Although no one had believed him at first, American Idol was going on without Simon. And as arrogant as he'd been to say it, the show really wasn't the same without him.
The playful banter between him and Ryan was no more; only monotone commentary.
Paula kept a brave face for the contestants and joked that she could finally concentrate with him gone, but on the inside, she was screaming out for him.
It seemed that Randy no longer found it crucial to use 'dawg' in his vocabulary.
And the producers couldn't even bring themselves to hire someone to take his place.
The ratings had stayed high initially, but they slowly began to dwindle down by each show. American Idol was going down like a sinking ship and they had everything in their realm to save it, but getting it back was the hard part.
Everyone had changed since the day he left, but not quite the way that Paula had; her manner hadn't changed just on the show.
Things had stayed golden with Dante for a while, but as soon as the ring had gone on her finger, his true colors began to show. Thank God it had only been an engagement ring and not a wedding band.
He'd been enough to make her forget about Simon for a certain span of time, but Dante hadn't been enough to erase all the memories. She supposed that he had come to realize this, and started down the path that Brad had. Paula finally saw that he didn't truly love her and was more interested in the fact that she was Paula Abdul than what she had in her heart. And it was better than she realized it before and not after she was Mrs. Dante Spencer.
She hadn't let the failure of that relationship affect her so much; she was too preoccupied with Simon. She'd never stopped loving him or had fallen out of love with him; she'd moved on with her life so she didn't spend the rest of it chasing after something that she had no chance of getting.
Simon threw his pen down on his desk as he listened to another hopeful belt out a horrible rendition of an original piece. He held up a hand. "You do realize this isn't an audition for Pop Idol and a meeting to get signed onto a record label, don't you?"
The boy stood there and stared at blankly. "Yeah mate, I'm serious."
"I was just double checking. Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to find a different label or get lessons."
"Are you deaf? Other labels are jumping at me with offers."
"Go to one of them then because I'm not going to change my mind anytime soon. There's no way I'm going to sell that rubbish under my label."
"Screw you! You'll see, I'm going to be big and you'll be kicking your ass."
"I'll have to change it, I suppose."
"Do British music a favor and go back to America. Maybe Paula Abdul can help you get your head out of your ass."
"Get the hell out of my office now," Simon said, standing up and pointing towards the door.
He sat down and retrieved a flask from his desk drawer. His job usually took a turn for the worse, although there were some pleasant ones, it didn't help the fact that American Idol had been brought up. He had been keeping tabs on the show, but just enough to let go. He still wasn't ready to cut himself completely free.
And the fact that Paula had been brought up was just plain unfair. Simon had made himself cut off ties with her; it would be impossible otherwise. She still meant the world to him, but no contact had been made between them. He figured if it was necessary, they would talk, but in this situation less was more.
