Broken Strings

Four

Like her business partners, Cierra was dressed smartly, but not stuffy, in a blazer and blouse. Her hair was curled and controlled around her naturally tanned face. A half-smile curved her lips as she purred, "Hello."

"Hey Cierra," Julio replied smoothly. "Can you hear us okay?"

"Yup. Can you hear me?"

"Affirmative."

"Then we're good to go," David said. "Cierra, we'd like you to meet our newest Eclipse Records acquisition. This is Brock Mason, formerly of Frontier Records and previously from the band Tallahassee."

Cierra turned her eyes to Brock. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you and I remember your Tallahassee days, too. At the very least, I remember liking your music."

"That's a relief. It'd be really awkward if you didn't," Brock responded wryly.

She laughed, face brightening. "Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, let's talk business."

"Where do you want to start, Cierra?" David asked.

"From our previous conversations, we're not worried about Brock musically." She turned her gaze on Brock. "You're a talented artist with a good voice. We'd like to see better song choices but you've got a good vocal range to work with. So our biggest issue with you is the media. I've connected with your agent, Brock, and she's filled me in with some of the details about this media shit-storm we're dealing with."

Brock swallowed. "It's a bit of a mess, I know."

Cierra's smile warmed and though she was two-thousand miles away, it actually put him at ease. "I've had my interns do some digging on you and from what we've learned, you specifically are pretty scandal-free. Right now, all you've been accused of is guilt-by-association, which is a good thing. It means that, in time, this bad press should go away. We just want to make sure that it stays gone."

"Believe me," Brock said earnestly and he took the time to look them each in the eye, "that's all that I want, too."

"We're glad to hear that," Julio said. "What we would like to know from you is whether any of Mr. Strickland's claims about you have any truth. Even loose truths that have the potential to be twisted into lies are things that we need to prepare for with our communications team."

David shuffled through a few of the papers that were sitting on the desk before him and added, "Specifically, Strickland is claiming the following:

"First, that you are addicted to cocaine and were the primary party responsible for attaining the substance for the band and your staff– and that you would give it to fans at meet-and-greet events;

"Second, that you promoted a toxic work environment and constantly berated your bandmates and the staff in your employ;

"And third, that you were aware of the women Mr. Strickland were assaulting and did nothing to stop it. That you encouraged him to destroy the career of another woman, Miss Bailey Grant, to increase Tallahassee's popularity."

There was a beat of silence as those allegations settled between them like a blanket. Three pairs of eyes staring at him, waiting for him to say something. Anything.

Brock hesitated, wondering if this was the sort of thing that he ought to have his lawyer present for – or at least Des. Someone who would tell him when to shut up and bite his tongue. Brock debated for a moment then decided to screw it.

He had nothing to hide anyways.

"Before Tallahassee split," he started, "we were known as a band that liked to get a little bit wild. Trace loved to party and it was never hard to convince Grayson Thomas, Jeremiah Danvers, or I to join in. Have I done cocaine...yes. Only once and I hated it. That rumour about me giving it to fans is not true, but a fan did try to give it to me once at a meet-and-greet and someone got a photo of it. Of course, I don't have proof that it didn't go the other way around, which is probably why Trace twisted it."