REMUS BENNET
Things were tense in their House.
Rue had locked herself in her room, and despite the man pleadings from their mother she had refused to come out of it.
The only solace was that they would hear her sneak into the kitchen late at night to smuggle things into her room, but that did little to improve the mood in the House.
Remus himself had spent the entire time trying to recover data from the SSD she had destroyed, but after the second day he was forced to give up.
By now, his song had raked in around two million streams which was massive but it was beginning to lose momentum and the best way to get rid of that was to launch another song.
Sadly though they had lost the video for the second song, and now the three of them were on a video call to decide on what they were going to do about that.
“So, you are gonna upload them without the video?” asked Elliot and he had no other choice really.
“Can’t do anything else,” and he had worked on a few graphics to go with it, and the songs would go live soon enough.
“I am going to upload them. We should take advantage of the momentum of ‘Before you Go,” and in the industry one song blowing up could be called a fluke.
It could be dismissed, but no one could ignore multiple songs.
No one, and he was quite confident in what he had sung.
“I am going to upload both of them today,” he announced, and now Lexie seemed surprised.
“Both?” she asked, and he nodded.
“Yup. There is no point in waiting now,” and neither of them could object now.
“Well, it’s your choice,” Lexie added.
“So, we set for the session tommorow?” Elliot questioned, and he shook his head.
“I am afraid I am gonna have to take a raincheck there. I have to go to a party tomorrow,” and Elliot made a face.
“A party,” and the realization came quickly.
“You are going to McKay’s party,” and he shrugged.
“Why?” Elliot prbed.
“Well, because someone asked me to,” and then his eyes narrowed.
“Holy shit! You two, really…” and both of them chuckled at his antics.
“Well, we can skip a day. I might even join you lot to see how that shit goes,” and this was going to cause a stir, that much was obvious.
“ELLIOT!” suddenly a voice screamed at him, and their friend rolled his eyes.
“Gotta go. See you at the party tomorrow,” and with that he was gone, leaving him alone with Lexie.
“Can I ask you something?” and Lexie nodded.
“Yeah,” and this had been on his mind ever since last night.
“Why did you want me at McKay’s party?” and her face betrayed her.
“No reason,” she was lying, but he did not call her out on it for he had a pretty good idea about who had put the idea into her head.
“I believe you,” and she knew that he knew that she was lying, but they let the game continue.
“How many streams does it have now?” and he had the laptop open to his right.
“2.1 million,” and she made a face at that.
Then it should cross into the Billboard charts soon enough,” and he shook his head.
“Not really. To even crack teh top 100 you have to have somewhere around 9-10 million streams,” and that was still way far off.
“We can still do it,” and he hoped as much, for once he was in the charts, his songs would have massive exposure, and that could add to the momentum.
“We will just have to see how it goes,” and that was all.
“I have to go now,” he added and blew her a kiss.
“See you at the party,” and with that he turned off the call, and began setting things at DistroKid.
He set everything up, and soon enough both of his other tracks were set for upload as well.
“REMUS!” It was Leslie, calling him down, and he closed off the laptop and walked out of the room.
It was time for dinner already, and as he walked down he saw that the table was set and everyone was sitting down there already, including Rue.
That was a surprise to him, and he walked down to teh table slowly and joined them for the meal.
The tension was palpable and neither him nor Rue said anything as they began eating in silence.
It was only after they had eaten that their mother had Gia go to her room, leaving the three of them alone at teh table.
“Rue,” she encouraged softly.
“I believe you have something to say to your brother,” and Rue’s reluctance was obvious, but she finally met his gaze.
“I am sorry,” she finally spoke up weakly.
“I shouldn’t have said all those things about you and father,” and he put down his fork, and sighed.
“It’s ok,” he answered.
“Fezco once told me to never trust the words coming out of the mouth of an addict,” and their mother made a face at him.
“Remus,” and he shrugged.
“Its no secret. She is an addict,” he called her out on it.
“I don’t think you understand how dangerous that is. Numbing away that pain will do nothing, Rue,” and she had to understand this.
“Puff, one day sooner or later you will have to face it and move on. Otherwise, you will be eaten alive,” and she had tears welling up in her eyes.
“I don’t know what to do,” and he was not exactly against recreational use, though he did not partake in it.
But Rue was not using these things recreationally.
She had become dependent on them physiologically and psychologically.
That was not a good thing.
“Find a hobby. Something you enjoy, and use it. Rely on us when you have to, but don’t lose yourself to this fucking shit,” he added emphatically, and she nodded.
“I will try,” and he shook his head.
“I am going to turn in now,” and as he got up, their mother made a note to him.
“Don’t forget your appointment with the Psychiatrist tomorrow. I have texted you all of the details,” and that was tomorrow as well.
“I won’t. Can I borrow your car for the evening as well?” and she frowned, as she began picking up the dishes.
“Why?” she asked.
“I have to go to a party with Lexie,” and she made a face at that.
“Party?” Rue cut in.
“McKay’s party?
You are going?
She asked, and he nodded.
