He looked mortified, "Who even are you?"
"Someone who is tired of getting hurt," I answered, before turning and heading back to my band. They were had ordered rum and cokes to celebrate, they raised their glasses when I sat. I blushed and joined in, "To Nameless!"
The whole night I felt Austin eyes on me, glaring probably. I refused to look at him instead I would laugh louder than I normally would, which probably peeve him off. We listened to a few more bands, the last act of the night was supposed to a surprise artist. The band seemed excited but I knew who it was.
The announcer introduced the 'mystery' artist as a multi-Grammy nominated winner, with a new album coming out in the coming months, and similar bullshit. The crowd shifted and murmured waiting anxiously for the surprise act, a few squealed when Austin walked out. I rolled my eyes and threw back the rest of my drink, he stared me straight in the eyes as he settled onto a stool, propping his guitar on his knee. The announcer began to tell the crowd the name of the song but Austin interrupted him by strumming the guitar, "I am going to sing disease."
I snickered to myself, I wrote all the songs on the goddamn album and this song I wrote about him, and I didn't write it out of good heart.
"Fucking tool," suprisingly it wasn't me, Delilah had muttered it under her breath, loud enough for me to hear it. I bit back my laugh and grabbed her hand.
He sung the song through, the crowded erupted in applause, I didn't even move an inch. They were cheering for the song I wrote, and he even got some words wrong. The announcer told the crowd, "That was Austin Moon, a song from his new album, the song was written by Ally Dawson and produced by his team. A second round of applause went around the crowd, it was my table that was the loudest. They had been caught up on my situation since Austin effects my writing and performance more often than not.
After his performance the other people started to filter out, some to play gigs, most of them were going to clubs for the 'after parties' even though most of the artists and bands that played tonight haven't accomplished more than a name drop in the eyes of the producers. I thought we got pretty lucky, but we had good songs and a good name to back us even though he was being a jerk. I can't remember if it was Tim or James that suggested we go to Sailors and 'Live it Up!'
I didn't complain, I just dragged Delilah to the bathroom with me first. We were fixing our makeup when Delilah paused to look at my reflection, "Why so sudden?"
"What do you mean?" I brushed off, applying red lipstick which emphasized the black eye makeup I had on.
"Why did you agree to the deal so quickly after saying you needed time to think?" She asked.
"Well let's just say this is exactly what I need to be doing," I looked at her, "Making music with this band. Making music for myself and being supported."
I'm guessing she liked the answer because she stopped asking questions. We went and partied at Sailors and we got a few free drinks and complimentary VIP Booth, thanks to Marge.
[BREAK]
The wedding is in two weeks and Trish is a mess. Of course she managed it herself and didn't let me or Dez get in a word in edgewise. Today we were at the chair depot looking at the difference between minute detailed chairs. Dez was eager to help but Trish was really particular today. We sat in one of the dining displays while she was debating with the manager lady.
"How's the wedding planning going?" I asked Dez.
"Same way this is going," Dez explained, "Trish is freaking out about the music."
"I thought I was going to sing for you guys."
"Well then we are going to have get a separate band anyway unless Austin wants to play his guitar but he hasn't called me back about performing," Dez muttered the last part, I hesitated to tell him because they didn't know about Austin's deal or our breakup.
I played with the tablecloth, "I might know of a band that could play."
"Really?" He asked, "That would be great."
I nodded before tuning out Trish's arguing. We stayed there for another hour before heading to the flower warehouse that was in some other county, but low and behold they had the specific flowers Trish needed. After we had placed the order and finished the daily wedding planning, we packed back into the car.
"Austin's?" Dez suggested. Trish shrugged, "Sure we need to talk about publicity anyway."
I fidgeted in my seat, and apparently not discreetly, Dez glanced back and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Are you okay Ally?" Dez asked, Trish immediately looked up from her phone and turned around, both had worried looks.
"I'm just not feeling well," I lied, looking down at my feet. Dez let it slide but Trish examined me for what seemed like forever, finally she turned around. "Well, it might be best to drop you off at home then, wouldn't want you to get sick and throw up."
I could hear the slight twinge of sarcasm in her voice, maybe Austin had already told them about my big secret to cover his own ass, it was highly unlikely but at this point I had no way of knowing what he was up to.
We drove in silence, neither of them turned on the radio so for a half an hour, in traffic, we sat in silence. The whole time I tried to convince myself to tell them, about everything, to come clean, I was stuck between waiting until the wedding had passed or until Austin fucked me over, either way it wouldn't be pretty.
