Crush

Twenty-Three

It wasn't that her father was angry with her that upset Maddie the most. It was the fact that at no point during their conversation did he acknowledge that the reasons why she'd left were valid. Jo had driven Maddie all the way back to Brisbane to talk to her father face-to-face because of what their record label was threatening, but her father hadn't even bothered to fly up from Sydney. Maddie had wanted to go straight back to Chesterfield but Jo said she had to sort things out with her father for the sake of the band. Jo was right, as always, so she'd settled on calling him via Skype. It turned out to be just as bad as being in the same room as him. Talking via Skype hadn't stopped him from taking over the conversation, and it hadn't stopped him from trying to manipulate her into telling him where she'd been staying or into doing what he wanted her to do.

The last straw came for Maddie when her father informed her that he'd spoken to her agent and asked him to go ahead and pursue the solo deal. That was the point she'd hung up on him.

Jo stood in the corner frowning. She'd heard every word of the one-way conversation and would likely stand up for Maddie's father, like she usually did. 'Devil's advocate' she called it. Maddie wondered when Jo would ever advocate for her.

"That's that then," Jo said.

Maddie shrugged. "I guess so. Can you tell Freya and Andy they can come in now? We should probably talk about what we want to do."

Honestly? She had no idea where to go from here. Her father insisted she could go further by herself than with Freya and Andy, but it was Maddie who'd come late to the band. She couldn't imagine being on stage without them, and loved singing knowing they were there with her. At least, she did in the beginning. Before her father decided to become their manager and started trying to tell them what sort of music they should be singing.

Maddie had no idea until a few weeks ago that her dad had been vetting their music for them, deciding what samples they'd get to listen to when they were putting their last album together. Some of the songs were okay, sure, but most of them weren't meant for bands like Maddie's to sing. They were meant for manufactured all-girl or all-boy bands to sing. And God forbid they should suggest trying one of Freya's. His refusal to even hear the new stuff had been a major cause of Freya getting writer's block.

But there was no way Maddie was going to let him destroy the relationship she had with Freya and Andy. No way.

Freya and Andy came in and sat down on the lounge chairs across from Maddie. Andy raked his hands through his long dark hair and said, "What'd he say?"

Maddie looked at them both and said, "Well, he's not happy."

"When is he ever happy lately?" Freya asked.

"Are we rescheduling?" Andy asked. "Just 'cos, you know, the surf was really good on the coast."

Freya whacked him on the arm and he laughed.

"Well, for starters, we're not going on tour," Maddie said. "The tour company's dropped us."

Andy whistled. "That bad, huh?"

"And we have to make a huge decision," Maddie said. She knew there was no way to sugar coat it so she just said it. "Dad wants me to go out on my own."

Freya's eyes widened. "Go solo?" she asked.

"Without us?" Andy asked.

"That's what solo is, you idiot," Freya said. She pulled her legs up underneath her, pulled her skirt over her feet and picked at the hem.

"That is huge," Andy said.

"Yeah," Maddie said.

"Are you going to do it?" Andy asked.