Final Serenade (The Encore Book 1) Read online

  Final Serenade

  The Encore Book One

  N.N. BRITT

  Copyright © 2020 by N. N. Britt

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  All rights reserved.

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  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction. The publication/use of these trademarks is not associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Cover Design by N.N. Britt

  Edited by Shannan Saunders

  Copyedited by R.C. Craig

  Due to strong language and other adult content, this book is intended for mature audience only.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Foreword

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  About the Author

  Foreword

  Some people come into your life when you expect them the least but need them the most. You may not even know it yet, but as time passes, you start to realize that not a single person you meet during your journey is there just by coincidence. All these people enter your life and stay or leave for a reason.

  This book is the sum of what I’ve learned and what I’ve gained from those who’ve made it into my life and left their imprint. There are some of you who may not be listed here by name, but if you’re in my life, you are among those who’ve made a difference in it.

  First and foremost, I’d like to thank my mom, my dad, and my sister.

  Second, I’d like to thank my editors, Shannan and Renee, who have been so instrumental during the writing process. Cassy and Frankie’s story deals with a variety of sensitive topics, including serious health issues, and I couldn’t have given those issues justice if not for these ladies.

  As always, many thanks to my beta readers, Amanda, Naadira, and Sarah.

  Thanks to my assistant Tiffany.

  Thanks to those who answered my questions, who provided insightful feedback, who shared my posts on social media, or simply chatted with me in the middle of the night.

  Lastly, I’d like to thank my buddy and partner in crime, Chip, for the amazing years we’ve shared. I’m humbled to be your friend, and I’m forever grateful for all the shows, all the laughs, and all the long late-night drives.

  Cassy and Frankie’s story is a combination of my own experience, my endless love of music, and countless hours of research. I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible with certain medical information. Any mistakes are my own.

  I hope you fall in love with Cassy and Frankie as much as I have.

  Thank you so much and happy reading!

  P.S. If you haven’t had a chance to read Adrenaline 1999, Frankie’s story that’s available via my website for free, you can snag it here.

  XOXO

  Prologue

  Hall Affinity

  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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  Hall Affinity is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2001.

  The current lineup consists of vocalist Frankie Blade, guitarist Dante Martinez, bassist Johnny Z, and drummer Carter Valentine. The band has released four studio albums, accumulating sales of more than 50 million records worldwide, including 23 million records in the United States, making them one of the world's best-selling rock bands of all time.

  Hall Affinity is known for its diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery on its album covers and for its experimental musical style that pushes the boundaries of modern rock music.

  The band secured their first recording deal with Red Eye Records in 2003 and subsequently released their debut album, Adrenaline Lane, in 2004, which broke Billboard's Top 200 in under six months. The band's second album, Hollow Heart Dream, (2006) marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating influences from classic ’90s grunge sounds. It peaked at number one on Billboard 200 in December 2006.

  Hollow Heart Dream was the last album Hall Affinity released via Red Eye Records. It was also the last album to feature the original band’s drummer Quin Kelly, who was replaced by Carter Valentine. In May 2007, the band secured a five-album record deal with KBC Universal and started recording their highly anticipated third studio album. The album release, however, was postponed to mid-2008 due to creative tensions within the band. Blade and Martinez had a temporary falling out, which, after a four-month hiatus, caused the record label to step in and legally pressure both band members to work out their differences and finish the album by March 2008.

  Breathe Crimson climbed the charts to number one in under a week after the day of its release. Its lead single, “Ambivalent,” the band's most commercially successful single to date, won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. After two years of extensive touring, Hall Affinity returned into the studio to start working on their fourth album Chasing Memories, which was released in fall of 2011, earning the band another Grammy.

  Hall Affinity was inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, the first year of its eligibility.

  On July 10, 2012, lead singer Frankie Blade was involved in a serious motorcycle accident, resulting in a temporary disbanding of Hall Affinity. In November 2012, the band's PR representative issued an official statement about Blade's physical condition preventing the singer from continuing as a lead vocalist of Hall Affinity. The record label and Blade's bandmates, under pressure from displeased fans, rejected the possibility of finding a replacement. The band has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2012.

  Chapter One

  Heart pounding, I stared at the email preview illuminating the screen of my phone as if the devil himself had set it on fire.

  My chair felt like it’d been liquefied. With me in it.

  Jay Brodie PR PRESS RELEASE. Reunion of the…

  The rest of the headline didn’t fit in, but my gut told me this was big. And my gut had never wronged me yet. It was one of the main reasons why, out of all the music journalist wannabes who’d interned for Jay Brodie PR seven years ago, I was the only one still going strong in this brain, heart, and morals-corroding sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll industry.

