♫ Five ♫
Allexxiss stared at the paper, could she never get away from the sight of him? The picture showed Brenden at a press conference discussing his next tour, with Jordan Tate. In spite of herself, Allexxiss picked up the paper and walked back to her room. She sat down on the bed and read every word. The paper noted how flirty BJ was with Jordan Tate, and they found it necessary to go over Jordan and BJ’s history. There were a couple of lines about the “previously indisposed BJ Sparks” but that was all. Allexxiss had no idea what that meant. Did that mean he’d been shacked up with Jordan Tate again? She didn’t know, but she did know that she needed to start avoiding news about him again. There was no mention of Allexxiss, as if she’d never been part of BJ’s life.
Then a couple of days later, she saw the quote that made her cry. Someone had stopped Tabitha Sparks coming out of Badlands studios, asking how she felt about her mother being off in Jamaica. Tabitha’s reply had been caustic.
“I hope she stays there, it’s close enough to Hell,” Tabitha replied, her eyes glittering with malice.
Allexxiss knew she’d lost them both then. She spent the next four days in the hotel room, going between crying and sleeping. She’d found out about the story Max had put out, claiming that she was in Jamaica with him, and the lies about a baby. If she was pregnant, which she wasn’t, it would be Brenden’s baby. She refused to sleep with Max. There was no way to tell them that and she knew she needed to stay away from Brenden now. Max was very serious about ruining him.
She ached with the loss, but resigned herself to what was left of her life. Part of her wondered if Brenden would even care if she killed herself, but she knew she couldn’t do that, not when there was a glimmer of a chance that someday she could see him again. She hoped that at some point she could at least contact Tabitha and explain. Tabitha should understand, she wouldn’t want her father ruined either.
She knew it was likely Brenden would renege on backing The Living Edge, not that Allexxiss would in any way blame him. She was surprised when the director she’d wanted to work on the movie contacted her to ask when production was going to start.
“I’m not sure we still have funding,” Allexxiss told him.
“I just got word from Badlands that it’s a go,” Terence said.
“You did?” Allexxiss asked. “Who did you talk to?”
“Uh,” Terence said, glancing down at his notes, “a Tabitha Sparks. She didn’t sound too happy about it, but she said it was a go.”
So even in the face of her betrayal, Brenden was still taking care of her. It was just too much. She called Max next. He answered his line after a few rings, sounding irritated as usual.
“Max, I want you to liquidate some of my assets,” she told him without preamble.
“Excuse me?” he queried.
“You heard me,” she said, ice creeping into her voice. “I need fifteen million dollars and I need it as soon as possible.”
“Why?” Max asked, his tone sneering.
“Because I’m going to pay Brenden Sparks back every penny he’s losing on this deal, you bastard. Now just do it, I don’t care if I’m penniless after this.”
“You know I told you …” Max began, his tone preaching.
“Don’t fuck with me on this, Max, or I swear to God, I will make your life a living hell the likes of which you’ve never known,” Allexxiss said, her anger coming to bear on the man that had caused her to lose the man she loved the most.
“And what do you think you can do?” Max asked.
“Do you really want to find out, Maxwell?” she asked him, her tone steely.
Max grew quiet. He had no idea what she had up her sleeve, but he wasn’t really sure he wanted to tempt her. He knew he’d pushed it making her break it off with Sparks. Now it was time to lay low.
“I’ll do what I can, Allex,” he said. “I don’t know if we have enough in assets to cover that.”
“Then sell him shares in the movie,” Allex said. “Whatever it takes.”
“That could come out to a lot more than fifteen mill, Allex,” Max said, his tone chiding.
“He deserves twice that,” Allexxiss said. “Just do it, Maxwell,” she said then and hung up.
Max sat in his office staring at the phone, maybe he was going to have to destroy Sparks anyway. He couldn’t have the man causing this kind of havoc. He started concocting a plan that day.
Brenden had been working himself to the point of exhaustion. He shoved aside any thought of Allexxiss. He worked all day long, wrapping up the album, now that Devlin was back onboard and working as hard as ever. BJ was also helping Tabitha to make arrangements and handling last minute details he could have easily left up to his staff. He wanted the distraction of work. He was also hitting his home gym for hours on end, building up the stamina he was going to need for the tour.
The tour was slated to last three months, but he intended to cover much of the United States in that time. After that, there was a two-month tour of Europe scheduled to support the new album “Enter the Silence.” If the new album took off in the States, Brenden intended to do a number of new dates in America with just Sparks.
Many nights, Brenden fell into bed exhausted, however half the time, he didn’t sleep most of the night. He’d lie awake wrestling with memories, thoughts, and anger.
By the time the tour started, a full two months after Allexxiss deserted him, BJ was already mentally exhausted. Devlin noticed it the minute he got on the bus. He headed to the back to stow his guitar and bag. He stopped on the way next to Tabitha.
“Accompany me to the back of the bus, will you young lady?” he said, making his tone humorous so Brenden wouldn’t get edgy about the two of them talking.
Tabitha got up and followed him to the back. Once back there, he turned to her, leaning against the bunks.
“Has he been sleeping?” Devlin asked, nodding his head in Brenden’s direction.
“Doesn’t look like it, does it?” she asked, grimacing.
Devlin shook his head. “He’s still pining.”
Tabitha nodded. “I could just kill myself for doing this to him.”
“What is it you think you did?” Devlin asked her.
“I brought her back into his life, Devlin,” she said. “I pushed it, because I wanted so much to see him happy again.”
Devlin shook his head. “Baby girl, you didn’t do this. Allexxiss did this and we don’t even know why. But you can’t blame yourself on this one.”
“I can’t, huh?” she asked cynically.
“I won’t allow it,” he said, his tone matter of fact.
“Oh no?” she asked, starting to grin.
“Nope,” he replied, shaking his head, his blue eyes twinkling.
She sighed, shaking her head. “What do we do, Dev?” she asked, her tone worried.
“We watch out for him, Tabbie,” he said, touching her under the chin. “Just like we’ve always done.”
“But if he’s tired now …” she said, her voice trailing off as she shook her head.
“I know, we’ll just have to keep after him about sleeping,” he said. Then he shrugged. “Hell, you know Beege is the only human I know who can sleep on these damned buses. He’ll be fine,” he assured her.
“I hope you’re right,” she said, sounding unsure.
“I’m always right,” he told her with a grin.
“No, I’m always right, you’re just lucky,” she said.
