by J. M. Nevins
She nodded. “I better go check on my ailing vocalist. I’ll be here for the show tonight.”
“Ok, Kit-Kit. See ya.”
“Later, Sean-Bon.”
Kit tiptoed into the hotel room, careful not to make any noise. Sully was quietly snoozing and looked peaceful. She climbed onto the bed and watched him sleep, reaching out to stroke his cheek.
His eyes slowly fluttered open upon feeling her gentle touch. His voice was a faint whisper as he struggled to grin at her, sleepily. “Hi.”
“Hey, babe. Go back to sleep. You need the rest. I’ll wake you up for the show later, ok?”
He nodded groggily and pushed his lips out to her, anticipating a kiss. She leaned forward and gave him a gentle peck. His eyes shut quickly, and he was out cold again. She closed the curtains and went into the living area of the suite to unwind.
A dose of MTV was what she craved. She easily zoned out, avoiding the truth of the situation she had witnessed at soundcheck. It wasn’t long, though, before the thoughts rushed in, providing unpleasant reminders.
She had been there less than twenty-four hours, and it had seemed like a week. She had never felt more pressure to find a solution. She had to figure out how to put the band back on track before they completely derailed.
CHAPTER 20
“Do you need me to come over there and work with you in your suite?”
Kit rubbed her eyes. “No. Work out of your room, G. If anything urgent comes up, call me or come over here. I’ve got enough to keep me busy for hours.”
“Is Sully up yet?”
“No. It’s way too early for him. Why?”
“I wanted to tell him he kicked ass last night. It was a great show. His performance was off the charts!”
Kit nodded. “Thanks, G. I’ll let him know. I’ll touch base with you in a bit.”
She hung up the phone and replayed Giselle’s words in her mind. Sully’s performance the night before had been exceptional, but what no one knew except for Sully and a select few was that it was a steroid induced performance. She shuddered at the thought.
Dr. Franklin mentioned that the injection should hold up two to four weeks. He would fly back out to give Sully another at that time. Much to Kit’s dismay, Sully took full advantage of the situation and refused to back down. He pushed himself to provide an amazing performance for his fans, easily able to reach notes that were strained only days before, making him feel invincible and worrying her to no end. She hoped he wasn’t making his condition worse.
She glanced at the clock and grabbed the phone, dialing a number frantically. She was five minutes late for a conference call with Diamond Records. She hopped on the call and apologized profusely. Jonathan and Pete didn’t seem to be bothered by her tardiness.
They covered mostly everything they needed to. Things were going great for Diamond. Gypsy Tango’s album, ‘Triple Tango,’ was sitting at nine times platinum on Kit’s new label, Flat 5 Records. Jade Riff was inching closer to platinum every day. Their sales were doing extremely well and because of it, Diamond had released Kit from her moratorium, making her ecstatic.
Jonathan jumped in. “Since we’re giving you the green light on Flat 5, you’ll have full access to an A&R team.”
Kit smiled. She had been waiting for this moment. “How many reps do I get?”
“We can give you four. We’re going to keep you local in North America right now. Once Flat 5 gets bigger, we can give you some players for international. Do you have cities in mind where you want them?”
She didn’t hesitate. “L.A., New York, Nashville and Austin.”
“Austin, Texas?” Jonathan and Pete questioned in a surprised tone.
Pete interjected. “What about Seattle, Kit? Don’t you want to have someone there?”
“Nope. Seattle has been mined and harvested. Grunge is already hitting mainstream, and they’re tapped out. I’ve gotten all the artists I wanted out of there, and I’ve got my eye on one or two in Orange County and San Diego. Austin is a college town, and there’s some cool alternative stuff with a punk feel coming out of there that’s good. I predict that alternative is going to be the next big leap. R.E.M. came out of a college town—Athens, Georgia. I want to watch Austin and a few other college towns. Make sure the A&R rep for Austin is a floater that can hit a few college campuses.”
“Do you have campuses in mind?”
