ONE
Wes is in love,and I’m an asshole.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for him. Truly, fucking ecstatic. Abbey Dark is definitely a catch. No one in their right mind can blame him for falling in love with her. Unfortunately for him, she isn’t an easy person to love.
Abbey has her issues. The media eats her up, and in turn she decided not to eat at all. She picked hiding from her problems with drugs, drinking, and dating horrible men. Can’t fully judge her for all that, but until Wes came along, she was headed for rock bottom.
She seems to be getting better, with his help of course. Still, Wes has his hands full with her. They weren’t even together when he nearly killed a man over her. Not that I hold that against him. The guy deserved it. Drugging and trying to rape Abbey earned him the beatdown Wes delivered. I would’ve finished the job for him if the security guard hadn’t shown up.
Despite what that piece of trash had done, Wes still received six months of probation for nearly killing him. The assault wasconsidered excessive. It’s the lightest sentence they could’ve given him, but still a load of crap.
Now our band, Haunting Memories, is forced to take a break from touring. Veritas Records was kind enough not to drop us from the label completely. Since we are one of the more popular bands, they didn’t want to lose out on all the money we make for them. From albums, merch, and ticket sales, we do pretty well. And if we do well, they do even better.
Of course, they are expecting us to do some work during this break. We are supposed to be working on a new album. My bandmates are taking their time with that, however. They aren’t in any rush to get to the studio.
We’ve been going strong for almost five years with Veritas. Put out three amazing albums that topped the charts. Done quite a few sold-out tours. Mostly as second acts, though we have headlined a few too. We’ve been working hard to keep the spotlight on us. So now the guys think a little break has been earned.
I know better. A break would give the next great band a chance to come in and steal our spot in the limelight. It’s not like I care about being famous, but I don’t want to lose our spot as one of the label’s top dogs.
If we fall out of favor, we risk getting moved down to opening acts. Maybe even given fewer spots on tours in general. Or worse, we could get dropped from Veritas completely. Everyone knows getting dropped from Veritas is a death sentence in the music world.
Wes has been writing songs, which is good. A bunch of crappy love songs about Abbey, but they are better than the sad shit he put out after his last girlfriend cheated on him.
Thank the lord that relationship ended.
Wes is far too loyal for his own good. That fact has helped me out countless times, but it leads to him doing stupid shit for people who don’t deserve his kindness.
Now he is spending all his effort helping Abbey conquer her demons. I can’t fault him for that. He has helped me fight mine more times than he knows, but it leaves me with far too much free time on my hands.
I’m not too upset about it. What I am, however, is fucking bored.
It’s that boredom that has me perched on a stool at one of Los Angeles’s infamous rock clubs, The Recluse, on a random Monday night. It’s barely eight,, and the bar is mostly empty.
I’m currently on my third glass of whiskey and trying to ignore the fact that none of my bandmates responded when I asked them to hang out. They are far too busy doing their own thing these days.
We have a close relationship. A tight-knit group, that all come from a small town in Utah. Over the years we’ve become a family. I’d do anything for any of them, and they tolerate me.
In the beginning, hardly a day went by without us hanging out. If not all of us, at least two or three of us would be out and about together. I lived with a few of them from time to time. We did everything together. Enjoyed each other’s company. Helped each other pick up girls. Now they all have their own lives, and I feel left out.
Over the last year and a half when we weren’t touring or recording an album, it could be weeks before I managed to convince one of them to hang out with me.
Before Abbey, I could count on Wes to answer his phone and entertain me most nights. Even with his last few girlfriends, he would still come out with me every so often. Maybe he would drag his girlfriend along, but it would still be good fun. With Abbey it’s different, though.
She comes first now. He lives and breathes for that girl. Every fucking song he writes is about her and how head over heels he is for her now.
I’m losing him. No. I’ve already lost him.
Again, I can’t fault him for falling for her, but ditching your friends for a girl is so high school.
I could never do that again. Love is not on my agenda. I have no use for the drama. Commitment is overrated. Devoting yourself to anyone is just setting yourself up for pain. I want nothing to do with all of that. I’ll take my one-night stands over that misery.
I haven’t been in a relationship for five years. Back then I was twenty and trying to figure life out. Trying to figure myself out. To be honest, I’m not sure it even counts. I was committed to Janet, but I highly doubt it went both ways. She was an older, drug-fueled mess that loved to drag me into her problems.
Nearly got me addicted to drugs too. I came way too close to losing myself in her chaos. Not because I cared about her, but because it was easier to jump into her downfall than deal with my own issues.
Damn near got myself kicked out of the band right before our big interview with Veritas. I was so strung out on heroin the day we were set to fly out to LA, I couldn’t get through airport security.
Wes pulled me out of the darkness, like always. Got us another flight to LA. Forced me to get my shit together. Made sure I never saw her again.