  Jay Brodie just had one band on their roster that was long overdue for a reunion. Hall Affinity.

  Gulping past the sudden tightness in my throat, I swiped my index finger over the preview and continued to read.

  …Decade: Legendary Rock Band Hall Affinity Returning to the Studio to Work on New Material after a 7-Year Hiatus.

  I skimmed over the announcement text, my gaze dropping to the bottom of the email. Jay Brodie was a high-end PR boutique and handled only the cream of the crop, the best and the biggest acts in today’s rock music, and they were pretty picky about the outlets they worked with. Getting Rewired on their radar had taken us a couple of years.

  Linda would make it happen, I assured myself. She’d been good to us when it came to hot exclusives an
d we’d been good to her when some of her clients needed an extra push. Although most of her clients’ names were famous enough to push themselves.

  I shook off the doubt and returned to the text.

  Lead singer Frankie Blade and guitarist Dante Martinez will make an appearance at the Annual Douglas & Krueger Cancer Benefit that will be held at The Regency on September 28th. Mr. Blade will be available for interviews. Spots are very limited. All applications will be individually reviewed and approved by management. Please fill out the form below to submit the request.

  That was six weeks away!

  I sucked in a labored breath through my teeth and carefully evaluated every word. They felt rushed and unnatural, almost as if they were doing Frankie a disservice. This benefit show would be the man’s first public appearance in years.

  Yes, there had been some rumors about new Hall Affinity music, but those rumors had been going around for ages. Dante Martinez had politely ignored all questions regarding a reunion during his last interview.

  Shit! I switched to my laptop, my face hot from the sudden surge of adrenaline. My fingers were clammy and stiff as my brain willed them to open the application instead of typing Frankie’s name next to post-accident photo in the Google search bar. I was frazzled, but I managed to steer my concentration in the right direction, although I had to go up and fix the typo in my own last name twice.

  What is wrong with you, Cassy? It’s just a job. You’ve been doing this for seven years. You should know how to spell your own last name by now.

  Unfortunately, Frankie Blade had that effect on people. Even I wasn’t immune. Back when the band was owning all the charts and radio stations, he’d been titled the sexiest man alive by pretty much every site, magazine, and outlet that practiced grouping men into lists based on their looks and other assets more times than Hollywood had tried to reboot the Spider-Man franchise. Having a crush on someone like Frankie was inevitable. It was childish and silly, but I cherished my love for him and his music as much as I cherished my love for the real people in my life, my mother and my younger brother, Ashton, even though he’d sadly grown up to be a lazy video game-addicted douche.

  My phone rang when I was finishing up the application.

  “Did you see the email?” Levi yelled, his voice on the line sounding like he’d had a visit from a ghost. Which wasn’t far from the truth. Frankie Blade was a ghost. No one had seen or heard from the front man of Hall Affinity in over seven years. Rumor was, the injuries caused by his motorcycle accident were too severe and he’d been tied to a bed ever since.

  “Yes, I just sent in the application.” I hit the enter button enthusiastically and my keyboard squeaked in response.

  “This is a big one, Cass. I think it’s time you utilize your connections.” Levi casually threw it out there, but I knew exactly where he was going with it. It wasn’t the first time he’d tried to push me into seeking out Dante Martinez for a favor.

  Unlike the mysterious Mr. Blade, Hall Affinity’s lead guitarist had always been easy to access. He was a child of the public, a lover of press, and a hopeless womanizer. Six months after Frankie’s accident, Dante had announced a solo album and a possible tour. The fans were skeptic. Some got upset over the fact that Dante was moving on. Many didn’t believe the guitarist had it in him. Frankie Blade and Dante Martinez were the Toxic Twins 2.0. One didn’t work without the other.

  In spite of that, the solo album and the tour were a success. Levi and I, still green back then, had pimped the hell out of Dante’s venture after the three of us hit it off during the interview my friend Linda Schwab, an administrative assistant who was soon to become Jay Brodie PR’s VP, arranged for Rewired. At that time, Levi was still running all magazine operations from his family’s garage in Santa Monica. He hadn’t met our go-to guys, Stewie and Carlos, yet. And hard rock’s bad boy Dante Martinez, who’d finally stepped out from the shadow of Frankie’s good looks and charisma, was fame-hungry and took every opportunity tossed his way, even an interview with an overly ambitious three-person operation called Rewired. The situation had turned out to be a win-win for all of us.

  My interview with Dante had reigned the YouTube charts for months. The Rewired Facebook page blew up overnight. Hall Affinity’s axman and his side project were on a hot streak, breaking hearts and making cash.