“Yep. I’ll have a list to you before the end of the week. And yes, guys, use this to your advantage for Diamond as well. I want the Nashville A&R rep to be dedicated to developing country. Let’s be clear here. I’m not talking old school, Loretta Lynn ‘Coalminer’s Daughter’ country. I’m talking new country that has the flavor of mainstream rock and pop.”
Jonathan laughed. “How you have time to figure all this out and predict trends still astounds me. Brilliant, Kit, really.”
She chuckled. “Thanks. Anything else, guys? I have to tie up. I’m already late for my next call with Spence for KMK.”
Jonathan interjected. “Kit, we need you to turn in your Benz. It’s time.”
“I can do it when I get back in town. I’ve still got a few weeks out here on the road.”
“No problem. Have fun out there.”
“Thanks, guys.” She hung up the phone and frowned at the thought of her turning in her car. She could have sworn there was another year left on the corporate lease. She dismissed the thought and dialed Spencer over at KMK.
He was happy to hear her voice on the line. “How are things on the road?”
She couldn’t deny that the stress of it all was getting to her. “No comment, Spence. What’s up? Why did you need to talk to me?”
“That good out there, huh? Ok, next subject. We’ve got a problem with one of our artists. We’re getting heat from Fisher A&R that there’s no single, and it’s not marketable.”
“Who’s the band?”
“Sealed Fate.”
“Metal, right?”
“Yeah. They’re right up there along the lines of Megadeth, except not as commercial.”
“And A&R has been at their recording sessions?”
“Yep.”
Kit shook her head and closed her eyes. She instinctively reached for a cigarette but dropped it, feeling nauseated. She felt hands massaging her shoulders seconds later. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Sully, who looked like a sleepy mess. He grinned at her. She smiled at him and then focused back on her call. “Spence, there isn’t much I can do from the road.”
“Yes there is. I Fed-ex’d a tape to you two days ago. You should have it already. It arrived yesterday.”
“Then Giselle has it. I’ll have to get it from her. Let me guess, you want me to listen to it and see if I can find the single.”
“I’m still learning how to do that, Kit. I’m not as adept as you are. You’re an A&R genius and a fantastic producer. Help me out here. Throw me a bone, sis.”
She shook her head. “What is Fisher threatening you with?”
“They want to pull the contract unless we can come up with something or let Fisher come in with a writer.”
She grimaced. “Let me take a listen. Can’t promise anything, though. If it’s shit, it’s shit, Spence.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“Not everyone is Gypsy Tango, little bro.” She winked at Sully, and he grinned.
“I know, I know. Call me once you’ve heard it.”
“Yep. Probably won’t be until tomorrow at the earliest.”
“Shit… ok.”
“Later skater.” Kit hung up the phone and stood up to hug Sully. She gave him a kiss. “Good morning, handsome. How did you sleep?”
“Good. My throat feels good this morning. Not as thrashed.”
She gazed at him and grinned as she played with his hair. “Good, but remember to keep resting your voice.”
“But I feel good.”
She shook her head. “No, Sull. You’re not doing soundcheck today. You�
�re working with your vocal coach, then rest and then the show. That’s how it’s got to be.”
“But…”
She held her hand up. “No arguing with me. It’s bad for your voice.”
He gave her a frustrated look and then shook his head. “That isn’t fair.”
She gave him a playful swat on the butt. “Life isn’t fair, babe. I’ve got some stuff for you to take a look at.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You do?”
“Yeah. Didn’t have time to bring it up yesterday, so let’s pow-wow right now. Let me get room service going for you. You need to be drinking your licorice tea.”
Kit got situated with Sully on the sofa a half hour later while he drank his tea, and she wrapped up two more quick phone calls. She handed him a manila envelope.
He frowned. “What is this?”
She grinned. “Scripts.”
He smiled, and his steel-blue eyes lit up. “Really? What kind? Are they roles you think I’ll like?”
“Yep. And even better, two are productions are with Doug Tyson. And one is being produced by Simon’s legendary studio, East End Pictures. Supposedly Mike Willis is slated to be the director.”