“Ah, yeah, that’s it,” he said, grinning wider.
“And what’s going on back here?” Jordan asked from behind Tabitha.
Tabitha glanced behind her. “Hey Jordie,” she said, smiling.
“Everything okay?” Jordan asked, glancing between Tabitha and Devlin.
They both nodded, but neither of them looked convincing. Jordan grimaced, betting that it had everything to do with the way BJ looked when she’d gotten on the bus. She knew when her best friend was overdoing it.
****
Allexxiss arrived back in the States a week after Brenden went on tour. She’d read enough while in Jamaica to know he was gone. Flying back into Los Angeles weighed on her heart a great deal, knowing that she’d still be in the same town with him, but having to stay away from him and Tabitha. Steeling herself against the sadness that threatened to overwhelm her again, she set to work getting meetings together for the beginning production of The Living Edge. The movie became her life, she ate, drank, slept, and lived it. It was the only way she could think of to block out the misery of what her life had become.
Max had informed her on her return that Brenden’s attorney had rejected any option of shares in the movie, and for that matter any reimbursement for the money Brenden himself had put out. Allexxiss made a point of calling Brenden’s attorney herself to verify what Max had told him. It was true.
“My client has no further interest in the project, nor will he seek financial compensation for his share,” was the attorney’s statement to her.
The words “no further interest” rang in Allexxiss head for months afterwards. He has no further interest. Brenden had no further interest, in her.
She hadn’t seen anything printed about him and any other women. Nothing social at all, just reports that he was working on his upcoming tour. Allexxiss was smart enough to know that it didn’t mean he wasn’t seeing women, it just meant he wasn’t being flashy about it.
****
The tour got under way, but was quickly punctuated with issues. There were problems with venues and with hotels that they were set to stay in between longer pauses in the tour. Unfortunately, Tabitha’s inexperience with tour arrangements began to show and it took all of Brenden’s patience to hold his temper. After the fourth venue that hadn’t been properly scheduled, Brenden’s patience frayed and he screamed at Tabitha. Devlin promptly stepped in, as he always did when Brenden lost his temper with his daughter.
“Seriously, Tabitha? What did you fucking think we were going to do with one dressing room!” BJ screamed, pacing angrily and throwing angry glances at the unfortunate soul who’d come to tell them about the dressing room problem.
“Easy, Beege …” Devlin cautioned, as he saw Tabitha blanch at her father’s anger.
“Stay the fuck outta this, Dev …” BJ growled.
“You knew she was new to this when you let her make the arrangements, BJ,” Devlin told him. “So don’t get all pissed off if some of it got a little screwed up.”
BJ stopped pacing and stared at Devlin. It was obvious he hadn’t really thought about that before he’d started yelling. By the same token, Devlin could see that BJ wasn’t willing to let things go that easily. He looked at Tabitha.
“I want you to go to the hotel and call the office,” he said evenly, trying to remain professional. “I want you to verify and confirm every venue and hotel for the rest of the tour, you got that?”
Tabitha nodded, her eyes as wide as saucers.
BJ looked at the young woman who represented the venue. “I need to talk to your boss about the dressing room issue, right now.”
The girl nodded and gestured for him to follow her.
Tabitha, Devlin, Jordan, and the rest of the bands watched the two depart.
“Tab, go over to the hotel and do what your dad asked,” Jordan said, looking to Devlin for agreement. Devlin nodded. “The rest of us, let’s go get ready for sound check. The last thing we need is for BJ to get pissed at us too.” With that she patted Tabitha on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay, hon, you know he’s stressed right now.”
“I know,” Tabitha said, looking sad, “but I screwed up and I need to fix it.”
“I’ll be at the hotel in an hour,” Devlin told Tabitha. “I’ll come check with you to see if you need any help, okay?”
“Okay, thanks Dev,” Tabitha said, turning and heading for the front of the venue to catch a cab.
The sound check went well, as did the show that night, but things remained tense, and it was obvious Brenden was heading for a serious down again.
****
Max Putnam stared at the paperwork in his hand for a long time, enjoying the feel of total power. BJ Sparks wasn’t worth shit. He had a half partnership in Badlands Records, that was it. Max was working on buying part of the company, and when he had controlling interest, he’d see that BJ Sparks went elsewhere. He was also working on a scandal that would make BJ Sparks’s name mud in the papers. No one fucked with Maxwell Putnam and got away with it. BJ Sparks fucked with a possession and that was not acceptable, so Mr. Sparks was about to be taught a lesson.
Allexxiss was growing more and more distant. She never wanted sex anymore, always telling him that she wasn’t in the mood. Many nights she’d work late in the study on scripting issues, staffing issues, or whatever, for the movie. It was all for nothing anyway, Max reasoned, since he was going to make sure the movie never opened. Artisan Pictures had enough influence in Hollywood to kill any project, but for now, it behooved Max to allow Allex to think she was accomplishing something.
Allexxiss read the papers constantly, reading anything she could on Tabitha or Brenden. Her heart ached all the time, sometimes it was a dull ache, like the feeling that she’d lost something valuable. Other times it was a sharp stabbing pain that caused her to feel like she couldn’t breathe. It was times like those that she locked herself in her trailer and just cried. She knew she needed to get over Brenden, but she had no idea how. It hurt so much she was sure that it was eating her up inside.
On one particular day, she’d seen the story about Brenden having had sex with a maid at the hotel in Little Rock. The woman “Marie” had run straight to the papers to tell her story. She said that “Mr. Sparks” was the “best sex” she’d ever had. That he could accost her anytime. Which of course had led to a story from her boyfriend claiming that BJ Sparks had actually raped his girlfriend when she’d gone to clean BJ’s room. As usual, BJ’s camp had nothing to say. Brenden never commented on sensationalism unless he felt it was detrimental. As far as he was concerned, if he had sex with a maid in a hotel, and she liked it, what was the problem?
Allex read it and felt so hurt. She knew Brenden had moved on with his life, but she hated to see it in print. She walked inside her trailer, tears already blurring her vision. She sat down on the couch and just cried, balling up the paper and throwing it across the room. That was when the door opened. Allex had forgotten to lock it this time. Angelica Benita, another much younger actress in the movie stuck her head in, wanting to ask Allex what the schedule was for the rest of the day. She saw Allexxiss crying and walked in looking concerned.
“Allexxiss? Are you okay?” Angelica asked, moving to Allex’s side.
