9:07 AM

Carter:

FreeV1.mp4

"There's my superstar!" Jeff stood from his desk with a beaming smile as I walked into his office.

I slipped my cellphone into my back pocket, "So I'm guessing you liked the songs I sent you?"

"Like them? I loved them. All three of them."

"Three? No, I sent you two."

Jeff sat back down as I approached his desk, "You sent me three." I watched as he tapped on his computer keyboard, pulling up the email I had sent last night. "Look," he turned the screen around, "You sent three. Two you sang alone, and one with a girl. I'm assuming this is the same person you said you are writing with. Now, is this also the same girl you were pictured with?"

"Yeah, I-"

"Sit." Jeff pointed to the chair I stood beside. "Listen, there is something we need to discuss. I love the song. I wouldn't lie to you. You know that, yes?"

I nodded, sinking into the chair.

"Good." He waited until I was settled to continue, "I want you to be happy. However, there are some issues we need to discuss. You can have a duet on the album if you would like, but not with her."

"That's fine."

Jeff looked surprised. "Really? I thought you would be putting up a bigger fight."

I shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, she doesn't even want her name credited."

"She doesn't?" He questioned. "Interesting." He leaned forward, "So, what did she want in return for helping you? Money?"

I was beginning to grow slightly suspicious of Jeff's attitude towards our current conversation. I quickly brushed it off. Jeff was only doing his job. He was protecting me.

"Not money," I cleared my throat, "Our deal was if she helped me write a song, I find her a venue to play at."

"You mean, find The LA Devils a venue to play at."

"Yeah, it-" I paused for a second, "Wait, how did you know that?"

Jeff opened the bottom drawer from his desk and pulled out a binder. As it was set down in front of me, I realized the number of pages that filled it. Before I could question what it was, Jeff opened it up to the first page, "Tyler-Jane Robertson," he read out loud, "Goes by TJ Roberts. Twenty years of age, born in Los Angeles, California, and singer of semi-popular Los Angeles based band called The LA Devils."

"What did you do? Stalk her?"

"I wouldn't be a good manager if I didn't do my research," Jeff said with a nonchalant tone, "They have a good following so far for an unsigned group... appear to be popular online..." I watched as he flipped through the pages, "Oh, but this is where it gets interesting."

"Stop," I quickly interjected, "Don't keep going."

Jeff peered his eyes up from the folder, "You sure? I mean, even I was surprised by some of the stuff in here."

I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair. My eyes were glued to the folder as Jeff closed it, placing it back inside its drawer. It was a weird internal struggle my head was facing. Flip through a few pages and learn more about TJ than she would ever tell me. Or respect her privacy and never know a thing about her.

"Carter," Jeff pulled my focus back, "I know you might view this girl as some fun and your night out as harmless. But do you know how many calls I had to make? How many stories I had to get cancelled? What I had to do to make sure that photo didn't spiral into a disaster? Uncover shit we've been working so hard to keep concealed?"

I could feel myself sinking further into my chair.

He sighed. "Who else knows about her?"

"Ryan."

"Let's try and keep it that way for now, alright?"

I nodded.

"Look, I'm not saying this to scare you. Or force you to not enjoy your life. I get it. You're young. You want some freedom for once, and you finally have it." Jeff leaned forward, "I'm just trying to protect you. You know that, right?"

I nodded.

"Did you tell her anything?"

I shook my head.

"Good. Now, should I start looking into venues?"

1:39 PM

TJ:

Sounds better than I thought it would.

Carter:

Did you play it for the guys?

TJ:

Yeah they like it

TJ:

Brandon especially likes it

I hesitated on whether the last text message needed a response.

"Ready to go again?" Jeff's voice played through the speaker system.

I glanced up from my phone, nodding to Jeff, who stood on the other side of the glass. After running a quick mental evaluation of the possible responses I could send, I decided it was best not to.

I turned to the band behind me, "Let's go from the top of verse two."

4:20 PM

Unknown Number:

Hey man, it's Silas. Got your number from TJ

Unknown Number:

Ok I stole your number from TJ's phone

Unknown Number:

Come to the bar tonight!

5:23 PM

Carter:

Sure, sounds good

Carter:

Just finishing up at the studio

Silas:

Sweet! Meet us at 10

"Let's take a quick five and then get another round of backup vocals," Jeff's voice said through the speakers.

I removed my headphones and exited the live room, grabbing a bottle of water.

"You know, I've never heard you sing a hit this fast before." Jeff kept his eyes on his phone as he spoke, "Every other time I've been in this room with you, listening to you record one of those bubble-gum crap songs, it never sounded like a hit. But this sounds like a hit."

I shrugged, "Well, maybe it's because I didn't write those songs."

