll burn out. I can't do that to them. I can do a solo album but that's a lot to take on."
Which meant—
"I'm not going to leave you for months, Page. I refuse."
I propped my chin on my hand. "Then what to do?"
"The music is mine. It hasn't been shopped to anyone. No one's heard it other than Emory and you and the technicians that managed the board. Those words—they're out in the universe but I'm not sure I want the whole world to hear them yet. I don't want to go to LA but my demons are in those songs."
"I know."
"I won't turn them loose."
I sighed. "Then go to LA—"
"I won't do that either."
"Grady—"
"I won't be painted into a corner. I made that perfectly clear and I told them if they went back on the contract by forcing me to work when they agreed otherwise, I would sue them for breach of contract."
I frowned. "I don't—"
"I told them the PR from the family friendly nights would be much better than the PR shit storm they would receive from the court proceedings. So, we quietly came to an agreement that I would collaborate but I would do it on my own terms. And the artists would come to me not vice versa."
I didn't know whether to smile or smack him. "Grady."
"I made you a promise; I made Harlow and Brett a promise. I intend to keep it."
"You can go to LA if you need to. We'll be fine—"
"That's the thing, I don't need to. I don't want to. I hate LA. I refuse to go back unless I absolutely have to. We're moving camp to the East Coast and the label knows it. They don't like it so they're trying to cause trouble. " He cupped my cheek. "I won't let them. Our future is ours."
"Our future is tangled up with—"
"The band was right there with me while I negotiated. Butler too. There's a reason we picked him to be our manager. We're men to him, not dollar signs. I took the risk with the band not against them."
I reached up and took his hand. "Ok."
His eyebrows went up. "Yeah?"
"You made the decision with everyone in mind so yeah. Ok. Yes. Not that you need my permission or consent at this point. You already did it." I smiled. "And I'm kinda mad about that but." I shrugged. "I trust you."
"But you'll take it out on me later when little ears can't hear and little eyes can't see."
"There's that, yeah." I moved closer. "But for now, just a taste, yeah?"
I kissed him until I couldn't anymore. Until the hammering of little feet alerted me to the incoming presence of tiny humans. Until Brett muttered "Ew" and Emory did his best to usher everyone back to watching cartoons. Until reality said this is not the time.
Until.
There always seemed to be an until.
And that was just fine with me.
_*_
Author's Note: Alright, just a quick note. As many of you know, I have and use an ancient computer I aptly named Brick. I've gone through many ups and downs with this computer, nursed him along so I wouldn't have to buy a new one. And everything has been going swimmingly until a notice popped up a few weeks, perhaps months, ago alerting me to the fact Google Chrome will no longer be supporting my operating system. Because yes, ancient Brick still runs on Windows XP and I can't update him because his processors can't handle it. With that being said, I'm trying to figure out if Chrome will still work even though Google will discontinue sending updates and bug fixes. If Chrome does stop working, I'll try to find a browser that will support XP until I can buy a new computer in August when I go back to school(yay!!). If I can't find a browser(I'm looking at Mozilla at the moment), my updates will stop for a few months. Sucks, I know, but this is how the cookie is crumbling. I'm posting this message on my profile as well so I apologize for the double message.
The next update for this story will still happen on Thursday of this week. So, yay for that!
My love to all!
