by J. M. Nevins
Moira sighed. “I had thought about it.” She placed her hand on Kit’s knee and waited until she blinked open her green eyes, staring deeply into them. “Truthfully, I didn’t want you to leave. You were the best thing that ever happened to him. You brought out the best in him. I really did think he was done with his old ways and that he was settling down for good and ready to take on some real responsibility. I’m sorry, Kit. Deeply sorry.”
The phone rang and Kit ignored it knowing that Lila or Ariana would answer. She remained silent, staring at Moira, doing her best to process what she had just learned and not explode with violent rage despite it bubbling inside of her.
Lila entered the room and felt the tremendous tension between the two women. It wasn’t the first time she felt uncomfortable witnessing highly personal interactions in Kit’s life. By now, she had learned to handle it. She didn’t want to encroach, but it was her job.
She stood confidently and spoke up. “Sorry to interrupt. Two things, Kit. Number one, Lizbeth is on the line and she says it’s urgent. Number two, Spencer has arrived. Would you like me to show him in?”
Kit stood up and refused to engage further with Moira. Enough had been said for now and she wanted time to process it before continuing.
She glanced at Moira and spoke coolly. “We’ll continue this discussion at another time.” She shifted her attention to Lila. “It’s perfect timing actually, Lila.”
She glanced back down at Moira. “There are some new developments that Spencer will be discussing with you related to your son’s behavior. I’ll be back shortly.”
After being waved in by Lila, Spencer entered the room and exchanged a silent look of knowing with Kit as she exited. She ran upstairs to her bedroom and picked up the line as she watched Lila exit the room and close the door behind her.
“Lizbeth, hello. What’s up?”
“We’ve discovered some information regarding the Malibu property.”
Kit’s ear perked up, curiosity taking over. “Ok. What did you find?”
Lizbeth paused. “The house is occupied by his girlfriend. I suspect it was the one you told me he met on tour. Her name is Kendalle Scott. She was a prominent principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater. Had been dancing with the company since she was 17, then moved onto Broadway and stared in a handful of musicals. She’s also a backup singer as we understand and has worked with several prominent bands and artists. There seems to be an event three years ago that cut her ballet career short. I assume from an injury, but we’re not sure on that. She started focusing more on acting, directing, choreographing and singing… not so much dancing. She’s 31. Born in Minneapolis. Has another address to a loft on the Upper West Side in New York. She definitely has her own money and is well off, so this isn’t a gold digger situation. Currently drives a white 1993 Lotus Esprit that’s registered in your husband’s name.”
Kit sighed, feeling a myriad of emotions ranging from complete rage to deep betrayal and heart-wrenching sorrow.
She took a deep breath and let it out evenly to calm herself. “Ok. I know I said I wanted to wait to file the legal separation, but let’s start proceedings. What do you need from me and can we have the papers delivered before the end of next week so I have them in my possession when I fly out? I’d prefer to deliver them myself rather than have the summons sent out to him on the road.”
“Of course, Kit. We can put a rush on the filing. When do have your meeting with him?”
She sighed. “Next Thursday—a week from now. I’ll have my assistant send my travel information to you.”
“Rest assured, we’ll take care of it. I’m sorry to be delivering this news to you. We’ll make sure to protect you and your assets as much as possible through this and minimize any kind of publicity. You should be ok. A legal separation doesn’t flag the vultures as much as a divorce. We can work with your team to spin this in the right way if needed. Regardless, we know how to keep everything under wraps.
“Keep me posted on how your meeting with him goes. We’ll keep digging. I know this is difficult, but I believe you’re making the right choice for you and your future.”
Kit nodded. “Thanks, Lizbeth.”
Upon hanging up the phone, Kit took a moment to get her bearings. She felt stunned and temporarily numb. She sighed, prematurely thinking she was ok, but then the reality set in and hit her like a freight train.
