Let the Music Play - 12. Hitting the Fan

Waiting for Jon and Eric to respond, Helen took a moment to glance around the suite, taking note of the smashed table and the bathroom makeup mirror sitting nearby. That would have made her angrier, had she not already been as angry as it was possible to get.

Eric, one hand on his aching head, reached across the coffee table for the ominous papers,

finding them to be photos printed on plain printing paper. The lack of quality didn’t faze him, but the photos themselves did, as he recognized himself teetering across the gap between balconies.

Switching to a gentler tone, which both guys knew from experience was a dire warning sign, Helen said, “I got up this morning and fired up my computer to look for stuff to help Barbra’s sprained ankle. While I was browsing, I noticed my e-mail reporting a string of new messages, and then I noticed my answering machine had received twenty calls overnight. So, I open up my e-mail, and what do I find? Enquiries from reporters wanting comments on a story. I followed the links a few of them gave and found this online tabloid site, complete with these pictures,” she pointed at the offending photos, her hand trembling with rage.

Eric handed a few of the photos to Jon, who cringed as Helen roared anew, “This is just fucking wonderful; you two in your underwear, in public with three girls and a bottle in view – Need I remind you that Eric is nineteen, and I’ll wager that none of those girls are twenty-one – and you Eric, you could have been killed, though it might have been quicker that way... Do either of you know who one of those girls is? I’ll give you a hint; her father was dressed as a Roman Senator, a rather appropriate costume under the circumstances.”

An icy silence descended as Jon noticed that one of the girls he’d bedded was the subject of several close-ups. The word ‘Senator’ stuck in his mind, as he realized her father’s face was rather familiar... “Uh oh...” he mumbled, “There must have been paparazzi in the hotel across the street.

“No shit, Sherlock... and that’s Senator Townsgate’s daughter...” Helen yelled, before adding with quiet venom, “read this,” as she shoved another piece of paper into Jon’s shaking hands.

Jon’s blurry vision focused on the printout as he read in silence;

Wild Times;

Rock stars Jon and Eric Carlisle of Instinct, seen here cavorting drunkenly on their hotel balcony with two unidentified girls and Charity Townsgate, the daughter of James Townsgate, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, risk life and limb to peer into a neighboring hotel room. We haven’t yet learned what the half-naked fivesome was up to, or what was so interesting next door, but we’ll keep you posted as this hot story develops...

“The press is going to be all over this,” snarled Helen, “and I note that there were three girls. See that reference to ‘fivesome’? They’re implying you had an orgy. Please tell me you didn’t...

Cringing, Jon admitted, “Not exactly. Eric only had one; I took the other two, including Charity.”

“So you had a three-way that included the daughter of a United States Senator? Jesus... that’s just wonderful... and what the fuck were you guys doing peeking into Chase’s suite? You look like Peeping Toms! Given that both Brandon and Chase are gay, did it ever occur to you that these kinds of antics could draw some unwanted speculation in their direction?”

Choosing his words with great care as the color faded from his face, Eric said, “Brandon and Chase were in there together. One of the girls wanted to use the hot tub, so we were trying to see if it was okay to go through. We wouldn’t have wanted the girls to, uh, see anything they shouldn’t.”

Clenching her fists, Helen snapped, “Just how did you explain your concerns to the girls? If they even picked up so much as a hint that Brandon and Chase are gay and might be involved, this could be an utter disaster; if they come out on their own that’s one thing, but if it’s exposed in some tabloid-driven sex scandal, it could do us irreparable harm.”

Jon felt his stomach begin to churn again, imagining Helen’s reaction if she found out. “We told ‘em we were just joking around,” Jon hedged, hoping that the girls would keep their mouths shut.

“You better hope that was convincing, and that this all dies down. You two have pulled some bone-headed stunts before, but this takes the cake...” Helen broke off her tirade to answer her ringing cell-phone, “Oh, hello, Jerry...”

