The Essential Jagged Ivory (Jagged Ivory Boxed Set)

by Lashell Collins

  “There's no way I'd be able to afford it,” Amber added with a pout and a faraway look in her eyes. Mercy knew this news would make her friends completely envious, and she couldn't blame them. After all, they had discovered Jagged Ivory together, back during their freshman year at UCLA when the band's star was just beginning to rise. The three girls had become fast friends when they met in Econ 101, and later learned they all lived in the same dorm. They quickly became an inseparable threesome, and their favorite release after a long week of homework and exams was to go out, dancing and drinking and looking for a good time. Or was it trouble? Mercy was never really sure. Not content to stick to the tamer college hang-outs that most of their friends frequented, the girls could usually be found cruising the many clubs and bars around the Los Angeles/Hollywood area. A bit of a seedy scene for three pretty young co-eds to find themselves in, for sure, especially with all the drugs and depravity everywhere they looked, but that's where the best music was. The bands were smoking, the guys were hot, and the party was always rocking. There was no place else the girls would rather be.

  It was in one of those squalid clubs on a random Friday night early in their freshman year that the girls had first fallen in love with Jagged Ivory. They were exquisite. Brash and raw, so aggressive and passionate. The enthusiasm just rolled off of them, pouring over the crowd in wave after wave of excitement. Watching them that night, the girls felt they were the epitome of what a rock and roll band is supposed to be. The music was as hypnotic as the energy they projected, and the crowd couldn't help but give it right back to them. They were amazing! Of course, their handsome lead singer and the sexy guitarist next to him didn't hurt the situation any. The girls were immediately captivated by them. Soon, they were spending each weekend following the band around from one club to another, eagerly catching each performance as they tried to work up the courage to get close to them. But they always seemed to be surrounded by a wild pack of females, and the usual party hangers-on. Then one night near the end of their freshman year, the band abruptly announced that they wouldn't be performing for a while because they had just signed a recording contract.

  The girls were both elated and crushed. They were thrilled for the band because they deserved the shot at stardom, and happy to know that they would soon be able to purchase and download all the great music they'd come to love. But they were also a little heartbroken that their favorite band would no longer be playing at the local haunts they were used to. Not to mention the fact that any chance of getting close to the band was quickly vanishing before their eyes.

  That had been four years ago, and Jagged Ivory was now a very big deal. Their debut album, Seven Deadly Sins, had skyrocketed up the charts, catapulting them to superstardom seemingly overnight, and the fiercely loyal cult following they had enjoyed at the club level soon grew to epic proportions. Mercy and her friends were proud to be able to say that they had been into Jagged Ivory long before most of the world had a clue who they were.

  “I'm sorry, guys,” Mercy mumbled, suddenly feeling the need to apologize. “I wish you were both coming with me. It's going to be really weird not seeing you both every day.”

  “Oh please,” Barb rolled her eyes. “You're going to be so busy following Noah Ivory around like a puppy, you won't even notice that we're not there.”

  “Shut up,” Mercy protested, nudging her friend in the side with her elbow. “I'm not going to follow him around like a puppy. I'm sure he won't even remember me. He'll probably have some rail thin model or something hanging all over him the whole time,” Mercy pouted. And try as she might, she couldn't stop her mind from conjuring up an image of the gorgeous, willowy creature that Noah used to date all those years ago. The one he had broken up with that night. The same girl he had made up with the very next day. Even after four years, Mercy still felt the sting of rejection at the thought, and her face flushed a bit. She hated that memory. Well … parts of it anyway. Other parts of it set her nights on fire! Remembering the feel of his large hands on her hot skin, the warm wetness of his mouth on hers, the weight of his body pressing down on her, the delicious sensation of having him inside of her….

  It wasn't as though he had been her first. But he had definitely been her best. And she couldn't delude herself into thinking that they had “made love.” Mercy knew that what they had done that night was fucked. Repeatedly. Hard and fast. Slow and nasty. Over and over until the birds began to sing. Mercy had never felt that kind of passion before or since. He had been like a savage beast in bed, and she had loved it. It was a night she knew she would never forget. One she had hoped to repeat, until she saw him and his bony-ass girlfriend hanging all over each other the very next night.