A tidal wave of mixed emotions took over. She sat on the edge of her bed, buried her head in her hands and started sobbing as she realized this truly was the beginning of the end.
* * *
The chords sounded more clear and crisp than they had in a while as Kit stroked the keys of the baby grand that now resided in the vacancy of the Steinway. She had found a new home for it in Bryan’s Hollywood Hills home. She had called him on the road and asked if he could secretly house it until she found her new permanent residence. He was generous to oblige and give her access to his home. They swapped his current baby grand with the Steinway. Grateful, she knew Sully would never find it there, even when he was home on a tour break. By the time the band wrapped the tour, she knew she’d have a permanent solution in place.
She was tinkering with a song here or there and then decided to have some fun. Getting lost in the music was the exact medicine she needed.
She launched into the opening sequence of some of her classical favorites. She continued on and seconds later, Lila emerged carrying the trades in a stack folded under her arm and a hot cup of tea in her other hand for Kit.
Lila patted Kit’s shoulder. “Please don’t take this the wrong way—I’m relieved to see you sitting in front of these keys playing and singing again. You’ve been away from it for so long.” She set the pubs down on the baby grand, balancing the cup of hot tea carefully on top.
Kit looked up at her and met her kind brown eyes, nodding in agreement as Lila continued. “It’s like you’re home when you’re here. It’s like there’s this different energy. A good one. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good thing.”
She grinned. “Thank you for the reminder. It’s a good one.”
She then shifted her attention to the keys in front of her and tinkered again for a moment. She couldn’t help but glance at the pubs as they lay on the top of the baby grand. She stopped playing, leaned forward and attempted to grab one.
Lila frowned and gently slapped her hand away. “No! You’re not allowed to look at those.” She took the cup of tea and handed it to her.
Kit shook her head and gently pushed the cup away, toward Lila. She stood up from the piano bench and hovered over the pubs, trying to grab one again.
Lila grabbed it out of her hand and shook her head. “Stop that.” She collected the pubs quickly and tucked them under her arm. “Keep playing your piano and singing. Drink your tea. You’re on medical leave for a few more weeks, remember?”
She chuckled. “You know me.” She laid on the charm. “Just let me have a peek. And can you swap out this herbal tea with coffee please? Pretty please?” She donned a wide smile and raised her eyebrows.
Lila remained straight faced. She didn’t think it was a good idea. Gypsy Tango had only been back out on the road a short time and they were plastered all over the trades in a not so favorable light.
Monitoring the trades at all times was part of Lila’s job. This time, however, Giselle had specifically asked her to read them cover to cover in order to navigate the rocky road they were heading into.
Giselle and Lila had been on conference calls multiple times a day with the band’s publicists and it seemed to be getting worse instead of better. The last thing she wanted to do was drag Kit into the mess. She was no longer their manager and it was Lila’s job to minimize Kit’s stress, not add to it.
On top of the daily drama with the band, there were fires erupting at Diamond Corporate and it was to the detriment of Kit’s label, Flat 5. This had started days before Kit’s shooting and was now reaching a fever pitch.
Lila didn’t have a direct line to the top, she was going on what she read in the trades and tapping into her friends that worked at Diamond. With Kit on a medical leave, Lew and Jonathan had been tight-lipped and hadn’t been in touch, aside from social calls and visits to make sure she was feeling better. They were very careful not to discuss business with her.
As she clutched the magazines tighter, with a deer in the headlights look in her eyes, she felt frightened that these publications could send Kit into even more of an emotional tailspin and that’s the last thing she wanted.
“Lila!” Kit’s voice snapped her out of her spinning mind.
Lila swallowed hard, still-wide eyed. “Hmm?”
She held out her hand patiently. “The pubs, please.”
Lila shook her head. “Kit, respectively, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to see them. You’re going through enough right now and…”
She interjected. “They’re that good, huh? Ok, Lila. I’m grateful you’re concerned about my welfare. Got it. That’s top notch of you, however I assure you I can handle it.”
