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“I don’t think Felix fits your group.”
Sam turned his head to Jake and Andy only to find them frowning, just like him. He brought his eyes back to their manager who was looking at them, a sad smile on the lips.
“Excuse us, what do you mean?” Andy asked, confused.
It was already weird their manager had asked only the three of them to come to him, and now this? It was weird.
“Listen, I know the four of you started together, and that you would lie to keep going together. Felix doesn’t fit at all. He ruins the vibe the three of you give, and it’s dragging you down.”
“Dragging us down? Felix is our leader! He doesn’t drag anyone down.” Sam protested.
“I know, I know, I understand. But you must see it honestly: none of you is a goth like him, and it’s obvious that metal isn’t your musical genre. Not only is he keeping you down, but it’s also not good for him: he would do much better in a band only focused on metal.”
“That’s stupid, we like doing some from time to time, and anyway he writes most of our songs, metal or not.” Jake said.
“Don’t you want to be famous? Like this, you’re never going to be great, it’s never going to be enough.”
“We’re already well known, though. Why would we need to do this?”
“Listen, guys. I understand, really, and I’m not here to force you to anything, I’m just giving you hints. Now you do you, but if I were you, I wouldn’t stay with him. It’s not good for you, and not good for him.”
“If he wanted to leave, he would’ve done it sooner. It’s Felix we’re talking about.”
“Oh, come on, we all know he has a soft spot for you. Which is normal, it’s cute, but you could become a real boyband. Not just the weird thing you’re doing now.”
“We’re fine with the weird thing, though.” Sam said.
“Yup, same.” Jake added.
They shared a look, shrugged, and Andy finally said, calmly but obviously a bit irritated.
“Now if that’s all, we’re going to go back to our job.”
“If you want… Try to think about it, alright?”
“Yeah. We’ll talk about it to Felix.”
The manager tried his best not to say anything, but the three men could see how this idea was unsettling to him. After all, Felix wasn’t known to be the most patient guy with people who disrespected him. And calling his group without him to try to make them leave him wasn’t the most respectful thing ever.
On their way back to the apartment the four of them shared, they talked a bit.
“We agree on changing of manager as soon as we can?” Andy asked.
Jake chuckled, putting one arm around Andy’s shoulders.
“The sooner the better. And I hope Felix’s gonna make him live hell.” He answered. “The audacity to ask us to leave him. As if.”
“Without him, we wouldn’t even be here now.” Sam added.
When they told Felix what just happened, once back home, they had expected him to be mad. Instead, he simply barked a laugh.
“I knew it was coming. He clearly wants me away.”
“Why, though? Our group works perfectly well.”
Felix shrugged.
“I refuse to let go of my guitar, I am political, and I am a goth. Three good enough reasons to want me away. He would like to make you a clean and smooth group.” He explained quickly.
“That’s bullshit. It’s not because you’re the most political that it means we’re not. And you’re not the only one who refused his perpetual requests to dance on stage. We told him we didn’t want to.”
“It’s not even just about dancing. It’s a whole. He thinks I influence you. Putting everything on my back helps him to think he could make us, or at least you, his own success if he could just get a grip on you.”
“Which is awfully dumb.”
“Which is awfully dumb,” Felix repeated. “What did you answer him?”
The three guys went silent as they started to stare at Felix. Was he really asking this?
“Seriously, Fe?” Jake asked, just to be sure.
“I don’t know, he’s not entirely wrong, without me, being worldwide known’s gonna be easier.”
“Bullshit.” Sam said.
“Bullshit.” Jake added.
“Bullshit.” Andy repeated with a smirk. “We wouldn’t let you.”
“Even if you wanted to go solo. We’d just hang to you.” Sam said with a bright smile, almost jumping on Felix who groaned in reaction.
“Good. Cause I finished the song I’ve been working on. I’d just need your help for a bit, Andy.”
The pianist nodded. It wasn’t rare for Felix to ask Andy for help, for piano solo he prepared.
“Would you like to do more metal?”
Jake’s question made Felix stop and he frowned.
“Not that much. Why? You want to do more of it?”
“Nah, just the manager. He said it’d be better to let you go so that you could go full metal. I know the “letting you go for your own good” is full bullshit, but I wondered how you felt about not doing just metal.”
“I’m fine. It’s funny, honestly, to write different stuff. I have my favourite genres, of course, but doing other stuff makes me enjoy even more making metal. It changes a bit, I like it.”
When he saw their uncertain eyes, he rolled his eyes.
“Stop it, guys. I like it. I don’t want to do more. And I know that if I want to do more, I can do it, because you’d be ok with it. Alright?”
The three other guys made bright smiles, making Felix roll his eyes again. Then, he simply made a hand gesture towards Andy, indicating him to follow.
“What do you have in mind?” Sam asked Jake, looking at his concerned face.
“Murder. He made Felix doubt of our will to stay with him.”
“Murder seems like an appropriate reaction indeed.” Sam said with a laugh.
Jokes aside, Jake and Sam didn’t plan to let that slide that easily; it had been a terrible mistake of their manager, to think he could try, and worse succeed, at separating them. The four of them had been through way too much to disband for such ridiculous reasons.
Felix was the one who brought them all together. He was their anchor, their best friend. Without him, they wouldn’t be here today, they wouldn’t be musicians, they would probably not have taken any interest in politics, and they wouldn’t have such a genuine and deep friendship.
So, no, they wouldn’t let Felix behind. They would actually rather to lose all of their fame than to leave him behind, that was a sure thing.