by J. M. Nevins
Fred looked at her, genuinely concerned. “Is he ok?”
She nodded. She didn’t want the band or Fred to get wind of the situation. “Oh yeah, he’s fine. Just has to take care of some urgent business out of town.”
“Oh ok, good.”
“I can’t believe we’ve made it to the last song. And if we can pull it off, we’ll be in good shape to start mixing by the end of the week. What kind of shape are the tracks in?”
He nodded. “Decent, but I need to do some work in certain parts. I’ll start working on that later today during breaks.”
Fred and Kit had been so engrossed that she had no idea a half hour had passed. The phone in the studio rang and prompted her to pick it up on the first ring. She recognized Giselle’s voice requesting she come back to the office.
She materialized moments later and noticed Sully sitting in front of Giselle’s desk with his feet propped up. He nodded at her. “Hey, babe. I’m headed out in fifteen minutes.”
She nodded and looked at Giselle. “What time do they land in Indy?”
Giselle glanced at the itinerary. “Five-thirty. The limo is going to take him directly to the hospital where they’ll do the blood test. They’ll fax the results for him in the morning. He’ll be back on the jet to Burbank at ten Indy time, which puts him in here tonight at around ten, ten-thirty.”
Kit nodded. “Ok, good. And this works with Daniel too?”
“Yes. One of the limos is already en route to him now. And just as Sully said, his will be here in about ten minutes to pick him up.”
She looked at Sully again, unsure what to do at the moment. He could tell she felt awkward and stood up. He took her hand and led her out of the office and into the foyer, silently.
He took her into his arms and held her tightly, feeling a slight resistance that he wasn’t used to. He whispered into her ear. “I’m gonna fix this, Kit. It’s gonna be ok.” He pulled back for a moment, gazed into her eyes that were rapidly filling with tears and gave her a long kiss in an attempt to reassure her. “I promise you, Kitty-Kat, we’ll be ok.” He gently took her face into his hands.
She sighed and gazed into his eyes, unable to respond. She was about to open her mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. Sully rushed over and opened it, greeted by the driver.
He turned around and looked at Kit one last time. “I have to go. I love you, babe.”
She nodded and waved to him. “I love you too.” She watched as the front door shut and felt warm tears slowly roll down her cheeks. She let out a breath, wiped her tears and headed back to the studio.
The black sludgy coffee in Kit’s cup was so strong she winced after taking a sip. She had many skills and talents to contribute to this world, but making coffee certainly was not one of them. She always relied on her housekeeper, Ariana, or Giselle and Sully to make it for her in a pinch. They all possessed the magical touch of turning fresh ground Columbian beans into a dark, rich nectar of the gods that tasted spectacular.
Not this morning. She had been unable to stay up for Sully the night before—her sleep deprivation from the previous day had caught up, and she crashed. Her schedule was off. She awoke at four in the morning and thought it best to dive in and get some work done in the studio since they were so close to finishing.
She attempted to make coffee for herself, realizing now that she had failed miserably. She reached for the cream and sugar, desperately upping her normal dosage in hopes of doctoring up an already hot mess into something potable that she was easily able to imbibe. It would have to work until her Ariana or Giselle appeared and was able to make her a new pot.
She sat at the boards and admired them thoughtfully. She sighed, experiencing a moment of awe and wonder like a child. She never thought she’d be this involved in the making of an album. She was delighted by the thought. The new album seemed to be fairing well so far. She had a gut feeling it would be favored by fans and critics alike.
By eight o’clock, she had made plenty of progress and was confident that Fred would be grateful she had taken some items off of his plate. She crossed her fingers and dialed her office inside the house. She prayed Giselle had come in early. She was in desperate need of coffee again and wasn’t about to start on the scotch train so early as she had the morning before.
Giselle picked up on the first ring. Kit promptly pleaded with her, and she laughed. Ten minutes later, she appeared with a large thermal carafe of freshly brewed coffee for Kit.
