Rhythm and Ray: A DJ’s Journey

[Chapter 81: The Confrontation]

The next day at noon, Erica walked up to Taylor's hotel room, carrying fast food she had picked up nearby. She knocked on the door, which opened just a crack, revealing Taylor's blue-gray eyes peering through.

"There's no one in the hallway," Erica quickly assured her.

Taylor reached out her slender arm, swiftly grabbing the bag and pulling it back before shutting the door with a loud snap.

"Your junk food," Taylor said as she returned to her bed, handing the food over to Ryan. They sat on the bed, eating, but mostly it was Ryan who finished the meal. Taylor only nibbled on a piece, her obsession with maintaining her figure bordering on excessive.

"I really shouldn't eat anymore. I drank so much beer yesterday. Nobody's going to call you this afternoon, right?" Taylor said, taking a small bite of fried chicken.

They had planned to indulge that morning, but Ryan constantly received calls interrupting their time. Joel, Dead Mouse, Marvin, Scooter, Scott Borchetta from Big Machine Records, Tiesto, and Diplo -- everyone in their circle tried to reach him.

...

Some called to simply congratulate him, like Joel, while others expressed their intentions to collaborate further. Ryan turned down most of the offers. He needed to make choices that would benefit his music career.

Several magazines had contacted Ryan's label; Rolling Stone, Billboard, DJ, and Mixmag all wanted to interview him about how streaming was changing the music industry. The internet's influence on the music industry had evolved through three distinct phases.

The first phase was defined by Napster's sharing software, which delivered a heavy blow to the traditional record industry. The second phase represented by iTunes' paid downloads marked the internet's growing role as a part of the record industry's distribution channels.

Paid downloads facilitated putting music transactions online, allowing users to make a one-time payment for permanent playback rights, which they could store on computers or devices like an iPod.

The third phase had arrived, characterized by streaming services. Many industry professionals believed the rapid rise of Harlem Shake signaled the start of this stage. However, there had yet to emerge any representative online applications.

Ryan accepted the interviews primarily to promote his new song. As for Harlem Shake, there is no need for Ryan to be distracted by it now; countless people were already making parody videos online, likely sending it to the top of the charts.

In addition to all this, massive nightclub invitations flooded in from major cities across the U.S. Scooter and Marvin had arranged a national nightclub tour for Ryan, and the bookings extended all the way into the fall.

This was definitely a good thing; the nightclub tour alone could generate over a million dollars in direct income for Ryan. However, the tight schedule left little room for rest.

This was the necessary path for every famous DJ -- performing nonstop at clubs worldwide every day of the year. Overnight, Ryan became incredibly busy, even more than Taylor.

...

"Honestly, I never imagined you would rise to fame this quickly," Taylor said, lying on her side, propped up on her hand. The bright room made her fair skin glow, accentuated by her flushed cheeks, resembling a scene from a medieval painting.

Taylor's highest ranking on Billboard had been only sixteen, while Ryan's Harlem Shake recently surpassed that, alongside the new hit Wake Me Up that just debuted.

"Well, I'm not doing so bad myself. Next month, we're filming the music video for my first single off the new album!" Taylor said with a hint of pride.

...

After finishing their meal, Ryan stood up, turned on the computer in the room, and began searching for news about the party from the night before.

Even though mainstream entertainment media hadn't reported anything and all involved parties were silent -- after all, they were all under Disney's umbrella -- discussions on forums had exploded.

[Nick Jonas, who is in love with Selena, is exposed to be cheating again and was caught in the act at a party!]

The post included a video of Joe leaving in a flustered state, and among the comments was even a blurry photo of Demi hurriedly escaping the scene.

Though the photo was distorted by the haste of the snap, online users began to speculate who the mystery woman was, based on the guest list from the party.

[I've been a NM fan for two years and I'm done with it.] (Nick-Miley)

[I'm really happy for Selena!]

[I'm glad for Miley too!]

[Good riddance!]

Meanwhile, the Jonas Brothers' MySpace page was inundated with vomit emojis. Their female fans were predominantly unforgiving about such matters.

On Selena Gomez's page, many celebrated her. However, on Taylor Swift's page, the comments turned into a sea of muscle emojis, reflecting rumors that she had physically confronted Miley at the party.

"Last night was rough for Selena," Taylor said as she moved closer to Ryan, reminiscing about Abigail.

