Page 16 of The Pursuit of Happiness
Steve raises his brows in surprise, “You had someone hack into his phone?”
Selene winks at him, “For legal reasons, I’m going to plead the fifth.”
Brody scoffs, “That doesn’t mean he didn’t have some kind of burner phone or something.”
Selene cocks her head, truly reaching her boiling point with our accusations, “Enough of this!” She looks pointedly at me, “You can sit here and get all worked up over who you think did what, but the truth is that we don’t know who did it. All we know is that Slater couldn’t have been involved. You believe what you want but what really matters right now is fixing this mess the two of you are in.” I know she’s talking to Slater and I. “Now, do you want to knowhowwe’re going to fix this, or do you want to continue going back and forth and annoying me until I inevitably backhand one or all of you?” She threatens, but it’s an empty threat because we all know Selene loves us way too much to ever lay so much as a finger on us. Even though we definitely make her want to sometimes.
I remain silent, knowing I’ve already lost this battle and she begins to explain, “Like I mentioned, we’re turning this whole mess into a PR stunt.” She looks at Steve who is clearly already aware of what she’s going to say next as she continues, “After this whole mess happened, I immediately began thinking of ways to clean it up and that’s when it hit me to shift the entire narrative. I called Steve and he agreed it would work, which is whyallof you are here.” She includes Slater in that as wellwhich signals to me he’s also completely oblivious to whatever plan she’s concocted.
She saunters back over to the other side of her desk so that she faces all of us, a queen speaking to her loyal subjects, “My motto has always been, ‘there’s no such thing as bad press,’ which is why we’re going to shift this sudden attention you two have gotten into a business opportunity.” She gives me a hesitant look as if she knows I’m not going to like what she’s going to say next. “Which is why we’ve decided that as far as the news and the fans are concerned, Aria and Slater are a couple.”
“What?” I shout, my face paling. Is she crazy?
Selene takes a deep breath, “Just hear me out.”
“No! I’m not gonna hear you out! This plan is batshit crazy. I would rather the entire world continue to berate me than ever date him,” my voice cracks as the raw emotion tears out of my throat.
I catch a glimpse of Slater’s face from the corner of my eye and don’t fail to notice the hurt in his features. He immediately lowers his gaze to the ground and I feel a twinge of sympathy for him, but I force it away once I remember what he could’ve done to me.
Selene raises a hand to silence me, “You don’t have to actually date each other, we just need the world to think it’s real.”
Brody interrupts, “Why would we need the media to think they’re a couple? I don’t see how this solves the issue.”
Selene explains, “Because as we all know by now, they are all the media is talking about. There’s speculation over whether or not they’ve been secretly dating and we’re going to confirm these rumors. Why you may ask? Well,” she continues, pride in her silvery voice, “because we’re going to make it so blatantly obvious that this relationship was a PR stunt. That way, the negative attention is shifted off of the tape itself and onto the fact that you two were willing to go to such lengths to promoteyour collaboration.”
Ivory’s brows crease, “Collaboration?”
Selene nods and continues, “Satan’s Angels will be collaborating with Slater Nicks for an album of seven songs.”
I have to be dreaming. There’s no way Selene just said that we’ll be working with Slater forsevensongs. Brody’s face pales and she sits up straight in her seat, her shoulders tensing, “Selene…Everyone knows there’s no room for two drummers,” there’s trepidation in her tone.
Selene frowns sympathetically at Brody, “I know, Brody. You’re gonna be sitting this album out and focusing only on vocals.”
Brody’s jaw drops as she sucks in a sharp breath. My stomach immediately sinks. I know Brody is crumbling inside and I know that we wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for me. I watch as Brody paralyzes in shock. How can Satan’s Angels be Satan’s Angels without our drummer? We can’t. Brody lives to play the drums and to take that from her is like throwing her entire world off its axis. “I can’t play the drums,” Brody whispers to herself and it’s not a question, just a repetition of the harrowing news she was given.
“I’m sorry,” Slater says to Brody, sympathy in his voice.
Brody’s brows crease and her expression contorts into anger, “You’re sorry? If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess and I wouldn’t get my fucking instrument taken from me.” She snaps, rising from her seat and storming out of the office, slamming the door behind herself. The entire room shakes around the frame of the door and Ivory immediately rises and races after her to calm her down. A wild Brody in a haste of anger is like releasing a venomous creature into a classroom full of children. Ivory is no doubt going to calm her down and I’m tempted to help too, but I know it wouldn’t be right of me when I’m the reason she just got the drums taken away from her.
Once they’re both gone, I lean forward and press the heels of my palms into my eyes. How did all of this get so out of control? Selene sighs, “She’ll get over it.”
I snap, “Selene, you know her. This is going to destroy her.”
Selene shrugs, “Well, there’s not much else I can do, Aria. Besides, this is only temporary. Brody will be back to playing the drums in no time. This new album gives you guys a chance to make new sounds considering Slater plays drums a lot heavier than Brody does.”
“But-” I start but she cuts me off.
“No buts. This is happening, Aria. The sooner you cooperate, the sooner we can get Brody back where she belongs.”
I feel horrible. I’m responsible for doing this to Brody. I want her back where she belongs, on the drums. I’m no fool, though. I know the only way to get her back there is to work with Selene. As much as I hate Slater Nicks, if I want to make it up to Brody for ruining her life right now, I have to do what Selene says. I know what I have to do. “Fine. What do you need me to do?” I ask Selene, the words clawing their way out of my throat.
Selene gives me an appreciative look before she continues, “I need you to set aside your bitterness and pretend to be a committed couple until this album is out. After that, you can hate each other all you want, I don’t care. But for now, I need you to convince the entire world that you’re very much in love with each other.” She looks between us and when she sees that I’m not about to argue she continues, “We’ll have you guys photographed together in public and in the studio to promote this new album and we’ll sell the narrative that all of this,” I know by the waving hand gesture that she’s referring to the sex tape, “will have been a PR stunt to promote the new album.”
Slater agrees immediately, “I can do that.”
I hesitate to nod, “Same. For Brody,” I add so that Slater doesn’t mistake my compliance for anything else. Like anythingless than hatred for him.
“Good,” Selene smiles at me, finally satisfied with my compliance. “Any questions?”
