Chapter Three
Xander (Wednesday)
Aiden was back in recording. Of course, he was. But this time, he wasn’t managing to bother Michael or me. This time, we were letting him just get on with it, sensing that freedom was what he needed, while we talked about our new plans.
“So, we need to search local talent,” I told Michael excitedly. “I know you think YouTube is the right place to hunt, but I honestly think that we’ll just end up with the same problem. There’s nothing like a small following online to lead to an overinflated ego. Those people already assume they’re famous, they’ll think they’re owed more, and that’s what we want to get away from.”
“Okay,” he conceded, finally coming around to my point of view. “That sounds right. So now we just need to decide where to go. I mean, are we prepared to go to one of those open mic nights on the off chance we might find someone?”
I shrugged, not feeling too enthused on that idea myself. “I guess we have to start somewhere. Why not? Find some dive bar and give it a shot. At least it’ll give us a clue as to what direction we want to go in.”
We usually spent our time out at high-class bars, not the sort of place where they’d ever dream of handing the microphone over to someone. “Any ideas?”
“I dunno, maybe somewhere in Brooklyn? I’ll look online, see what events are on tonight, and we’ll go from there. Maybe someone raw and totally unpolished is exactly what we need to drive this.”
“You do that; I’ll wrap this up.” I gestured toward Aiden. “Then, we can get going. The sooner we get out, the better.”
“All right, old man, wouldn’t want to keep you up past your bedtime.” Michael shot me a wink, and I narrowed my eyes back at him. Just because I didn’t like staying out all night at wild parties didn’t make me boring. It just meant I’d grown up like I was supposed to. “Let’s do this.”
I sat back and watched Aiden in action, only giving him instructions when I thought he needed them. The whole time, my mind twisted and turned, trying to work out just how to make something new happen. Holding open auditions wasn’t the way, and I didn’t feel like the Internet was, either. To find the real magic, we were going to have to just stumble across someone. It would have to be organic and exciting. I needed to sense the special quality in the person to know it was going to work.
Maybe that would happen in some dive bar in Brooklyn, maybe not. But like I said to Michael, we needed to start somewhere.
***
“Sticky floor, check,” I told Michael sarcastically. “Dirty glasses? Yep, got those, too. A clientele that looks as if they haven’t washed in forever, done.”
“Oh, don’t be such a whiner.” He grinned. “This is going to be fun!”
His eyes were lit up, but that was only because there were women in the room. It didn’t take any more than that for him to be satisfied. Michael loved the side effects of having money, mostly that women threw themselves at him.
He’d confided in me once that he’d had terrible acne when he was a teenager, lasting into his early twenties, so women hadn’t even glanced his way. He justified the constant stream of women in his life, most of whom he didn’t even know the names of, as making up for lost time.
I didn’t judge him. But that life wasn’t for me. Maybe I was more mature than that. I certainly liked to believe it was that, but the more likely option was that I’d been hurt when I was younger.
I had never trusted easily; it was one of my main qualities growing up. I didn’t like to let anyone in for fear of getting hurt, but when I did, it meant I expected them to be in my life forever. Maybe that came from growing up in a foster home, I wasn’t too sure.
I didn’t know much about my family history because I’d never cared to know, but the basic outline was that my mom picked drugs over me, and no one knew who my dad was. I was a helpless baby who needed looking after, and my mom had given me away.
I never would’ve even learned that part, if it hadn’t been for my inheritance. When I got the call suggesting that my grandmother was leaving me a small fortune, I’d assumed it was a hoax, but it wasn’t.
This woman didn’t even know I existed at first. She’d had no contact with my mother, and by the time she’d found out about me, I was impossible to find. I don’t know how hard she tried, considering I grew up in the same foster home the entire time, but that didn’t matter too much. I did my best not to be too bitter about it, at any rate. She’d left me the money because she didn’t want my mom to kill herself with it, and that had given me the life I had today.
Anyway, I’d never searched for a relationship because I was so scared of letting anyone in. Despite that, one found me.
