Fuck. I’d expected bad news, but this was well past that. I turned to Sawyer, my eyes widening. His expression was shuttered, his jaw tight.
“They can’t do that.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I canceled those dates.”
“No, you asked Paul to cancel them, and instead he went to the board. They decided to reschedule you for January.”
I checked the calendar on my phone. “Why didn’t they tell me? They had to have made that decision right after I collapsed.”
“Yes.”
“Seriously, why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Probably because they thought Paul would be a professional and pass along the information.”
I could hear my molars grinding at this point. I’d ignored his calls because I’d fired him with cause. They had no business making him the person to keep me informed. “So they want me back on stage in amonth.”
Sawyer silently pulled me onto his lap. Despite the shit news, having his arms around me helped stave off some of the panic. I couldn’t even fathom getting on a stage at this point.
“Actually, we’re looking at a little less than a month,” Terrence said. “Sending you the new calendar.”
My phone dinged, and I pulled up my messages to find a marketing visual advertising the new dates.I can’t wait to get back on the road!it said in bold type.
I was going to be sick.
“This first show is set for New Year’s Eve,” I said, showing Sawyer the text. His chest heaved as I returned my attention to Terrence. “That’s not January, that’s December. I’m telling you, man, I don’t have it in me. My voice is better, and Dr. Ahmed likes my progress, but I don’t have the stamina. They should not have published these dates.”
All of that was true, but the thing really fucking with me was the thought of having to leave Sawyer just when I’d figured out that he might be my person.
“They’re saying that if you don’t, the deal is off.”
“What do they mean, the deal is off?” I asked, trying to pull my attention back to where it needed to be.
“If you don’t complete these shows at these dates and times, they will not only keep you on contract, they will also sue you for breach of that contract.”
Sawyer took the phone from me and pulled me against his chest. “Terrence, this is Sawyer. I have a minor in legal studies, and they cannot sue Hendrix for breach of contract. He is not in breach. His doctor says that we still have a few months to go before she’s comfortable releasing him, and his contract clearly gives an out for medical issues.”
“The board is requesting that one of their doctors examine you.”
“Why?” I asked, starting to panic.
Terrence let out a tinny sigh on the speakerphone. “One of the board members has a contact in Seguin. He said that he’s seen you out and about over the last couple of months, looking healthy.”
“Just because I don’t look like a Dickensian orphan anymore,” I said, stealing Sawyer’s words, “doesn’t mean I’m capable of putting on a full punk rock concert. It’s basically jogging while singing for two solid hours. Hell, Sago and Robbie were so exhausted, I doubt they could do it, either.”
“I’ve talked to them, and they’re willing to back you up either way.”
I swore under my breath. “The contact in Seguin had to be DeWitt. We had a confrontation a couple of months ago. His lawyer contacted my doctor, who shot him down. That’s why they want another doctor to look at me.”
Terrence cursed under his breath. “Fuck. Tell me again what happened with that loser son of his?”
“It’s all high school bullshit. Chase beat the crap out of a friend of mine, then tried to do the same to me. And last year he burned our local community center to the ground.”
“I remember now,” Terrence said, shuffling papers. “His lawyers worked out some sort of deal, right?”
“Yeah. Chase did very little time. Also, once he completed his community service hours, his conviction was scrubbed from his record,” I said, thinking of Holden lying on the ground, bleeding out. Despite the sweetheart deal, Chase had been punished more severely for destroying property than he had for nearly killing a man.
“Hendrix, I know this is grade A bullshit, and normally I’d say to fight this with everything we’ve got, but these tour dates are not that bad. We’re talking a show or two a week, a little over a month and a half of work. The Europeans love you. You know your fans will show up.”
It was true. I had the best fans in the world. Dick DeWitt could go fuck a cactus as far as I was concerned, but I hated disappointing the people who’d been loyal to me from the beginning. Still, I couldn’t imagine singing the set list we’d been performing so far in the tour.