He was as excited as a young child on Christmas morning when he tore into the envelope. “He’s great! Wow, how did you score these?”
She giggled. “They were hand picked for you by Doug and Simon. See, I told you Simon meant business. He sees your talent. Anyway, I met Doug through Ria. So, while you’ve got extra time resting your voice, you can read through them. The parts are marked. If you like them, let me know. When you’re done with the tour and have recovered from surgery, you can do a screen test. And, once again, I suggest we attend Simon’s wedding. He told me to expect an invitation in April. June wedding, sweetie.”
He snickered, hugged her then gave her a long kiss. “You’re the best. And yes, we’ll go to that wedding, absolutely!”
She laughed and glanced at the clock. “Ooh, shit. I have to go, babe. I have a meeting.”
He frowned. “A meeting with who?”
She didn’t feel like explaining. She grabbed her handbag, gave him a quick kiss and sprinted for the door. “Lunch with Sean. See ya, babe.”
She practically jumped into the hallway, letting the door close behind her. She didn’t feeling like answering twenty questions about the content of the upcoming meeting. It was easier to escape.
Sean waited patiently in the lobby. As he noticed her quickly approaching, he started heading out of the lobby to their limo.
She glanced at him. “Where are we going?”
He helped her into the limousine and then climbed in after her. “There’s a great pub down the street. They’ve got decent food too. Figured we could hang out there, grab something to eat and knock back a few pints.”
She nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
Kit sat across from Sean, sipping her third pint of beer after a delicious lunch of the best fish and chips she’d had since they landed in London. “Ok, lay it on me. You’ve been beating around the bush this whole meeting. Cut to the chase, my friend.”
He let out a long sigh as he fingered the rim of his pint. His kind brown eyes met hers and he quieted his voice. “They’re ganging up on him, Kit. Bryan hasn’t been too bad about it. He’s gone introverted on everything. He disappears and runs off to Giselle. But with the rest of the guys, it gets ugly. What you saw at soundcheck yesterday was tame.
“They dish it out before a show. He fights back, but it’s not good for the daily dynamic. It seems they’re jealous. Sully gets plenty of attention. In interviews, they always feature him. In photos, the fans want him. Backstage, the groupies ask for him…”
He was about to go on when Kit interrupted, frowning. “Back up. Groupies asking for Sully? Is this a new development? I thought groupie traffic had been suspended for him since we got married.”
Sean swallowed hard and shifted his eyes away, silently sipping his pint and carefully ignoring her question. He continued, pretending he didn’t hear her inquiry. He finally faced her again. “The guys feel like it’s the Sully show and honestly, I don’t blame ‘em. It’s been bollocks on this tour.”
She shook her head. “Kind of like all those cover shots and feature stories have caught up with him?”
He nodded in agreement. “Yeah. And the guys want equal billing, especially Jimmy. He feels like he’s not getting enough credit for being one of the principal songwriters.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I can see that. Frontmen always get more attention than the rest of the band, but there are always superstar musicians within bands that manage to get out from under it. Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen are perfect examples of that. Jimmy’s just pissed off at himself for being lazy.” She rolled her eyes. “And Sean, he’s always been lazy. He hasn’t pushed hard enough in the past and now he’s kicking himself for it because Sully’s spotlight is as enormous as the sun, and it’s casting quite a shadow. So, now he’s sitting in that darkness pouting and playing the victim. I know how we can get Jimmy more attention.”
Sean stared at her. “How?”
“Have him help Sully with the vocals. That will help Sully’s voice and get Jimmy more attention. Win-win.”
Sean raised his eyebrows and then lifted his glass to her. “Great idea. How do we propose this?”
“After we leave here. I’ll call a band meeting. Done and done.”
He laughed. “It’s always so easy for you. Why is that?”
She laughed. “I just make it look easy. I’ve been dealing with these jokers for almost eight years solid. I know how they tick. It wasn’t always this easy. I can’t tell you how many yelling matches I’ve had with Jimmy or Remo or how many times I’ve had my feelings hurt by every one of these guys and ended up in tears. Shit, if I had a dollar for every one of them, I’d be a very rich woman.”
