Tudor Reunion Tour

by Jamie Salisbury

  “Zara, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  “She goes, A.”

  He mumbled something under his breath neither Grace nor I could make out as he went back to eating.

  ****

  After Angus, Julia, and Damien fussed over the baby, we all went inside the cottage. We all settled in, catching each other up on what was going on in our respective lives. The last time we had all been together had been here but under different circumstances. It seemed like a life time ago so much had happened. Finally, Julia turned the conversation around to what we had been summoned for.

  “I wanted to take some time before we all got busy with other things to go over the idea of this tour in more detail, especially you in particular, Amadeus. Um, being that you flew all the way from Scotland.”

  “Julia, he and Zara were coming for Christmas anyway,” Damien chided.

  First note to self. She did not mention me and Amadeus in the same sentence when she referred to traveling from Scotland.

  “Yeah I am Julia, Zara and I are both interested in what you’ve got to say,” Amadeus replied, winking at me ever so discreetly.

  “Well, I think you’ll find this makes the trip well worth the distance you came,” she replied, flashing a half-baked grin his way.

  Elizabeth was in my lap with a bottle, squirming to get down. I decided to let her have her way—just to stir the pot. She quickly began trying to crawl around, bottle in one hand, babbling in between swigs of milk. I could tell by Julia’s face she was none too happy with the distraction Elizabeth was causing.

  “How would you feel about both you and Angus joining Damien on a tour?”

  “I…I don’t know. Damien? Are you up to it?” Amadeus quietly asked, pushing his hair back off his face.

  “Of course he is,” Julia shot back. The look on her face was one of she would not be challenged.

  “Yes, I think with you and Angus there to support me I wouldn’t have a problem,” Damien replied. He appeared to be hesitant, as though Julia had rehearsed the entire scene with him.

  “Dude, you know how grueling a tour can be. You haven’t been out there for years now,” Angus added.

  “He’ll be fine. He’s been working out, getting his strength up for months. He’s more than ready to tour, boys. Trust me,” Julia replied.

  “What sort of tour do you have in mind, Julia?” I asked, glancing at Amadeus.

  “Oh, you don’t need to concern yourself with that, Zara. I’ll handle everything.”

  “Well, Zara’s my manager, Julia. So yes, it is her concern,” Amadeus blurted out. Our eyes met briefly, and I could tell he didn’t like where this was headed. He repositioned himself on the sofa, moving closer to me.

  “It’s going to be a comeback tour for Damien with you and Angus co-headlining. I really can handle all the details of the tour.”

  “That’s all well and good, Julia. But before you get the entire thing planned, I think you ought to ask if Amadeus has anything in the pipeline as far as upcoming concerts,” I added. No matter how she spun it, I was still Amadeus’s manager, and I still would have a say in it.

  “Well, he’ll just have to work his own personal concerts around this,” she snarled.

  “I like that,” Angus quipped, trying to soothe the growing tension in the room. “A reunion tour featuring Damien’s comeback to the stage. That has a nice ring about it.”

  “Yeah,” Amadeus added. “We could do a set together, the three of us. During that set we could each do our own music or solos, and if Damien got fatigued or something, Angus or I could cover for him.”

  “How long a tour are you thinking, Julia?” I asked as I got up to fetch Elizabeth, who had decided she needed to take her own tour of the house.

  “About six to eight weeks.”

  “Whoa! That’s way too long for Damian to start with, Julia. No offense, Damien. I think what would be more appealing for everyone here, and for the fans, would be a ten city tour. I think something short and limited like that would create more hype and demand. If it works, which I think it would, a longer one could be considered.”

  I didn’t want to cause a conflict, but, seriously, Julia had no idea what went into a tour, and Damien needed to start with baby steps. I could tell she didn’t like it and thought I was meddling.

  “I like it, Zara,” I heard Damien chime in. “Supply and demand sort of idea.”

  Julia momentarily left the room and returned with two manila envelopes and handed one to Angus and the other to Amadeus, who in turn passed it to me. Rather than open it up, I placed it behind my back trying to keep it out of Elizabeth’s reach.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “An outline of the proposed tour. There’s also a contract and other papers for Amadeus and Angus to go over and sign,” she replied smugly.

  “Interesting…” I started to reply, but the look I got from Amadeus, who was grabbing his daughter, told me to cool it. I knew he was right, but I wasn’t going to back down. Something didn’t smell right, and I was going to let her know about it right now. “But as I just told you, Julia, you need to slow down. Amadeus has things being planned, and they come first, and I’m telling you this as Amadeus’s manager. As for this contract, well, I’ll turn it over to our attorney first, of course.”