His own stomach beginning to churn, Eric slipped off the sofa, making his way as casually as he could manage towards the door to Jon’s suite. As imagined safety seemed almost within his grasp, he heard Helen cry in fury, “You, freeze! Get your sorry ass back here...” before she resumed listening to her phone, her eyes burning with anger.

Slinking back to the sofa, Eric sat down; curling up into a ball, bracing himself for a tirade that he knew would not be long in coming. He was right. “You miserable bastard,” Helen shrieked, “You went on a drunken rampage at a charity event, and then the two of you snuck the girls out, and the last thing Jerry saw was everyone piling into the limo, leaving him to explain to a furious United States Senator where his daughter had gone? How could you do that to him?”

“I don’t see why you like that guy so much... He’s Lump’s father, don’t forget,” Eric said petulantly, instantly regretting his words.

Knowing all too well how Helen would react to defensiveness under the circumstances, Jon tried to head off Helen’s brewing fury and calm things down by saying to his brother, “You’re just pissed because he chewed you out.”

Helen paced for a moment, before turning to face Jon and Eric again, her voice calm, though her eyes bespoke her rage all too clearly, “I’ll have you know that in spite of what you’d done, Jerry tried to cover for you, including lying and telling the Senator he had no idea where you were staying. That’s the only reason you didn’t have a visit from the Senator himself last night. I also heard that the event went pretty well in spite of your antics, and that there was a three-thousand dollar donation from Instinct.”

Eric and Jon exchanged a puzzled look, as Helen flew into a renewed rage, “I know you two had nothing to do with that. It seems that Brandon made the donation himself, in all our names, pledging just about everything he has left of his own funds as a way of apologizing on behalf of the group for your behavior. At least that’s Jerry’s impression,” Helen turned her head towards the door, where Brandon and Chase still stood, “Is that right, hon?”

Not wanting to add fuel to the already-raging fire, Brandon waffled, “I just wanted to help out... it’s a good cause.”

Returning her gaze to the two miscreants, Helen smiled sweetly, her eyes still burning with rage, her voice dripping with both saccharine and venom as she said softly, “Yes, helping out is good. It is, after all, a very worthy cause. It occurs to me that one way to ease the bad publicity we’re facing is to make a very large and verypublic donation to Jerry’s charity. I think an announcement that half the band’s proceeds from the Phoenix concert will be donated to Jerry’s charity would help in a lot of ways. All of that money will come from the two of you; I think that’s the right thing to do, don’t you?”

Jon was about to object when he met Helen’s eyes. Seeing her unconcealed rage, he nodded meekly as his brother did the same.

“Stay put, I’m not even close to being done with you yet,” she snarled, turning to walk towards Chase’s suite, with a sharp look at Brandon and Chase, “Come with me.”

Entering with a little trepidation, they stood aside as Helen slammed the connecting door before turning on Brandon, “I told you to call me if anything happened, damn it!”

Jumping to his boyfriend’s defense, Chase said, “Think about that for a minute. You put him in a real bad position; you wanted him to rat out his band mates.”

Fuming for a moment, Helen forced herself to calm down before replying, “Very well, I see your point. I’m just so damn angry right now... all right; in future, I’ll try to get Günter or whoever’s on security to be the damn babysitter. The womanizing I don't care about; its actually good for the band's image, just don't ever tell them that, but when they start breaking laws or making enemies, that's bad in a lot of ways.”

Calming down, her anger having been at least partially vented, Helen asked, “So you two finally had a meeting of the minds, did you?”

Taking Brandon’s hand proudly in his own, Chase replied, “Yeah, we did.”

“About damn time...” Helen grumbled with a wry smile, before adding in a serious tone, “I want, no, we all need for you two to be very careful and discrete. If you two choose to come out, you can, but it must be carefully managed and presented, and it must be well after Brandon has become established as the new lead singer. If it happens via some tabloid scandal, like I was telling the two louts, it could be a disaster.”

“What about my problem in Phoenix? Some people there know I’m gay, including my folks,” Brandon asked with concern.

