A Road to Let Go (Fallen Tuesday #4) (2 page)

(2)

Fallen Tuesday was back in business
and life was good again. No, it was great. Beyond great. Whatever came after
great.

The feelings were intense as Jake
stood in the hallway to a radio station that had just completed a long
interview with the band. It was
no holds barred
. The radio host made his
name and living off prying into everyone
’
s
business and took a great sense of pride trying to make celebrities feel
uncomfortable.

He brought up Luke's vocal issues.
He questioned his ability to record and tour. He wondered if the band was using
heavily mixed tracks to dupe fans into thinking Fallen Tuesday was still good.
Then he switched over to Gray and wanted to know everything about Gray
’
s addict of a brother. Mostly,
he wanted to know how far the apple fell from the tree. Was Gray an addict? Was
Gray hiding his addiction? How could he prove and assure fans he wouldn
’
t become an addict?

It was a tough interview and it
only grew worse when the radio host set his fangs right to Trent. About being
arrested for being behind the wheel of a vehicle while drunk. About punching a
fan. Trent shot back that the man in the bar wasn
’
t
a fan, but Frank hurried into the studio and quickly waved his hands. Frank
knew how to manage PR and if Trent started to go down that road of
he wasn
’
t a fan, so it was okay I
punched him
, that would only open that can of worms again.

For the most part, Jake remained
quiet. That was until the radio host dropped Chloe
’
s name. Jake had no idea how anyone knew about
Chloe, but the uncomfortable truth of Chloe started to come out. The whole time
he questioned Jake, Jake worried that this guy would reveal Chloe
’
s pregnancy.

But he didn
’
t.

The radio host eventually laid off
the band and they were now taking a break before Fallen Tuesday would pick up
some acoustic guitars and play a few songs.

It was a long, winded day, but
worth it. Because after the radio show, they were going out to the parking lot to
meet some fans and then play another small show that night. All the tickets
were bid on and the money was being donated to a children
’
s hospital. The band made a pact
that anything they did from now until the official start of their next tour
would be to get closer to their fans and to donate everything they could to
local charities and organizations. Unfortunately, they needed the good PR because
of what Trent had done, but they truly did want to help out as many charities
as possible.

Jake stood with one leg up against
the wall in the hall. His hands twitched and fingers tingled. He wanted to lose
himself in a performance and forget about the real world. This world, the
rockstar world, was home to him. Everything else was uncomfortable, and in many
ways, deadly.

Mack appeared from a room and Jake
looked right for his hand. He was drinking a bottle of water. That was a good
thing. Just another little piece of proof that Mack had only been drinking more
because of the album. He could control himself. No big deal at all.

“
Want
to see something?
”
Mack
asked.

“
Of
course,
”
Jake said.

Mack waved and Jake went to the
room. Inside there were some couches and chairs. Guitars and instruments all
around. A few tables with food and drink. Banners hanging with business names who
donated all the items in the room.

Mack went to the window and Jake
followed. When Jake looked out the window he couldn
’
t believe his eyes. The parking lot of the radio
station was full. There were hundreds of people standing there. Cheering.
Holding signs. Holding up their cell phones, hoping to see something worth
taking a picture of. The crowd was so big that it started to overflow into the
road. There were two police cars in the street with three officers directing
traffic around the scene.

“
That
’
s not a small gathering,
”
Jake said.

“
No
shit, brother,
”
Mack said.
“
This still amazes me. Time and
time again.
”

“
Me
too,
”
Jake said.
“
It
’
s
going to be crazy when this album drops.
”

Mack looked at Jake.
“
I thought our lives changed when
we got the call to tour with Chasing Cross.
”

“
Now
we
’
re going to be bigger
than Chasing Cross,
”
Jake
said, smiling.

Mack laughed.
“
I don
’
t know about that, man. Give us a few more albums,
a lot more touring, and a hell of a lot more time.
”

“
Yeah,
time,
”
Jake whispered.

He instantly thought of Chloe. What
was time going to do to her body? To her? To them? To the band once the truth
came out?

The door opened again and in walked
Luke, Gray, and Trent.

“
Check
this out,
”
Jake said.

The entire band stood at the window
and eyed their fans. The silent reaction was very loud. Jake could see it with
the smiles on everyone
’
s
faces.

“
I
can
’
t believe this,
”
Luke said.
“
Pretty amazing.
”

Mack knocked on the window.

“
What
are you doing?
”
Trent
asked.

“
Trying
to get their attention.
”

Before anyone could say another
word, someone looked up and managed to spot the band. She started waving and
screaming, which led to the crowd erupting. Most people looked around, thinking
the band had come outside. But it only took a minute or so before they were all
looking up, cheering. They waved their hands, their signs, chanting for Fallen
Tuesday. A small group broke out into song after someone started playing a
Fallen Tuesday song on a portable speaker. The lot went from a crowd to a
little concert in a matter of minutes.

“
The
power of music,
”
Mack
whispered.

“
Our
music,
”
Jake said.

“
Yup,
”
Gray said.
“
Our music.
”

“
Speaking
of which,
”
Luke said.
“
We have to get going.
”

“
I
don
’
t want to see that
radio host again,
”
Jake
said.
“
What
’
s his name? Traffic Tom or
something?
”

Everyone laughed.

