EXCERPT:<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen I finished, O\u2019Dea was sitting on the chair, his elbows braced on his knees. He was staring at the floor, like he was lost in thought. Then he looked up at me and my breath caught at the million heartbreaking emotions roiling in his gaze.<\/p>\n
And then they were gone, as if they\u2019d never been there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all I have so far,\u201d I whispered, so confused by him. \u201cNo more songs.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression was unreadable. \u201cYour visitor\u2019s visa is about to run out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bewildered by the response, I could only nod.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve no money.\u201d<\/p>\n
I tensed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve run away from your identity, from your life in the band, in the US. You\u2019ve no family to speak of, and you abandoned your friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man was the soul of sensitivity. \u201cYour point?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy point is that you don\u2019t have many options. I think you were living in some naive fantasy that you could keep running from your problems and live a relatively peaceful life as a homeless person. Somehow, miraculously, you survived unscathed for five months. But last night you were given a giant fucking look at the reality and dangers of homelessness. I wish it hadn\u2019t happened that way, but there was never any other way it was going to end. And it has ended, am I right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, do you get, like, a bonus at the end of every day if you say a hundred patronizing things in a twenty-four-hour period or something?\u201d<\/p>\n
He ignored me. \u201cYou can\u2019t go back to sleeping rough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I got that, thanks.\u201d I waved my cast at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo \u2026 it\u2019s either call your old manager, your band\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot an option,\u201d I snapped.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Dea smirked. \u201cThen I\u2019m all you\u2019ve got. And I\u2019m no fucking Mother Teresa. I\u2019m in the business of making money, Miss Finch. You\u2019ve already proven you\u2019re good at making it. And from what I heard today and have heard you playing when you busk, I think the world hasn\u2019t even seen a fraction of what you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was really nothing to do but glare and hope that he withered under it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll let you stay here in this flat free of charge, give you a weekly stipend for clothes, groceries, a new guitar. You can heal up here. But all of it in exchange for a record contract. A one-album deal, that\u2019s all I ask. When you\u2019re healed up, you\u2019ll be straight into the studio to record.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thought made my stomach pitch. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be famous again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTough shit. There is no being famous again. You are<\/em> famous. And you\u2019ve got more talent in your pinkie finger than most do in their entire being. And that talent deserves more of a platform than standing on a street busking. It\u2019s a goddamned insult to all those people out there trying to make the big time. I don\u2019t care what it is you\u2019re running from. I care that you sort yourself out and make some music again. Music that matters. Music that will heal you.\u201d<\/p>\nI bristled. \u201cI\u2019ve made music that matters. I\u2019ve got the fan mail to prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour music in Tellurian did its job. It was catchy, appealing, and teenagers related. But your voice is meant for something else. The songs you just sang to me \u2026 those are songs that will really make people feel<\/em>. It\u2019s vulnerable and brutally honest and that\u2019s the stuff that resonates with people. People want songs that make them feel good, but they also just want songs that me them feel<\/em>, even if it breaks their fucking heart. You\u2019ve been through a lot, Skylar. Even if I couldn\u2019t read a newspaper, I\u2019d know that by listening to those songs you sang.<\/p>\n\u201cTwo years ago, you were a leader on social media and the lead singer of a pop-rock band that teens and college freshman loved. I\u2019m not asking you to go back to that. I\u2019m asking you to become an artist in your own right. If you don\u2019t want the social media exposure, we\u2019ll have someone else run that stuff for you. And we\u2019ll do what we can to minimize the tabloid exposure. It will be hard at first considering your disappearance, but once it dies down, we can make it so you\u2019re not hounded. It is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter whether they hound me or not. I hate the fame. I hate the touring. I hate it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d His expression hardened. \u201cYou don\u2019t\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
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