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“Of course she did,” Eli said. “That was always gonna happen.”
“So Leah asked me if she could produce for me. And I turned her down.” He shifted in his seat, hiding a wince as he remembered the hurt on her face again.
“Huh. Didn’t see that one coming. Which was dumb. Totally should have seen that one coming. Do you mind if I ask why you turned her down?”
“Firstly because you’re supposed to be producing for me.”
“Not all the songs,” Eli said. “Billy is going out on tour in a few weeks. You won’t be done by then.”
“You’re going with him?”
“Yeah, he asked.” Eli shrugged. “If I don’t go with him, he’ll just be bugging me every day checking up on me.”
“Is your ankle up to touring?”
“Well, I don’t have to work sound if I don’t want to. And there are plenty of people around to carry my luggage and that kind of shit. Besides, it’s not like Billy travels by bus these days.”
No, the days of any member of Blacklight needing to tour by bus to save money were long gone. It was more like private jets all the way.
“So I can take it easy,” Eli continued. “Lounge by the pool of whatever hotel we happen to be staying at. Check out the shows. Sleep a lot.”
“Wait, does that mean you’ll miss CloudFest?”
Eli shook his head. “Nope. Billy made sure Erroneous structured the tour around it. He feels bad for missing last year … says he wants to try to get Faith to sing again.”
Erroneous was the band Billy had joined after Grey had died and Blacklight disbanded. They played a brand of rock a lot heavier than Blacklight had, bordering on metal. He doubted Faith would want to sing any of their songs. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
“That’s what I told him. Apparently Ben had all sorts of enquiries for her after she sang with Danny at CloudFest last year. She turned ’em all down flat.”
He hadn’t known that part. Ben Flaherty had been Blacklight’s manager. Still was, in as much as he helped Faith out dealing with the money side of managing their catalog. And people had been asking Ben about Faith? Fuck. Faith was a natural musician. Like him. Hell, she was a way better singer than him any day of the week. And the reason she’d never really done anything with her music, was him. He scowled.
“Thinking about Leah again?” Eli asked with another grin.
“Fuck off,” Zach said, trying to keep his tone light.
“Not until you tell me why you said no.”
“This is too important,” he said. “She’s a rookie.”
“A rookie who was trained by her dad—and Sal’s one of the best sound guys out there—and has grown up living and breathing music production at the studio. Plus she’s produced bits and pieces here and there. I’ve heard some of it. She’s got a good ear. And good instincts.”
Zach shook his head. “I’m sure she has. But I need more than good. I need superstar. This album has to fly. It’s the first impression I get to make with my own stuff. And who knows if Fringe Dweller will resurrect itself. I don’t want to find myself back on the hunt for a replacement gig.”
“I think you’re a bit beyond that now. Plus, you’re forgetting the part where you actually don’t have to work.”
“Tell me again about that part, Eli. Then tell me how you spend your days swanning around the world sipping cocktails like a trust fund baby. Oh right, you can’t. Because you’re either working for Billy or hustling your own stuff practically twenty-four seven.” The last part came out crankier sounding than he’d intended.
Eli’s hands lifted again. “Dude. Chill. If you don’t want to work with Leah, then you don’t want to work with Leah. I think it’s a mistake, but it’s your career.” He eyed Zach cautiously. “Though if that’s the case, I think you need to think a little harder about why the fact you said ‘no’ to her has you so churned up.”
Oh, no. He definitely wasn’t going to think too hard about that. Not beyond the part where it was going to piss Faith off when she found out about it. “She’s Faith’s best friend. Faith doesn’t need another reason to hate me right now.”
“Well, that particular hole you dug for yourself, man. You’re going to have to figure out how to dig yourself right back out on your own.”
“Faith likes you, you could put in a good word for me.”
“Hmmm. Go poke the bear on your behalf? Especially when the bear now has a huge blond fiancé in tow? Somehow that just doesn’t sound like a fun time to me.” Eli grinned, waved his bandaged wrist. “I don’t need to add to my collection of these, thanks very much.”
Zach couldn’t blame him for that attitude. “It was worth a shot.”