  She hated herself for feeling self-conscious about her weight but, that particular memory always seemed to bring out her insecurity. Not that she was obese or anything. Heck, she wasn't even fat. But she was also not one of those skinny, anorexic waifs that most of the young women these days were literally dying to be. No. Mercy was a real woman with a real woman's curves and a real woman's dress size – ten. If a guy couldn't handle that, well it was his loss, not hers.

  “Well, I've got to go,” Amber said, cutting into Mercy's introspection. “One more final today before I go back to the dorm and cram for tomorrow's Chemistry final. Professor Miller is going to be the death of me.”

  “You'll do great, Am,” Mercy smiled at her friend. “You always do.”

  “What about you, Merc,” Barb asked. “Big study plans tonight?”

  “Yes. After dinner with my dad, I have a very hot date with my Calculus notes. I'll be so happy to take my last final come Friday!”

  “Oh you and me both,” Barb agreed.

  “You know, Mercy … your dad is so adorable,” Amber said, gathering her things as she stood up to leave. “I love hearing about your little dinner dates.”

  “Yeah, as dads go, he's pretty sweet,” Mercy smiled.

  Barb snorted. “As dads go, he's pretty hot!”

  “What? Not this again!”

  “I'm telling you, Merc,” Barb teased, “Mike Holland is one hot piece of dad ass. I'd do him in a heartbeat!”

  “Ew! I don't want to hear this,” Mercy cringed, and her friends laughed as she gathered up her bag and her books and prepared to make her escape. Waving bye to her friends, she walked across the quad and headed for her dorm room to shower and change before leaving for dinner with Mike. And after changing into a yellow, one-piece bathing suit and a nice denim skirt, she climbed into her car, tossing her backpack onto the passenger seat, and got underway.

  As she drove the ten or so minutes out to Beverly Hills, Mercy's mind wandered back to the first time she saw her dad's home. The place was not what she had been expecting at all. She knew, from the child support checks, that her father was doing well but, she had no idea how well until she arrived out here for school. The house was beautiful and unexpected. Sort of like she and Mike's relationship, Mercy mused, smiling at the thought. Of course, it was a bit of a shock for him when she simply showed up on his doorstep one day. Mercy remembered it as if it were yesterday….

  ~~~~~

  She waited with baited breath for the door to open, looking around as if in awe. Did her dad really live in this huge place? It seemed like a palace to Mercy. Maybe she had gotten the address wrong. Maybe her mother was right and her dad wouldn't be happy to see her. She was about to turn tail and run when the door suddenly swung open, and there he stood. His slightly annoyed expression registering recognition and surprise, and then … slowly … joy?

  “Mercy?” his voice sounded shocked, and Mercy wasn't certain that she didn't still have time to run.

  “Hi, Dad,” she had said with a quiet, scared smile.

  “Honey? Hi,” came his confused response as he took her awkwardly into his arms and hugged her. “What are you doing here?” he asked her as he pulled her gently through the door, his excited, nervous chatter never ceasing. “Where are your bags? How long can
you stay? Why didn't you tell me you were visiting?”

  Mercy smiled slightly at his obvious confusion, but she wanted to make herself perfectly clear. “I'm not visiting, Dad. I'm not going back to Ohio; I live here now.”

  “What do you mean, you're not going back?” Mike asked, looking suddenly alarmed. “Mercy, you haven't run away from your mother, have you?”

  “No, Dad,” she replied with an exasperated sigh. “I'm 18 years old. I'm an adult! I didn't run away from home. I got accepted at UCLA,” she said somewhat haughtily. “I'm starting classes in the fall.”

  “You are?” The shock in his voice was evident. “Honey, that's fantastic! Why didn't you tell me?”

  “Well, if you had made it to my graduation, you would have known,” she mumbled with a pout.

  Mike lowered his head in shame and let out a heavy sigh. “I know. I'm so sorry sweetheart, but I had a really important client and I …” He let the sentence dangle as the hurt look in his daughter's eyes washed over him, condemning him. “I'm so sorry, honey.” She said nothing, but just stared at him with big, sad brown eyes. “I know this is lame, Mercy, but … how can I make it up to you?” he asked.

  Again, Mercy just stared at him for a long moment. Then she said softly, “You can let me crash here until time to move into the dorm.”

