Nate looked down at the picture he had been sent by one of his friends, and ground his teeth in a mix of rage and disgust, for this was not the life he had imagined for himself.
His life was meant to be perfect.
It was a picture of Maddie, sitting in the car of that damn wannabe singer, and usually he would have made it his life’s mission to ruin that bastard’s life, but Nate had too much on his plate already.
He was smart and was captain of the school’s football team.
He was supposed to go to college from here, and there he was meant to marry Maddie.
After that, he was meant to go into professional football.
That was the life he had planned for himself, yet it was all coming apart because of one anonymous individual.
His father was a sick bastard.
A very sick bastard, and he had planned on dealing with him on his own at an appropriate time, but this stranger had destroyed all of his plans, and from this moment on he had made it his life’s mission to ruin the life of the person who had chosen to destroy his life.
His father’s deal allowed him to keep his reputation intact and simply go into rehab to get better.
But it did not matter to him, not when the whole affair had already derailed the life he had planned for himself.
His father had no interest in finding out the truth and was simply content to sweep the entire thing under the rug, but Nate was different.
He wanted answers.
He wanted revenge,
He wanted to know the person who had tipped off the Police, so that he might make an example out of them.
It wouldn’t be easy to pull off, but Nate was rather motivated.
He glanced down at the picture once more and snarled as his eyes narrowed onto Maddie’s smiling face.
“I’ll deal with you later, Maddie…”
.
.
.
REMUS BENNET
Maddie was still asleep when he woke up, and the room was quite a mess from their late-night endeavors.
Even Remus was a bit surprised by himself, though there was some justification for it, given that the last person he had slept with had been Cassie before the pair had broken up, and in that time she had both gotten together with and broken up with McKay.
He slowly slid out of the covers, taking care not to disturb the girl still asleep in his bed.
He walked up to his computer table and turned it on as he opened up his screen.
He opened up Instagram, and by now clips from his performance littered the space.
Instagram was full of speculation over the proverbial concert, and people were commenting how there had been no mention of such a performance.
He had already made his own post about the affair, as he uploaded a clip from the video Lexie had shot and wrote up a small message.
“Just a little show for my town!”
Then he tagged the non-profit, who had helped organize the whole fair.
He had a few messages from Amy, and she was going to come and see him today so that they could plot his future.
The money from his label deal had finally hit his account, and now, after the Coogan Account and a few other expenses, Remus Bennet was officially a millionaire.
He had around two million dollars to his name and was set to get nearly a mil more through the various endorsement deals, royalties, and licensing fees that Amy was working on at the moment.
He had already deposited a considerable sum into his mother’s account and had set up a college fund for Rue and Gia, yet that still left him about a mil and a half to play with.
By all means, it was a massive sum, yet still for him this was just the beginning.
He was already well into his work, reviewing the few offers Amy had sent to him, when Maddie broke him out of his trance.
“Damn, you’re up early,” and she was standing behind him, with the sheet wrapped around her, as she slowly wrapped her arms around him.
“You’re up,” he pulled away his headphones as she kissed him on the cheek.
“I didn’t wanna wake up,” he admitted as he kissed her back, and Maddie slowly slid forward and sat down on the chair sideways.
“What are you working on so early in the morning?” she asked, and he was a bit hesitant, but he let her look at the mail.
“Nothing much. I am just going through some of the things my agent sent me,” but she was sharper than that, and he saw her eyes.
“You’re checking out brand deals, huh?” she caught on in an instant, and she was no fool.
“Yeah,” and most of them were starter-level deals that were given to every industry amateur, so there was nothing truly exceptional here.
“But I can do that later,” he added as he looked down at her, and though he thoroughly enjoyed their night together, he had no desire to make this permanent.
“Do we really gotta talk about that?” she countered as she pushed herself up and kissed him again, and he did not stop her.
“Look,” he began as their lips came apart again, and perhaps sensing his insistence, she spoke up herself.
“I know you’re not looking for anything serious,” Maddie began herself, much to his surprise, though he should not have been.
Lexie was Cassie’s sister, and Maddie was Cassie’s best friend, so no wonder she knew of his intentions.
“I am sorry,” he apologized, and she shrugged as she readjusted herself using her arms.
“Don’t be,” she added.
“Neither am I, really,” she answered nonchalantly.
“I’m not looking for anything permanent either. You’re moving soon, so let’s just enjoy it while it lasts,” Maddie suggested, and it was not a bad suggestion.
“Sure, why not?” He was not against the idea, and then it was her phone that cut through the silence as Maddie groaned and pushed herself out of her chair.
She grabbed her phone from the bed and rolled her eyes.
“Aghh! It’s my mother,” she said, picked it up, and began talking to her while she paced around the room.
The call ended a few minutes later, as Maddie groaned.
“I forgot to text her, and now she’s gone mad,” she threw the phone back to the bed, as she began searching for her clothes.
“Mind dropping me off?” Remus had no reason to turn her down.
“Sure, just let me have a quick shower,” and those dark eyes narrowed at him once more, as Maddie licked her lip.
“Now you are tempting me, Bennet,” and he walked into the bathroom backward, as he opened his arms.
“I won’t say no to company….”
.
.
.
And then he dropped her off an hour later.
He could hear the argument between Maddie and her mother from out on the street, and chose to ride away before he could do anything.
He was on his way home when he received a text from Amy.
“I will be there in fifteen,” and he parked his car in the driveway and walked into the House just as his mother was busy washing the dishes.
“Is there anything in the fridge?” he asked, though he opened up the door himself and found it empty.
“No,” and that was bad, so he picked up an apple and bit into it.