They dropped me off in front of my building, with the promise of dinner sometime this week, when they drove off, I sighed in relief. It was slightly chilly, despite us being in Florida. I stuffed my handing into my jacket pockets and went into my apartment building. My home was a mess, the cardboard boxes filled with song books and leaves of music paper were stacked on the dining room table, if it was even to be considered a dining room table. It was small and seated maybe three people, the fourth chair was broken but I refused to move it because there is never more than three people sitting at that table. I toed off my heels and shrugged off my jacket, before going to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of wine. Mid-uncorking, my phone started ringing. I glanced over and my stomach dropped. Austin was calling, I let it go to voicemail. I set the bottle of wine aside, and began searching for a wine glass when my phone started buzzing again, I rolled my eyes and glanced back over.
This time the Caller ID read James, I sighed in relief and picked up the phone.
"Hey," I greeted, leaning back against the fridge.
"Hey, I'm in your neck of the woods, with some Chinese takeout, and a guitar. You wouldn't mind letting me in, would you?"
"Chinese takeout? Letting you in? I don't know if I can," I joked.
"I have chow mein, now let me in before I climb the fire escape."
I grabbed my key, "I don't have a fire escape."
"Well then if the meth lab, that I'm sure exists in your building, goes up in flames. You're fucked."
"That's the understatement of the year, but I am more worried about the Hoarder in A4, they collect old newspapers."
"They are also most likely the meth lab too."
"Wouldn't that be a turn of events, I wouldn't know how they move their shit since they haven't actually left the apartment the years Ive been here."
I made it to the lobby, and saw him standing on the other side of the front door, I stood in front of it smirking.
"How do I know you aren't going to kill me?"
"You don't."
"Or worse, you might try to sell me something."
"You won't know until you let me in, the food is getting cold."
I hung up and opened the front door, he smiled and glided into the lobby, his arms and hands filled with Chinese takeout and his guitar case slung on his back.
"Shall we?" He smiled, I rolled my eyes and led him back up to my apartment.
We wrote two songs by one am, and polished off a whole bottle of wine. We were sitting on my living room floor, music paper and Chinese food surrounding us. He pulled out a pack of reds, and placed one between his teeth.
"Can I smoke in here?" He asked, his words slurring together from the slight buzz.
I reached over and plucked it from his mouth, then placed it in my mouth.
"I like how you got one out and ready before asking me, and yah but you have to share."
He chuckled and pulled out another, he lit both of them and we took a moment to enjoy the smoke. Only a few drags in, and there was a disturbance to our peace. Three loud knocks came from my door, my stomach dropped again like earlier. This time because it was slightly creepy.
Jay looked slightly scared, he dropped his voice to a whisper, "Maybe it's the hoarder."
Before we could say anything else, the lock turned and the door crept open. I got ready to scream in terror but it was replaced by anger when I saw who it was.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
He didn't even get a chance to walk through the door before I was on my feet. He stopped in his attempt to open my door and stared at me. Then glanced at the mess on the floor, and the slightly drunk, smoking James on my floor.
"Who the fuck is this?" Austin asked in the same tone I had.
"No, no," I moved in front of Austin's line of vision, "Why are you at my house at one in the morning?"
"I needed to talk to you, I wasn't expecting you to have fuck buddy around," he countered.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Okay first off, he is a member of my band. Second, it doesn't matter who I have over at one, whether it be my mother, my band mate, or my fuck buddy. Third, you thought it was appropriate to come to my home in the dead of night to talk. What if I was sleeping? Were you going to barge into my room and shake me out of bed so you could get the last two cents in about you're fucked perception of the situation you created?"
Austin was decent at hiding his emotions, that has always been the case but right now he looked pissed, like he was about to drop kick James and set my couch on fire.
"Is this glass?"
I turned around, the cigarette was hanging from his lips lazily, and he was holding up a piece of glass. My anger wavered for a second, and I giggled.
"I throw shit sometimes. Usually when I mad at entitled dick heads," I turned back to the blonde.
"Ally, we need to talk about New Beginnings," Austin said shortly.
"What is that a Christian revival club? Ally you don't seem like the type, maybe the Neo-Nazi Wet Dream standing in your living room," James interjected.
"Hey, can you shut the fuck up?" Austin shot.
I shook my head, "What about the album?"
"I want to launch it with Capital Records."
I tensed up completely, "It has already been launched."
"I mean give the rights to Capital Records," Austin said slowly.
