“I like him.” Niels spun his chair to face them. “Like I said at our last meeting, it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone like him.”
“But what about that guy from yesterday? He smashed it, too.”
“He did. And he is also one I’m seriously considering. But Noah’s timbre captivated me from the start. It’s dark, emotional, and powerful. I think he’d be a great addition to the band.”
Kaj frowned and gaped as he tried to come up with valid arguments to respond, but he couldn’t. So, he simply grunted, plopping down on the couch beside Xander. Then, Niels’s phone vibrated on the mixing desk.
He looked at it and stood up. “Gotta take this.”
As he walked out of the studio, Kaj deflated, as if life had been drained out of him. This couldn’t be happening.
“Okay, out with it,” Xander said, crossing his arms and tilting his chin when his eyes caught Kaj’s.
“Out with what?”
“What do you know about this Noah guy that we don’t?”
Kaj’s gaze flicked to Aksel, who was propped on an elbow over his knee, an inquisitive look on his face. Neither of them was stupid nor oblivious, so of course they’d notice his reluctance to work with Noah.
Clenching his jaw, the drummer took a deep breath through his nose, letting it out in a sonorous puff of air.
“Dude, if you have a problem with him,wehave a problem with him,” Xander coaxed.
“It’s not that I have a problem with him. Not anymore.” Kaj paused and stared down at his fidgety hands on his lap. He needed to stop picking at the hangnail on his thumb when he was anxious. “It’s complicated.”
Xander’s brows pinched in concern, but all he said was “okay.” Then he and Aksel started showing each other photos on their respective phones, blabbering about motorcycles since the bassist was thinking of getting a new one. To say Kaj was confused at their reaction was an understatement.
“You’re not gonna ask?” he said, blankly staring ahead.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Xander replied.
“Not really.”
“We don’t wanna pry then,” Aksel said.
“Judging by how tense you were around Sørensen and the way you snapped before, it’s obvious you have a history—an ex, maybe?” Xander slowly shook his head with a smile when Kaj opened his mouth to talk. “No need to explain anything now. You’ll tell us when you feel like it.”
Kaj’s heart skidded.
The best thing about being around people with baggage of their own was that they saw beyond the facade. They knew how to read him and always respected his limits.
“The only thing I’m gonna tell you is to keep in mind that this is about the band’s future,” Xander added, “and sadly, the decision is notonlyup to us.”
“I know.”
Thanks to the commotion Emil created, the new vocalist selection would be a “team” choice. A team formed by the band members, their manager, and the heads of department sitting at the table the other day.
The record label never interfered in the internal decision-making processes of the band, but some of the clauses in their contract granted them certain rights concerning band members departures and replacements—especially in cases that could potentially damage their reputation and investment, like this one.
“Assuming Sørensen will make it to the top three, we will vote for any of the other guys on Monday. Maybe we can get Niels on board with us. That way we’ll have more power over the outcome.”
“I appreciate it, but I’d rather keep it between us. He’s already busting my balls with rehab and shit whenever I’m moody. I don’t want to give him more ammunition.”
“Let’s hope the next artists are better than him then, because as inconvenient and unpleasant as you find it, Sørensen nailed it today.”
“Yeah. He has a habit of being fucking perfect.” Kaj scoffed.
Xander and Aksel gave him a knowing look, and after a brief silence, they resumed the conversation from before like nothing had happened. Like, even though they had little to no information about what made Kaj so uncomfortable about Noah, they’d just blindly taken his word for it.