She met Lila’s eyes with determination. “It’s either you let me see those or I hop on a call with Giselle.”
Lila sighed. Kit was wearing her down. “It’s not just about GT. It’s about Diamond too.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? Even better. Ok, then in that case, I’d have a few phone calls to make. If you’re not going to give me the pubs to read, I’ll go to the source. Phone please. I’m calling Jonathan.”
Lila rolled her eyes and shoved the publications to Kit. “I’m not calling 9-1-1 if you start having heart palpitations. And no coffee for you. Drink your damned tea!” Annoyed, she turned on her heel to leave the room.
Kit giggled and called after her. “I love you, Lila. Thank you. I do appreciate this. I know you’re trying to protect me and that’s very admirable. It’ll be fine. I’ll take my coffee with extra cream today.”
As Lila ignored her final comment and left the room, Kit ventured into the entertainment room. She turned on MTV in hopes of catching the latest news at the top of the hour. She quickly assessed there was nothing of interest. She grabbed the first publication and started scanning.
One hour later, she had read all of them cover to cover. She sat on the couch and stared in a daze. Lila was right, there was as shit storm brewing of gargantuan portions. Seemed it wasn’t only taking root in her personal life, the foundation was being rocked in her professional life too.
Four weeks ago, she had been in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Now she was scheduled to fly out in two days and wasn’t looking forward to telling Sully the final decisions she had come to about their marriage.
Regardless of what the publications reported, she knew full well the band was in a massive downward spiral, an enormous sinkhole, and it seemed that no one wanted to help them control the damage or attempt to pull them out. They were going down in flames. The intuitive nudges that she had wanted to bury before were now impossible to ignore. She knew it was time to make big changes, yet she felt paralyzed with fear.
Billboard Magazine was brutal in their write up of Gypsy Tango’s recent show in Indianapolis, particularly regarding Sully. His voice wasn’t holding up well, he was struggling. The band was at each other’s throats and rumors had begun to circulate that this tour would be their last. Tensions were high.
Kit sat back and contemplated how the team had kept her so isolated about all of this. She marveled at it. Part of her was doubly concerned that if the pubs had this knowledge and were spewing it out to the general public, then the label was seeing it too.
Her fledgling label Flat 5, an imprint of Diamond, was entering the red zone as it was. This wouldn’t help as GT was their bread and butter. There were problems she had been trying to iron out with corporate long before the shooting.
Now with Gypsy Tango taking a nosedive, she knew instinctively the imprint might not be able to recover. She started to realize why Lila was keeping this from her and an overwhelming feeling of dread encompassed her.
Understanding that Lew and Jonathan most likely wouldn’t clue her in right now, she mined her intel from the publications in front of her. From what she read, there was a shakedown going on at Diamond in a very big way. She knew the pubs could only penetrate so far and were receiving limited information, which startled her, because the reports she read had lots of dirt that was very specific.
Rumors of Jonathan moving back over to Diamond Pictures as the CEO, rumors of Lew stepping down from office entirely to serve as chairman, and Chris Diamond taking a more active role on the board to increase profits at Diamond Records sent shivers up her spine. With Jonathan out, a new CEO would have to be installed and the fact that it may be Chris frightened her to no end.
Chris Diamond—Lew’s eldest son, was hardnosed, with not one creative bone in his body. He was a numbers guy, the product of a Harvard and Wharton education, which Kit respected. But when it boiled down, he was all business and very much a big player in the boy’s club.
Chris was the asshole that publicly called her sweetie or honey in front of her colleagues and still asked her to get him coffee when they’d occasionally be in the same room together for an executive meeting or an occasional board meeting. All this, even after she had been generating millions upon millions for the company for years.
Kit didn’t have that much interaction with him most of the time and she preferred that. Up until recently, he had resided in New York and operated the board meetings out of Diamond Entertainment’s New York compound where both Diamond Records and Diamond Media were housed.
