“Alchemy Myth. It’s so good to have you here. I can’t wait to get to know you all… the men behind the music.”
“Thank you for having us,” Archer replied politely, but none of them looked comfortable.
“So, I’ve been chatting with your head of PR and she’s been giving me the insider gossip on you all, and I can’t wait to hear if some of the things she’s been telling me are true.”
The camera moved to a close up as confusion danced across the band’s faces. Just like normal, Fox took the lead. “You can ask all you want Lauri, but our private lives are just that… private. We’re here to talk about the music.”
“What the fuck, Fern?” Dawson hissed from behind me.
I turned away from the screen. “I didn’t… I haven’t…” Dawson raised his eyebrow accusingly.
Focusing my attention back on the interview, my stomach flipped as I sensed worse was coming.
“Your music is amazing. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to your new album and it’s sublime. It’s a good job I can play by the rules and not leak it like recently happened to Anatomical Hourglass.”
I watched the boys look between themselves because they knew I’d covered that up and no one knew about the leak apart from a handful of people in the label, the band themselves, and… James. And no one had heard Alchemy Myth’s new album except for Addi and me.
“We’ll come onto the music, I promise. But come on. We can’t not talk about your private lives when they’re so interesting. Archer, you’re married to a woman who doesn’t remember meeting you, right? No memory of you at all. That must hurt, but you still married her. Is that out of some strange sense of guilt because she lost her memory after an accident she had when she was on tour with you?”
She continued without letting Archer reply. “And Fox, you’re in a relationship with three other people… how does that work? Actually, don’t answer that. This is a family show.” She cleared her throat.
“And Charlie, you’re dating your boss… Fern Richards. You met, fell in love, and spent Christmas together. She was with someone else, but she left him for you. Is that correct?”
Charlie opened his mouth to speak, but Lauri raised her hand to silence him. “But it’s not true, is it? You weren’t together at Christmas. You faked it… let me show you something that we’ve found, and then you can give us your side of the story.”
The live camera feed cut to a VT that looked badly shot, as if it had been taken in secret from someone’s phone. It was of Charlie at his interview with MTV on the day they lost their recording contract with us. The day before we flew to Scotland.
Charlie looked terrible, and I felt sorry for that hung over, broken man who’d been forced to come with me for the week.
I listened to his words, every one like a knife to the heart, and if I didn’t think I was being paranoid, it seemed like someone turned up the volume so I had to listen.
“Off the record?” Charlie said to whatever question had been asked before the person started recording.
“Always, man. This make up chair is a vault.”
“She’s not my girlfriend. She can’t deal with Daddy, so I’m being forced to spend the week with her pretending we’re in love.”
“Ah, Charlie. I can’t imagine you doing anything without getting something out of it. She must have something to offer,” the male makeup artist jeered.
“Well, I mean, she’s fit, I guess. And she’s probably tighter than a nun and more desperate. I bet she’s never had a good orgasm so I’m sure I can get her to drop to her knees for me. I think I’ll enjoy making her choke on my cock while her mascara runs down that perfect face of hers.”
“Yeah, you will.” They high fived and my hand flew to my mouth, feeling physically sick.
Then, just to add insult to injury, he added, “The princess will take whatever I decide to give her and she’ll thank me for the pleasure.”
The video footage ended and silence fell over the studio for a second before Fox spoke, anger deepening his voice. “Stop recording.”
“What?” Lauri asked, sounding innocent.
“Turn the cameras off. Now. This interview is over.”
“Hey, you paid me to be here. You asked me for this interview and now you’re claiming that you don’t want to talk about this stuff. Let’s get to the really good bits.” Her lips turned into a poisonous smile. “Charlie, who’s Jennifer?”
Jarrid had been right with his warning. James was behind this and he wanted me to panic, but instead, I listened to my head. “Get them out of here,” I instructed firmly.
“You. You set this up.Youdid this to them?” Dawson’s eyes darkened with anger. “Why?”
“I didn’t do this. None of it. I’ve never spoken to Lauri. I would never talk about Jenni—get them out of here.” I turned to Jarrid. “Please. Get them somewhere safe.”
