"Create a band? What do you mean exactly?"
When Wade heard those words, he was perplexed. Questions flooded his head.
Aiden wanted to create a whole band just for a song? Where he was going to find the members for it.
Was he going to change his solo singing career to a group one?
"I mean that I want to create this song with a band. It would be too much for me if I did it alone. And the song I have in mind would sound much better, stronger if a band sings it. It's a song made for a band to perform."
"How are you going to find the members? Or are you going to collaborate with an existing band?"
That was the main question in Wade's mind. In the end, he was going to deal with the contract, so he needed to know what Aiden had in mind exactly.
"Well, I checked out some bands after I thought of this idea. But I didn't feel like they would be able to perform well with me. The chemistry won't be there, and I would be like an outsider."
Aiden said. After he had planned out the theme and essence of the song he was going for and how it was necessary for the song to be played by a band instead of just a solo, he had searched for existing indie bands that he might collaborate with.
He had found some good hands, but in the end, he had decided against it.
Instead, he had thought of something else.
"I have the members in mind already. Just I need you to contact them. I will send their numbers through text."
"Who? Do I know them?"
"I think you do. Actually, they are some people I met during…"
Aiden began to explain as Wade just listened on the other end. Throughout the explanation, the latter constantly sighed, thinking it was way harder to work with musicians.
***
A man entered an apartment with a deep frown on his face. The apartment was located in Beverly Hills, where most of the wealthy people in LA lived.
The man's height was pretty short, and he had a rough beard, making him look like a boxer. Even his vibes were a bit scary.
As he stepped into the apartment, he saw that the lights were off, like no one was at home. Not caring, the man switched on the lights and looked around the messy living room filled with boxes of pizza and unwashed dishes.
A slice of pizza that looked at least a day old was even on the sofa.
Not only that, but a pair of women's lingerie was also on the floor. Not just one but two different pieces. It seemed like the room had witnessed some raunchy action in the past few days.
Seeing the state of the house, the man couldn't help but lower his eyes, feeling slightly disappointed and worried.
He made his way towards the bedroom, where he knew the person he was looking for would be.
Opening the door of the bedroom, he shouted.
"Cameron, are you—"
His words stopped, and his eyes widened as he saw how the room looked.
If the living room was messy, the bedroom looked like it hadn't been cleaned in the past ten years.
Pieces of paper were everywhere, and a broken guitar was also sitting on the floor. Aside from that, some picture frames were also there, accompanied by bottles of alcohol.
The man turned his eyes away and looked at the bed where a man was wrapped up in the bedsheets.
"Cameron Bryce, wake up!" The man shouted, but Cameron didn't give a response. Finally, frowning, he raised his voice. "I know you are not sleeping. Get up, or I will tell your grandfather about how you are spending your life in LA."
Hearing that threat, Cameron slowly opened his eyes and pretended to wake up from sleep.
"Uncle Jeff, why are you here?" He asked, feigning innocence.
"I'm here because you are diving too deep into depression. Not picking up calls from your grandfather or me. Not focusing on anything and just living a worthless life."
"I'm just on a break."
Cameron said as Uncle Jeff walked closer to him, sighing. If he was being honest, he didn't want to meet anyone, but he hadn't expected his uncle to drop by his apartment suddenly.
"You are on a break since X-Star has ended. For fuck sake, you have completely lost sight of your goal and had just become a worthless alcoholic playboy. You don't know how worried your grandfather is these days."
Cameron lowered his head, his blonde hair falling in front of his eyes. His uncle's words reminded him how much time had passed since X-Star ended.
Since the day he lost.
"I'm sorry." He said, putting off a solemn expression.
Seeing that, Uncle Jeff lost all the mood and became angry at Cameron. Although, to an extent, he could understand what Cameron was going through.
After his loss in the X-Star grand finale, Cameron had gotten a lot of offers from reputed record labels, but he had rejected all of them and had come to LA.
His loss had impacted him a lot because of how high his expectations were. It had broken his spirit to sing, and he now felt like he had lost the sense of music.
Hence, he had chosen to become a playboy and an alcoholic to distract himself from all the thoughts constantly roaming through his mind.
"Cameron, if you want, I know a good psychologist. Maybe you should opt for therapy to come out of this slump." Uncle Jeff advised. "I'm scared you will fall more and more into it as time goes."
"I don't know. I'm not in the mood to tell how I feel to a random person every week, not knowing if he even gives a fuck as to what I'm saying."
Saying that Cameron got up from his bed and walked out of the bedroom. His throat was dry, and he needed water or maybe a beer.
Uncle Jeff followed him, trying to get Cameron to listen to him.
"You need to understand that living like this won't solve anything. You don't even have friends."
"I do have them."
"Not the ones you sleep with. They are not exactly called friends from what I know."
Cameron wasn't able to refute anything on those words. He just tried to ignore looking at Uncle Jeff and tried to search for some beer.
But it seemed like he had finished everything. Water was his only way now.
"Cameron, you are wasting your talent being like this!"
Uncle Jeff said after a bit of hesitation. Cameron just gave him a strange look after he finished drinking water.
"I don't even know if I have talent."
He said, and his uncle's face just froze, looking up at him. Cameron, who was always considered to be the one to continue his grandfather's legacy, was now saying he didn't have talent.
Just because he lost in a reality tv show.
"Cameron, do you even know what you are saying?" Uncle Jeff asked, clearly infuriated.
"I know."
Cameron said in a monotone voice, and looking at him like this, Uncle Jeff didn't know what to say at that moment. Shaking his head to clear off his thoughts, he switched the topic to why he had come to meet him.
"Anyway, I got an offer for you."
"I'm not taking any shows currently. You do know that."
"It's not a gig. It's a collaboration offer."
Cameron raised an eyebrow at that. Who wants to collaborate with him when he had just disappeared from the public eye after X-Star?
"Who is it?"
"An old friend of yours. Aiden Silvereye - You were together in X-Star and even in a group for one round."
"Aiden?"
It was not wrong to say that Cameron was very shocked. He hadn't heard from him since he was eliminated, and although he had an idea the latter was doing well, he had never expected to get an offer like this.
"Yeah, his agent contacted me as he could not reach you. It seems like Aiden is working on a song and wants to include you in it. I don't know the exact details, but I got a guide track for you. I have already sent it to your phone, so listen to it—"
"I'm not interested."
Cameron said, cutting off Uncle Jeff. But all he got in response was a frown.
"Say that after listening to it. I quite liked the guide." He took a look at Cameron's reaction. "I know you are not interested in it, but if you change your mind, contact the number I'm sending you and leave for New York. I feel like you need a trip anyway."
After saying that, his uncle left without letting him speak anything else. Now, alone in the apartment, Cameron frowned.
Curious about his uncle's words, he opened up his phone and saw two messages. One was the phone number of someone named 'Wade Spectre'.
'Sounds like a name a lawyer will have.'
He thought, shifting his eyes to the second message with an audio file attachment.
He wondered what to do with it for a moment, but in the end, his curiosity made him click on it.
A strong yet catchy tune started playing as Cameron closed his eyes.
...
