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“It’s business.”
“Fuck you, D.I gotta do some damage control of my own.”
I call the after-hours number for the label’s PR department and explain the situation and what needs to be done.They assure me that everything will be fine and to forward them Erin’s contact information as soon as I have it.
Once that’s done, I search for Erin on social media.Her profile is locked down pretty tight, but there’s enough there for me to be sure it’s her.
I fire off a friend request and a message.
Mick:Erin, please read this.It’s important.
I am so very sorry for the crazy that’s about to be visited on you—because we both know someone is going to out you.I honestly had no idea Dylan would do that last night, or what it would unleash.The band is insisting on recording and releasing the song, and I’m in no position to stop it.At this point, my biggest concern is how this is going to affect your daughter.Can you please provide me with contact information I can forward on to our label so they can take care of protecting your family’s privacy?Again, I’m so sorry.Mick
Embarrassingly,I sit at my computer for a solid hour refreshing my feed while I wait for my message to show as read.I probably would have sat there for longer, but I’ve been away from home for months, and I’ve got a lot of stuff to catch up on.
Later that afternoon, I check messages before heading out to the studio and am rewarded with a response.
Erin:Thank you for your message.It is what it is, and we will deal with it accordingly.I do appreciate you arranging some help from your label, and they can message me here.
Mick:I just sent your details off to the label.They should be in touch very soon.I know it’s a big ask, but is there any chance you’d be willing to meet me for coffee and a chat?
Bouncing dots start almost immediately,stop, then start again before her reply pops up.
Erin:No.I won’t risk being seen with you again.Please don’t contact me for anything other than the situation at hand.
Fuck.Fuck.Fuck.And fuck.Dylan has so much to answer for.
And so do I.
FOURTEEN
Erin
WhenI first saw Mick’s message, my heart gave a happy little hop-skip.Then I read it and was reminded of the brewing firestorm.
An hour later, I’ve done everything I can to maintain as much privacy as possible short of completely disabling my accounts—which I accept as a potentially necessary last resort.
Thankfully, I was smart enough to reject Mick’s friend request, so there’s no way the looky-loos can get to me through him—unless they hack his account.But it’s only a matter of time before I’m outed as the Erin in the video.I was tempted to block him after he asked if we could meet up.I was so damned angry, because I want to spend more time with him.I missed him.And if I only had myself to think about, I might have even considered it.But there is already a risk to Chloe, and I refuse to do anything to increase it.
Of course, Chloe was thrilled to see me on a YouTube video.We had to have a long, serious discussion about how sometimes we have to keep exciting stuff to ourselves.I know she understood, but that doesn’t mean that she’ll be able to resist tellingjust onefriend.And we all know how that turns out.
FIFTEEN
Mick
“You’re late,”Dylan admonishes.
“Fuck you.Let’s just get this over with.I want it done in one fucking take.”
“Mick—”
I cut Jesse off.“Shut the fuck up.Dylan’s stunt last night buggered?—”
“Hey man, hold on a sec.I thought I was doing you a solid with your girl—not my fault?—”
“Itisyour fucking fault, Dylan.That song wasn’t on the set list.The very least you could have done was check with me first.But you didn’t.Now let’s get this done.I don’t want to spend one second more with you than absolutely necessary.”
Pulling out a pair of sticks, I drop my ass on my stool and do a quick warm up.
