One For All

Chapter Eleven: Darren Masterson

Chapter Eleven: Darren Masterson

Darren Masterson wasn’t a bad person. No not at all. Far from it actually; he thought of himself as a generous person. And he was, after all if he hadn’t been a good person he would have not been trying to fulfill someone’s dreams. Someone out there (and he suspected it was a lot of someones) was hoping to become rich and famous. And one lucky someone would be just that; lucky. He’d whisk them away and make sure they became the biggest thing in the world since freedom. Not that every place in the world had that. But what he couldn’t see, he didn’t care for. He’d make someone a famous singer that everyone loved. He knew what worked and he knew how to work it to his advantage.

Darren was a pretty well-known music producer and he was growing as a television producer. But because he was the King Midas of the music industry (any artist or band he touched would forever be successful) he’d gotten the brilliant idea of having a televised music/singing competition. Sure there were other shows out there like the X-Factor or American Idol. But this was his baby. And he would see it succeed. On the off chance that this show didn’t hit popularity—well he didn’t want to think of what poor soul he’d take it out on and make sure they never found happiness in life ever again. He always got what he wanted and he always did what he pleased. None of that was changing any time soon.

Yes he was a music producer, but what few people knew however, was that he had a PhD in Psychology as well. Oh yes, he was a genius as well. One of his passions was human behavior. The things and actions that were in human nature were oh so fascinating. It intrigued him. He was obsessed with what made people tick. He often wondered what exactly would cause loved ones to betray each other. What was it in friends that triggered the competitiveness and willingness to crush each other? He loved toying with the emotions of others. To him he was the king on the board. And as far as everyone else was concerned they were all pawns.

He suspected that was why his wife had left him a year ago. He’d been married for five years. But in those last few months of marriage a spark had ignited in him. He’d been curious about his wife’s sister. He wondered if it was possible to seduce his sister-in-law and coerce her into having an affair with him. Would she betray her sister’s trust? It was possible, and she had. It’d been actually very easy. The poor woman was forever alone and desperate for attention and he’d given it.

Afterwards he’d been curious as to what his wife would think. So he’d planned it all and one thing led to another and soon there was his wife face to face with him and her sister butt naked in their bed. None of them had spoken to him since then. But he could care less.

He was content with his life. It was probably that first night alone that he’d come up with the idea for a show. “We all have a story to sing,” oh how he loved that title. And there he was touring little random towns here and there for auditions. Oh he’d made sure that none of these auditions happened in the big cities because then he knew his show would be compared to the big ones like Idol and Factor, and there would be a bigger chance of dissatisfaction. But this way, in the little towns no one knew about or cared for he’d find gems and exploit them for all their little hearts could take. He was excited for finding a variety of people with different stories.

“Ok, that’s enough thank you,” he interrupted one of the girls auditioning. If he was being honest he hadn’t been paying attention to her or her voice. For all he knew she was a good singer. But he hadn’t been interested in her normal life.

“Oh, ok sorry!” she piped up. He looked her down. She was petite and brunette. She had that every day look to her. Too bad he found her boring.

“Ok what’d you think Mitch?” he asked his best friend. They sat a table looking up at the stage that had been set up in the town’s city hall. Darren sat in the middle, Mitch sat on his right and Clara sat on his left. Clara and Mitch were engaged and his only friends in the world. He’d briefly thought about ruining that for them. But decided against it. He respected them too much for that. He was after all not a bad person.