Allexxiss nodded, wiping at her tears and did her best to stop crying. Angelica’s eyes fell on the newspaper that was balled up on the floor. She picked it up and opened it back up. Brenden’s picture was on the front, as was the maid’s picture from the hotel. Angelica had read the story earlier that morning.
“Why is it people in this country have sex every day, and no one cares? But BJ Sparks has sex, and it’s world news? Don’t you people have anything better to do with your time?”
Angelica sat back down next to Allex, putting her arms around the older woman. Of course she knew. Like everyone in Hollywood, she had heard about Allex’s connection with BJ Sparks and she also had seen the apparent change in their relationship status when Allex left him to go to Jamaica with her husband.
“You’re still really hurting over the breakup with BJ aren’t you?” Angelica said gently.
Allex shook her head, trying to deny the obvious.
Angelica knew that Allex was lying, maybe even to herself. She was silent for a moment, wanting to ask Allex something, but not sure if she should. She’d come to find that she was really fond of her co-star and seeing how sad she was on a regular basis, she really wanted to help. Finally, she took a deep breath and went for it.
“Why did you two break up?” she asked softly.
Allexxiss looked at her, surprise evident on her face. “I broke up with him.”
“Why?”
Allexxiss took a deep breath, then sighed, shaking her head. “It wasn’t going to work. I was going to ruin him if we stayed together.”
“How would you have ruined him?” Angelica asked, mystified.
“Max would have,” Allexxiss said, suddenly not willing to cloak her husband’s sins anymore. “He told me if I left him for Bren, he’d ruin Brenden and me.”
“Could he really do that?”
“I think he could,” Allexxiss said. “In fact I’m fairly sure he could. Brenden only has his contract with Badlands. I don’t know what else he has, but I’m sure Max has more power. Either way, I can’t chance it, I love Brenden too much to take a chance that my husband will hurt him or Tabitha’s life. Brenden gave up far too much for Tabitha, to give her everything. I can’t take that away.”
Her voice was so desperate, Angelica nodded, not wanting to upset her more. The conversation lingered in her head for days. She believed in love conquering everything, and she just couldn’t believe that love couldn’t conquer Maxwell the creep Putnam.
****
Across the country, Brenden lay in his bed in a hotel room. The tour was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While the rest of the group was off seeing the sites, Brenden hid out in the hotel. Things were starting to wear on him. He was so tired, he wasn’t sure how he was continuing on. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t sleep half the time. He picked up the bottle he’d been drinking from to find it was empty. He got off the bed and opened the bar.
“Shit,” he muttered to himself.
There was no more tequila. He looked at what there was and picked up a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He was heading back to the bed when there was a knock at the door. He walked over and opened it to find Jordan stood there.
“Hiya,” she said, her tone way too bright for his mood.
She walked inside and as she brushed past him, she took the bottle out of his hand. She put the bottle back in the bar and turned to look at him. She grinned when she saw that he was still standing holding the door open, looking at her, his mouth open in shock.
“Give me that,” he said, letting the door close.
“No,” Jordan said. “You’re not going to lay here and drink the day away, Beege. I won’t let you.”
“Like hell you won’t,” he said, walking over to the bar and grabbing at the bottle.
Jordan was faster and grabbed it off the bar before he did.
“BJ! No!” she said, giving him a stern look. “You’ve been doing this since Milwaukee, what’s wrong with you?”
Brenden looked at her, then shook his head. He walked over to the bed and dropped down on it, turning over to lay on his stomach with his face pressed into a pillow.
Jordan walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. She put her hand on his shoulder, then slid it through his hair.
“What’s up, babe?” she asked, “Talk to me.”
He shook his head. Jordan moved to lie down next to him, turning on her side to watch. Reaching out she stroked his hair.
“Brenden, please talk to me,” she said softly, not liking the way he was acting.
Brenden turned over on his side, looking at her. His light blue-green eyes were so forlorn, Jordan felt it physically.
“Oh, babe …” she said, tears in her voice.
“I just don’t want to be here, Jord,” he said softly.
“Here?” Jordan asked, alarmed.
“Anywhere,” Brenden said.
Jordan stared at him, her eyes searching his. She could see the sadness etched into his eyes. It was starting to show on him.
“Tell me what I can do, Brenden,” she said. “I’ll do anything.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Jordan,” he told her simply.
“There has to be something!” she exclaimed, not liking his tone of voice or his manner.
She could tell he was deep in a depression, but this time was different, because he had been faking it for everyone. He’d been doing the shows, pretending for everyone. His own emotional lie was becoming monumental. It scared Jordan. He’d always been more readable than this, at least to her. She realized now that he’d been depressed since Milwaukee, maybe even before that, and she’d missed it.
Being on the road and doing shows was usually Brenden’s biggest high, but it wasn’t now, and that was not a good sign. Jordan spent the rest of the day with Brenden, stroking his hair until he fell asleep. She knew that he hadn’t been sleeping well, she could see it in the dark circles starting under his eyes. Dark circles he hid whenever he was out or on stage with makeup. It worried her. He was tempting fate, and she didn’t think he even cared.
One afternoon, the beginning of the second month on tour, they pulled into Houston, Texas and up to the hotel where they were staying. They actually had a full day and night off that particular day, and everyone was looking forward to it. Tabitha got off the bus, and went inside to check them into their rooms and get the keys. After a few minutes she came back out and handed everyone the keys. Without a word BJ climbed off the bus, his gear bag in hand and walked straight into the hotel and to the elevator to his room.
Devlin, Tabitha, and Jordan watched him go, knowing he was really starting to drag, and worried about him endlessly.
“I’ll let him settle in and then go check on him,” Jordan told the other two, knowing that BJ would get annoyed if the same person checked on him over and over. Devlin and Tabitha had been doing so a lot over the last month.
“Good, thanks,” Devlin said, as Tabitha nodded agreement looking a bit relieved.
Three hours later, Jordan called Brenden’s room three times but there was no answer. Finally, she decided to go to his room to check on him. She knocked on the door. No answer. She knocked again, still no answer. She decided she needed to get into that room, so she went downstairs and sweet-talked the manager into letting her into his room. The man was putty in her hands and swiftly got the master key and led her back up to BJ’s room. He knocked on the door, with still no answer. Finally, he used the master key and let Jordan in. She thanked him with her million-dollar smile and a flirty wink.
She walked into Brenden’s room, looking around. She noticed an empty tequila bottle on the kitchen counter and then another out on the balcony.