  ~~~~~

  Mercy smiled at that memory now. When she was 12 and her mom had taken her away, she and Mike had tried to stay in touch, but it just didn't work out that way. Life got in the way for Mike, and Mercy was much too young to understand that at the time. All she knew was that her daddy was suddenly gone and she missed him terribly. But she had found a way to rectify that situation as soon as she could by moving back to California.

  Those first couple of months at Mike's place weren't exactly easy for either one of them though. She and her dad had a few trust issues to work through before they could really begin to get to know one another again. But once they managed to get through all that, they overcame any lingering awkwardness and began to fall into a comfortable rhythm. He allowed her to take over one of the empty guest rooms and make it her own, permitting her to decorate it however she chose. He took her to see all the sights of LA, and treated her to a new school wardrobe with a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive. He even gave her the use of his old 2009 BMW to use for transportation. It was the car she still drove today. And once her classes began and she moved into the dorm, she and Mike would do things together, like meet for dinner every other week and take in the occasional movie. It was as if they had never been separated and Mercy loved spending time with him.

  She pulled slowly into the long driveway of her dad's home and parked just outside the garage. Mike's Mercedes was nowhere to be seen, so Mercy knew he was probably hung up with some celebrity client or another, and that she would have a few minutes to herself before he arrived. Grabbing her backpack from the passenger seat, she exited the car and let herself into the house. She just loved the open floor plan and all the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was such a beautiful place.

  Moving straight through the house, Mercy deposited her backpack on one of the couches in the brightly decorated great room, then went to the glass French doors and opened them up, stepping out onto the patio. She walked over to a lounger next to the pool and slipped out of her shoes and her skirt, and proceeded to dive into the clear, cool water. She took several invigorating laps around the large pool before finally climbing out and drying off with a big, fluffy pool towel.

  “And here I thought you'd have dinner all ready and waiting for me. But you're out here playing around in the sunshine!”

  Mike's jovial voice behind her instantly made Mercy smile, and she turned and beamed at him as he walked toward her. She looked like him, she supposed. Same big brown eyes and brown wavy hair. Only Mercy had her mother's alabaster skin. “Hi, Dad,” she said brightly.

  “Hi, sweetheart,” he said as he kissed her cheek. “Give me a minute to freshen up and I'll start the salmon if you make the salad.”

  “You got a deal,” she smiled as she continued to dry off.

  Fifteen minutes later, she and Mike were shoulder to shoulder in the spacious kitchen, talking about one another's day as they prepared dinner together.

  “So how'd that Business Law exam go this afternoon?” Mike asked.

  “I think it went okay,” Mercy responded confidently. “Now if I can just get through Calculus, life will be good!”

  “And have you given any more thought to Harvard?” he asked gently, knowing that this was a delicate subject.

  Mercy rolled her eyes as she continued to slice tomatoes and avocado for their salad. “No, Mike, I haven't.”

  He returned the gesture with a sigh as he carefully removed the two perfectly grilled salmon fillets from the grill pan and placed them on a warm plate. “Honey, I don't mean to pressure you. I really don't,” he began, turning to look Mercy in the eye. “But your LSAT scores were excellent, sweetheart! With your GPA and your keen mind, there's no reason why you shouldn't consider law school, Mercy.”

  “Except for the fact that I don't want to go to law school, Mike!”

  “Will you please stop calling me Mike,” he grumbled, his voice raised slightly in exasperation. “You know I hate that! Dad, pops, daddy, father, padre … pick any one of those you like but, no more Mike!”

  “Okay, okay! Jeez, don't blow a gasket,” Mercy mumbled, and smiled at him. Then she frowned a little as she said, “You know, every time you bring up law school I sort of feel like you're trying to get rid of me.”

