Gotta Have Faith

(Chapter 2)

Gregory Cummings walked briskly through the deserted hallways of the Shangri La Records headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, the soles of his barely scuffed Italian leather shoes clacking across the hardwood floors as his stomach knotted with dread.

Glancing about at the empty office, he couldn't suppress the shudder that racked his slender frame. The place where he had spent seven long years, clawing his way to the top, seemed entirely foreign to him as he beheld it then, bathed in nothing but harsh, unforgiving fluorescent light in the absence of day. Without the usual hum of people busy at work and flood of bright sunshine from the far wall of windows, the savvy modern decor, in all of its stainless steel and black lacquer glory, gave the aura of a prison or a mental hospital, at best.

Of course, his reason for being there at this ungodly hour wasn't exactly the kind of thing that conjured up images of rainbows and bunny rabbits either. A decent young man was dead and now the futures of four more people, himself included, hung in the balance. No human being, let alone a band manager, ever wants or expects something like this to happen to them when they sign on for this. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Nearing the end of the hallway, Gregory paused at the entrance to his office, taking another deep breath in a last ditch effort to calm his quaking nerves before going inside to face the firing squad. Shaking his head, he slumped against the cool wood veneer of the door and pushed it open, immersing himself in the solemnity that seemed to fill every square inch of the rather large room.

Only one lamp was switched on in the far corner of the room, casting an eerie glow upon everything in its vicinity. Beneath it, Jade Connelly sat balled up on the couch, tears slipping silently down her cheek. Her eyes met his briefly before returning to concentrate on the wringing hands resting on her lap.

Across the low, glass coffee table, Jessie Arno had parked his rear at the very edge of the most uncomfortable chair that Gregory's office had to offer. Wordlessly and without complaint, he stayed hunched, his elbows resting on his knees, and stared blindly at the wall above Jade's head, every so often daring a glance in her direction.

The rest of the room was left to linger in complete darkness, making it somewhat of a challenge to find Pure Utopia's last surviving member. Gregory was just about to ask where he was, when a stream of swirling cigarette smoke came darting from the shadows and into the dim lamplight. Fallon O'Shea took a small step forward, withdrawing from his cloak of black, but not far enough to retreat from the thin veil of mystery that still enshrouded him.
If this wasn't par for the course with this group of individuals, Gregory didn't know what was. Jade thrived on the spotlight, never bothering to hide whatever she might be feeling at the time, while Jess preferred suffering in his own silence. Fallon was a whole different deck of cards, never hesitating when showing his emotions, as long as they were dark and dangerous.

Gregory found it fascinating that, after all these years, instead of tearing them apart, the extreme differences in Pure Utopia's personalities had only served to bring them closer together. Now, without Danny, the true test for survival began.

With a small, sheepish half-smile, he approached the three friends and had a seat in the wingback chair that flanked the table, waiting for a moment before speaking. "Well, guys, first off, I'm sorry about Dan. He was such a great person, and this should never have happened to him."

The broken woman on the sofa simply nodded as the tears came harder, but from Fallon's perch, a snort of humorless laughter pierced the silence. "Suicide doesn't 'happen to' people, Greg," he said, tossing his burned out cigarette into a nearby ash tray before continuing. "Danny obviously didn't want to stick around, so good riddance."

Jess flinched at the man's angry words, leaning back in his chair and squeezing his eyes shut with a sigh. Nobody needed this right now. "Fallon..." Jade warned, "Don't say something you're going to regret later. You're hurt, we all are--."

His bright green eyes blazing fire, he shot out of the dark, coming closer and closer until he was mere centimeters from her retreating form. Jess was now on his feet, speaking softly to ease the wild look in the man's eyes and ready to pounce if he did anything crazy.

Breathing laboriously, Fallon could feel the fury pulsating through his ice cold blood as he hovered over her. Using every ounce of restraint he possessed, he bit out his reply in a soft, dangerous tone. "Jade, don't you tell me what I'm feeling! Don't you fucking dare!" With a hiss, he stormed away again, but his voice returned to break the electric hush that had befallen the room. "No one could possibly know what this feels like."

Still recomposing herself from Fallon's brutish display, she rose from the couch on shaky legs and shouted back at him. "Well, what are you going to do about it, Fallon? Huh? Because yelling isn't bringing him back, and making the rest of us feel even shittier isn't going to do it either, so what do you want!!??"

Her final cry rang out in the stillness, with no one even daring to challenge her words. Sniffling, Jade repeated her final entreaty, dropping her hands to her sides in defeat as she whispered, "Jesus, Fallon, what do you want?"

Again, her words were marked by deafening silence.

With a sigh, Gregory raked his quivering hands through his hair and shook his head. If this was any indication, he noted dejectedly, this was going to be a very long morning.

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"Thank you ladies and gentlemen of the press," Gregory said, adjusting the microphone on the podium in front of him before moving on with his statement. "First of all, on behalf of Pure Utopia, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the fans, who have been so generous and unwavering with their support for this band from the very beginning and who continue to do so now in this time of great tragedy. Danny Mullins was a shining star, not only as a musician, but as a human being, and he will be sorely missed."

He felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck as the sea of reporters that swayed before him moved in a bit closer for the part of his speech that they had all come to hear and disclose to the world. Sickened, Gregory decided not to keep them waiting any longer.

"Dan loved his music, but he was first and foremost a champion of the masses, which is why the surviving members of Pure Utopia have decided to press forward. In the coming months, we will be holding auditions for our fans to earn a spot as our new drummer. We are in no way replacing Danny, for it is impossible to do, but we are merely beginning a new chapter of Pure Utopia's history for the millions of fans all over the world..."

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Note: Sorry if it seems really short...Fiction Press drives me absolutely mental with this size 2.9 font...grrr!!!!!!!!! Please review...I'll love you forever! Michele3