“Oh, Lord …” she said, shaking her head.
“Beege?” she called.
There was no answer. She walked into the bedroom, and there he lay on the bed. He was fully clothed, his boots still on. At first, she thought he was passed out, but when she walked around to the side of the bed and kneeled down, she saw that his eyes were open.
“Beege?” she said, reaching out to touch his cheek.
His eyes turned to her, but he didn’t react at first. Then he closed his eyes and started to shake his head his face a mask of pain.
“Oh babe …” she said, moving to sit on the bed.
Brenden put an arm around her waist, dragging her closer to him, and burying his head against her stomach. She put her hands down to his hair, stroking it and sighing.
“Talk to me, B,” she said softly. “What’s going through your head right now?”
He shook his head stubbornly, keeping his face against her stomach.
“How much have you had to drink?”
Brenden shrugged.
“That much, huh?” Jordan said, grinning.
Brenden didn’t react at all.
Smoothing her hands through his hair, she said, “Beege, you need to talk, okay? You can’t keep all this inside, tell me what happened, what you’re thinking, what you want. Come on babe, talk to me.”
He shook his head again, keeping his face hidden.
Making a frustrated sound in her throat, Jordan moved down so she could look him in the eyes and he couldn’t hide anymore. Her gold colored eyes searched his.
“What is it Beege? Is it Allex?” she asked softly, trying to get through to him.
He looked like he was actually on the verge of tears. Jordan touched his cheek, wincing at the pain she saw in his eyes. She could also see he was very, very drunk. His eyes were glassy.
“I just can’t do this …” he said in a quiet whisper, his words slurred and almost incoherent.
“Aw babe …” Jordan said, hugging him close.
Before she knew it, they were kissing and she was comforting him the best way she knew how, with her body. Afterwards, BJ passed out, and Jordan lay in the semi-darkness of the room thinking about all the different ways she wanted to kill Allexxiss Ramsey.
The next day, BJ seemed to be in somewhat better spirits. Neither he nor Jordan talked about what had happened the night before, nor did they talk about Allexxiss. The show that night went off better and everyone seemed relieved.
Before long, it became evident to everyone that BJ and Jordan were once again a “thing” and Jordan began staying with BJ in his hotel room, and sleeping with him in the largest quarters on the bus. It became an unspoken union. It also wasn’t long before the newspapers started reporting on the apparent coupling of rock stars BJ Sparks and Jordan Tate. There were pictures of them holding hands and kissing quite often.
****
Allexxiss couldn’t help but see and hear the stories about BJ and Jordan. She did her best to ignore them, and made a point of digging in deeper on the movie. She also started accepting invitations from her co-star and supporting actors and actresses to have lunch, dinner, or attend parties they hosted. The press was once again on the case and started making up stories about Allexxiss dating her co-star Brent Howard. The press did their best to make every picture they captured of the co-stars about their “burgeoning romance” and kept linking it back to BJ asking, “Is Ramsey moving on from rock stars now?” Allexxiss was furious, but Max didn’t seemed bothered at all. Little did Allex know that Max himself was planting the seeds to make it look like Allex was indeed sleeping with her co-star. He figured it would not only put BJ farther from their lives, in case he got any funny ideas of coming back into Allex’s life, but it would also be good advertising for the movie. Max always had an angle.
****
Jordan got to Brenden’s room, just as he got the paper that morning. It had a picture of Allexxiss with Brent Howard in a passionate embrace. BJ had no way of knowing that the picture was taken from one of the scenes being shot for the upcoming movie. He shredded the paper as Jordan stood watching him calmly.
He eyed her suspiciously. “If you’re here to placate me, don’t bother.”
Jordan nodded, knowing him well enough to know that despite his tough tone and words, he was aching inside. Brenden stepped back out of the doorway so Jordan could enter. He saluted the photographers and reporters who’d witnessed the entire thing. Then he turned and walked inside, closing the door.
He walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink.
“Back to that again, huh?” Jordan asked mildly, sitting down on the couch.
“Yeah,” Brenden said, “what of it?”
Jordan nodded again, sensing his temper was near a boiling point.
“Beege, you know that they make shit up all the time …” she said gently.
The look he gave her was sour. “Yeah, and sometimes they’re right.”
“And a lot of time they’re only partly right or completely full of shit, and you know it.”
“Doesn’t fucking matter,” BJ practically spat.
“Yeah, I can see that …” Jordan said as she watched him down another shot.
“Just don’t judge, Jordie, okay?” he said gently. “You can’t know how this feels, right now,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“Tell me, Brenden, then I can better understand.”
“On one hand I feel like the dumbest fuck on the planet … She glides back into our lives, gets me to back her movie, and then bam she’s back with hubby. Then on the other hand it’s killing me not to hunt her down and ask what the fuck happened … but… why? So she can laugh and tell me I’m an idiot? Fuck!” he yelled, his frustration level rising another degree.
He grabbed one of the ashtrays off the end table next to him and threw it across the room. It crashed into the wall. Jordan ducked, then glanced over to where it had hit. Glass lay shattered on the floor, with butts and ash scattered everywhere. There was also a hole in the wall. She looked back at Brenden.
“Why can’t you just try?” Jordan asked mildly.
“Why?” Brenden asked, his tone sneering. “Because I’m not in the mood to get completely destroyed, that’s why.”
She got up and sat next to him on the couch.
“I’m sorry, Beege, I really am …” Jordan said, at a loss for what else she could say.
****
Things stepped up when Brenden found out that Allexxiss was going to be in New York at the same time the tour would be. He considered rescheduling the show, but since it was sold out, he decided against it. Instead, to deal with the idea of being in the same town with her again, he stepped up his drinking. During the two weeks after Philadelphia, Brenden also picked up a cough that got worse and worse. Brenden took to chugging cough syrup with one hand and tequila with the other.
Jordan worried about him constantly, finally talking to Devlin to see if he could help. Devlin’s attempt to talk to Brenden ended in near violence. Brenden James Sparks did not like to be “managed” as he called it. He started saying he was doing his “rock star thing.”
It became more and more evident that Brenden was exhausted. Although he gave an incredible show every night, he was incoherent most other times. When they were on the bus, he spent a lot of time in his private area at the back where he had a room and bathroom. He would lock the door and lie on his bed drinking half the day. The other half he would spend tossing and turning trying to sleep.
