Going Up - Now On Amazon

Chapter Twenty Two

Janie sent out a memo before lunch advising the staff members not to speak to the media and if they wished to stay in for lunch “Mr Jackson” had organised lunch in the staff room. Josh came by and we walked to the staff room together.

“Did you hear about the media storm downstairs? One of the tech guys said that he got asked about Nick’s abusive childhood” Josh whispered as we walked down the hall.

“Oh um, yeah the media guys. Like vultures to a carcass huh” I replied, guilt surged through me, even though ultimately the only person at fault was Amelia for being such a cold hearted bitch.

Josh and I walked into the staffroom and met up with Marc and Janie.  The spread Nick had organised was vast and looked amazingly delicious; I grabbed a filled roll and sat down at a table in the corner. Once the others had joined me I looked up at Janie and sort of smiled.

“I’m going on the books”

“Really?!” Janie exclaimed, grabbing my hand from across the table.

I shrugged and nodded, looking down at my lunch. Merely mentioning going on the books had rendered my appetite defunct. It wasn’t because I didn’t want make music, because I did.

It just meant opening myself up. Letting people in. What if Nick just thought I was good because he had “Sarah goggles” on? What if the record exec just laughed at me and kicked me out.

Since Nick had mentioned it last week the thought had been festering in my head, behind everything else. Never really coming to the forefront of my mind, but never really disappearing all together.

Now that I’d made a decision about my life I realised more than anything else, it was what I wanted to do with my life.

Finally, at least, I knew what I wanted to do.

“Oh My God! That’s amazing!” Janie almost shouted, taken aback I looked up to see that some of the other staff members were staring at us.

“What the heck is she talking about?” Josh asked in a hushed voice

“It’s a long story, basically it comes down to Nick hearing me sing and wanting to put me on the books”

Marc congratulated me, but josh didn’t say a thing.

“You and Nick…. You’re not just friends are you?” He said finally. Enunciating nick’s name like it was dirt on the ground.

“Josh…” Janie started; she looked around the room to ensure that the people who’d been looking a few moments ago had returned to their own business. Thankfully they had.

“No… I want to know. I mean seriously, the night at dinner, he took you home and didn’t leave our place until after I got home from the hospital. He was the one you called when… well when the house was broken in to. I feel like I’m missing a part of the story, but I think I can piece it together enough to work out that there’s something going on here” Josh’s voice was raised slightly, and I felt a little guilty. I could tell from his tone that he wasn’t jealous in the slightest, which was a bonus, but he was angry.

“We’re just friends” I replied honestly.

“I hope so. The guy is engaged. I didn’t think you’d be that kind of girl”

My stomach flipped and I frowned. I was that kind of girl though. I’d been with Nick before I knew about the contract. Being that kind of girl had gotten me in to nothing but trouble. Being that kind of girl had made it so sordid and horrifying details about Nick’s childhood were leaked.