Page 107 of Serenade Me

I really have ruined everything.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

I look up, Marius is standing there in just a towel, his hair and chest still wet from the shower.

“Have you… have you read this?” I ask him, holding out the newspaper.

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Earlier this morning.”

“And when were you going to tell me about it?”

He just shakes his head, “Why should I have told you about it? It’s not important.”

I can’t believe what he’s saying. “Marius – this… did you and Jez fight on stage last night?”

“It’s not a big deal, Anca. It was just in the heat of the moment, we were worried about you when you ran off.”

“It says people are going to ask for a refund.”

“So what? They can fucking have it!” He comes over and tears the newspaper from my hands. “Just ignore it.”

“Ignore it? Marius! What are you going to do about this?”

“I’m not going to do anything!”

“What do the rest of the guys think?”

He squirms and looks away.

“Marius? Have you guys discussed this at all?”

“Look, it’s not a big deal, okay? Everyone thinks that… um, to show that we’re totally behind you, and that you’re going to bring it for the rest of the shows, maybe you should do some publicity.”

“Fine. I’ll do it. Tell me when and where.” I have to fix this. I can’t let anything negative happen to the band because of me. Not because of me.

“No. NO!” he yells, startling me.

“Marius!”

He slams his hand against the wall before turning back to me. “NO! I am not going to have them parade you around, like you have something to prove. No!”

“Marius. It makes sense. I can do it, I don’t mind. I want to.”

“I already told them no, Anca. You’ve been through enough. I’m not going to put any more pressure on you to perform.”

“Don’t you think I should have a say in this?”

“No.”

“Marius.” I say, and I hope he can hear the warning in my voice. “Marius, you don’t get to decide this. I do.”

“Like hell. This is my band. And you’re MY…” He stops.

“Your what?”