By the time they pulled into New York, he was camouflaging his dark circles on a constant basis. Jordan noticed but wasn’t sure what to do.
The night of the New York show, Brenden sat in his dressing room, trying to breathe. He sat back, coughing. He felt pain in his chest when he coughed. He was sure it wasn’t a good thing, but didn’t have the energy or the time to check it. He picked up the bottle of cough syrup with codeine he’d gotten in the last town. It was amazing what you could flirt your way into with a young nurse these days. Taking a few big swigs of the cough syrup, he started stretching his neck. As usual, he went through a routine of push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches to get himself ready for the very physical performance he gave. He had to stop a number of times for coughing fits. At one point he reached up to wipe away what he thought was saliva, and found blood on the back of his hand.
“Shit,” he muttered to himself.
Brenden knew it was a bad sign, but refused to think about it any further. He took a few long drinks of tequila, calming his nerves and soothing his mind. Glancing at the clock on the wall he knew he had ten minutes before the tech knocked on the door telling him he had another five.
Ten minutes later, he’d fortified himself with enough tequila to get him through the show. He’d used makeup to cover up the darkening circles under his eyes. He walked out of his dressing room and glanced around. Tabitha walked up to him.
“Jordan is done, you’ve got five minutes,” she told him.
Brenden nodded, taking a slow deep breath to keep from launching into another round of coughing. The last thing he needed right now was for his daughter to catch a glimpse of blood on his mouth. She’d have a fit and he didn’t feel like he could deal with that.
“Daddy?” Tabitha queried, looking at him, her eyes worried.
“I’m okay, baby,” he said. “Just getting my head together.”
Tabitha nodded, but felt that there was something he wasn’t saying. She could sense easily that he was exhausted. She hoped they could catch a break here soon.
They started to walk to the stage Tabitha was ahead of him, so she didn’t see him pause when he felt lightheaded all of a sudden. With the iron will that had gotten him through countless times in his life, he forced away the feeling and continued walking.
Once he was on stage, he had enough to concentrate on to keep him from thinking. A couple of times he had to hold a desperate desire to cough until a break in a song. He was irritated because he knew he wasn’t singing his best, and waves of dizziness kept rolling over him the whole show. Finally, as the last song ended, he had a few minutes for a break.
He walked to the side of the stage and guzzled tequila to try to force away the coughing. He had to get through a duet with Jordan next and was really feeling it. His throat was constricting constantly, making him feel like he couldn’t breathe. Once again forcing aside the feeling of dizziness, he walked back out onto the stage to continue the concert. But by the time he ended the duet with Jordan, he was feeling like he was moving under cement. His limbs seemed to weigh a ton, and he started getting tunnel vision.
As thunderous applause rained down on them, Jordan glanced up at him, seeing how pale he was.
“Beege?” she said, her eyes wide and scared.
His breathing was labored, but he shook his head. Everyone else walked out on stage to take final bows. Brenden fell back behind them as his vision blurred again. He started walking toward the side stage. Jake was behind him, and saw Brenden stumble. He quickly put a hand on Brenden’s arm to steady him.
Tabitha was at the side stage watching. She’d watched her father the entire show, and knew something was wrong. She screamed as Brenden went down. Devlin, who had caught up with him just then, was there to help Jake grab him and ease him to the floor of the stage. There was a universal gasp from the crowd as they saw BJ Sparks collapse as he walked offstage.
Jordan was at Brenden’s side just as Tabitha reached her father. Devlin checked Brenden’s pulse and noticed it was fast. He looked at Jordan. “Have someone call 911 now. He’s unconscious and his pulse is racing.”
“Oh God,” Tabitha said.
“He’s okay, Tabitha,” Jordan assured her. “He’ll be fine. I think he’s just sick as hell.”
Devlin was at Tabitha’s side, his arm around her for support. Jordan knelt next to Brenden, checking his breathing and pulse until the paramedics arrived. They transported Brenden to the hospital minutes later. Tabitha and Devlin went with him. The rest of the group told them they’d be there as soon as possible.
Tabitha paced the halls, noting as people from the tour showed up. She smiled weakly at most of them. She was too worried to think of anything else. Devlin stood by, watching her closely. He knew she was walking off the worry she had, so he didn’t stop her.
“I should have done more,” Jordan said to Devlin.
“Like what?” Devlin asked. “Drag him to a doctor?”
“Maybe,” Jordan said stubbornly.
“Jord, you know as well as I do, that Brenden doesn’t do a damned thing until he wants to,” Devlin said.
Jordan sighed, shaking her head as she looked over at Tabitha.
“You think she’s going to be okay?” Jordan asked, nodding toward Tabitha.
Devlin nodded. “I’ll make sure of that.”
An hour later, everyone was there, and the doctor walked out to talk to Tabitha. Devlin walked up behind her, putting his hand on her back.
“Your father is going to be just fine,” the doctor was saying. “He has pneumonia, and it’s very involved. There is a buildup of fluid in the space between the lung and chest wall, it’s called pleural effusion. We’ve put in a breathing tube to help him breathe easier, and we’ll need to drain the fluid once he’s stabilized.”
“But he’s okay?” Tabitha asked, getting more and more scared with what the doctor said.
“He’s visibly exhausted and very sick, but with rest and medication he’ll recover just fine, Ms. Sparks,” the doctor said.
“Thank you,” Tabitha said, leaning against Devlin in relief.
“When can we see him?” Devlin asked.
“I’d like him to become more stable,” the doctor said, “so I’d say in about three hours.”
Devlin nodded. “Thank you, doctor.”
The doctor walked away, and Devlin went to tell everyone what the doctor had told them. Everyone was relieved that Brenden was going to be okay.
“I’d suggest everyone head back to the hotel,” Devlin said, used to taking charge when Brenden was incapacitated. “Plan on digging in here in New York. It looks like we’ll be here a while, as long as a week, maybe more.”
Everyone nodded. Little by little, people filtered out of the waiting room. Some walked over to Tabitha to hug her. Tabitha nodded, holding it together in front of everyone.
After everyone had left, Devlin held his arms out to Tabitha, and she stepped into them, finally giving into her need to cry. As he had almost her entire life, Devlin comforted her.
She’d finally calmed when her cell phone rang.
“Hello?” she queried.
“Tabitha, it’s Allexxiss, I heard what happened,” Allex said hesitantly, “Is he okay?”
Tabitha glanced up at Devlin, who was watching her face to try to determine who she was talking to.
