by Jeny Heckman
“Hi there, you’ve reached Raven. I’m busy lying on the beach and drinking cold beer. When I get back, I’ll call you. Bye.” Finn smiled at the message she’d recorded for her island stay. The fact she hadn’t erased it yet kept the smile in place until he spoke.
“Raven.” He paused, looking out into the night. “I’m…I’m sorry. Really sorry I hurt you. Can I just… I wanna talk to you. There’s a lot of things you don’t know. What you saw that day. And I just want a chance to explain.”
Not able to think of anything else to say, he disconnected and drove back to his hotel.
By the time he lay down, sleep had decided to elude him. So, he listened to the jets arrive and depart from the airport nearby and waited for morning to come. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Raven in that ridiculous outfit, her face and hair so foreign, making him angry all over again. Her full allowance to be a prop, miserable and unhappy. What was worse was she didn’t seem to see it, just blindly trust the empty promises of life in a fishbowl. He could never live that way. In captivity.
Now all he wanted was to return to his life, but when he tried to envision that, he drew a blank. He could see her in his bed, mid-orgasm; arms wrapped around him as they rode his bike down the highway or deep in the water, swimming in his life force.
****
Finn’s plane began its descent into Kaua’i. He hadn’t slept for twenty-seven hours and could barely register a clear thought. Walking through the small airport lobby, happy people, relieved to be on vacation were everywhere. He envied their careless freedom.
Dee, dressed in a muumuu with oranges on it, also wore a matching hat. She welcomed him with an enthusiastic hug and smile, yet driving home, remained quiet and unassuming as she turned to study him.
“Ah, yeah, we’re done, Grandma,” he confirmed, glancing at her.
“What happened?” she asked, sounding dejected.
“I’m not sure. It was all so fake. She just looked so fake. I tried to tell her she didn’t want all that but she didn’t listen.” He put one arm on the wheel, and ran his other hand down it, almost like he was cold.
“Why do you think she doesn’t want it?”
“Dee, come on.” He looked over at her blank face. “Seriously? You’re seriously asking that?” When she said nothing, he stated, “She looked like a total prostitute.”
“Please tell me you didn’t say that to her,” she chided.
“Well, somebody had to.”
“Finn Taylor, what the hell’s wrong with you?”
“What?”
“Don’t you see what her life is like?”
“Yeah, I got a great snapshot of it in the last two days. You should see where she lives. You could perform surgery in there. She strips down damn near naked in a room full of people to change, and her ex stands there, screaming at her the whole time.”
“Yes, she told me a little about that ex-husband of hers. He sounds like an overbearing asshole. That other character that you told me about too—was he there, what’s his name?”
“Jason? Yeah, I broke his nose.” Finn grinned thinking about it.
“Well, I’ll at least give you points for that.” She looked out the window. “It seems to me, Finn, she has enough people telling her what to do and very few people asking her what she wants to do.”
“I tried.”
“Did you?” She cast a steely gaze on him. “Did you really try or did you just give up?”
“I just hate that she won’t stand up for herself,” he evaded. “They treat her like shit, and she just takes it.”
“What about her parents? Oh.” She lowered her head remembering. “That’s right, they passed on, didn’t they? But she has a brother, right?” When he nodded, she said, “Well, I wonder what he thinks?”
“I didn’t ask.” He thought about Wyatt. “I thought he was an asshole too at first, but he turned out to be a pretty decent guy. I did look over at him a few times, and he looked pissed too, but I think he just wants her to stand up for herself. I don’t know. Maybe he just tries to let her do it at her own glacial pace.”
“Maybe you should too.”
“No, I’m done. There’s entirely too much baggage there, and it's certainly not the life I want for myself.” Shooting a glance in her direction, he saw her crestfallen face. “Oh, come on, Dee. My life’s pretty simple here, don’t ya think? I wake up in paradise and play in the water all day.” Dee opened her mouth to speak again but closed it, causing him to take a closer look. “Oh hell, is it that thing again? The Greek thing? I’m so done hearing about that too, old woman. Please do not make me have to institutionalize you.”
“Maybe I’ll have to put you in the looney bin instead,” she retorted. “You’re ten kinds of stupid.”
“Thanks.” Sobering, he asked about Alaula. “They hear anything?”
“No, nothing yet,” she responded.
“Did you talk to Nate?”
“Only a little, but he was pretty busy, and I didn’t want to intrude. It was Annie I spoke with, and only right after you left, so something might have changed since then.”
“Okay, I’ll call him when I get home.”
“Finn…”
“Grandma, I’m sorry, but it’s over.”
She merely looked out the window and shook her head.
Chapter 32
Two days after the concert, Raven woke still dazed, not quite believing the events that had transpired in such a short amount of time. Rising from the fluffy, buttery yellow, comforter, she padded to the bathroom. Bending the magnifying side of her vanity mirror, she inspected her red-rimmed, darkly haunted eyes and stained hair that now looked the color of mud.
How did one go about changing their life, when everything inside them screamed for the safe status quo? She stared at her foreign image and felt like everything was always just outside of her reach.