  It had felt a lot like we were rewriting rock ’n’ roll history. I loved the thrill of the challenge. I loved the people I’d met. Occasionally, I loved the attention. One of those impulsive moments had landed me an invite to a private and very impromptu dinner Linda’s friend, who was the guest of honor, was throwing after a charity event Levi and I covered in Studio City. Dante was part of the group when I arrived.

  He’d remembered my name. I was smitten. To me, everyone who’d appeared in a music video was a god. Dante, however, wasn’t. He was the devil’s son, who knew how to make two things melt in his presence—guitars and women. Or a girl, in my case. I was a twenty-one-year-old tomboy with too much drive, a big mouth, minimum makeup, a cute pixie cut, and fresh music-theme tats on my right arm. I fit in. I had the look, and I was smart and professional beyond my years. I smiled, played nice, shook hands, and never flirted. My goal was to write memories, real accounts about real people, not some manufactured bullshit.

  I knew how to balance the questions—when to ask the right ones and when to back away. Everyone liked me. In some ways, the ability to predict whether the person interviewed would want to open up was my gift and my curse. During the dinner, conversations happened and numbers were exchanged. But nothing ever came of it, because Dante was way past the drinking point of no return when he punched his digits into my phone while complimenting my thoughtful interview questions. Sometime during the evening, he’d even called me a kid. I hadn’t argued. He was in his early thirties. He’d lived and seen it all. I was just at the beginning of my career. We were worlds apart.

  We’d bumped into each other later that year at a couple of charity events Levi and I were covering. He’d recognized me, despite the fact I’d filled out and dyed my hair. We’d had a short chat, which prompted Levi to think I could simply pick up the phone anytime and call Dante like I would an old friend.

  Levi was obviously mistaken. I wouldn’t gamble with my professional reputation and my integrity just to see if I could secure an exclusive with Frankie via my private channels.

  “You need to drop it, Levi,” I said, returning to Google and typing Frankie’s name into the search bar. I was itching to see if there’d been any recent photos of him released.

  “You know this is fucking big, Cass,” he pressed, sounding anxious. “You know we need this interview. You also know there’s a good chance Rewired won’t make the cut.”

  “We will. We cover the Douglas & Krueger Benefit every year, for God’s sake.” I tried to calm him down, but I wasn’t confident myself.

  Chart topping, award-winning bands like Hall Affinity always came with stuck-up management who had no idea how to determine what a respectable publication was. Rewired was a small magazine with three contributors and two photographers, but it’d been going strong for over eight years. It was Levi’s brainchild. He’d launched it a year before I met him and big things started happening right after we found each other. Helping him run Rewired was similar to raising a child. It gave us direction and pushed us to do better and think smarter. Levi’s dream was to beat Rolling Stone’s ratings. It was somewhat unrealistic, but he loved to entertain the idea from time to time.

  I played along.

  “This is the reunion of the century, the second most wanted reunion after Guns N’ Roses!” Levi cried out. He was pacing around, the low thuds of his feet against the carpet reverberating against my eardrums like an intricate bass line.

  “I’m not going to call, text, or email Dante Martinez. We’ve never communicated outside official channels.” A groan of disappointment met my ear and I drew my phone away, just in case, as my finger hit the refresh bu
tton to reload the browser. The photos that littered my screen—blue-eyed, sandy-haired, dressed-to-kill rock star Frankie Blade with a body like sin and the smile of a saint—were all from before the accident.

  “Besides, get your facts straight. It’s not a reunion. Technically, the band never broke up. They were taking time off.” This was my inner fangirl speaking. Frankie Blade was still my idol. Regardless of the fact that he hadn’t given me a new song in over seven years.

  “Why aren’t you like other women, Cass?” Levi asked. His voice was a blend of plea and disappointment. “Why aren’t you using what your mother gave you for the greater good of our magazine?”

  “Mighty sexist of you, buddy,” I retorted, slightly offended but mostly just amused. When I’d decided to stick to music journalism, I’d promised myself not to build my connections with my feminine charms. Of course, my looks were far from those of a Playboy model, but the mere fact that I was a pretty, young girl trying to make a career in a male-dominated industry had its perks.

  “You know me. I’m honest to a fault.” Levi chuckled.

  I could feel his grin over the line. It was impossible to be mad at him for longer than a minute.

  “Are you sure you’re not adopted?” I laughed.

  “My father’s convinced I was switched at birth. He’s not too fond of my undying love for rock ’n’ roll.”

  “Does your father not know about Kiss?”

  “You’ve met my father. His love of music doesn’t extend past singing ‘Hava Nagila’ at bar mitzvahs.”