Helen shrugged, “Without confirmation, its all just rumors and innuendo. They also don’t know about you and Chase, or that Chase is gay. As long as those details stay secret, it won’t be much of a story. I’ve also got Lump on tape making threats, so I can brush off any developing stories as mere rumors spread by a malicious former band member. I think we can handle it, but even if not, it’s survivable as long as we do it right, at the right time. Okay, let those two jerks stew for a while, and don’t either of you dare offer to share in the donation from the Phoenix concert; I’m doing this for their own good as well as ours. For all our sakes they need to learn a lesson before they really screw up.”

Heading for the door to the hallway, Helen said, “I’ll be back later after I’ve done some damage control. We need to talk about merchandising and several other aspects of the tour.”

As Helen left, Brandon asked Chase, “I know Jon and Eric are in no condition to work today, but I can finish with the vocal tracks and maybe we’ll make the production deadline anyway.”

“I’ve got some drum solo tracks I can lay down... Let’s go...” Chase replied, snatching up his key card and heading out the door, still in just jogging shorts. With a shrug and a smile, Brandon cast aside any notion of grabbing a shirt and followed his boyfriend out of the suite.

As the elevator door rumbled closed, Brandon placed his hand on Chase’s shoulder, “I really like what you said to Jon and Eric... about me being your boyfriend.” Wanting to say more, he found he couldn’t. Words failed him then, but sometimes, words alone are a mere empty shell, so Brandon allowed his heart to speak without words; using his hand to pull Chase around, he gave him a deep and passionate kiss, ending it barely in time as the elevator arrived in the lobby.

* * *

Sitting in dire silence, nursing their aching heads, Eric and Jon remained on the couch, dreading Helen’s expected momentary return. “Dude,” whispered Eric, “if she finds out that we outed Brandon and Chase to those girls, she’ll kill us.”

Jon nodded, instantly regretting moving his head, “If Brandon and Chase don’t beat her to it. Remember the way Brandon took down Lump? He knows how to handle himself; what’s he gonna do to us if he finds out we outed him and Chase? They can’t find out, or we’re dogmeat. Maybe the girls won’t tell anyone...”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have given the girls the bum’s rush this morning...” Eric added sadly.

* * *

Gazing out at the patches of forest dotting the rolling countryside, the engineer asked, “I thought the center of Australia was all desert?”

Bored with his driving after traveling a hundred miles west from Toowoomba, Dimitri replied, “Not exactly, as you can see. The central deserts are vast, but in some areas, such as this part of Western Queensland, there is usable land. However, the further west we go, the drier the land becomes. Here there is agriculture; mainly grazing lands for sheep.

Our compound is an old sheep station in a much drier area about a hundred miles ahead. There, you will find only the occasional Bottle Tree and a few tufts of dead grass. We had to go out that far in order to have enough isolation.”

“Why not use that as our assembly site as well?”

“That was considered. However, the optical grinding equipment is, as you know, very sensitive. We would have needed to re-create the factory, including a new, modern building and clean-room facilities, and that could have raised questions. Our employer therefore decided to have the metallurgical work done out here and the assembly and explosives preparations done at the factory. Get used to this commute, Vladimir; we will be making it often.”

“I’ll need a place to test some of the explosives, including a full test of the implosion assembly design itself.”

“Yes, you have mentioned that before, more than once. You will build your test device and instrumentation on a trailer disguised as a water hauler. We will then tow it out to the west of our compound, out into the desert itself, where an explosion will be unlikely to be noticed. Even if it is, one of the reasons we chose this area was for the mining; there are opal and gold mines about, and mines use explosives, so a loud bang would be unlikely to raise many eyebrows even if noticed at a distance.”

Wondering if Dimitri had thought everything through, the engineer mentioned, “I hope you realize that the implosion assembly will contain several hundred pounds of explosives? It will be quite a bang, as you say.”

“As I said, Vladimir, we studied your lists of requirements quite carefully. It will be a risk, granted, but what in life is not?”