  Mike stared at her for a beat. “Why would you say something like that?” he asked quietly. “Mercy, after all the time we spent apart when you were growing up, do you really think that I would want to cut our time short now?” Mercy shrugged her shoulders as she stared silently at him. “Oh, honey … I am not trying to get rid of you. I am just so damn proud of you, and I want you to reach for the stars and be everything that you want to be. That's all.”

  “Everything I want to be, huh?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, and Mike smiled.

  “Okay, I admit it. I would love for you to go to my alma mater and follow in my footsteps. What proud father wouldn't want that?”

  “But if I went to Harvard, I wouldn't be able to work for Holland Management,” she pointed out as she carried the salad bowl over to the table, and Mike followed with the plate of grilled salmon.

  “Sure you would,” Mike countered as they sat. “As soon as you graduated law school, you would come right back here and step in as my partner.”

  “Hmm!” Mercy mumbled as her eyebrows reached for the heavens. “So, if I had a law degree, I'd be your partner? As opposed to just being your assistant now.”

  “Mercy, you will not be my assistant when you start work at HM at the end of the summer,” he assured her. “You'll be more like a very well-paid apprentice, learning the artist management business from the ground up. But yes … if you had a law degree, your position would be a little different,” he explained before taking a bite of his salmon. “And as I've told you before, you don't need a law degree to be an entertainment manager. But if you want to be able to effectively negotiate contracts for music clients, then some knowledge of entertainment law is essential in my opinion. A law degree is just smart business in this game.”

  Mercy was quiet as she thought about his words. Law school was something that had never been on her radar before. But at the same time, she had to admit that the idea of artist management did appeal to her. It was the reason she agreed to come work at her dad's firm after graduation. Well, that and the fact that she hadn't any better ideas. She had majored in business administration, giving no serious thought to what her plans after college might be. But she found her dad's job incredibly interesting and exciting. Perhaps she should simply apply to Harvard and see what happens. Besides, applying didn't mean that she had to go, right?

  “Maybe I'll apply,” she said quietly before stuffing a large forkful of sa
lad into her mouth. And she watched Mike's face light up as she chewed.

  “You will?” he asked excitedly.

  “Yeah, maybe,” she replied noncommittally. “But aren't there any good law schools on the west coast? I'm not fond of the idea of leaving here.”

  “Well, sure,” Mike answered eagerly, clearly loving her willingness to discuss this subject. “Stanford is an excellent law school, ranked number 2 in the nation. And UC Berkley is ranked number 7 last I checked. UCLA and Southern Cal both rank within the top 20. I only push Harvard because I went there, honey. Not because I want to get rid of you. But there are wonderful law schools right here that would make me every bit as proud. I'm just happy you're open to the idea.”

  Mercy rolled her eyes at him once more as she tried to stifle a laugh. His persistence was both adorable and annoying. But she needed to change the subject. And she frowned slightly, remembering that she had to tell him something unpleasant. “Um … Mom called last night,” she said quietly, watching him closely.

  To his credit, Mike showed very little annoyance. “Did she?” he responded with his voice in neutral. “Will we be seeing her next week?”

  Mercy nodded slowly. “Yeah. She'll only be in town for the graduation. Her plane gets in on Thursday night and her return flight is a few hours after the ceremony on Friday.”

  Mike snorted softly. “Well, Rose doesn't have to avoid the entire state of California just because of me. I don't wish her any ill will, Mercy. If you want to let her know that she's welcome to stay longer, that's not going to upset me, sweetheart. I'll even spring for her hotel stay for a week if you want to spend some more time with her.”

  Mercy smiled at him. It was an incredibly generous offer, especially considering the fact that her mother was the reason she and her dad had had such a crappy relationship for so many years. Rosie did everything she could to try and turn Mercy against him after the divorce. Always bad-mouthing Mike in front of her, calling him every name in the book, and accusing him of horrible things. It's not that Mercy didn't believe her father had cheated on her mother. She just didn't believe that made him the devil. And it didn't mean that she needed to be “protected” from him, or that she and her father needed to be ripped apart. But that had been the end result, until Mercy had taken matters into her own hands and showed up on his doorstep four years ago.