He chuckled. “You are a very rich woman.”
She laughed and nodded her head. “See? It’s from all that bullshit I’ve put up with all these years!”
He pulled money from his wallet and threw it on the table to cover their check, happy the meeting had been successful and relieved he had dodged her direct question earlier.
They engaged in small talk, discussing his childhood growing up outside of London. Once they were back in the confines of the limousine, Kit leaned forward and double-checked that she had alcohol within range. She glanced at Sean. “What do we have in here today?”
He nodded. “Glen Fiddich 15. Why?”
She forced a grin and lowered the partition, calling out to the driver. “Can you please pull it over and park somewhere? Mr. Finley and I need to have a discussion. Thank you.” She put the partition back up and faced Sean, who was now squirming in his seat as the limousine came to a stop.
He stared at her in anxious anticipation. “What’s going on Kit? Why are we stopping?”
Her intense emerald-eyed gaze did not waver. She took a deep breath, shook her head and poured scotch for both of them. She handed him the drink and waited until he had taken one sip. “Sean, I asked you a direct question in the pub back there and you completely glossed over it. It’s in your best interest not to play dumb. I’m going to ask you again, and you will answer me, honestly. If you choose not to answer again, there will be unfortunate repercussions.
“We have a great working relationship and I trust you always to be straight with me. This conversation is no exception. I understand you want to protect the guys at times. I get it. You’re out here with them constantly and in many ways, they’re like family, but I am your employer. I don’t like that I have to say these things in the first place, but I wanted to get things straight before we entered into this conversation.”
He nodded and regretfully cast his eyes down. “Sorry, I avoided your question in the first place.” He looked up and nodded again. “It won’t happen again. You can trust me. What is it, Kit? I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
She took
another deep breath and then sipped her scotch, wondering if she should be guzzling it instead. She stared into his eyes. “Sean, has groupie traffic for Sully been completely suspended since we got married over two years ago?”
He swallowed hard and knew he had to be truthful. His career depended on it. “It was, yes.”
She surveyed him carefully. “It was? What does that mean, exactly?”
He cleared his throat and gulped his scotch. “Until recently.”
She closed her eyes and remained silent for a moment. She had a feeling this might happen. She remembered her hesitation walking down the aisle on her wedding day—it was for this very reason. Despite Alexa’s and Maxine’s encouragement that she was making things up in her head, she had never shared this deeply personal concern. She had even managed to convince herself that it wasn’t going to be an issue, and now it was. Over two years later, a stark reality stared her in the face, and her uneasy gut told her all she needed to know. She felt her heart sink.
Her eyes slowly fluttered opened, and she nodded, speaking softly. “Ok.” She met his eyes. “What does that mean?”
Sean’s stomach turned, and he felt like the bad guy. He was friends with both of them and was present at their wedding. He felt like he was betraying all things sacred, but knew Kit was fully entitled to the truth. He leaned forward. “He’s been hanging out with groupies backstage. He lifted the conditions a few months back… When you wouldn’t come out to the road. He was looking for attention…”
Kit couldn’t contain her anger anymore. “Goddammit!” She shook her head and closed her eyes again. She let out a frustrated sigh, opened her eyes and stared at Sean. “How many of them has he fucked?”
He shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly, Kit, I don’t know the answer to that question. I can give you the chain of events, but I can’t confirm that he had sex with any of them. I’ll put it to you this way, even if he did, he’s not advertising it. Sully knows how to be discreet at this point. They all do, hence my not knowing for sure about Jimmy either.”
She continued to stare at Sean, knowing he was truthful. She could see it in his eyes. She felt a strange numbness overcome her as she sat frozen in her seat, only able to put the glass in her hand to her lips slowly. She did this in a daze, once again, and noticed it was empty. Sean reached out to her in hopes of refilling it. She gave in, and he complied, handing back a double.