Staring out across the rolling plains, the engineer asked a question that had been on his mind, “I don’t know what the bombs are for, and I do not need to know. However, if they are used, there will be much investigation. Will any of us be safe from that?”

Concealing a smile, Dimitri replied, “Fear not, Vladimir. The bombs will not be used here, and both facilities will be most carefully sanitized. We even have a means to dispose of the radioactive debris.”

They drove on in relative silence, confining their conversation to the exotic landscape and the occasional sighting of a wallaby or kangaroo. As they neared the compound, the engineer saw his first Bottle Tree, understanding the name as he stared at a trunk shaped much like a coke bottle. As another, much different thought entered his mind, he asked, “What of the plutonium? When will it be arriving?”

Growing tired of the questions, for in his business secrecy was the synonym of security, Dimitri replied, “It will be a few weeks; you don’t need to know anything further about that. Build your components and test devices; you will have plenty to keep you occupied,” spying a few reddish dots near the road far ahead, Dimitri changed the subject to avoid offending the irreplaceable man, “Look, Vladimir, more kangaroos. These ones are reddish in color, isn’t that strange? The Red Kangaroo is the largest kind, or so they say.”

Leaning out the window for a better look as they drew near, the engineer was bemused to see the kangaroos staring back at their Land Rover, as he noticed that one seemed to be sprouting a second head. “Dimitri, there are truly wondrous creatures here. I just saw a little one, a joey I think they are called, sitting in its mother’s pouch.”

* * *

Waiting until Brandon and Chase had finished their long day in the studio, Helen arrived at the suites. She made sure to knock on the door as loudly as she could in case Eric and Jon’s hangovers were still hurting.

Finding them regrettably recovered, she gathered all her charges, giving Eric and Jon a few nasty glares before giving them all an update, “Luckily for us all, the Senator is as eager for this mess to go away as we are. None of the photos were clear enough to positively identify his daughter, so he pulled a few strings and got the story partially retracted. Those photos are now all over the damn ‘net, and Eric’s high-wire act is causing a lot of buzz, but so far it’s being chalked up to drunken rock stars acting the fool. The hotel will be billing Jon and Eric separately for the damage to the suites, which will run about a thousand dollars. We dodged a bullet this time, guys, but don’t ever let it happen again.”

Fixing her glare on Brandon, Helen growled, “You’re in hot water too, mister. Jerry asked me how you and Chase were getting along now, and it was damn clear he didn’t mean as just friends. Just how would he be knowing about that?”

“He picked up on it I guess and assumed we were a couple. I told him we weren’t, but I kind of admitted to him that I wanted us to be.”

“He sent us a bottle of Champagne,” Chase added.

Shaking her head, Helen began her lecture, “You should know better. Jerry is gay so you probably assumed he’d be supportive and discrete. You’re probably right, to a point, but it was a very foolish mistake; we are doing business with Jerry and you just gave him a club to whack us over the head with if he ever feels the need. He’s also Lump’s father. You must remember that in this business you can’t trust anyone. This risk here is enormous; our fan demographics run from older teen girls and guys to mid-twenties, and though they might accept finding out their established lead singer is gay, finding out right now, before your first act, would be utterly devastating to us all. Jerry’s a nice guy, I really like him and I don’t think he’d ever do that, especially as he’s somewhat in the closet himself, but it was a very foolish risk to take; don’t ever do it again.”

A chagrined Brandon nodded, and no one noticed the ill pallor on Jon and Eric’s faces.

“Right, now that’s settled, on to happier news. I have here,” she set a portfolio on the coffee table with a flourish, “the merchandising proposal. Brandon, you’re new to all this so bear with me; a large part of the group’s income derives from merchandising, Instinct logos, artwork, and pictures on everything from key chains, to coffee cups, to concert and logo shirts and sweaters. We cut a deal with the magazine to have joint access to the photographer’s work, which saved you guys from a second photo shoot, and yes, you can thank me for that. This is an enormous part of the business; in many cases, our cut from the merchandising exceeds our cut of the ticket sales at a concert, so this is extremely important. What I have here is a book of designs and concepts. You all need to review and approve each one; though I recommend every item I’ve highlighted in yellow. I need this back by tomorrow,”

Chase flipped open the folio, glancing at some color illustrations, before noticing one design for a key chain. Snickering, he pointed to the image as he handed the book to his boyfriend.