Deliberately dressing, because she’d remain in pajamas all day if she didn’t, Raven performed the morning ablutions of everyday life. Upon approaching the kitchen, she discovered she was ready for breakfast. Sitting at the dining room table was a yellow legal-sized pad of paper. She eyed it dubiously, as she made coffee and toast, then approached it warily as she sat at the table. It wasn’t until her fingers took hold of the pen that a measure of peace came to her and she began to write. Two and a half hours later, her cell phone rang, jolting her back from her thoughts.
Noting the caller, she groaned, closed her eyes, and connected the call.
“Hello, Jason.”
“Hello!” A wet nasally voice came across the ether. “Hello…are you fucking kidding me, Raven! What the hell happened to you? Have you lost your God damn mind? Do you understand the shit storm we’re in?”
“I do understand the situation I’ve put myself in, yes.”
“No, no,” he squawked, like a petulant child, “it’s not just you, Raven. It’s my life too.”
“Jason, you don’t need to worry about it anymore; you’re no longer my manager or part of my life.” The silence down the line was deafening, and she almost thought he’d disconnected the call.
“What are you talking about now?”
“I’m letting you go.”
“You’re letting me go? Oh, is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“We have a contract together Raven, something you don’t seem to quite grasp as of late. I can assure you Donovan gets it, as do I.”
“Sure, so sue me.” Raven walked to the window and looked across the buildings to the water and listened to the stunned silence. “Or you can cut your losses and get out now, with a possible business still intact.”
“What are you talking about, I—”
“You’re a personal assistant that I should never have promoted to manager. You didn’t listen to your client, not professionally or personally, and continued to cross the line. You didn’t read the contract or work to your client’s best interests or wishes.” Her gaze dropped to her
notes to check if she was on target for the bullet points of the phone call with Jason. Her finger traveled over the next line. “That doesn’t make it entirely your fault because I didn’t read it all either. I was naïve enough to trust you. I can tell you, however, that this will go one of two ways. You can sue me, and I will make sure every artist and celebrity I know hears of your gross misconduct and incompetence.”
“What gross misconduct? Did you see what your fucking boyfriend did to my face?” She couldn’t help it. The giggle came on so fast she had to pull the phone away from her face. Quickly composing herself, she continued, “Or you can walk away now, and I’ll announce that our split was a mutually satisfying decision and we wish only the best for one another. Which one would you like it to be, Jason?”
“I have nothing to prove here…”
“If that’s true, then go with option A.” The silence was once more deafening, then she heard his deep sigh.
“You know I never wanted this to happen, Raven. I cared a great deal for you.”
“I know what you expected, Jason. For me to fall in line, so you could continue where Donovan left off. If you want to keep doing this, that’s your prerogative. Quite frankly, I think you should find a different profession, but I don’t have to stand in your way if you choose to continue this.”
“Fine, we’ll dissolve our partnership, and I would appreciate your support.”
“Okay, let’s meet next week, maybe Wednesday or Thursday, for some lunch, and get all the papers signed?”
After finalizing the arrangement and meeting, Raven disconnected the call, let out a whoosh of breath and stood in the center of her condo, raised a fist and squealed with excitement because she had power.
****
That night she went to Que’s for dinner and stupidly grinned as she watched Abby play a board game with her friends, including her new one, Travis Morgan.
“You got this Rave, and it’s gonna turn out perfect,” Que said.
“Jason was one thing Que; Donovan’s going to be a completely different animal.”
“How do you know, is all I’m sayin’.”
Que split a look between Raven and Lilly. The three of them had begun an unlikely bond in the new roots of friendship. Lilly was reluctant at first, citing conflict of interest, but quickly acquiesced.
“Jason’s a pushover that had no idea what he was doing.”
“Then why did you hire him?” Lilly asked.
“Because,” Raven said sarcastically, “I didn’t know that at the time, ob-vee.” She rolled her eyes at herself and laughed. “I don’t know if it would’ve mattered if I did. He said what I needed to hear, to think he could do it.” Raven thought about it for a moment and sipped her wine. “He didn’t know if I was really going to sabotage him. I could almost hear him thinking on the other side, going, ‘Okay, she already went crazy, is she also insane enough to screw me over?’” She shook her head. “Suddenly, he had no idea what the hell I was going to do and that hadn’t happened before.”
“So you bluffed,” Que stated, taking a sip from her glass.
“Maybe. I’m still not sure.”
Lilly’s cell rang, and she jumped up to answer it. Que watched her walk away.
“It must be nice knowing that when your phone rings, the person on the other side is desperate to talk to you.”
“Que, you’re getting drunk. They’re calling because someone died, and they need a heart, or there’s an emergency. I think she has incredibly mixed feelings about hearing it ring.”
“Wyatt asked her out.”
“What!” Raven exclaimed in a whisper, eyes widening. “Our Wyatt? He asked her out? Did she go? Why am I just hearing about this?”
“Yes, once, but I think that’s it.”
“Why, does she have a problem with my brother?”
“No, I don’t think…”
“Hey, Lil.” Raven ran a hand down the back of her head, as her new friend reappeared.
