The Darkest Days

95. Weak Hearts

"Hey, Dad." Mason spoke into the phone, while sitting under a tree in his college campus. "I know you're busy with all the media disaster that you're being forced to handle. And I don't want to disturb you, it's just that I'd like if I could get to be with you right now... maybe having family beside you help you in any way? Well. That's all I wanted to ask. If I could join you this weekend. Call me when you get this message."

He kept his phone aside and turned his gaze back to the newspaper on his lap.

Caleb Cherny, singer of the band The Americana, takes his own life at 21.

"I wonder how Audrey is doing." He sighed.

****

Lydia shook her head in dismay as her father took off a phone call.

"Dad, I'm thinking of everything that can go wrong from here-"

"I already did all that, dear." He sighed. "I can't imagine the amount of hate the public is going to give to the company."

"All SMG artists might suffer from this. Right?" Ethan said, without looking up from his phone.

"Right." Lydia replied.

"I'll have to talk to the advisors about withdrawing our investments in SMG."

"I don't think that's wise, Mr whatever." Ethan said. "William Saint didn't build the company over nothing. He'll overcome this and if you declare your loyalty in such a time, he won't forget it."

"How'll he overcome this?" Lydia asked. "Bring Caleb back to life? His suicide letter already exposed everything."

"He has connections to fire the policeman that made the letter public without approval and to prove it a fake."

"People will still be suspicious." Lydia argued. "They love making theories about such scandals."

"Lydia's right." Her father said. "Withdrawing my funds shows I don't support an abusive employer."

"I'm in no position to make your decision but it'll be best if you see in the long term where people will find a new gossip story and forget this but William won't. Also, people won't boycott their favorite artists because of the company for long. They need their music and they'll show their love to them. The stocks will get back up."

Lydia exhaled deeply.

"Have you talked to Audrey?" Ethan asked.

She shook her head.

"Call her. The sisters were once close to the band members." He picked up his book and walked out.

****

"I don't remember the exact words, but yes, I read it."

"Did he.. say why?" Vanessa asked in a shaky voice.

"He basically blamed SMG for being too controlling." Jeff said. "He said he felt as if they treated him as vehicles for music; the controlled social contact outside the group, and the pressure that came with the career."

"He must've had a moment of weakness." She said. "He wasn't a person who.. who'd.."

Jeff wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.

Vanessa closed her eyes and a tear rolled down. "He was better at handling the stress than I was. He used to teach me how to do t-that-" her sentence broke into a sob.

"He's at peace now." Jeff rubbed her back. "Whatever troubled him, he's free from it."

"I didn't even get to say goodbye. We hadn't even reconciled after our rumors absolutely ruined everything!" She raised her voice in anger and gripped Jeff's shirt tight.