Brandon looked, seeing his own image; the one used as a cover shot, staring back at him. Flipping through the layouts, he noticed several more pictures of himself in various states of partial undress, both with the other guys and alone, gracing posters, lunch-boxes, and other merchandise.

Waiting until Brandon looked up at her, his mouth dropping open, Helen cut him off, “It’s all part of the business, hon. The other guys are on stuff too.”

With that taken care of, she got to the news she’d saved for last, “One of the items Brandon signed when he joined was a passport application. The tour details are still finalizing, but after the European leg, it looks as if two of the concerts will be in Australia as we’ve just received some very lucrative offers from a promotion company there. I’m also arranging for some videos to be shot on-scene; they had some great ideas and offered full production of the videos as a signing bonus. We’ve only ever done concert videos before, but we need to break that mold.”

Brandon’s eyes opened wide, “Europe and Australia... whoa... we’re going to play Australia? Oh man, that will be such a blast!”

* * *
Relaxing in his luxurious office, The Scar studied the e-mail he’d just decrypted. The decoded text itself was in code, though a code of a different sort. The e-mail merely gave him a progress report on a non-existent business, but buried in the dull text were a few code-phrases which were known only to Dimitri and himself. Smiling as the phrases indicated that all was going according to plan, he busied himself typing a reply. Placing his own phrases from memory, he let Dimitri know that he’d be arriving in Australia in a few days.

Consulting a brief list of components still to be obtained, he stared at one troublesome item; Kryton switches. He had a few ideas where they might be found, and knowing that they were sometimes used in physics experiments, he scheduled a meeting with a man who might have the connections he needed, for the right price.

* * *

The final days had flown by in a blur as Instinct worked nearly around-the-clock to complete the recording phase of their album. Only two days behind schedule, they’d just cut the final tracks, leaving them free to rehearse for the Phoenix concert, just days away.

Drawn out and exhausted after a long day of rehearsal, Brandon returned to the suites with the others. While Jon and Eric busied themselves on the computer ordering dinner, he took a seat beside Chase, draping his arm around his boyfriend’s bare shoulders. Looking into Chase’s tired eyes, Brandon remembered the busy days; though they’d found time to be alone only rarely, they’d kissed, ever more passionately, as Brandon found himself aching for more. He found himself obsessing on Chase’s comment about wanting to do something before his birthday. Brandon had asked Eric for the date, finding it to be the day after the Phoenix concert on Thursday. ‘Just a few days away,’ he thought, ‘that’s not that long to wait...’

Chase relaxed against Brandon’s side, regretting that they’d been so busy. Every morning, waking up alone, he remembered how different it was waking up next to Brandon. He’s been hoping that they’d have an evening off, an evening to spend together, doing a lot more than kiss, but the schedule to which they were enslaved stood sentinel to that desire.

Eric and Jon returned from the computer, smiling tired smiles as Jon took a seat beside Brandon, giving him a friendly pat on the back. They exchanged a smile; they’d had their talk days before, ending up even closer than before. Jon had finally admitted, meaning every word, that he’d been a hypocrite, offering Brandon a sincere apology.

After dinner, facing another early day, Jon was the first to head for some much-needed sleep. Standing up next to Chase, Brandon gave him a quick kiss, something they’d grown comfortable doing in front of Eric and Jon. “Good night,” Brandon said softly, only to be surprised as Chase didn’t let go of his hand.

Answering Brandon’s inquiring smile as he glanced at their entwined hands, Chase squinted his eyes a little as he said, “I know we’re waiting until we have time... But sometime in the next few days, we’ll...”