“Yes, Wyatt and I went out. Yes, we had a lot of fun. In fact, we laughed our asses off, it was great, we’re friends, okay?” When they blinked innocently at her, she continued quickly. “Really, I appreciate the energy, ladies, but my primary concern is my kiddos. And everything else is second.” Raven shrugged and raised a glass.
“Okay, well, welcome to the family.” Then she exchanged a meaningful look with Que and Lilly groaned.
“Anyway,” Lilly said, exasperated, “what did I miss about Donovan?”
“I have a meeting with him a week from tomorrow, so I gotta figure it all out by then.”
“Well, you da OG now and I think you can take his boney-ass,” Que quipped.
****
Over the next week, Raven prepared for the meeting with her ex-husband by speaking with her lawyers and accountant. She knew the best thing to do would be to stroke his ego but decided she didn’t want to do what was best for him. When she walked into the posh restaurant for lunch, she was ready.
Donovan had already arrived and sipped a bourbon, neat. He nodded at Raven but inconsiderately remained seated as the concierge helped seat her.
“Madam, may I bring you something to drink?”
“Just water, with lemon. Thank you so much.”
He handed her a menu, which she immediately laid on the table, then lifted her eyes to her ex-husband. The old Raven would apologize, bargain, whine, and cajole. Deciding she wanted to set the new tone, she started from a position of equality and remained silent, which appeared to infuriate him.
“Well?” he sneered.
“Well?” Raven agreed, smiling.
“Well, what do you have to say about your hideous display?”
“To you? I don’t believe I need to say anything.” Locking her eyes with his, she clarified, “I’m sorry Donovan, was there something confusing about what happened that night?” He stared at her, as if she had tentacles.
“You broke a contract and disappointed your base, to say nothing of assaulting me.”
“Well, let’s discuss that,” she said almost cheerily. His brow furrowed like he hadn’t heard her correctly. “First, I had fulfilled the contract, save the encores. I never committed to any number and obviously chose none.” She sipped her water, hoping she looked relaxed. “I understand I trusted someone that didn’t have my best interests at heart, a common theme among the professional men of my life.” His gaze scurried away from hers. “I believe I made myself crystal clear on what I wanted to happen, regarding my set.”
“You were supposed to sing a song with Amanda, during the encore, to introduce her.”
“I never agreed to sing a song with Amanda, and that was certainly not covered in my contract. Nor would I ever have done so. What was it you said all those years ago?” She pretended to think. “Oh yes, I don’t feel her talent extends that far and I don’t need that kind of exposure with her.”
“I see, so your jealousy, rather than professionalism prevailed, is that it?”
“No.” Raven suddenly felt a kind of pity for the man. “Amanda is a gorgeous, naïve young woman. Exactly your type.” Donovan clenched his jaw. “However, she doesn’t have it and furthermore you know she’ll be a flash in the pan. Then what, Donovan? Drop her for the next one? I just wanted the songs promised to me.”
“I told you before why those songs wouldn’t work. I’ve been doing this for a long—”
“A long time, yes, I know,” she said, sounding completely exhausted. “A really, really…really, long time, Donovan.” When he started to sputter, she sliced through him by raising a condescending hand. “I have spoken with my lawyers. Legally, I fulfilled my contract with you. From what I understand, my portion of ticket sales for those two nights was”—she looked at her paperwork—“one point two-three-nine million. Deducting your twenty percent and Jason’s ten, minus crew, lights, sound, hospitality, transportation, venue, and my donation, my take was around six-hundred and fifty k, am I correct?”
Donovan blinked like
an owl at the odd, foreign woman sitting before him. Nothing could have prepared him for her confidence or demeanor.
“Raven, I don’t think…” She held up a hand again A sizeable purple vein protruded from his forehead.
“Here’s what I’m willing to do. I will donate an additional two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the charity, for any inconvenience not performing encores created. Which again was at my discretion. You could’ve been SOL.”
“All right, I’ve had about as much as I can handle here. If you honestly think I’m going to allow you to sit there and speak to me in this fashion, we can get our lawyers involved, for physical assault. Not to mention that there seems to be some serious concerns about your mental capacity. I’m sure your fans would be horrified to hear you’re unstable.”
“Sure.” Raven leaned back, smiling. “I’m all in, let’s go. I was trying to give you a great deal. In court, you’ll lose. You won’t get one dime, and I’ll go after damages.”
“Damages for what?”
“Well, first your recollection of the events is skewed.”
“Skewed?”
“Yes. If you remember you grabbed my arm first—in front of dozens of people I might add—so I was protecting myself.” His mouth dropped open, and she continued, “Secondly, somehow it slipped from one of your people that I had some kind of a breakdown. There’s a clause in your contract that states if I’m ill or don’t have the capacity to perform, I wasn’t obligated to honor the contract at all.”
“It stipulates you’d reschedule.”
“I can’t reschedule if I’m mentally unbalanced and if I had a breakdown, I could certainly keep that up in court. I guess the papers getting that information was just your misfortune.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?”
“See Donovan. You aren’t the only one with connections. I have them too. All those lowly little people that have watched you walk on me, and them, for over a decade. You aren’t as well respected as you think. Every one of them has assured me they’d have no problem standing up for me in a courtroom to give their insights into our relationship.”