"Well what does that mean?"
"It means that he gets all the rights to the songs, that he gets all the commission, all of the credit," James answers.
"Are you kidding me?" My voice raises and close the front door.
I turn completely to Austin, "You didn't write one word on that album, you strum a guitar a couple time and then patted yourself on the back. Those are my songs as far as I'm concerned."
"Ally, just please listen," he pleaded.
"Listen? To what, the bullshit you have been spewing for these last few months. I have listened and now I tired of listening. Fuck your deal with Capitol, fuck you fucked perception of ownership. If you want to take the album with you, then I expect full ownership and hlaf if not more of all the sales."
"I can't do that, the record deal isn't under your name."
"Well then you better find a way around that Mr. Moon, or you get another fucking album, either way I expect my cut, now get the fuck out of my house," I opened the door again.
"Bye Bye Blondie, it was nice meeting you," James taunted.
"Fuck off," Austin glanced again at James, "Ally we need to talk about this."
"Out of my house, now."
He walked out, with the door slamming behind him.
"Fuck."
[Break]
Two days later, I was in Jimmy's office having a screaming match with Austin while Jim silently sat in front of us.
"You went ahead and made a deal about the record with Jimmy without my knowledge," Austin yelled.
"You made another deal with Capitol Records without my knowledge," I yelled back.
"You used to be so much nicer," Austin murmured under his breathe.
Jimmy who was quiet and uninvolved during the whole interaction, looked up at Austin and said, "Boy you dumb."
"Excuse me? I don't think I heard you right. I used to be nicer? Oh, my apologies, why don't you take my house, my arm, and, here, why don't you just run me over with your fucking car. You selfish prick."
He did speak after that so Jimmy took the opportunity to interject, "Austin I would give her what she wants. The last thing any of us wants is a legal battle."
He stood up and left without speaking.
[Break]
The wedding was beautiful, it went off without a hitch. Trish was stunning, we had gotten up at seven to get her ready. She did her hair half up and half down, her makeup was flawless and she wasn't nervous at all. She was just excited to finally be marrying Dez. Austin and I bucked up enough to walk down the aisle but that's all we did. Dez teared up when he saw her for the first time in her dress. The vows were personal and loving and the whole room was under their spell of cuteness. Pictures took longer than I would have liked, I had to get to the reception to ge the band in order for the first dance.
When I could finally break away, I basically sped off to the reception location to help set up. The guys were waiting for me at the stage. Trish decided to do the reception at the Miami Country Club, how she rented it out, I do not know. But it was gorgeous, the first dance would be after dinner and cake but we still set up the instruments and then went to the back room. We were given a list a songs from Trish, and we learned them the week leading up to the wedding, surprisingly we knew most of them. I left them to their own devices and went out to where I was needed. The food was phenomenal, no doubt a friend of Trish's catered. Dez and Trish we lost in each other the whole dinner, whispering and giggling to one another.
When cake and speeches rolled around, we watched as they cut the cake, and listened to Austin's speech. I had completely forgot to write one, so I was surprised when they handed me the mic after Austin's speech.
I glanced around and stood, "I am not going to lie. I didn't write anything down."
There were some chuckles, "But I don't think I could truly put into words the beauty of Trish and Dez's relationship. Never have I seen a more out of the blue, but perfect relationship. They are supportive and honest to one another, and they are truly each other's forever. May their relationship outlive us all."
It received applause and a hug from Trish, during which I asked her when the first dance was.
"Ten minutes, why?" She asked.
"You'll see."
I slipped away while the parent's started giving speeches and met back up with the band. They were all changed into a suits, much to their discomfort.
"Wow, you guys actually look presentable," I joked.
"Yah yah, the sooner we get out of these monkey suits the better," Mike chuckled.
We filed onto the stage, all taking our respective places and waited for Trish to give us the go ahead. She looked happy to see me behind the mic for her first dance, but I could feeling Austin's eyes staring bullets into the back of my head.
We played 'Can't Help Falling in Love With you' for the first dance, they swayed across the dance floor, lost in each other the whole time.
The second dance rolled around and Trish waved me onto the dance floor.
"The bridal party and groomsmen are dancing with us now so find Austin," Trish instructed. I know better than to argue so I walked up to Austin and grabbed his hand quietly. James had taken over for the next song, while I awkwardly danced with Austin. Trish and Dez danced over to us, "Where did you find this band? They are great."
I looked back and forth between Dez, Trish and Austin. I small smirk came to my face.
"It's my band."