She smiled, looking relieved. “You are a lifesaver. Really. You have no idea. I almost killed myself on the shit I made this morning.”
Giselle chuckled. “I noticed.” She then grimaced. “It looked pretty awful, kinda like mud. Ariana and I were laughing about it. She made this coffee, by the way, after the horrifying discovery of what you made in the wee hours of this morning, obviously. Just how many scoops did you put in there once you grinded the beans?”
She naively shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, like ten or fifteen?”
Giselle burst out laughing. “Well, no wonder. Next time, amiga, leave me and Ariana to the coffee making in this house, ok? I’ll make sure to stock you up with some instant in the cupboard just in case neither one of us are available.”
She giggled. “Ok. Thank you. Any faxes come in?” She raised her eyebrows and donned a hopeful grin.
Giselle shook her head. “No. Not yet.”
She nodded. “Ok. I better get back to work. Thanks again for this, G. You’re the best.”
Sully strolled into the kitchen still waking up from a good night’s sleep, as Giselle walked in from the studio. He glanced over at her. “Good morning, G.”
She offered a friendly smile. “Good morning, Sully. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Good. Better once I have some coffee.”
She giggled. “Kit attempted to make coffee for herself this morning.”
He held the coffee pot in his hand and was poised to pour it into his cup when he stopped. He gave Giselle a concerned look. “She made this?”
Giselle laughed. “No, Ariana did. It’s a newly brewed pot. But she attempted to make some for herself way earlier this morning, and it was a complete disaster.”
Sully nodded and laughed. “My wife should never be allowed to make coffee. Ever. We should have had that written into our wedding vows.”
They both laughed, and she left the kitchen. She walked into the office and heard the familiar sound of a transmission coming through on the fax machine. She ran toward it, catching each page carefully as it was spit out. She looked at the cover page and noticed it was from the hospital in Indiana.
She yelled at the top of her lungs. “Sully! Sull, come in here!”
He ran into the office and looked at her. “What? What’s going on?”
She handed him the pages. “It’s from the hospital. It’s the results for your paternity test.”
He stared at her temporarily as he seized the pages and looked at them. “What does it say?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. I only read the cover page. It said the results were following on the next page.”
He swallowed hard and flipped to page two of the fax. He read the document quickly, and an immediate grin formed on his face. Relieved, he looked up at Giselle. “Just as I thought. I’m not the father.” He let out a long deep breath. “Glad this shit is over. What’s next?”
Giselle shrugged her shoulders. “Not sure. We’ll have to ask Kit what’s next from a legal perspective.”
He nodded. “I gotta tell her the news. Did you say she’s out in the studio?”
“Yeah.”
“Is she out there with Fred?”
“No. She’s alone with her carafe of coffee. Go tell her.”
Sully walked into the studio, hearing ‘Anything for You’ blaring over the speakers. He watched carefully and noticed her listening intently making sure nothing needed a tweak. As he listened to the song, he chuckled thinking that the ti
ming was perfect. The lyrics of the song couldn’t be more appropriate for the news he was about to spring on her. It would only serve to enhance the moment.
He walked over and took Fred’s seat next to her at the console. She glanced over at him and grinned. She pulled down the faders, reducing the volume rapidly in the control room. “Good morning, babe.
What’s up?”
He grinned and held up the folded paper containing the results. “I want to show you something.”
She turned her chair to face him. “Ok.”
He leaned forward, unfolded the paper, turned it to face her and held it up so she could read it. “Take a look at this.”
She scanned it quickly, and a smile of sheer relief spread across her face as tears of joy flooded her emerald eyes. He grinned and took her face into his hands. He wiped away her tears and nodded. “I am so sorry I put you through this. I never would want to do anything to hurt you. I know that I did. Will you forgive me for this?”
She nodded and hugged him tightly. She spoke softly while staying in the safety of his strong arms. “Yes. I forgive you, honey.” She pulled back and looked at him, grinning.