Squeezing Chase’s hand as Eric pretended to be oblivious, Brandon replied as he looked into Chase’s eyes, “Yeah... I’m having a hard time thinking about anything else... But I want it to be right for you... for us.”

“It will be,” replied Chase as he reluctantly pulled away, turning to head for his suite.

Watching Chase leave, Brandon heard Eric say, “Dude, you’ve made your point on the whole promiscuity thing; why don’t you just follow him in there and...”

“Because it’s his first time; I want it to be right for him. Mine wasn’t, but I can make sure his isn’t some rushed thing.”

“To each their own, I guess...” Eric replied, walking up to Brandon to give him a friendly one-armed hug across the shoulders, “You’re one cool dude, and I’m glad you joined us.”

Brandon returned the gesture with a grin, “You too, man,” he said, before heading off alone for his room in Jon’s suite.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Helen joined her charges for breakfast. “I need you all to concentrate on rehearsing,” she mumbled through a mouthful of pancakes, “Don’t push too hard, and don’t strain Brandon’s vocal chords, but you need to be ready for Phoenix. It’s our first show with Brandon so it has to be right. Now, for the travel arrangements; you’re checking out of here the day of the concert and flying to Phoenix. We’ll meet up with the tour busses there, and that should give you a few hours to get used to the stage at the Phoenix Pavilions venue. You’ll need to be all packed up the night before and have your vehicles at my house, washed. Now, for accommodations in Phoenix, I can book us into the Arizona Biltmore where we’ve stayed before. It’s a great place with excellent security, and it’s just for two nights, then we hit the road.”

Glancing into Brandon’s eyes, an unspoken question was asked and answered before Chase said, “Brandon and I can share a room.”

Shaking her head, Helen replied, “No, you can’t; not officially. Brandon may be under extra scrutiny in Phoenix due to his past there. Any hint that you two are sharing a room could be disastrous. Therefore, Eric and Jon will be sharing a two-bedroom suite, as will Brandon and I. Chase, yours will be adjoining mine. It’s the one you had before; a single bedroom, but it’s deluxe in every way, including a water bed and hot tub. Brandon will enter and exit only via my suite, but if he happens to wander through your door at some point, that’s just fine,” Helen smiled as the two boyfriends digested the happy news.

A vague worry took form in Brandon’s mind, so he gave it voice, “Helen, ah, that sounds great, but couldn’t a single male and a single female sharing a suite raise eyebrows too?”

Helen laughed, “Barbra will be coming with us and she’s closer to your age, so that’s the likely rumor-generator; the three of us staying in a two-bedroom suite. Actually, this is part of my plan; if any trouble occurs due to your past, we can defuse it by having you and Barbra seen as an item. It’s called a beard, hon, and it’s done all the time.”

Brandon arched an eyebrow, “Is Barbra okay with that?”

“I should hope so; it was her idea,” Helen chuckled.

Brandon and Chase shared a long, knowing glance as they both let their minds wander towards what they could get up to in Chase’s suite.

That afternoon, as their rehearsals ended, one of the studio technicians came in to report that they needed to re-do part of one of the drum solos. Brandon stayed behind to watch Chase do the recording, while Jon and Eric headed back for the suites.

Passing through the lobby, they froze in their tracks as they recognized Charity storming towards them with a malevolent glint in her eyes. “Thanks for rushing us out like yesterday’s trash. What were we, just notches on your belts?” she fumed, standing before then with her arms crossed.

“I’m sorry about that,” Jon said, trying to make his voice as soothing as possible, not realizing that he was having the opposite effect, “I thought we were just getting together for some fun, nothing permanent. We’re leaving on tour in a few days; we won’t be back for months. We would have called, but we were scared once we found out who your father is.”

“Yeah, right,” Charity replied with a sarcastic sneer, “I’ll just bet you would. So, how are the two boyfriends doing?” she asked in a slightly loud voice.

Panic in his eyes, which Charity took as a sign of her impending victory, Eric glanced around, afraid that they’d been overheard in the busy lobby. Noticing no indication that anyone had taken notice, he glared at her, “That’s a lie.”

