Page 71 of Doc Rock
“Oh, mate. Can we do that to him?”Scotty questioned.“That seems a little harsh.”
“Do you want to work with him again?”Ford asked.
“Not really. He’s an annoying dickhead,”Joel said, shaking his head.
“What about you?”Ford turned to Scotty, who looked pained.
“I dunno. I mean, he’s been with us for sixteen years. I’m not saying I like him that much. He was hilarious at first, but it’s all a bit old now.”The drummer sighed.
Ford started in shock. He had no idea that Scotty was getting annoyed with Ryan’s antics too. He always laughed along like he was enjoying himself. Maybe Ford had been pulling away from his friends for no reason at all.
Chapter 27
Mai
Mai’s eyes darted between the members of the band and their manager, but she couldn’t help it; they kept drifting back to Ford. He was standing so close to her and being possessive of her.
It made her hope, which was a dangerous thing.
“We take a vote now,”Donnie said.“It has to beallof you. Ifall threeof you want to terminate his contract, it’ll be done.”
She nearly fell off her stool when he said that. The band was getting rid of Ryan? Was it because of her? She hoped it wasn’t; she didn’t want that on her conscience.
None of the others objected to what Donnie said, all nodding.
“Okay, anyone in favour of removing Ryan from Midnight Thunder, lift your hand,”Donnie said, making eye contact with each of the band members in turn.
Ford immediately lifted his, glancing over at Mai, who stared at him unblinking.
Joel slowly raised his, and all the eyes turned to Scotty, who sipped furiously on his beer.
“If I vote yes, we stillgetto play music and tour?”Scotty confirmed.
“Yeah. I love you guys. I can’t stand Ryan. He stole any joy music had from me. But without him, I’ve found it again,”Ford said to Scotty.
“He’s worked with us for sixteen years,”Scotty said.“He’s led us to some fun times.”
Joel spoke up,“Are they still fun? Is it fun when he nearly wrecks the show because he’s taken fuckknowswhat drug?”
“It was probably fentanyl,” Mai stated.
“What? How did youknowthat?”Joel asked. Then, realisation washed over him.“You were the blonde doctor?”
“Yeah,”Mai answered. She'd forgotten that Joel and Scotty might not have been toldit washer in the dressing room.
“Fuck. Why didn’t you say anything then? You were rightthere!”Joel demanded.
Mai sighed.“I didn’tknowwhat to say. I couldn’t exactly say,‘hi guys, it’s been a long time. Sorry I ran away and hid from you.’”
“I mean, that would have been a start,”Joel replied.
Donnie interjected,“That’s not what we’re talking about. Obviously, Sie still has a lot of questions to answer. But right now, we need to make some decisions on the future of Midnight Thunder. We’ve got two votes to remove Ryan. Scotty, what’s your decision?”
All their eyes swung to Scotty, who took another long pull on his beer.“I’ve had a lot of fun with Ryan. But if I want Sonia to agree to go out with me. I can’t do the things I used to do.”
“Sonia Andrews. With a law degree from Harvard? Who works in my office?”Donnie questioned. When Scotty nodded, he whistled.“Yeah. You’ve got your work cut out for you with her. She doesn’t even drink alcohol as she’s so serious about her marathon running. I’m not sure a hard-partying rockstar is really her type.”
Scotty grinned.“She was my type at your office Christmas Party.”