He gazed into her eyes. “I love you so much. I promise you that the only time you’ll hear that I’m the father of a child is when it’s ours. This will not happen again.”
She stroked his cheek. “I know, babe. It’s behind us now. Let’s keep it there and move forward.”
He nodded and interlocked his fingers with hers. “I know we’re finishing an album, and we’ve got a big tour ahead of us, but don’t think for a minute that I’ve lost my desire to start a family with you. And don’t give me some bullshit excuse that it’s not going to happen. We can make anything happen together.”
She smiled contently. “I know, babe. When it’s time. It’s just not time yet. We’ll get there someday.”
He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Yes we will.”
CHAPTER 14
Giselle looked up with trepidation in her eyes as Kit lay the thick spiral bound book down on the desk in front of her. “Is this it?”
She nodded and surveyed her carefully. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Giselle’s fear melted as her head bobbed, and she grinned enthusiastically. “Yes! It’ll be the experience of a lifetime.”
Kit knew Giselle had never been on the road before. She had the typical reaction of most. She wondered if this enthusiasm would remain six months from now. She put her hands up, surrendering. “I tried to warn you. Take a flip through it before everyone gets here.”
She nodded. “Ok.”
Kit chuckled and donned a devilish grin. “Welcome to hell, G.”
One hour later, Kit’s house was swarming with people. She managed to squeeze the important ones into her office. She called everyone to attention, including the band. “Welcome to the final meeting for the ‘Triple Tango’ tour. I’d like to introduce you to your tour director. Those of you that have worked with us before will recognize him. Sean?” She motioned for him to come forward.
He approached and stood next to her. He gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before starting the meeting. Satisfied, Kit walked across the room and took a seat next to Giselle. She scanned the group of people in the room and was overcome with a moment of nostalgia, remembering their first world tour that had only a quarter of the personnel that this one was slated to have.
She had sweet-talked Spencer into pushing Sean’s KMK duties onto someone else in order to have him direct Gypsy Tango’s new tour along with her brother-in-law, Danny, again. They were a formidable pair that got things done—something this tour desperately needed.
The slated ‘Triple Tango’ tour was a beast, proving to be a much larger, longer and complicated haul than their last two tours combined. She didn’t want to take the risk of putting someone in charge that could screw it up. She accredited a majority of the success of the enormous ‘Dangerous Curves’ tour to Sean’s management and Danny’s assist along with Jay, who also signed on again as Danny’s right-hand man. Kit was relieved and content to keep those three players at the top. There was no point in reinventing the wheel.
She glanced over at Giselle, who was flipping through the spiral bound guide. It served as a quick tutorial of tour schedules, dates, personnel, and the band’s rider that had become much more demanding than the past tour.
Giselle had agreed to be with Kit as her lead assistant on the first leg of the tour that included Europe and Russia. She had always wanted to go, but after reviewing this thick booklet and taking note that they had sixty-eight shows scheduled in a ten-week time span, she figured she probably wouldn’t be doing much sightseeing. She was starting to feel slightly weary.
Kit glanced over at her and grinned, noticing the look of uneasiness on her face. She leaned over and whispered. “Changing your mind now after seeing that and hearing what Sean had to say?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “No. I still want to do it.”
Everyone had cleared out three hours later, and Kit resumed her work. She sat at her desk frantically getting things in order, putting things in file folders for the road and tying up as many loose ends as possible. Her two new publicists, one for the tour and one for the band in general, were in place and ready to go. Giselle had met the assistant that would be reporting to her earlier in the day and seemed to be pleased. Sean had everything running smoothly so far with not one detail overlooked.
The only thing Kit had left to do was call Alexa and Maxine to say goodbye. A normal routine she had been doing for years, ever since her college days when she would go out of town for gigs.
She had the pleasure of Maxine’s company on the last tour and was saddened the scene wouldn’t be replicating itself on this massive tour in front of them. Maxine was in Nashville on assignment and Alexa was about to give birth to her second child. Things had certainly changed for all of them since Kit went out on the first tour with Gypsy Tango, six years prior. She thoughtfully grinned and picked up the phone.
