Untamed

After the show, A

Frowning, I glanced over to where the bitches were clinging to their Bags. “They’re having a great time keeping secrets from us, that’s how they’re doing. It’s obvious they don’t want us around, so I say fuck ’em.”

She sighed. “I’ll just be a minute.” She turned and walked away without another word.

Well. So much for Team Hancock. Guess I was on my own with this one. Well, fuck if I was going to just stand here and wait around for her. I had better things to do, like pimp my show. Swirling around, I made my way toward a group of girls. By the way they were tittering, I figured they were fans, not musicians. Perfect.

“Hey, ladies. Griffin Hancock here. I’m about to make all your dreams come true, every week, starting…well whenever a sucky show gets cancelled.” I looked around to make sure A

“Ooooh, Griffin…of the D-Bags, right?”

I contained a groan. One day people would associate me with something else first. Something bigger, better, badder, and bolder, and I couldn’t fucking wait.

By the time I was done working the room, A

“What?” I asked.

Turning to me, she unleashed the full fury of her ire. “I thought you would at least try making peace with the band.”

I gave her a curious tilt of my head. “What made you think I wanted to try? Did you not see the ring? They fucking snubbed us, A

Her cheeks flushed. “I know…and I’m not happy about that, but this feud has gone on long enough. Someone needs to be the bigger person.”

Leaning back in the seat, I turned my head toward the window. “It’s not going to be me. I’m happy where I’m at. If they want peace, then they better drag their asses to my house. They can kiss my ass on my front lawn.”

She inhaled a deep breath, then the car was silent.

When we got home, she went right to our room and slammed the door shut. Whatever. She could be mad at me over this one, that was fine. I wasn’t sucking up my pride to apologize to the guys. I didn’t need to. They were in the wrong, not me. They’d used me, abused me, then fucking excluded me. Fuckers could go to hell for all I cared. Bigger and better things awaited me.

Chapter 16

You Heard Right, I Am That Awesome

It took A

While A

Harold’s voice was crisp and professional. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hancock, unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be making your life any easier.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

Harold paused a moment, then said, “First off, I want to thank you for your time and energy with this project. Your enthusiasm and desire to make the show a success was evident in everything you did.”

“Um, okay,” I said, scratching my head. “Thanks for the kudos, but what’s going on? You almost sound like you’re saying goodbye. You leaving me, Harold?”

His voice still stiff, he continued on like he was a recording and not an actual person. “Regretfully, LMF and the creator have decided to…part ways. The show is being shelved as all parties involved move on to other projects, and all the cast members are being released from their contracts. I’m very sorry, but the few episodes that were filmed will most likely never be shown.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Harold?” I suddenly felt like I was back in school and the teacher was explaining a subject that was so pitifully easy that everyone could do it. Everyone but me. And just like at school, I felt like I was missing something that should be obvious. It only confused me even more.

Harold let out a frustrated grunt, similar to my schoolteachers when they had to “dumb down” something so I could learn it. “Acing It has been cancelled, Griffin. Thank you for your time and energy, but your services are no longer needed.”

Like a massive earthquake had just struck the city, I lost the ability to stand. Luckily for me, a nearby couch was close. I landed on it with a thud. “What?” I whispered, stupefied. “Cancelled? It can’t be cancelled, it hasn’t even been aired yet. What you’re saying doesn’t make sense…”

“Yes, well, to put it bluntly, the studio and the creator have decided that it is no longer worth their time and energy, and ultimately, it’s their choice.”

“But…how can they decide that before it airs? It’s going to be huge, they just have to stick it out!” I was screeching into the phone now, but my tone didn’t alter Harold’s.

“I’m very sorry to have to tell you this. I was…very hopeful about this one.” He said it like he did this all the time. I didn’t. This show was all I had.

“This is bullshit!” Standing up, I began pacing. “We’ll go somewhere else, somewhere where the people have more vision.”

“We can’t, Mr. Hancock.”

“Why the fuck can’t we?” I yelled into the phone.

Harold sighed. “The show doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to the creator, and he’s decided that he wants to go in a different direction. And besides…no one else wanted the show. LMF was our only prospect.”

I had no clever retort to that. No flash of brilliance to make this all pan out. All I had was a knot of indigestion roiling in my belly, making me feel like I was going to throw up. “But…I gave up everything for this…” I whispered. What the fuck was I going to tell A

Harold sniffed. “Yes, that is unfortunate, but these things happen. You just have to dust yourself off and try again. I’m sure one day you’ll be a huge success. Best of luck, Mr. Hancock.”

He disco