“I, uh,” Tabitha said, trying to adjust her mind. She was so shocked to hear from her mother. “He’s got pneumonia,” she said simply, unable to think of how to reply.
Devlin canted his head to the side, then reached out and gently took the phone from Tabitha, thinking it might be a reporter. The last thing he wanted her dealing with was the vultures in the press harassing her.
“Hello?” he said crisply.
“Who is this?” Allexxiss queried.
“Devlin McGregor, who’s this?”
“It’s Allexxiss,” she said. “I heard what happened tonight. I wanted to know if Brenden was okay.”
Devlin nodded, his eyes on Tabitha. She was staring up at him, obviously still shocked by Allexxiss’ call. After all, this was the woman who had walked out on Brenden and Tabitha a few months ago without a word.
“He’s going to be fine,” Devlin said. “He needs some rest, but he’ll be fine,” he said, his tone crisp.
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. Devlin waited.
“We’re filming here in New York,” Allexxiss said quietly. “If it’s okay, I’d like to be there,” she said, her tone sure, but soft.
Devlin gave Tabitha a measured look. He’d always suspected there was more to Allexxiss’ desertion of Brenden and Tabitha than met the eye. It was too sudden. Something inside told him that this might be the opportunity they needed to work things out. He made a quick decision, praying he wasn’t wrong. Allexxiss had called after all, right?
“Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” he said.
Again, there was silence.
“Thank you, Devlin,” Allexxiss said, tears in her voice.
Allexxiss knew Devlin was risking Brenden’s wrath, as well as Tabitha’s by allowing her to come to the hospital. And she appreciated the chance.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Allexxiss said.
“We’ll be here,” Devlin said.
They hung up.
“What?” Tabitha asked, not sure what his side of the conversation meant.
“Your mother is coming down here,” Devlin said, his tone no-nonsense.
“Why?” Tabitha asked, a suspicious look in her eye.
“Because she wants to be here, babe,” he said, his tone softening. “Tabbie, think about it, something wasn’t right about when she disappeared last time. It sounded like it was way too instant. Something isn’t right about that, you know it.”
Tabitha looked at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. He was right, she had wondered why it had happened so fast. One minute she’d been so happy being back with Brenden, and the next she was in Jamaica with her husband? It had a false ring to it, but Tabitha had been so angry that it had hurt her father so deeply, that she refused to see past the facade put up to the world.
Less than an hour later, Allexxiss walked off the elevators. She wore no makeup, a sweat suit, and her long blond hair was in a braid down her back. It was obvious she wasn’t doing this to impress anyone. When she saw Tabitha, she hesitated, unsure of how her daughter would react. She didn’t even know if Devlin had told Tabitha she was coming.
Tabitha glanced over and saw Allexxiss standing at the entrance to the waiting room. Tabitha got up from the chair she was sitting in next to Devlin, and walked straight over to her mother. Without a word, she threw her arms around Allex, and hugged her. Allex did the same, tears in her eyes instantly. They hugged for a few minutes, ignoring the paparazzi taking pictures of the entire scene.
“How is he?” Allexxiss asked, when they parted.
“They said he has pneumonia, that both his lungs have fluid around the outside or something like that.”
“But they said he’ll be okay?” Allexxiss asked.
“Yeah, they said he needed rest and medication, but he’d be okay.”
Allexxiss breathed a sigh of relief. “When I heard he’d collapsed, I just didn’t know …” she said, shaking her head.
Tabitha and Allex continued to talk and neither of them noticed Jordan slip out of the waiting room. Devlin watched her go, and noticed the narrowed look on her face. She wasn’t happy about Allexxiss being there. Jordan was, after all, one of Brenden’s best friends, she had been irate about what Allexxiss had done to him.
She walked down the hall, glancing at the names on the handwritten tags on the doors. She saw Brenden’s name on one of the tags. She glanced around and saw no one around, so she went in letting the door close quietly behind her. Brenden was in a private room. She walked over to the bed, noting the IVs in his hand and the breathing apparatus in his nose. He was unconscious. She leaned down to kiss his forehead. She found a chair and pushed it over to the corner, where the curtain partially hid the alcove. She sat there, watching her friend.
Three hours later, Tabitha got the okay to go in and see Brenden. Devlin suggested Allexxiss and her go in, he’d wait outside. Tabitha led the way, walking into the room where Brenden lay still unconscious. She was shocked at the way he looked. The dark circles he’d been managing to hide, were now completely uncovered. They looked almost like bruises they were so dark.
“My God …” Allexxiss whispered.
“Where did those come from?” Tabitha asked, shocked.
“They came from not sleeping for weeks on end,” Jordan answered from behind them.
Tabitha turned to see Jordan getting up from her chair. Her gold eyes were on Allexxiss.
“They came from drinking himself unconscious most nights,” Jordan continued, her eyes narrowing at Allexxiss. “They came from him not caring about his own well-being anymore,” Jordan said, her tone deepening in disgust.
“Jordan …” Tabitha said, shocked at the way the other woman was acting, and wanting to disagree with what she was saying. “I didn’t know any of this.”
“No,” Jordan said, shaking her head, her gold eyes falling on Tabitha, “because your dad hid it from you, just like he hid the depression for years. BJ’s real good at hiding things, he only lets you see what he wants you to see,” she said, her smile derisive. “It’s the artist in him.”
Allexxiss said nothing, knowing that Jordan was blaming her for Brenden’s condition, and unable to argue with the woman. Jordan looked at Allexxiss again, her eyes narrowing.
“You nailed him good,” Jordan said. “I’ll give you that.”
Allexxiss didn’t reply, unable to think of anything to say, other than that she was sorry, but she knew Jordan wouldn’t care. She could see it in the other woman’s eyes. She swallowed convulsively, then nodded, lowering her eyes from Jordan’s.
Jordan nodded, as if accepting Allexxiss surrender. Then she looked at Tabitha again.
“I’m going to go get some air,” Jordan told Tabitha, her tone indicating that the air in the room was foul now.
Tabitha nodded, not sure what to say right then either. She knew that Jordan loved her father, and that was the reason she was willing to attack Allexxiss. She couldn’t defend what her mother had done, but she wouldn’t join in the attack either. She respected that Jordan had a right to feel the way she did, knowing that she herself had felt that way for a while too.
Jordan left the room, closing the door quietly.
Allexxiss expelled her breath, shaking her head. “Not making any friends here, am I?”
