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.
“Ok sweetie, I know you’re sixteen and you’ve got a great voice. But I think you just need to practice more. You’ve got a great foundation and you can only go up from here!” Mitch exclaimed. “However, I’m going to have to say no, I’m sorry,” he said and smiled. Darren turned to look at the girl’s face drop. He was sure she’d been expecting a yes.
“And you Clara?” Darren turned and asked. Clara had shoulder length dirty blonde hair with bangs and clear blue eyes. She had been that stereotypical cheerleader in school. But she was also one of the smartest people Darren knew. She just knew how to hide it. Mitch on the other hand had been his nerdy brunette friend. Part of the reason Darren left their relationship alone was because it intrigued him how someone as quiet and introverted as Mitch had ended up with Clara who was very extroverted. He didn’t think they’d go through with their wedding. But he kept that to himself.
“Honey, you were great but I just wasn’t feeling it. Make sure to continue to grow and don’t be so shy. You’ve got the voice! Just go for it! It’s a no for me,” Clara exclaimed then Darren felt all eyes on him.
“Sorry, but I’m going with no as well,” he said and provided no further explanation. The crowds behind him cheered for the girl as she sobbed her way off the stage.
“Well she was the last one for this town!” Clara exclaimed and Darren smiled.
“Finally, I didn’t get a great vibe from many of these contestants; I hope the last two towns provide us with better results. We still need eight more. I can’t believe those idiots we left in charge of looking through the videos picked these people.”
“I felt bad for this last one, I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to like her and say yes. But I decided against it,” Mitch commented.
“Oh that’s fine,” Darren smirked and they waved to the crowds that were still cheering as they went backstage.
“Oh, why’d you fire Pamela? I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Clara asked.
“Oh! That. Stupid bitch, she disqualified one of the contestants from one of the video auditions. Even though I specifically told her that she has no power whatsoever to make those kinds of decisions. I was even more pissed when I watched the video and saw he’d sung an original song.”
“He didn’t follow the instructions?” Mitch asked.
“That would make for a valid disqualification wouldn’t it?” Clara added. Darren shrugged.
“Yes, but this kid. His song was great and his voice was mesmerizing. He only hinted at his story, but he’s for sure got some skeletons in the closet.”
“What’s his name?” Mitch asked as he pulled out the list of contestants. “Have we passed his town?”
“Oh noo. We go to his town in a couple of weeks. A lot of people from his town auditioned as well, maybe they’ll all be good. As for his name it was D- something with a D. Derek? I don’t know.”
“Declan Woods?”
“Hmmm. Perhaps!” he exclaimed.
~~~~~~~~~
Darren looked out the window in the restaurant they were at and saw the sun setting. Another day had come and gone. They’d be flying to the second to last town early next morning.
“Well guys. Cheers for another successful day of searching for a story.”
“Cheers!” Clara and Mitch exclaimed.
“So guys? How go the wedding plans?”
“Well we kind of took a hiatus on that. We want to start doing things for the wedding after your show,” Mitch explained.
“I like the sound of that, after all my two other judges should be focused entirely on this thing. I’m telling you both. ‘We all have a story to sing’ will be huge.”
“Oh and we are focused. And yes if the contestants get the viewers to fall in love with them it will be a hit!” Clara exclaimed and Darren smiled.
“Oh Clara, of course the viewers will fall for every aspect of this. We’ll have me, talented teenagers singing their little hearts out. Three good looking judges. Me. Singing, dancing. What’s not to like?” Darren asked. Clara was a great singer and taught singing lessons while Mitch was the dancer. Mitch would focus on the dancing aspect of it all. Clara would deal with the singing. Darren handled it all. He knew his show would be a huge hit.
“You are very right Darren,” Mitch agreed.
“Of course I am.”
“Sir!” a voice squeaked behind Darren. He froze and turned to look at his nervous secretary, Mary.
“Oh Mary, Mary, the secretary. What have I told you about interrupting my meals? You know I don’t like to yell at you. But you really do it to yourself ya know?” he asked. Mary’s dark brown eyes seemed to water.
“Darren,” Clara warned. He took a deep breath and sighed.
“What is it?” he asked. Mary held out a tablet for him to take. He frowned. “I didn’t ask for a tablet.”
“I know sir, umm, I just, I just know how much you love a good story, and I happened to come across this story. And well it’s about some of the contestants from the last town,” she mumbled and he felt the excitement hit him. He smiled big as he took the tablet from Mary.
“Why thank you, now let’s see what this is about shall we?” he asked no one in particular. Clara and Mitch watched him intently as he looked down at it. His eyes seemed to devour the words on the screen. He smiled at the words he read. “Student killed in class outing,” the article went on to describe a PE camping trip where a student fell to his death. And the ones involved were six names that rang a bell to him. “Let me see the list of contestants Clara?” he asked as she handed it to him. He looked through the names and compared them to the list. Aiden Brock, Noah Caus, Mason Digs, Owen Licota, Madison Malone and Declan Woods. They had witnessed the death and had had previous altercations with the deceased. Ohh he couldn’t wait to get to the town. He’d make sure they had a fair chance of getting into the competition. One of those lucky six could very well be the winner. He could only imagine the psychological trauma they’d be experiencing. After all death was no joking matter. Yes, he would make sure they’d get a chance. After all Darren Masterson wasn’t a bad person. No not at all.