“Shocked to the core, son, like everyone else. I can’t quite believe it.”
“I know what you mean. It’s surreal,” I say, taking a seat on the plush cream sofa.
“Okay, boys. Let’s get to work. We need a strategy in place to deal with whatever shit he’s about to throw at us,”Dani orders. It’s like a war room, except I know I don’t want to go to war with Brett. Does he really want to fight?
“So, has anyone heard from him yet?” Dani asks.
“Nope, not me,” Ash answers with a tic to his jaw. I’ve never seen him so uptight.
“Me neither.” Max shrugs with vacant eyes like he’s in another world. He’s taken Brett’s departure the hardest.
I lean towards him. “You okay, man?”
He’s wearing a tight-lipped smile when he answers, “Yeah, I’ll be all right. Thanks, bro.”
“How about you, Tommy? Anything at all? Any ideas?” Bernie asks.
“Nah, nothing.” We look at each other, racking our brains.
“What a selfish tosser,” Dani mumbles a little too loudly, and all eyes dart her way. “He won’t answer our calls, and his solicitor is accusing me of harassment, which is just bloody ridiculous. I think we’re entitled to an explanation.”
I wouldn’t want to take on Dani at the best of times. No wonder Brett isn’t responding, but I’m still shocked at the way he’s treating his bandmates. I thought the four of us were family. We fought like cat and dog at times, but we’d always be there for each other. Maybe I was wrong.
“You need to calm down, Dani. It’s caught everyone off guard, but you can’t let your emotions get in the way. I know you’re close to the band?—”
Dani is quick to correct her father. “Emotions? I’m not emotional, Dad, I’m bloody furious!”
“That’s an emotion, my darling. You should take a step back and look at this logically. There’s no point in getting worked up. Let’s see what Brett has to say in his statement before we make any judgments. In the meantime, we should try to put together a response, just in case we need one. We can tailor it later if needs be.”
“Do we know if Brett is making the statement himself?” Ash asks.
“No idea,” Dani says. “I’ve got word it might be one of his representatives, which is fucking incredible because, until this morning, Election Management represented him. The next thing we know, he’s got his own people. Well, I’m not falling for his bullshit. It’s obvious to me he’s been planning this for a while.”
“It’s probable, Dani.” Bernie smiles sadly. “Perhaps we should prepare two statements, so we’re ready for anything, good or bad. If he’s tired of it all and has simply had enough, then we express our genuine sadness that it’s ended this way and wish him well. If there’s more to it, then we still wish him well, but due to legal reasons, we have no further comments.”
“Jesus, that all sounds a little clinical, Bern,” Ash says.
“We just need to prepare for the worst.”
He’s right. Bernie’s been in this business a long time and knows his stuff.
“We’ll follow your lead on this one,” I tell him.
“Yeah, we trust you, Bern. Although, deep down, there’s part of me that hopes Brett is just having a bad day and he’ll be back tomorrow,” Max says, taking a seat next to me.
“Yeah,” I agree, but I’m also angry. If Brett were here, I’d fucking show him how much.
Ash nods in thought. “You think you know someone when, in reality, you have no idea what goes on behind their closed door.”
The doorbell rings out of the blue. We’re not expecting anyone else.
“Bloody press,” Dani mutters, but Calla is already peeking through the blinds.
“It’s not the press. It’s security. I’ve just seen a courier hand something over.”
In no time, Ash’s security arrives inside with an envelope.
“Cheers, man,” he says, ripping it open while we sit around, drinking coffee and eating breakfast—at least, some of us do. Max isn’t eating.
