Page 27 of Strike A Chord
Blink. Blink. Um, did I enter an alternate universe?
“Have we reached an accord?” Sal asked.
“We have,” Easton replied for the group.
“Excellent. Jason, I’ll be in touch. Jeremiah and I will put together a schedule for Chaotic. I’ll expect all four of you along with Stoli, Joey, and Jeremiah in my office Wednesday morning at ten a.m. Mickey, if you’d like to help out, you’re invited, too. I’ll have the contracts ready for everyone to sign.” On that note, Sal hung up.
“Well, welcome to the Masterson Family,” Easton told us. “We’ll be in touch.”
Class dismissed. I couldn’t get the fuck out of there fast enough.
As soon as we were far enough away from their bus Jason, Marley, and Nigel tackled me. “You did it. You crazy bastard, you fucking did it.” Jason’s cheers and laughter rang out and I’d never been happier in my entire fucking life.
“Dude, I’m so fucking proud of you.” Nigel’s words stole my breath. “You owned your shit and stood your ground even though every fucking one of those guys wanted to beat you down.”
“I had to. It was the right thing to do. You guys deserve that contract.”
“We,” Jason squeezed my shoulder, “my friend. We deserve that contract.” Tears threatened but I refused to let them fall. Not the right place or time. Alone later or while celebrating with Reagan, then I’d allow it.
“Come on, man,” Nigel slung his arm around my shoulder. “Let’s take a walk.”
“Nothing good has ever come from that line being said.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Nah, man, we’re in search of celebratory alcohol. Rumor has it we can score a couple of bottles from the dining tent.”
And that was how I woke the next morning stark ass naked and praying to the plastic god. Who knew toilets on buses weren’t porcelain?
Chapter Twelve
Reagan
“Look what the cat dragged in.” Josh, Jason, Marley, and even Nigel walked in. “Times four.” Josh wore a wide grin with a fist-sized bruise beside it. “Do I even want to know what happened?”
“Just my past come back to haunt me once again.” Jesus Christ, leaving him unattended was detrimental to his health.
“Do you still have a job?” They were all smiles. Huh, who knew Nigel had the facial muscles for that. This was the first time I’d seen him do it. So, it couldn’t be all bad, right?
“Even better. We have a contract.” At Josh’s words, the other three cheered and the entire place erupted in whistles and shouts.
I came around the bar so fast and smashed my lips to Josh’s with no fear of breaking teeth or who might see. “Oh my god, babe, that’s so fucking awesome!”
“You should’ve seen him, Reagan,” Jason began. “Surrounded by nearly everyone on the planet who hates him, and he stood his ground. Even told them he had a special someone he wasn’t gonna fuck things up with.”
Special someone. That was me.
Josh buzzed with excitement, and I was ridiculously happy for him. This was the break he needed, a positive in the right direction on the path to finding his sense of self-worth. Something he lost long ago, or now that I knew bits of his childhood, possibly something he never had. “Take a seat, guys, first round is on the house!”
“Shots!” Marley chimed. While I lined them up, Daniel and Holly congratulated them and took their food orders.
“Nice menu, business owner.” I’d added a few new items we started offering this past weekend.
“Yes, business is doing well.” I added a fifth shot for myself and doled them out. “All right, guys, congrats to Chaotic Abyss. You guys worked hard and more than deserve this. Cheers!” Every person in the bar, and while we weren’t packed to the gills there were still a couple dozen here, joined in. With our shots done, the patrons wandered over to congratulate the guys while I fired up their one and only CD. Studio time would come sooner than they thought. If this guy Sal operated as quickly and thoroughly as I’d read—and yes, I’d stalked him—he’d have a plan in place by the time they had their first official meeting.
Some of the regulars bought the guys drinks but when it got to where no one could stand, I had to cut them off. “Jason, how did you guys get here?” There was no way in hell I would let any of them drive. Josh’s car was at my house, so I had him, but the others I hadn’t a clue how they would get home safely.
“Uber. Wanted to celebrate.” If I wasn’t fluent in drunk, deciphering Jason’s words would have been impossible.
Hopefully the meeting they kept talking about wasn’t tomorrow.