The Rush

Chapter 8

"Nice to meet you. I'm Melody, and this is my dad, Reid. Come in, I'll introduce you to everyone." I gestured for her to come in. She quickly took off her shoes and followed me into the kitchen where everyone was hanging around. I introduced Anise to everyone before we both took our seats at the table with Aunt Mel and Uncle Andrew. I noticed Anise didn't really speak much, she just flipped open her notepad and began writing something down. I wasn't sure what she would be writing, no one had spoken yet.

"So, I hear you've already got a meeting set with Olive's boss," Mel said once she had settled in.

"Her boss's boss." I answered, "First thing Monday. She wants to talk a recording deal."

"It is a really good label but we should meet with some others to make sure you're getting the best deal possible. Anise is going to get in touch with some of my contacts and we should have at least three options ready for the weekend."

I looked over at Anise once Mel said her name. For someone who seemed so shy, she didn't seem nervous about the prospect of contacting labels. She nodded and wrote something in her notebook. Maybe she just wasn't that much of a talker, but that didn't explain the curled shoulders. It was such a typical shy posture. She seemed to be trying to fade into the background, which drew my attention. I couldn't help it. There was something about shy people that drew me in. I had always found the shy ones were usually the most interesting. Just look at my bandmates. Hillary was hiding an inner badass under her quiet orchestra kid exterior and Ryland was hiding a musical theatre kid under the tall, dark and mysterious image he wanted to portray. All I had to do was to get her to let go.

Wait, what was I doing? I'm supposed to be helping plan a strategy for tomorrow. I turned back into the conversation only to find Uncle Andrew explaining something about contracts. As much as I loved Uncle Andrew, I did not understand what he liked so much about contract negotiation. He genuinely loved the negotiation process. If I were as good as he was at law, I would want to be a DA or someone who could yell objection in a courtroom. I always wanted to yell objection in court. It seems like it would be fun.

As discussions about contracts and labels wore on, I was finding it harder and harder to pay attention. I know that I should be paying attention because it was literally my future we were talking about, but it's hard! I looked over at my bandmates and I could see their eyes glossing over too. Glad I wasn't the only one. I went to look over at Anise again when I caught Will jump slightly. My eyes flicked to his in time to catch him glance over at Hillary with a smirk on his face. I could feel my nose start to scrunch when my eyes flicked down and saw Hillary's hand on his thigh! What the actual fuck! It wasn't a friendly pat on the thigh, it was an inner thigh grab. High on the thigh. Lingering too. There was no way that was innocent.

My eyes shot forward and I blinked fast to try to get the image out of my head. My best friend grabbed my brother's thigh? Are they fucking? Oh god, nope. Not ready to deal with that shit storm. No way. What the fuck? It has to have been going on for a while. No one just grabs someone like that at the table if this was new. Especially not Hillary. Sweet quiet nerdy Hillary. Fucking hell. This is a mess. What the fuck do I do with this information? I want to stand up and create a big scene but I feel like this is going to require some kind of alcohol or weed to get through. Hillary and Will. So fucking weird.

I was, thankfully, distracted by the front door being thrown open. Everyone's head whipped to the front foyer as literally my entire family burst in. I pushed thoughts of my brother and best friend out of my brain as I ran straight into the waiting arms of my Aunt Red. She squeezed me tight as the two of us rocked together. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We've been planning this all day. Your dad wanted everyone here to celebrate with you." She answered. I looked over at my family and realized that she meant everyone. All my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family, my many cousins, and grandparents. All I can say is that it is a good thing that my parents have such a big house because there are way too many members of this family. I'm super close with all of them. I know I can call on any of them at any time and they'd do whatever they could to help me. It was kinda awesome.

Everyone was soon all hanging out in the large living room. All my siblings came downstairs and the younger ones were sitting on the floor. All talks of contract negotiations were abandoned, beers were handed out, and food was dolled out. My Uncle Dean had brought a stack of pizzas for everyone with sides of wings, breadsticks, and dipping sauces. I had fun hanging out with my family. I did keep an eye on Hillary and Will though. The two of them were glued to each other's sides. How did I not notice it? Will is so getting a thorough questioning as soon as everyone leaves tonight. I don't care that he's got work in the morning. I need to know.

The other person I was interested in watching was Anise. She didn't try to interact with people. I could see she was keeping close to Mel, probably because she was the only person Anise knew. Before I could stop myself, I was plopping myself down beside her. "How's it going Star?"

She turned to me with a look of surprise on her face, "What? Why'd you call me Star?"

"The spice, star anise. I figured that's what you're named after."

"Yeah, I am. Most people don't pick up on that. They usually just comment on how exotic my name sounds." She scoffed slightly as she looked down at the beer bottle in her hands.

"People are dicks. If you ever need someone to punch a dick in the face, call me. Punching dicks in the face is literally one of my favourite pass times." I said and got her to laugh. Unfortunately, I was overheard.

"Nope. No more punching people in the face. I do not need another late-night call to bail you out of jail." Uncle Andrew jumped in.

"But then how are you going to spend time with your favourite niece?" I smiled up at him sweetly which had everyone cracking up.

"How many times have you been arrested?" Anise asked.

"Uh... oh fuck, I don't know. I feel like that is something I should know. I have never been charged though. Wait, no, I was charged a few times, but they were dropped really quickly." What kind of person can't remember how many times they've been arrested? Fucking hell. Maybe I should find a different hobby that isn't punching dicks in the face.

"I feel like as your new manager I should probably discourage you from any punching that will get you thrown in jail." Anise grinned at me. She seemed much more relaxed now. First shell of this shy girl is cracked, many more to go.

"Why do I suddenly want to go punch someone and get thrown in jail?" They all laughed but I was only partly joking. Telling me not to do something is a guaranteed way of getting me to do it. Maybe I should put in a session with the punching bag tonight. After I interrogate Will that is. Going to have a busy night.

A loud whistle echoed through the room and everyone turned to see Mamma standing with a huge smile on her face. "Who's ready to hear Charcoal Dreams' first single?"