Blue gave me a reciprocal upturn of his lips. He was a little older than me, only by a couple years, and was twice as handsome. At least, in my opinion. He’d been taking a chance on an aspiring artist when we’d met here in Nashville several years ago now. We’d met at a bar, hit it off, and once he mentioned he was a music producer, looking to make it big in the business, we’d been pretty inseparable ever since. He’d been the one to produce my early demos, and when I’d played said demos for the label that had ended up getting me signed, I told them I wouldn’t sign unless Blue could exclusively come with me to produce. Luckily, they’d agreed.
He understood the way I wanted to construct music in a way that I couldn’t pass up. If the time ever came for me to feel the need to explore other producers, I knew that it wouldn’t be thesame. Blue and I had the same musical understanding, and we just got each other. My success was only possible because of him.
Running a hand through his silver dyed hair, contrasting greatly with his dark brown mustache and beard, Blue gave me a flippant nod and a smile that reached his blue eyes. “Thanks. Do you think it’s ready to master?”
“Oh, for sure.” I replied with an eager incline of my head. “I think that might have to be the third album’s lead single.”
Blue chuckled warmly, shaking his head. “You’ve only recorded two new songs, Alistair. Maybe wait until you have a full album to throw out potential singles.”
I scoffed. “Ugh, you sound just like Priyanka.” Crossing my arms, I gave him a playful glare.
“Priyanka’s right.” Blue laughed on. “Per usual.”
“Ew, don’t tell her that.” My face scrunched up in mock disgust, Blue shaking his head with the hint of a hidden smile. “The last thing that woman needs to hear is that she’s right.” As Blue turned back to one of his monitors, exporting the song so he could work on mastering it separately, I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to bring up the question that had been burning in my mind since I’d been on the Night Show. “Hey, I actually want to ask you something.”
Blue’s interest was woven into the wiggle of his usually straight eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Yeah, it’s about tour.”
My phone decided, right at that moment, to inconveniently ring, splitting the silence as well as the conversation. Sighing, I reached into the pocket of my gray jeans and proceeded to let my eyes flare when I saw the name scrawl across the screen.
“Hold that thought, I have to take this.”
“No worries.” Blue nodded, turning his attention back to his monitors and the mixing board.
As I got up from my chair, I walked out of the studio and started ambling down the hall until I was near the lobby area. I started pacing in front of the long windows that made up most of the entrance of the building. With a slight hesitation, I answered the call.
“Reed,” I breathed uneasily. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“What thefuck, Alistair?”
Okay, so he’d either seen the interview with Fox or heard the album. Or both. Fuck, this was not how I wanted to tell him about either situation. I plopped down in one of the available chairs, glad that I didn’t have an audience to witness this conversation. Booking the studio for stints at a time had it’s advantages.
“Listen, I tried calling and texting, but I know you’ve been filming that movie and—”
“And I had to find out about your album through a fucking late night show?” Right, so he knew about both. “Why wouldn’t you warn me about the album?”
“I was trying to but—”
“But you didn’t try hard enough.” Reed’s anger was evident, but I was a little unsure of exactly where it was coming from. It wasn’t like I’d planned on not telling him about everything. I could have kept him completely in the dark, but I’d tried to extend the courtesy. Him not getting back to me had kept him in the dark, not my attempts to prevent it from happening. “I’m working sixteen hour days filming this movie, Alistair, I don’t have time to return all my calls.”
Reed was an actor, and he was a pretty big one now. He’d gotten pretty wide acclaim from his role on a massive TV show called Obscene that was a dramatic horror feast on the eyes. His character had been part of a massive twist that involved their death, ending his time on the show. But that had been the startof his success, now getting plenty of offers to audition for high caliber roles alongside some of the top names in the industry.
That was part of why we hadn’t worked out. Both of us were highly ambitious about our careers. And while that was a good thing, it didn’t boast well for a relationship, especially one that was constantly long-distance. We’d split amicably, and we’d agreed to handle the breakup together as far as when we’d announced it to the public. That’s why I’d been so careful with Fox Jennings when she’d brought him up.
“I know you’re busy, Reed. I am too. I was trying to let you know about the album and the interview as it was happening.”
“Which is my issue.” Reed sighed through the receiver. “You let me knowlast minute. You’ve had your interview booked at least weeks in advance and the album even longer. Why the hell did you wait so long to talk to me about them?”
Okay, maybe Reed had a point. If I really wanted to, I could have reached out way earlier than I had. Priyanka might have mentioned that she thought that telling Reed after booking the interview was a good time to call him about him, but I hadn’t.
Shit. Blue had a point, too. Priyanka was right,per usual.
“Fuck, you’re right.” I ran an exasperated hand through my long blond hair. “I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to let you know what was going on. That was shitty and I’m sorry. Seriously, Reed, I’m really sorry.”
“Thank you.” Some of the earlier animosity had bled from Reed’s tone, but I could tell that he was still, understandably so, upset with me for my failure to communicate effectively. “I mean, damn, Alistair. Calling the albumThe Pressure To Cut Diamonds,really? Ouch.”
“I’m sorry,” Why did it feel like I was suddenly the biggest piece of shit on the Earth? “I didn’t meant to blindside you like this.”