Not many were big fans of Chris, including his own brother. Jonathan and Chris didn’t speak much, unless they had to at Diamond functions. They stayed on separate coasts on purpose. Chris was brought in from time to time when Diamond was teetering and Kit suspected that’s why he was making an appearance again. She wasn’t looking forward to running into him. She made a mental note to call Jonathan and set up lunch.
She let out a long sigh. It felt like her entire world was crashing down and being reduced to a sea of rubble. The world she had built and passionately cultivated since leaving Philadelphia, ironically the city she would be returning to in two days that would most likely trigger the dominoes falling on her married life.
Even though she had awards, accolades, plenty of money in the bank and was well respected in the music industry, it wasn’t lighting her up anymore and that frightened her. She was at the top of her career and all she wanted to do was walk away and not come back. She realized how long she had been running on empty and running away from that quiet inner voice that was attempting to nudge her onto a different path.
After years of ignoring it paired with an unforgettable near death experience recently, the quiet voice had now become a loud, screaming banshee that would not cease until it commanded her full attention. She knew it was time to get still and listen.
Immediately encompassed by the pure gravity of years and years of suppressing how she really felt, she started sobbing, afraid she may not stop. The phone rang, jolting her back to the moment. She hastily wiped her tears and answered, surprised she was able to beat Lila and Ariana to it.
“I didn’t expect to get you. Are you ok, Kit? I’d assume you’re still recovering. At least you should be. You’ve been through a lot, I know.”
She sniffled and grinned. “Jonathan, hey. It’s nice to hear your voice. I was thinking about calling you and here you are. What are you up to today? Can we grab lunch?”
He paused for a moment before speaking. “Are you sure you’re up to it? I dunno if it’s such a good idea. I know how you are and if we’re gonna start talking power moves over lunch then I don’t suggest it.”
She sighed. “Ok, no power moves, but Jon, you cannot leave me in the dark. I saw the pubs. Yes, I’m technically still on leave, but…”
He cleared his throat. “Ok, alright. But I’m picking y
ou up. And you’re gonna give me full control to blow the whistle on you. This is not going to be a full blown four-hour strategy session on how to fix things. This is going to be a lunch between two friends and colleagues. Yes, I will brief you, but this is not the time to figure out next steps. Got me?”
She chuckled. “Geez, you sound just like your dad. I got you. What time are you picking me up?”
Jonathan arrived punctually at noon. Ariana welcomed him in as Kit approached to greet him with a smile. He reached out and gave Kit a brief embrace and kiss on the cheek. “How are you feeling? Are you sure you aren’t pushing it by going out to lunch?”
She nodded and gave him a reassuring grin. “I’m good, Jon. I’ve been cleared to travel across the country later this week by my doctor, so going to lunch down the street is going to be no big deal.”
He stared into her eyes and realized she was being truthful. He relaxed and cracked a smile. “Ok, but if you start feeling tired, we’ll stop and I’ll promptly bring you home.”
She winked. “Deal. Let’s go.”
Once they were settled in at their favorite table in the back at Le Dome restaurant on Sunset, Kit cut to the chase. She didn’t feel comfortable going into too much personal conversation because of what was looming with Sully.
She decided to lead with business. “What’s going on? I’ve been hearing some buzz in the trades.”
He sighed. “Uh, yeah. That’s what we’re going to address today. There are some big changes going on right now. First things first, I’m leaving Diamond Records. I wanted you to hear that directly from the source.”
Her eyes widened. She hadn’t seen this coming. She thought it was only a silly rumor the trades were spinning. She felt alarmed. Jonathan was a great ally. Initially she had her reservations, but she soon realized that he was just as supportive as Lew. Working with Jonathan had been enjoyable and fun.
She leaned forward, doing her best to mask her sudden anxiety and failing miserably. Her voice sounded high-pitched and squeaky when she inquired. “Where are you going? And when?”