“Yes,” he answered, still looking towards their mother.
“Why?” she asked, and he ignored her.
“Sure, why not? I can take a ride with Alice,” and that was good.
“No. No. Wait! You and McKay have history, you can’t just go to his party,” and he finally turned to face Rue.
“I can. Plus, there is not much history here,” and that was a lie.
“Still, you hate McKay. Why would you even go to his party?” and for all her habits, Rue was smart as hell.
“Lexie,” her eyes widened as she guessed.
“You and Lexie are a thing now?” and he would never understand how she made that leap so easily.
“Maybe,” he did not lie.
“Damn, I was wondering when she would make her move?” and that surprised him.
“You knew about Lexie’s crush,” and Rue shrugged hard.
“Dude! I have known about that thing for years. I even gave her my blessing a few years ago,” and that explained Lexie’s answer.
“Wait! You are seeing Lexie,” and suddenly he found himself at the center of an investigation.
“Yes,” and their mother had a strange smile on her face.
“Good for you,” and now Rue jumped to the kitchen slab.
“Can I go to the party as well?” she asked, Leslie shook her head.
“No. You are grounded for the entire month,” and Rue groaned, but she continued to insist.
“Please. I promise that I will behave. Plus, someone has to keep an eye on him and Lexie,” she pointed towards him.
“Let her come,” he advocated for her, and she had already made up her mind.
Stopping her now was impossible.
“It will be good for her to connect with her friends,” and Leslie seemed hesitant.
“I promise to keep an eye on her,” and she finally gave her nod.
“Sure, but I want you both home before ten,” and he shook his head.
“Twelve,” he countered, and the negotiations were complete.
With that, he headed back to his room, and by now the upload was complete.
His computer was gone, and so he chatted with Lexie for a bit before he turned in for the night.
The next morning, both he and Lexie had decided to skip school for the day, and so he picked her up as they rode up to Pasadena for his appointment.
They rode to the place mentioned by his mother, and it was named ‘Rhoades Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center.’
“This is a nice neighborhood,” and it was indeed.
“You didn’t have to do this, you know,” he spoke to Lexie; she shrugged.
“It’s nothing. I haven’t been out of town in months now,” and still this was quite a commitment.
“Well, I am just gonna go in and tell that guy to fuck off, and then we can leave,” and she chuckled at his words.
“Be serious about this,” and he was.
“Honestly, I am fine. I have no need of this,” and still they walked into the building, and it was a very nice building.
The receptionist led them to the waiting area, and thankfully they did not have to wait for long.
Half an hour later, he was called into the office of the man.
He had a rather squarish face with a big chin.
He was wearing a cardigan over jeans and a shirt, and seemed to be a rather jovial man.
“So, this is our first session,” he greeted him.
“And hopefully our last,” and the man frowned.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” and he led him to a rather comfortable couch chair.
“I have looked over your file, and it seems there is a lot going on in your life,” and with that.
“So, tell me a bit about yourself, Remus Bennet?” and he frowned at the name, as many others had before him.
“It’s from the Harry Potter books,” and he saw those eyes light up.
“I knew it sounded familiar,” the man named Jimmy added.
“My father lost a bet and named me after one of his favorite characters,” and by now this had become a chore.
Then they launched into a bit of tirade as he asked him about his life, and he answered.
Yet halfway through the session, he noticed how the man’s eyes kept landing on his face.
“You have mentioned singing as your habit,” and he had indeed.
“Well, it’s more than just a habit now,” he clarified.
“How so?”
“Well, I am giving singing a real shot, and I have even uploaded three songs,” and suddenly the man was on his feet.
“You are that Bennet! I knew it! I knew it!”
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Late night in a small corner of Pasadena, Jimmy Laird walked back into his home while his wife and daughter were busy preparing dinner.
There was a strange energy to him as he jumped into the place and spoke excitedly.
“Guess who just walked into my clinic today?” he asked excitedly.
“Taylor Swift,” his daughter Alice answered dismissively, taking the air out of him.
“No, but he just might be the next Taylor Swift,” he argued, and given that he had used the car ride to binge Remus Bennet’s two new songs, it was entirely possible.
“He?” his wife, Tia, noticed.
And then he suddenly opened the buttons of his cardigan to reveal the massive autograph on his shirt.
“What is that!” both his wife and daughter asked in alarm.
“Only teh first ever autograph signed by Remus Bennet,” and now both Tia and Alice’s eyes widened.
“You are joking!” and until now Alice had been rather dismissive of her father’s claim.
“I am not. He came in here today as a patient,” and she could not believe.
“Remus Bennet came to your office. The Remus Bennet,” and for the first time he saw in her eyes that she thought of him as a ‘cool dad’.
“Yup. He is a good kind, who has a lot going on in his life. He also told me that he uploaded two new songs yesterday. I spent the entire ride listening to them,” he answered.
“Is that why your eyes are swollen?” his wife noticed, and he nodded.
“Yup,” and he wiped them.
“The bastard made me cry again….”
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Have a fantastic day!