Fleetwood Mac-Part III of Fritz Series

Go Your Own Way

***A/N NSFW ahead***

"Lindsey would you care for a cup of coffee? Mr. Blaire will be out in just a moment" Mister Blaire better get out here fast. After a screaming fit on the phone with Blaire and his irritatingly calm assurances that I have nothing to worry about as far as my future in rock and roll is concerned, I've been invited to a sit down meeting with the man himself. Maybe they intend to fire me, replace me with some hack who'll kiss Ken's ass and do blow with the rest of the band. Fine by me.

I've been yelling almost non-stop for the last twenty-four hours, because as you can imagine I'm now in the dog house with Stevie for my so-called "Over the top" behavior. She agrees with me about Dreams and she's willing to fight to keep it as is, but she's madder then hell about me quitting the band. Or sort of quitting, if things don't go my way today I'm done. Out. Finished. I hate to be the guy who throws out ultimatums at the drop of a hat but I will NOT continue to compromise what I stand for musically to stroke someone else's ego.

"Lindsey! How are you kid? Good to see you again" Jason Blaire the second to the top guy at Warner strolls toward me with his arm extended in a friendly overture. I rise from my seat and quickly shake hands with him resuming my closed off posture once the contact is complete. "Come on in kiddo I've got scotch, I believe you're a single malt guy if I remember correctly" I'm not all that fussy, but why drink toilet water when you can have champagne "Yeah thanks".

Cracking open the mini bar he pours both of us a healthy two fingers gesturing for me to take a seat on the other side of his desk. I sip at my drink, pleased with it's overall flavor profile. But I'm not here for a tasting so I set the glass down adjusting myself "So-I've had some time to talk things over with a few of my fellow executives" This feels like I'm about to be fired. My head tilted to the side I nod curiously "And?" Blaire sits back in his chair resting his bejeweled hands in the pockets of his vest.

"Well to be frank they're pissed-but not at you believe it or not. They're pissed at Ken, he's too slow and indulgent of the talent. I mean we're trying to get an album out by the end of the year, and as it turns out we won't have anything on shelves until February of 77" seven months? For a project that started five months ago? That's beyond slow, that's a slug's pace.

"Look Linds, we all listed to both Buckingham Nicks records and we love them both to death. But what we really sank our teeth into is how quick you got both of them done. That level of quality in such a short amount of time. That's the kind of producer we need. Ken's-too young and inexperienced" What's going on here? I shift again in my seat adjusting my suit jacket "So I went to the higher ups and I told them Lindsey's gonna walk and if he goes Stevie goes and we're back to square one with this Fleetwood Mac thing. Obviously, the fans want to see you all on stage working together"

Obviously...I guess "So what's the bottom line?" opening a humidor in front of him he passes me a fine cigar snipping the end first "The bottom line is that you're about to get one hell of a promotion. Mr. Producer" wait what? I thought they were all against me producing, my reputation, my difficulty to work with in the studio, what happened to all of that? "So, Ken's out?" that would be good news; Blaire sighs shaking his head "Naw, we've got to keep him around for contract purposes but his duties are about to be severely limited. From now on you're in charge...and if we get the right amount of records sold we can negotiate some better terms for the next Fleetwood Mac album. Full creative control"

Full control huh? Which means I chose the direction of the album and that's the way it is. Which means if someone doesn't like the way things are they can suck it. I like this idea I like it a lot. "So, what happens now?" Blaire lights his cigar offering me the torch, I accept passing the lighter back to him when I'm done "What happens now is we sit down with your attorney, hammer out some specifics and fill Ken and the others in." I can almost guarantee three out of the five members of Fleetwood Mac are going to hate this. But of the three two are professional enough to look the other way. The third will either get along and go along or she can fuck off.