"Or, maybe it's because this song is about someone specific."

8:25 PM

Ryan:

Dude

Ryan:

Have you seen whats online??

Ryan:

Don't tell me you made a song with the girl from the bar

I could feel my heart begin to race out of pure fear as I read the text messages. I opened the web browser on my phone, typing my name into the search engine. Shit.

STAR NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Carter Young Returns to Music with Leaked Song Free

STAR NEWS: Rumors Over Who is Featured on Carter Young's New Song

STAR NEWS: Carter Young's Leaked Song Features Mystery Girl?

STAR NEWS: Who is TJ Roberts?

I was a dead man. My fingers quickly fumbled around on the screen as I dialled. The long ringing caused my anticipation to grow with every passing second.

"Jeff. Call me back. We have a problem."

10:13 PM

Silas:

Warning

Silas:

She's seen the headlines

My eyes scanned the message as I walked through the entrance of the bar. Fuck. I was walking in, knowing she was pissed and without an action plan. I began to regret showing up, thinking of how mad she might be. Before I could turn around and run for the exit, I was spotted.

"How bad is it?" I asked as Silas walked over.

He handed me his beer, "You might want some liquid courage. It's not pretty."

I brought the glass bottle to my lips, taking a long sip. Great. This was going to be fun.

"Come on. The guys are in the back."

I nodded, regretfully following Silas as we pushed through a door and entered a narrow hallway. Did I still have time to make a break for it?

"Where the fuck is he?" The sound of TJ's roaring voice filled the hallway.

I quickly looked around for an exit plan. I ran out of time to make any attempt at an escape as a wave of pink hair furiously stormed towards where I stood.

"You." TJ sneered, her eyes narrowed. I felt her hands press against my chest, forcefully shoving my body against the wall. "You leaked that fucking song! Didn't you?"

"TJ, listen," I tried my best to keep calm, as challenging as it was when being faced with the fire that burned through her glare, "I didn't leak it! I promise! I don't know how it got out."

"Oh sure you don't," she spat, "You-"

"Teej," Silas interrupted, grabbing hold of her arm, "Maybe you guys should talk privately."

TJ's eyes stayed locked onto mine, "Fine."

Her hand grabbed a fistful of my shirt, tugging my body towards a door. The two of us stood in a dimly lit alleyway. This place was becoming increasingly familiar to me. TJ released her grip and stood in front of me with her arms folded across her chest. Even in the darkness, I could see her anger.

"Was this your plan all along? Get me to sing with you so you could leak it? Make it another big fucking story?"

I took a hesitant step towards her, "TJ," I placed my hands on her shoulders, "I don't know how it got out. I was in the studio all day."

"Bullshit! You're the only one who would benefit from this being out!"

I released my grip and rubbed the back of my neck out of frustration. "Listen to me, alright?" The calmness of my tone was starting to fade out. "I don't know this happened. Okay? You said you wanted nothing to do with anything we wrote. I wouldn't go behind your back and leak it. I wouldn't do that to you!"

Silence consumed the two of us. I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my carton of cigarettes. I noticed her eyes finally appeared softer and less with a look of murder.

"Those are gonna kill you."

I rested the cigarette in-between my lips, unable to stop the smile that began to form. "That's funny coming from you." I lit the end and took a long, satisfying drag.

TJ rested her back against the wall of the building. "Why are you here?"

"Silas invited me," I said, flicking the end of my cigarette, letting the build-up of ash fall to the ground, "Besides, I wanted to tell you in person that I held up my end of the deal. Got you guys a gig for Friday night."

TJ opened her mouth to speak; the sound of the door swinging open silenced her. Brandon grinned as he stepped outside and walked towards TJ's side.

"Hey baby," Brandon wrapped his arm securely around her waist, "Connor."

Ass. "It's Carter."

"Right," he dismissively waved it off, "Nice song."

"Thanks," I glanced to TJ, who for the first time tonight appeared to be looking anywhere but at me, "TJ's one hell of a writer."

Brandon's grin disappeared at my compliment. "Let's go back in, baby." He led her back towards the door with ease, his arm dropping from her waist as he stepped inside.

I pulled out my phone from my jacket pocket.

Jeff – 7 missed calls

At least this gave me a reason not to follow the lovebirds back inside right away.

"Carter?"

I glanced up, seeing her standing in the doorway.

"Thanks... by the way," she tapped her finger against the doorframe, "For finding the venue."

"Told you I would. It was our deal."

TJ nodded with a weak attempt at a smile. "Right. Well, let's just hope we can both stay out of the press until then."

Little did either of us know how wrong her words were about to become.  

uh oh... wonder what's gonna happen next!

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