"I hope she forgives me," Taylor said with concern etched on her face as she rested her forehead against Ryan's.

...

The next day in Nashville, a pure white Lincoln Navigator was driving on a country road. The surroundings were very chaotic and no one was in sight. Taylor had invited Abigail and Ryan to the countryside, but it was a ruse to confront Abigail.

"Taylor, where exactly are we headed?" Abigail asked from the backseat alongside Ryan, curiosity lacing her tone.

Gathering her courage, Taylor pulled the car over and turned to Abigail.

"Abigail, actually... there's something I need to tell you."

She held Abigail's gaze, slowly starting to speak.

"You mean about Ryan? He told me everything last night. I've been thinking about this for a while. I know you two are artists and have more in common, and I might be leaving for Kansas soon, so I wish you both the best," Abigail said, smiling.

"You heard it last night?" Taylor paused, surprised.

"Yes," Abigail nodded. "He said you were helping him, introducing him to lawyers and a team. I knew you were into him from the way you looked at him at the stadium."

Abigail felt no anger anymore; the earlier actions had mostly eased any tension in her.

Taylor found it hard to deny.

"Ryan seemed confused last night when he realized your feelings but didn't know what to do. I thought it might be best to let you two be together. It would be better for all three of us."

"But what about you?" Taylor pouted.

"We're best friends, and if you're happy, then I'm happy too. Plus, there are plenty of guys after me, so I have choices," Abigail laughed.

"You're the best, Abigail!" Taylor exclaimed as she pulled her in for a hug.

"Alright, alright. Ryan is a good guy. I truly wish you both the best," Abigail said, patting Taylor's shoulder.

Ryan sighed with relief; the love triangle had finally landed safely.

But then Taylor shifted gears with her next words, "A good guy? He's not a good guy; he's been lying to you!"

It seemed Abigail's friendship was moving Taylor. She decided to come clean and revealed everything.

"Wait!" Ryan tried to pause her, but it was too late.

"I've been seeing him for ages! We've sneaked around several times!"

"He picked me up the day before he signed. We were in the car."

"When I went to Los Angeles, he was right there with me; we spent the last day in the hotel! Literally the whole day without leaving!"

"Abigail, I had to tell you this; I'd feel guilty forever if I didn't!"

Abigail froze, and then looked at Ryan silently.

"Is everything you said true?" she asked slowly.

"Absolutely!"

Seeing that the two people would start to judge him if they continued like this, Ryan could no longer sit still and said, "I admit, I can't control myself sometimes, but I just ended up liking both of you! Abigail supported me when I was in trouble, and Taylor, you've helped me a lot too. I appreciate both of you and don't want to see anyone hurt. I've been looking for a perfect solution, even if it seems impossible, we can make it work somehow."

Ryan spoke with conviction, embodying the first rule of crisis management -- confront head-on, answer in perspective, downplay the bigger issues.

"You've been lying to me! And deceiving Abigail too!"

"If I hadn't lied, do you think you'd still have that friend?"

Taylor had no response.

"What about me? What am I here, just a player in your game?!" Abigail now wanted to throw a punch at Ryan.

"That's something you'll have to ask Taylor. I've already blocked her from reaching out to me; she showed up at my place," Ryan replied coolly.

Abigail turned to Taylor.

"I just wanted to be friends with him... I lost my mind, I'm sorry," Taylor said, looking sincerely remorseful, nearly in tears.

In the back-and-forth, Taylor had become the main culprit.

"Love-struck!" Abigail sighed, knowing only Taylor could pull something like this.

"So what now?" Taylor felt lost.

"How should I know?" Abigail shook her head, baffled.

"What else can we do?" Ryan shrugged.

They continued to stumble forward. The three of them were just a step away from resolving everything.

"You both go ahead; I need to step back. This is getting too complicated," Abigail felt her mind was about to overheat.

"Please, Abigail, you need to help me!" Taylor turned to Abigail for support.

"If you step back, Taylor will feel bad," Ryan added.

Trapped between not being able to step back and needing to help Taylor, Abigail struggled to find a solution.

"Do you want it all?" she looked at Ryan.

"Is there a better solution?"

"Can you handle it?" Abigail scrutinized.

"Trying is how we'll find out!" Ryan replied without hesitation.

"What are you guys even talking about?" Taylor still hadn't connected all the dots.

*****

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