“Jordan’s one of dad’s best friends,” Tabitha explained.
Allexxiss nodded. “And she’s saying this is my fault,” she said, “and she may be right.”
Tabitha nodded. “He was pretty hurt when you left.”
Allexxiss nodded again. “Believe me, Tabitha, I had no choice.”
“Why?” Tabitha asked.
Before Allexxiss could answer, Brenden stirred. Tabitha moved to his side, as Allexxiss stepped back, not wanting to upset him.
“Daddy?” Tabitha said, her eyes searching his face.
Brenden opened his eyes, staring straight ahead, obviously trying to correlate where he was. Then he looked at Tabitha.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.
“You collapsed, Daddy,” she said, “you’re in the hospital.”
Brenden nodded slowly. It was obvious that even talking was making him tired.
“Rest, Daddy,” Tabitha said, brushing his hair back off his forehead. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
Brenden nodded wearily and closed his eyes again. He was asleep moments later.
Outside, Jordan walked down the hallway, meeting up with Devlin. He could see she was agitated.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Jordan shook her head. “I know she’s Tabbie’s mother and all,” she said, “but I’m sorry, I don’t want her here.”
“He loves her, Jord,” Devlin said.
“Yeah, but she’s no good for him, Dev,” she replied. “I’m not going to watch him self-destruct over her.”
“Maybe he won’t,” Devlin ventured.
“And maybe he will, Dev,” Jordan countered, narrowing her eyes at him. “You want to be the one to have to pick up the pieces? It will shatter Tabitha.”
Devlin grimaced. He knew she was right, but he also felt like Brenden had a right to a chance at being happy.
“Give it a chance, Jordan,” Devlin said.
“Do I have a choice?” she asked sourly, making a face. “She’s already here.”
Devlin grinned. “I want Beege to be happy, okay? So sue me.”
“Why can’t he fall for Pam Anderson, like all the other rockers in the world?” Jordan asked stubbornly.
Devlin wrinkled up his nose. “Would you want to deal with her?”
“Not really, no,” Jordan said.
“Besides, she’s not his type,” Devlin said, grinning. “He likes them with a brain.”
Jordan laughed shaking her head. “You are bad!” She grew serious then. “She’s going to hurt him again, Dev,” she said, her tone sure.
“And when she does, we’ll be there to pick him back up,” Devlin said, spreading his hands plaintively. “That’s what friends do.”
Jordan sighed, shaking her head. “One of these days, Devlin, one of us won’t be there to catch him when he falls. That scares me to death.”
Devlin nodded, his face grim. Then he looked at her. “Well, you could make a real go at a relationship with Beege,” he said.
Jordan stared at him for a long moment, shocked that he’d suggested such a thing.
She gave him a sour look. “You know it’s not that easy,” she told him.
“I know,” Devlin said, “so our option is that we’re there for him when he needs us.”
Jordan nodded, not looking happy about it.
Brenden opened his eyes slowly. His vision was hazy at first, then it cleared. He was stunned to see Allexxiss sitting in the chair next to his bed. He stared at her for a long moment before she even realized that he was awake. Looking down at him, she could read the suspicion in his light blue-green eyes.
So she wasn’t altogether surprised when he growled, “What are you doing here?”
She hesitated, not sure how to answer him.
“I was worried,” she said softly.
He looked back at her for a long moment, then gave a short sarcastic laugh, shaking his head, his lips twisted in a sardonic grin.
“You’re worried now?” he bit out.
She nodded, unable to come up with a reply.
“You should have been worried when you fuckin’ walked out on me, Allex. That just about did me in, this is nothing by comparison.”
Allex swallowed against the tears clogging her throat, she knew he might react this way. She knew that she’d hurt him by running off and leaving him. Now she was paying for that.
“Brenden, please, I’m sorry, you just have to know that I did what was best for you,” she said, her eyes begging him to understand without her having to explain.
“So why are you here now?” he asked, ignoring her words.
She hesitated then sighed. “Because I wanted to be here,” she answered simply.
“But even this isn’t for good, is it?” Brenden asked, his eyes narrowed.
Allexxiss swallowed convulsively, shaking her head slowly.
“Get out,” Brenden said quietly.
“Bren, please …” Allexxiss said, reaching out to touch his hand.
He yanked his hand away from her as if her touch would burn him.
“I said, get out,” he said, his voice stronger this time.
“Bren …” Allexxiss breathed, knowing she’d already lost.
“Get the fuck out Allex, now!” he yelled.
He was breathing heavily even as he yelled. Allex didn’t see it, she was too blind with tears as she made her way out of the room.
She ran into Tabitha, who was heading into her father’s room, having heard him yell.
“What happened?” Tabitha asked, worried something had happened to her father.
“I can’t,” Allexxiss said, shaking her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Tabbie, I just can’t. I have to go,” she said, pushing past Tabitha.
“What happened?” Tabitha cried.
Allexxiss just shook her head, and walked quickly down the hallway. Tabitha looked at Devlin who was leaning against the wall.
“Goddamn him,” she muttered, turning to walk into the room.
“Tabitha, wait!” Devlin called, but she was already in the room.
“What did you do?” she yelled at Brenden. “Why can’t you just be happy for once? Why can’t you just let someone make you happy? What the hell is wrong with you!”
She didn’t see that he was gasping for breath, she was so angry at him. She didn’t see the way he was clenching the sheets in pain as he tried to breathe. She was blinded by her anger at him for running Allexxiss off.
“Why!” she screamed again.
“Tabitha! Stop!” Devlin yelled, grabbing her arm and shaking her, and gesturing to Brenden.
He let go of her, and strode around the bed, leaning down to put a hand on Brenden’s arm.
“Calm down, man, calm down,” Devlin said soothingly. He glanced up at a now shocked Tabitha. “Get a doctor or a nurse now!” he yelled at her.
She nodded and reached for the door, unable to take her eyes off her father. Terror hit her then, what had she just done? She ran down the hall, yelling for a nurse or a doctor. The nurse at the station stood up, and ran over to Tabitha.
“It’s my father, he can’t breathe!” she cried to the woman.
The nurse nodded, and went to a cupboard, grabbing a vile and a needle.
They both ran back to the room. Brenden was writhing on the bed by this time, his lips were actually blue, and Tabitha stood staring at her father, sure she’d just killed him. Devlin got out of the nurse’s way, walking over to stand behind Tabitha. He put his hands on her shoulders, and she leaned back against him heavily. He could feel her shaking.
