A sudden, eerie silence came over the office. Davy took a deep breath and looked down at his feet.
"I'm sorry, guys, but it's just not working anymore".
Micky stood open-mouthed, staring at Davy with wide eyes. Peter collapsed into a chair by the desk and put his head in his hands. Mike crossed his arms, drew a sharp breath and glared at Davy through narrowed eyes.
Davy felt their eyes burn into him and he felt incredibly uncomfortable. He bit nervously on his lip and refused to meet any of their gazes.
Finally, it was Lenny who broke the tense silence.
"You're joking, right Jones?" he said with a nervous laugh. "You've got to be kidding me".
Davy just shook his head and looked up at their manager.
"I'm sorry," was all he could think of to say.
Lenny shook his head. "I don't believe this!" he said loudly. "I do not believe what you're telling me."
Davy's mouth grew dry and a last he summoned the confidence to look at his bandmates.
Micky still stood open-mouthed in disbelief. Peter was slumped in a chair with a confused and heartbreaking look of hurt on his face. Then Davy looked at Mike. and the expression that greeted him was a look of complete disgust.
"I'm sorry, Mike," Davy whispered, feeling about two feet tall. "But it was over a long time ago for me. I can't do this anymore."
Mike took a deep breath and then began to speak very slowly and calmly (which immediately unsettled the rest of the group).
"It was a fight a stupid fight. That's all."
Davy went to speak but Mike raised his hand and cut him off.
"A fight, Davy. We're not gonna quit over some stupid argument."
Micky found his voice and said, "Look, I know that we all said and and did a lot of stupid things that we didn't mean"
He looked over at Peter, who raised his eyes to meet Micky's. Micky quickly looked away, he couldn't stand to look at Peter. He felt awful about hitting him.
"A lot of stupid things," Micky continued. "But, giving up everything we've worked for? Because of one argument? I don't know, Davy."
"But it's not just ONE argument, is it?" Davy argued. "We've changed, guys. We've let fame change us. We're letting it tear us apart. We never used to be like this."
He looked at Mike, straight in the eyes.
"We used to be friends."
Micky scoffed. "What are you talking about? We're still friends".
Davy shook his head. "No, Micky, that was over a long time ago. Can't you see what's happened to us? It's over. And we can never get it back."
"Look, who cares?" Mike interrupted. "This isn't about friendship, Davy. This is our career we're talking about. This is business."
I know," said Davy sadly, shaking his head. "That's what I'm talking about. There was a time when friendship would have come first. When we'd have done anything for one another. I looked on you guys as brothers. Now look at us."
Lenny threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. "Look, fellas, just go home, give things a day or two. You'll feel different tomorrow, Davy, trust me."
Davy shook his head. "No, Lenny. It's over. And if you want The Monkees to carry 's gonna be without me. It's over."
Another silence fell over the office. Davy sat down in a chair by the window and felt a huge wave of conflicting emotions wash over him at once. He felt relieved to have finally spoken out. He'd been wanting to say something for a long time now. But he also felt like he was letting his friends down. He didn't want anybody to hate him, but the latest argument had been the final straw, things had changed and Davy had seen himself, and the other fellas, turning into people he didn't recognise.
"Well," Lenny said finally, looking angrily around at them all. "What happens now? Look, I'm your manager and I want to do everything I can to help you guys, but you have to talk to me here. What happens now? Everybody here has been working their butts off to help you guys and is this how you repay them?"
Mike shook his head. "Davy's just worked up over the fight yesterday. Give him a day or two to think things through and everything'll be back to normal."
"Hey, don't talk about me like I'm not here, Nesmith," Davy shot back angrily.
"Micky?" Lenny said, looking at the drummer. "What have you got to say about all this?"
Micky ran his hands through his hair and then began to speak nervously. "I don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I know things have gotten out of hand lately, what with the pressure of this new album and all, but I'm not about to quit over this. Mike's right we've worked too hard for this to just give up."
Then Lenny looked over at Peter.
"Well, what have you got to say about all this?" he demanded. "Are you in on this too?"
"In on what?" Peter asked, not understanding what Lenny meant.
"This scheme of Davy's to break up the group" their manager replied.
"It's not a scheme, Lenny," Davy protested. "And nobody's in on anything. But" he paused and faced Peter, "How do you feel Peter?"
All eyes turned on Peter. He gulped and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Davy, but I can't back you up on this. Just think about how hard we've worked to get where we are. How much we've been through together. I'm not gonna let things fall apart without a fight. Please, Davy. Don't do this."
He looked at his friend, but Davy turned away from him. Peter looked so upset and Davy couldn't stand to see the hurt on his face.
Lenny rubbed his temples. "So, tell me, fellas. How do we work through this?"
"We don't." Mike replied.
Everybody turned to look at him with stunned expressions.
"Davy's made up his mind and you know what I say? I say, "Who cares". I don't need you guys. I don't need The Monkees."
"But, Mike!" Peter protested. "You can't just walk out on this. We've got to stick together."
Mike just shook his head. "No." he said coldly, and stormed out of the office. Micky looked over at Davy, who hung his head. Then he looked at Peter, who looked close to tears. Micky sighed, he didn't know what to do, for the best.
"Please, Davy," Peter said quietly, looking over at his friend. "Why are you doing this? Please. Just say you'll think about it. It can't be over."
Davy bit his lip and walked over to Peter. He looked at him in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Pete, but it is."