I didn’t mean to say that.
Not because it wasn’t true, though, because it totally was.
I was in love with Halle.Totally, completely head over heels.
I hadn’t used the L word in the songs I’d written, but the sentiment and the meaning was there.
Halle was the first person I thought of when I woke up and the last person I thought about at night.
When I wasn’t with her, I wanted to be with her.
It was a damn shame that in life you couldn’t always get what you wanted.
‘Are you kidding me?’ She rolled her eyes.‘You think you’re inlovewith this chick?Jesus. You’ve known her for five minutes!Just because a woman knows how to suck your cock and spreads her legs for you, doesn’t mean it’s love!You need me more than I thought!’
‘That’s where you’re wrong.I don’t need you.The only reason I thought I did was because you took me on when I was at my lowest point and you’ve manipulated me ever since.But the difference is that thanks to meeting an amazing woman, now I believe in myself.I’ve got talent and I know I’ll make it on my own.Withoutdoing a fucking reality TV show.Wilma, you’re fired!’
Right on cue, two burly security guards rocked up.
‘Is there a problem here?’ one of them asked.
‘Sure is,’ I said.‘This woman isn’t authorised to be on the hotel grounds.She’s harassing me and my match.Please can you remove her?’
‘Right away, Mr Myers.Ma’am.Please come with us.’
‘You can’t do this!’ Wilma shouted as they guided her towards the gates.
‘I just did.’ I went to walk off, then stopped.‘Hey, Wilma.You forgot this.’
I threw her phone towards her.She went to catch it but it slipped out of her hands and crashed to the ground.
‘No!’ she cried out.‘It’s smashed!’
‘Too bad.Guess you need to practise your catching skills.Maybe there’s some kind of baseball reality show you can apply for.’ I smirked, then walked away.
As her screams and wails faded into the distance, pride filled my chest.
I was free.
Deep down I’d always known that Wilma was wrong for me, but I was so desperate that I thought without her, I wouldn’t survive.
But now I realised that she was holding me back.
Worse than that, she was encouraging me to do things that went against everything I believed in.I’d been someone’s puppet before and I sure as shit wasn’t doing that again.
The songs I’d written these past few days weregood. No.They weregreat. I felt it in my bones.And I could do this.
I’d release my music myself, on my own terms.This was my calling and I wasn’t gonna waste it.
When I left the band, I thought I’d never sing again.But I did.
I rose from the ashes once and I knew that I could do it again.
But first, I had something that was even more important to focus on: Explaining everything to Halle.
And finding a way to win her back.
42