Jake walked from the window and
grabbed a cold slice of pizza. He took a big bite and forced it down.

“
At
least there won
’
t be
anymore questions,
”
Luke
said.
“
We
’
ll play and leave. Just wait
until we get outside with all those fans.
”

“
Let
’
s do it,
”
Mack said. He played a quick drum roll on the wall
and then made a line for the door.

The entire band took up the
hallway. Frank waited for them. He was on a his cell, animated with his free
hand, his face red. He ended the call and slapped the wall.

“
Something
wrong?
”
Gray asked.

“
Nothing.
Just touring issues.
”

“
No
issues,
”
Jake said.
“
We need to tour.
”

“
You
will,
”
Frank said.
“
But first, get in that room and
play your hearts out.
”

“
That
’
s easy,
”
Luke said. He patted Frank
’
s shoulder.

The band got set up in the small
room. Four acoustic guitars and a small set of drums. The drums were for Mack.
The guitars for everyone else.

They sat down, tuned up, and Luke
gave a thumbs up.

Once they were live on the radio, Luke
introduced the band and Jake whispered into a mic
…
“
One
…
two
…
three
…
four
…”
and the live acoustic show
started.

Jake and Trent hit their first
chords at the same time.

It was beautiful. It was perfect.

Luke looked back and smiled.

Gray came in with a guitar lead and
Mack was last, adding a sweet, gentle background beat to the song. There was
nothing like playing a song live in front of the fans. The power of the song,
the purpose of it, the story it told and the voice. But when the song was
stripped down and put into acoustic form, that
’
s
when it really came to life.

When Luke began to sing, Jake
closed his eyes and nodded.

This was his life. This was his
purpose and meaning.

With his eyes shut, Jake found
himself lost in the song and lost in the meaning. It took him all the way back
to the first time he met Chloe. She had been walking down the street. She
looked killer sexy. Jake had been driving a beat up piece of crap car and it
took all his courage to stop and ask Chloe if she needed a ride.

Her response was amazing.
“
Are you going to kill me?
”

The look in her eyes. The way she
bit her lip. The way she leaned way too far into the car, showing off her
chest. It was everything Jake could have asked for in a chick he wanted to get
with. Especially since he was going to become a rockstar. He had just joined a
new band and now he had a girl.

That band would become Fallen
Tuesday.

And that girl would be the ex of
the bassist in his new band.

Shit.

Jake opened his eyes and watched
Gray
’
s fingers move along
the neck of the acoustic guitar as he played a solo. All Jake's troubles slipped
away when it was his turn to play his part of the solo. Gray looked up, nodded,
and Jake took over. He slid his middle finger all the way up the guitar. It was
harder to play a solo like this on an acoustic guitar but each note sounded
amazing. Jake played and played, dragging the solo out longer than it was
supposed to.

When Luke waved a hand, Jake
shrugged his shoulders.

He was just going with the song.

Gray shook his head and the band
then entered the last chorus three times before the song ended. They purposely went
right into each of the next songs so the radio host wasn't given a chance to
talk. In total, they played four songs. Two new songs. Two old songs. The
second they hit the last note on the last song, Luke stood up. Jake, Trent, and
Gray hurried to put their guitars down. Mack was already at the door. There was
no way in hell the band was going to give the radio host a chance to ask another
dumb or uncomfortable question.

In the hallway, Frank met them.
“
What the hell, guys?
”

“
We
played,
”
Jake said.
“
We
’
re
done. No more questions. Time for the fans.
”

“
You
should go in there,
”
Frank
said.
“
Say something about
the album.
”

Mack opened the door again and
nodded.
“
Go ahead. Get in
there.
”

Jake gave Frank a quick slap to his
face and smiled.
“
Tell the
world about us, Frank.
”

“
We
’
re going outside to be with the
fans,
”
Luke said.

These were the moments when it felt
good to be a rockstar. The freedom of being able to do whatever the hell they
wanted, when they wanted.

Halfway down the stairs, four security
men with radio pieces in their ears met them. They wore black and looked big
enough to be linebackers on a professional football team. They turned and led
the way down the rest of the steps. Jake loved it. The fact that they needed
security guards got his adrenaline pumping. He wanted to scream, jump, and run
out the doors to their loyal fans. When they reached the door, one of the
guards mumbled something into his radio and then opened the door to another
group of guards waiting to escort the band through the crowd.

Jake stopped and looked around.

Hundreds of people were screaming
and jumping. Waving signs. Taking pictures with their cell phones.

He soon realized he wasn
’
t the only one who stopped. The
rest of the band stopped too. They all stood there taking it in.

A woman screamed Jake
’
s name as loud as she could.
Jake looked at her and smiled.

“
What?
”
he asked.

The woman
’
s mouth fell open. She screamed again and started
to jump. She held out a CD and a marker. Jake started to jump, mimicking the
woman. He laughed and then jumped right to her and signed the CD. She threw her
arms around him and hugged him.

“
I
love you so much,
”
she
screamed in his ear.