“Damn. I will have to order something,” and he opened up DoorDash and began to sift through the options.
“I need to eat something before Amy shows up,” and that made his mother perk up.
“Oh, Amy’s coming over?” and he nodded, not looking up from his phone as he placed the order, keeping in mind Amy’s strict dietary limitations.
“Yeah. She wants to talk to me about a few work-related things,” and he had a few things that he wanted to run by her as well, so it was good that she was coming.
“Speaking of that, I have something to talk to you about,” Leslie said, washing her hands as Remus looked up from his phone.
“About what?” he asked, missing the rather serious expression on her face.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said last week,” and it took him a few seconds to remember, but when he did, Remus’s mood turned serious as he realized that she was talking about his offer of moving out of East Highland.
“So, have you picked a place yet?” Amy had sent him a list of all the suitable places from Pasadena, and he had forwarded it to her a few days ago so that she could look it over and make her decision.
“I honestly like the one at 299. It’s big, isolated. It has a pool as well,” and he was quite excited about this, yet he noticed how Leslie seemed rather quiet all of a sudden.
“What is it?” he asked, and she walked up to him.
“I talked about this with Gia and Rue as well, and we have all decided that we are not going to stay here in East Highland,” and the words took a second to register, as Remus’s brows came together.
“Why?” he asked.
“Rue and Gia don’t wanna leave their friends. They’ve got a life here, they know the neighborhood, and they don’t wanna walk away from it…” but that was not all.
He could tell.
…and honestly, neither do I,” and Gia and Rue could be convinced, but it was her rejection that took him by surprise.
“I have been in this place a long time,” and her eyes teared up as she looked around her.
“Your father and I bought it together. He was the one who helped build this kitchen,” and he knew that, for whenever they would be having fun, they would all tease him about the crooked cupboards.
“After his death, this is all that I have left of him,” she added, and he took a second to cut in.
“I am not asking you to sell it,” he reminded her.
“We can keep this place and still buy a second home,” and he was capable of that. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
They were capable of that.
She took a deep breath and leaned against the counter as she looked him in the eye.
“Your father’s death was a great blow to me. It nearly broke me,” and he knew that better than anyone else.
“I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for Jaince, Alice, and the rest of my friends who came together to help me,” and so she had already made up her mind.
“I don’t want to leave them,” and then she looked around at the House, and continued lightly.
“I don’t want to leave him,” and what was he meant to say to that?
“But I think that you should move,” Leslie added, as she stepped towards him.
“You have already done enough for us. You should go and spread out your wings,” she added, as she pushed herself up and kissed his forehead.
“Don’t let us tie you down. Go be the star you’re meant to be,” and he bit his lip as he grabbed her hand.
“So basically, you’re kicking me out,” he asked in a pretend voice, and they both laughed at that, as she slapped his arm.
“Yes, I am,” she admitted sharply.
Well, in the end he could not force this choice on them.
This was her decision to make, and if she wished to stay here, then who was he to stop her?
“I saw through the list you sent me, and I liked a few places,” Leslie stated, and that was good.
“We can go and have a look at them this weekend,” and that sounded good to him.
“I will make plans,” and it seemed to him that he was moving out, and with that the bell rang, and he pushed himself off the fridge.
“It’s Amy,” he added as he walked up to the door and opened it.
“Hi, it’s been a while,” she greeted him.
She smiled
“Hi, how have you been?” Leslie added from the kitchen as he closed the door behind her.
“Good, what about you….”
And so, after an hour or so, the two of them sat in his room going through the various offers he had received.
“So, you don’t want to sign anything yet?” Amy asked, and he nodded.
“Just give me a couple of weeks, okay,” he said, and he had looked over most of the offers, and they were not that good.
“What about a concert?” Amy pivoted, and now that he could do.
“I received a call from Sam Riback earlier, and they think that it is time for you to do a concert,” and he could do that.
“Why not?” Amy nodded.
“We will have to schedule it after Coachella,” Amy whispered to herself as she began to type something on her laptop.
“Speaking of that, do you want to go to the thing?” he asked, and now she frowned.
“I thought that you weren’t going?” asked Amy, and that had indeed been the plan, and so he told her about his plans with Billie and the offer she had made.
“So, you two plan on doing a song together,” she asked with interest, and he nodded.
“Yup. Honestly, we have done most of the work already, and once she is free after her performance, we plan to record it at her home in a few days,” and now Amy nodded.
“Nice. She is an already established artist, and a joint project with her could help boost your credibility,” she added, and that was not his intention here, but he would not say no to some side benefits.
“I know,” Remus added, but he was looking for an answer to his earlier question.
“So, what about you? You in?” he asked, and Amy rubbed her chin as she seemed to ponder it for a second.
“Sure. I’ve always wanted to see how that circus runs,” and Coachella was something of a logistics nightmare.
The festival had over a hundred thousand attendees every day, and managing such a large number along with a dozen artists and half a dozen stages meant that the entire operation had to be miraculously efficient.
Billie had told him how the singers had their own lodgings near an artificial lake.
Each artist would have a large white container home designated for them, and you could even ask them for specific modifications as well.
The only way to access the area was through an Artist Pass or an Artist Guest Pass, and she had given him two of the latter to use at his discretion, and he had asked Amy, for he knew that she was a big fan of a few of the artists that were going to be performing at the event.
“Well then, I believe this is everything,” and they had already finalized their plans for the weekend, and she would be joining him, Elliot, and Lexie for their recording session on Saturday.
“Not yet,” he said, put down his phone, and sat up straighter, making her raise a brow.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I wanted to talk to you about investing…”
0000
Have a fantastic day!