She finished her calls and walked out to the foyer seeing evidence of the clock ticking down on her normal life while her tour life started to bleed in. Three large trunks were stacked, and five guitar cases leaned against them patiently waiting to be retrieved and transported. Sully walked in carrying another guitar case. He set it down and gave her a quick kiss, then surveyed the large pile. “I think this is everything.”
She nodded and stared at the pile again. “That’s about right. Wardrobe and gear, babe?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
She grinned and wagged her finger, teasing in a singsong voice. “Too heavy for the jet.”
He chuckled. “Whattya think, I’m new at this?” He winked at her. “Sean is sending a courier to get this and put it on one of the rigs.”
The doorbell rang, and Sully laughed. “And there they are!”
Kit giggled as he opened the door and started helping the guys load all the items. He walked back in and hugged her tightly. He gazed into her eyes and kissed her. “I forgot to ask you earlier, do you have plans tonight?”
She shook her head. “No. Why? What did you have in mind?”
He grinned. “A quiet night in. I want to make you dinner and hang out because God only knows when we’ll get to do that again.”
She nodded. “Isn’t that the sad truth. This is going to be a big tour for you, babe. And yes, I would love a quiet night in with you.” She playfully swatted him on the butt. “I’m going to finish cleaning up my office and make sure I have everything packed for tomorrow.”
He scrunched up his nose. “You’re not going to work on the plane, are you? It’s something crazy like a thirteen-hour flight.”
She grinned. “I’ll tell you what. I won’t work if you don’t want me to.”
He smiled. “Ok. In that case, I don’t want you to. You’re all mine on that plane.”
She laughed. “Sull, babe, there’s no bed on that plane and th
e other members of the band; Sean and Giselle will be on the flight with us.”
He shrugged his shoulders and pretended to be serious. “So, it’s not like it isn’t anything they haven’t seen before. We could give ‘em a good show. It’s all about the performance, babe.”
She giggled and shook her head. “Nice.”
Before she could launch into more spirited banter with him, Giselle ran into the house screaming her name and waving the newest issue of Billboard Magazine in her hand. She was out of breath by the time she reached Kit, shoving the magazine at her. “Kit, ‘Triple Tango’ debuted at number three on the Billboard 200!”
Sully heard the news and came running out of the kitchen to find Kit and Giselle hugging and jumping up and down. He screamed and ran toward them. They all folded into a group hug, jumping up and down.
Kit handed the magazine to Sully, who stared at it in amazement. Giselle was still jumping up and down and looked like she was about to burst. “There’s more; there’s more!”
Sully stared at her in amazement. “What?”
She seized the magazine from him and hastily flipped to another page that displayed the Billboard Hot 100. She pointed. “That!”
Kit stood next to Sully to see what Giselle was pointing to. His eyes widened as a wide smile spread across his face. Staring him in the face was ‘Anything For You.’ It gleamed back at him on the charts sitting in the coveted spot that every artist dreams of, number one with a bullet.
He and Kit looked at each other and joyfully screamed as she jumped into his arms. “Baby, you did it! You did it!”
Giselle giggled and watched them, pleased to have been the bearer of good news. “I’m sorry to bust in like that, guys, but I had to share it with you before we got on that plane tomorrow morning.”
Kit jumped down and smiled at her. Sully walked over to Giselle and gave her a long hug. “Thank you so much for bringing this over. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are the best assistant ever, G.” He looked at Kit and smiled. “Give this girl a raise!”
She laughed and nodded her head. “You bet.” When Kit stepped into her role as chief creative officer, she asked Diamond if she could split Giselle’s duties between development at Diamond and helping her manage Gypsy Tango for KMK. They agreed, and KMK took on half of Giselle’s salary. She had already had a long discussion with Spencer that Giselle was indispensable. He released the normal salary cap for managers and gave Kit free reign to decide Giselle’s compensation, knowing it would be a good investment for the company.