Chapter 11 - Influencer

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ALEC

The plane departs and a piece of my heart stays home. I look forward to the tour, but I know I'll be missing so much in my son's life. Last night I brought him to bed and after reading him a story he fell asleep. I didn't leave immediately and spent a long time watching him. He's getting bigger and wiser with each day that passes. Just the other day he sang to me while playing with a plastic guitar and I had trouble trying not to cry in front of him.

I know he'll be more than okay with my parents who are becoming his actual parents. He hears me calling them Mom and Dad and does the same. For Brendan, I'm not Dad, I'm Alec. It kind of hurts but I deserve it for not being around that often. The positive side is that I saw in the schedule that we have a break right around the time of his second birthday and I'll be able to spend it with him. The rest of the time we will only see each other through video. I can only hope that when he grows up he realizes that I'm doing this for him. We were not poor when I grew up, but  we didn't have enough money for fun stuff. I want Brendan to have the chance to participate in whatever things he wants and that money isn't an issue to do so. 

"You sure are deep in thought," Gabriella whispers.

"Thinking about my son. His name is Brendan," I can't help the smile that forms in my lips.

"Do you have a photo of him? I've never seen him. Not much about you guys online, but a few pictures from the day he was born."

"I try to keep my private life as private as I can. I had enough attention on me when I found I would be a father. Here you go," I hand her my phone.

"What a precious little man. He looks so much like you. I'm sure you miss him a lot when you tour," she says, handing me the phone back.

"I think about him all the time. What keeps me going during the rough times while touring is that I'm doing this for him. I want him to go to college. I was already playing gigs when I became of age."

"How did you end up in Pinch of Postal?"

"I've been friends with Ozzie since we were little, but I wasn't into music back then. During a summer where I worked in the mail room of an office I realized that I needed to do something creative before I died of boredom. With the little money I had saved, I bought a second-hand bass and an amplifier, because it seemed simpler to learn than other instruments. I followed tutorials and found some books at the library and taught myself how to play. Ozzie came by one day to hang out and saw the bass. He told me that Joel and him were thinking about starting a band and needed a bass player. I didn't think I was any good, but they thought I was. Lexy and Joel were dating then and we knew from school functions that she was an amazing guitar player. We sort of fit together like pieces of a puzzle."

"Pinch of Postal... Did you come up with that name by any chance?"

"Yeah, a summer in a mail room can make you mad enough to want to do something else."

"What a brilliant anecdote. I think you are an excellent player and now knowing that you learned everything by yourself makes me feel even more impressed. When your son is old enough to understand the magnitude of you being in a successful band, I'm sure he will be incredibly proud of your efforts. Let me know how can I help you to stay connected with him, even if it means waking you up at an ungodly hour for you to call them," Gabriella holds my hand and gives it a soft squeeze.

"I'm so glad you are here with us. No one has ever understood how I feel about leaving my boy behind. Ozzie is right, you are really good at being a manager."

GABRIELLA

"I must thank him then for giving me such a good PR. Alec, you don't need to answer this, but where's the mother of your son?"

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