Julia had been in my class at school – not that I ever attended very much – and had pursued me relentlessly, even though fear caused me to push her away more than once. Julia was gorgeous, a cheerleader with long blond hair, warm brown eyes, and the body of every teenage boy’s fantasy. I adored her from afar, but I couldn’t let her in, in case it was all a joke.
After all, I was one of the foster kids, not someone worth knowing. Maybe I wasn’t teased as badly as the others, but I was ignored because of that status. It was like a neon sign above my head, pointing me out as different.
Yet, Julia did seem to want me. My status didn’t seem to bother her; she acted like she liked me anyway. Eventually, on the last day of school, I couldn’t see any reason why she’d continue with the joke, especially after such a long time, so I agreed to go on a date with her.
We fell in love, hard and fast… Or I did, at least. I would have done absolutely anything for her – and I did. I hadn’t yet received my inheritance, I didn’t even know about it, so I’d worked day and night in a fast food joint just trying to get by. I would have done literally anything to keep that woman by my side.
What I didn’t realize was that the novelty of being with me had worn off. I guess Julia grew up a little and recognized that what she wanted in school wasn’t for her anymore. She had dreams and ambitions. She wanted to be with a very rich man, and as soon as she found one, she’d left me coldly in the middle of the night with only a note to keep me company.
I’d let her in, I’d shared the secrets of my life with her, and she didn’t care enough to tell me her feelings to my face. That part hurt most of all.
Of course, she did try to get me back at one point, once she’d learned about my money, but by then I was far too scarred by what she’d done, so I couldn’t let her back even if I’d wanted to… not that I ever would. There was no chance of her burning me twice. I’d smartened up by then. I was wiser.
I’d had flings since then, but I always kept people at a distance. I never wanted to fully let them in, which meant my relationships had a shelf life of six months or less. It didn’t make me happy, but neither would a selection of one-night stands. I guessed I was just waiting for the right one to finally come along.
“Let’s sit here.” Michael dragged me to a table right at the front. “That way we can get the best view.”
I settled in my seat, secretly harboring the hope that we’d find someone right away. I needed this. Now that the idea was in my mind, I was chomping at the bit to get started. I just couldn’t wait for it.
Which made it even more disappointing as act after act got up on stage and none of them held any magic. The more people who stood on the stage to sing, the more despondent I became. It was silly to feel that way. I wasn’t sure why I’d expected to find someone on the very first night. If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. But I couldn’t control my disappointment.
“This is a bust, isn’t it?” Michael hissed into my ear. “I think I’m gonna get out of here if you don’t mind?”
I glanced over to where he was looking and noticed a very busty waitress winking at him. Of course, while I was growing increasingly annoyed, he was looking for another way to spend the night. Always looking on the bright side, never wasting an opportunity. I had to admire him for that. “No, you go for it. I’m just going to finish my drink, then I’ll be heading off myself, anyway.”
As he sidled over to the bar, totally forgetting all about me, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket to look for some other ideas. I didn’t want to totally get thrown off kilter by the disappointment.
The first thing I noticed was an email that made me smile: a thank you note from the foster care charity that I always paid a hefty donation to each year. Knowing that I was doing some good in the world cheered me up.
Again, we are very grateful. We are holding our annual event to raise donations, and we’d love to have you on the VIP guest list. I have attached the program of events for you…
Now that was something I wanted to do, but I didn’t want it to be made all about me. I didn’t need to be put on any VIP guest list. I clicked open the attachment, just out of interest, and quickly noticed a lot of singers as part of the event.
It might not have been the sort of place to find my next big star, but at the same time, I was doing different things, expanding my horizons, trying to find someone different. The whole dive bar thing hadn’t worked, but maybe this could.
I had to give it a try, anyway. There was no point in turning this opportunity down, just in case.
I quickly typed an email back before I could change my mind, feeling hope rise through me again. I glanced over at Michael, wondering if I could try and persuade him to come with me, but there wasn’t any chance of that right now. He had his tongue down the waitress’ throat, and that was where it would stay. I didn’t want to get in the middle of that.
No, what I needed to do was gone home for now. This was getting me nowhere. I’d sort it out in the morning when I could talk to Michael properly.