Chuckling, she replied, “Yeah, right. In that case, you won’t mind me screaming it from the rooftops, huh?”

Reading between the lines as the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end, Jon asked, “What is it that you want?”

With her winning smile, Charity replied, “Not what, who. Your new singer, to be exact,” she said, fingering her spiked leather belt, “You guys aren’t the only ones who like to notch your belts. I like ‘em hot and famous. Brandon Wolfe is one, and sure as hell he’s fast becoming the other.”

“He wouldn’t be interested,” Jon replied, his stomach churning.

“I don’t doubt that, given his interest in your brother,” she said while twirling her long hair, “But I want him, tonight, and you’re going to set it up for me. Don’t worry, I’ll make him enjoy it, and who knows; this might just get him back on the straight and narrow. You two get busy; I’ll be back at eight tonight, and if I don’t get what I want from Brandon, I’ll be making lots of phone calls, got it? Remember, I’ve got two witnesses.” Without waiting for a reply, she spun on her heel, striding towards the hotel door, savoring her victory, surprised that it had been even easier than how she’d planned it, days before.

Shell-shocked, Eric jabbed at the elevator call button, neither brother saying a word until the door hissed closed with them inside, giving them privacy. “Oh, shit...” Eric gasped, “This is so fucked up...”

* * *

Relieved that the day was over, Brandon and Chase entered the suites to find Eric and Jon parked on the sofa, looking uneasy. “What’s up?” Chase asked, only to be assured that it had just been a long day. Less than convinced, he shrugged, “Okay, I’m going to grab a shower. You guys know what I like, so go ahead and order dinner, I’m starved.”

After watching his boyfriend leave the room, Brandon walked toward the couch opposite his two band mates, only to be surprised as they jumped up, rushing over to take seats on either side of him as Eric said, a little too eagerly, “Brandon, buddy... how ya doing?”

Looking from one side to the other at the two strained, earnest grins, and knowing them well enough to be sure something was amiss, Brandon leaned back as he asked, “Okay, what’s up?”

Jon opened his mouth to talk, only to shut it again, looking down, his fake grin vanishing, “I can’t lie to you; we’re in a real mess. When we had those girls over and were out on the balcony, we were pretty drunk. When Eric tried to peek into Chase’s suite with that mirror, we both kinda let slip to the girls what we thought you two were up to...”

“You outed us.” Brandon said as a statement, not a question.

“Yeah,” Jon nodded, studying his own feet, “We did. We didn’t mean to; we were drunk, but they know.”

“You outed Chase...” Brandon snarled, before getting a hold on his temper, forcing himself to remain somewhat calm as he asked in a flat tone, “So what’s the rest of it? I’ve got a sickening feeling that there’s more, or you wouldn’t be telling me all this.”

With a sigh, Jon answered, “We thought it would be okay, until today when one of the girls collared us in the lobby. She’s threatening to out you both unless she gets what she wants. You heard what Helen said; if you guys are outed, especially now with you being new, it could wreck everything.”

His fear rising, Brandon prodded, “Go on, spill it, what the hell does she want?”

“You,” answered Eric as he entered the conversation.

Before Brandon had a chance to yell, Jon added quickly, “She’s some kind of aggressive groupie. She wants to screw you, the new lead singer, as a notch on her belt.”

Turning to glare at Eric, Brandon growled, “This had better be one of your jokes...”

Eric shook his head as Jon answered, “I wish it was. We’re on the level, I swear. I just don’t see any way out of this except to give her what she wants. She’ll be here at eight, so we’ve got just over an hour to find some way to keep Chase away. I’ll call the studio and see of I can bribe one of the techs to say he needs to re-record a drum track or something right away...”

“No way in hell...”

His voice heavy with guilt, Jon interrupted to say, “Sorry dude, but you’ve got to. I don’t see any other way out.”

“You can think of Chase while you do it,” Eric added helpfully.