Different Circles

He got up and Jake let him out of the studio and walked him to the front door after verifying Matt’s home phone number was the same as it had been back in the day. It was. The guitar player made his way out to the parked limo and got inside. Jake closed and locked the door and then headed back to the studio.

He had lied to Matt. They were not really concerned that they would not be able to come to a decision today. They were concerned, however, about having to tell him in person if that decision turned out to be a negative one for Matt—something that they considered an extremely likely scenario.

“Well,” Pauline said when Jake sat back down, “why don’t we see where we all stand here?”

“Sounds good,” said Jake.

“That would seem the logical first step,” agreed Nerdly.

“Let’s take a non-binding vote,” Pauline suggested, “just to see where we stand at this moment. After the vote, we can discuss the issues and then have our binding vote. Fair?”

“Fair,” agreed Jake.

“I vote yes on the deal,” Pauline said.

“I vote yes as well,” Nerdly said.

They looked at Celia. She shook her head. “No,” she said. “I vote no.”

Everyone nodded and then looked at Jake. It was clear they fully expected him to vote with Celia. He had, after all, taken the most abuse from Matt over the years and would have to be the one to put all of that aside and actually work closely with him and his volatile temper if they decided to go forward. But he surprised them. “I vote yes,” he said.

Celia looked at him almost as if he had betrayed her. “Are you serious, Jake?” she asked. “You want to work with Matt?”

“Want is a strong word,” Jake said. “I don’t really want to at all. I’m already envisioning the stomach ulcer the experience will undoubtedly cause. But I’m willing to give it a go.”

“Why?” asked Celia.

“I have several reasons,” he said. “Part of it is that I enjoy producing music. I enjoy it a lot and I’m good at it. My recent experience with V-tach reminded me of that. If Matt and I can put aside our differences—something which remains to be seen—I would like to have my name on his solo effort, have my brain help shape it and polish it. That’s the first thing.”

“What else is there?” Pauline asked.

“I kind of feel sorry for the guy,” Jake said.

“You feel sorry for Matt?” Celia asked incredulously. “The man who accused you of murder? The man who wouldn’t let you go to your bass player’s funeral? The man who said he would never set foot onstage with you again, who would never even be in the same room with you if he could avoid it?”

“It seems he was not able to avoid it,” Jake said. “And yes, I am well aware of what Matt has done in the past. I am well aware that he can be one of the most unpleasant human beings on the planet. All the same, I do feel sorry for him and I do owe a certain debt to him. While we’re all sitting here on top of the mountain, with so much money we don’t even know what to do with it all, he’s drowning and no one else is willing to help him. Despite what has happened, Matt and I have been through a lot of shit together and we produced some pretty damn good music over the years. He is a big part of why I am successful in the first place. Without him slinging his guitar in Intemperance, we never would have made it out of Heritage. The least I can do is throw him a fucking life ring when he’s going down for the third time.”

“Okay,” Celia said slowly. “I think I can understand that. Is that the real reason though?”

“It is a reason, but not the primary reason,” Jake admitted.

“Then what is the primary reason?” asked Pauline.

“I want him to succeed just to spite those fucks over at National,” Jake said.

“Come again?” Celia asked.

“Don’t you see?” Jake asked. “They threw him away like a piece of trash. And why? Because they got it into their mind that tour profits are the only profits that matter now. They tell themselves that he doesn’t have any more hit CDs in him because if they tried to have him pull one out it would take longer than they wanted to get him back out on the road and lining their pockets. Therefore, he’s a has-been, only good for putting out quickly developed token CDs so they can justify the next tour. And, if he were to go along with that, it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy because any CD he tried to come up with in the time period they want is inevitably going to suck no matter what kind of talent is behind it. Matt, for all his faults, is smart enough to see that and refused to be a part of it. I want to show those fucks that they are wrong about him. I want to produce a CD that is going to shine, that is going to go triple platinum, that is going to make those suits at National cry and wonder how they could have misjudged the situation so badly.”

Celia and Pauline looked at each other for a moment. They then looked back at Jake. “That is a pretty good reason,” Celia finally said.

“Good enough to change your vote for?” Jake asked.

She smiled. “Why don’t we vote again and find out?” she asked.