After a few moments, Brenden’s breathing calmed, and it was obvious he had passed out. The doctor came in, asking what had happened.
“He was near respiratory arrest, doctor,” the nurse told him.
The doctor nodded, glancing at Tabitha and Devlin. He noted that the girl looked pale.
“Okay, no more visitors for now,” the doctor said, unsure what had happened.
He only knew that his patient had nearly died and he didn’t want any more outside influences affecting his recovery.
Devlin looked at the doctor, and saw what the man was thinking. He nodded his head, half agreeing with the man. There was way too much going on in this situation, and it was affecting Brenden’s healing. Turning Tabitha around, Devlin walked her out of the room.
She broke away from his hold
“I need to be alone for a bit, okay?” she said.
Devlin looked at her for a long moment, not sure if he was really keen on the idea of her being alone.
“Dev, I’ll be okay,” she said. “I just need to handle this, okay?”
He nodded. “Make sure you leave your cell on, and call me if you need me, okay?”
“I will,” she said.
She hugged him, and then turned and walked down the corridor. He watched her go, worried, but knowing that she needed to reconcile what had just happened.
Later that night, Devlin was at the hotel. He was worried sick about Tabitha, but when he’d called her she’d told him she was fine, that she’d meet him back at the hotel “soon.” At ten o’clock that evening, she knocked on his hotel room door. When he answered, she looked absolutely miserable. He opened his arms and she walked into them. He hugged her tightly, then walked her over to the couch and sat down with her.
“I don’t know what I was doing, Dev,” she said.
“You lost it, babe,” he said, shrugging. “We’re all stressed to the max right now, and you just lost it a little bit.”
“But, look what I did,” she said, sounding aghast at her own action.
“He’s okay, Tabbie. I just called and talked to the doctor, and he’s okay.”
“But,” she began, but his finger on her lips stopped her.
“No buts, Tabitha, he’s fine,” Devlin said. “Don’t forget, he’s the one who allowed himself to get this sick in the first place, because he’s too damned stubborn to let people into his pain.”
Tabitha took a deep breath, blowing it out in a sigh.
“Look,” Devlin said, “I’ve been thinking about it, and I think we need to cancel the rest of the tour.”
“Cancel it?” she repeated in surprise.
“Yeah,” Devlin said, “it’s been a serious bad luck tour so far and I think your dad’s really going to need the recovery time.”
Tabitha thought about it, then nodded. “I think you’re right.”
“We can reschedule the shows later, when everyone’s rested.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding.
“We’ll call everyone in the morning and let them know what we’re doing.”
“Okay,” she said, happy to have someone helping her make decisions.
Devlin was always the sensible, logical one. He was always the rock in the storm. She came to appreciate him more and more over the next few days. He handled everything, with her help. They worked as a team to let everyone know what was happening, contacting the promoters to let them know about the cancellations. Even setting up a press conference where Devlin made a statement that due to BJ Sparks’s condition, that they needed to postpone some concerts, but no they didn’t have reschedule dates just yet. He answered no questions, refusing to give them any indication of the nature of Brenden’s illness. He figured that was Brenden’s decision to make, not his.
Devlin was just walking into his hotel room to hear the phone in his room ringing. Picking it up he said, “Hello?”
“Mr. McGregor? This is the hotel operator, we have a call from an Angelica Benita, she says she needs to talk to you about Max, Allex’s husband?” The woman’s voice sounded mystified, but it was obvious to Devlin that this Angelica had given the woman enough information to get through to him.
“Go ahead and put her through,” Devlin said, figuring that if this was just a ploy of some reporter to talk to him he would just hang up. He sat down in the chair next to the phone and waited for it to click over.
“Mr. McGregor?” queried a female voice.
“Yes, this is Devlin McGregor, what can I do for you Ms. Benita?”
“I wanted to talk to you about your lead singer and my friend Allex.”
Devlin grinned. “Okay, Ms. Benita, what about?”
“Well, I know that Allex went to the hospital to see Mr. Sparks and that he ended up ordering her to leave …”
“Well, you gotta know that it was Allex who left first, Ms. Benita,” Devlin pointed out.
“I know that’s what it looked like,” Angelica said.
“Looked like?” Devlin replied. “She took off to Jamaica with her husband and didn’t say anything to BJ. He had to find out through the papers.”
“Mr. McGregor, she didn’t go with Max,” Angelica told him. “She told me she could have killed Max for letting the press think that. She even thinks he planted the story, especially about the baby.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” Angelica said, “she said if she’d been pregnant it would have been BJ’s because she hadn’t slept with Max in a long, long time.”
“That would be pretty dirty pool …” Devlin said, his mind already turning over the ramifications of this information.
“I know,” Angelica said. “She’s been very upset by everything having to do with Mr. Sparks.”
“So why did she leave him in the first place?” Devlin asked, trying to get to the heart of the matter. “If she’s still upset over their breaking up, why break up?”
“That’s the thing,” Angelica said. “She did it for him.”
“Huh?” Devlin asked dumbly.
“Her creep of a husband threatened to ruin BJ if she tried to leave him for BJ.”
“Ruin him?” Devlin repeated. “How?”
“I don’t know,” Angelica said, shaking her head. “She seemed to think that Max could get BJ fired from the label, or something.”
“Fired from his own label?” Devlin asked, grinning as he did.
“That’s what I didn’t get either,” Angelica said. “Can they fire him? Doesn’t he have a contract or something?”
“Ms. Benita, BJ owns the label,” Devlin said informatively
Angelica gasped. “He owns it?” she asked sounding truly shocked.
“Yeah, and the studios we, and his other artists record in,” Devlin said.
“Oh my God!” Angelica said. “I always thought that when everyone said, ‘BJ Sparks’s label,’ they meant the label he recorded his albums with, not that it was his own company.”
Devlin canted his head. “I’ll bet that’s what Allexxiss thinks too, then.”
“Probably,” Angelica agreed.
“So maybe we need to tell her that BJ can’t be fired.”
“Okay, but how else could Max Putnam ruin BJ?” Angelica asked, concerned.
“I don’t know,” Devlin said, “but I can find out. Thank you for the call, Ms. Benita.”
“I hope it helps somehow,” Angelica said, happy that she’d taken the chance to call him.
“You and me both.”
Devlin gave Angelica his cell phone number and took down hers so they could stay in touch.