  “Not for this, Zara. I’m in charge of this tour, and that includes each of these three.”

  “Then there’s nothing more to say. Amadeus won’t be participating,” I replied.

  “Zara…” I heard Amadeus’s voice next to me, firm in its diction.

  “Well, why don’t we take a break? You boys can catch up while I get lunch ready,” Julia announced, glancing disapprovingly over at Elizabeth, who was attempting to walk around the coffee table in front of the sofa with her bottle in one hand and holding on with her other.

  I took Elizabeth into one of the bedrooms to change her, and when I returned, I found Julia placing deli trays and bread among the bags of chips and condiments on the table. Julia never was much on cooking, but this was fine. All she had to do was pick up the phone, and the main kitchen filled her every whim. I secretly hoped that Amadeus would want to leave soon. I’d had enough of Julia for one day.

  “You know, Zara, I don’t know what you’ve got against my running the tour. I’m not trying to be mean about excluding you on the running of this tour. You have your hands full with the baby, and I thought you’d relish the idea of not having to jump back into work.”

  “Like I told you, Julia, I’m Amadeus’s manager. End of subject.”

  “Well, you can just kick back while Amadeus is on this tour.”

  “Did you not just hear me, Julia? You do know that Amadeus will not agree to any of this without my approval or my going with him.”

  “You didn’t go with him on the tour with Peter McNichol ,so why would he all of a sudden want you and the baby to tag along this time?”

  “I didn’t go the last time because I had to deal with other issues. Besides, he was with Peter, and he runs a professional tour and has top notch people handing every detail. Unlike this one.”

  “Ah, yes, the shooting. Well you can just do the same thing this time and perhaps meet up with him from time to time.”

  “All the way from Scotland?”

  “That’s the choice the two of you made when you moved there.”

  “Like I said, Julia, there’s nothing further to discuss until you can come to terms with my position as Amadeus’s manager and the fact that his commitments come first.”

  The three brothers sauntered back into the house and immediately began their assault on the food. Julia quickly reprimanded them into washing up first and sitting down like civilized folk rather than renegades.

  Talk over lunch was light banter, mainly about Elizabeth, who was making her way around the table checking out what everyone had. Then she got to her daddy and it all changed. When he wouldn’t pick her up, the wailing began. Of course, once he rele
nted and bent down to pick her up all the noise stopped.

  I had to grin to myself at what a mirror image she was of Amadeus. Grace had given me some photos of Amadeus at that same age to frame side by side with Elizabeth’s on her first birthday. Except for the sex, they could almost have been twins.

  “She wouldn’t be a daddy’s girl would she?” Damien chided his younger sibling.

  “That obvious, huh, Damien? Yeah, she already knows who to go to,” I replied. Amadeus flashed me a cocky grin. He knew I might kid him about it but that I would never deprive him of spoiling her. He’d waited far too long for children—we both had, and she might be our only one. If she got too spoilt, I could always blame him.

  Julia was bent on winning Amadeus over in pursuit of launching this tour on her terms. She turned the conversation over her way once again. It appeared she didn’t like Elizabeth getting all the attention.

  “I was telling Zara, since she has the baby to look after, she should simply relax and let others handle the tour. I mean, so much has happened over the past year or so with you two. It’ll be less stress for her staying at home with Elizabeth.”

  I had been subtly eyeing Amadeus, trying to get a read on what he was thinking. He knew better than anyone what we’d been through and didn’t need someone throwing the past year in particular up in his face. He was fiercely protective of Elizabeth and me, especially now. It had only been with a lot of pressure from Peter, his mother, and me that he even toured with Peter. He relented once Grace offered to spend a lot of the tour with the baby and me.

  “Like Zara and I both said earlier, Julia, we’ll see. And no offense, Julia, but Zara has years of experience, and you have little to none,” Amadeus retorted taking a bite of his sandwich while tiny hands tried to take it from him. Somehow he managed to grab hold of both her hands and keep her restrained as he attempted to eat.

  “Zara, after what you went through, I’m surprised you’re not going to be in therapy for the next decade.”

  “Why?” I asked, knowing full well where the conversation was headed.

  “Why? You shot and killed a man, Zara! One of Amadeus’s band mates if I remember correctly.”

  I saw Amadeus start to say something, but I shot him a look, letting him know I had everything under control.

  “Yes, I killed a man, an intruder who broke into our house. Someone who was bent on doing harm to Elizabeth and me. Plain and simple…end of story. Yes, I’ve been in therapy over it, but frankly it’s in the past, and it’s no one’s business.”

  “I don’t know how…”

  “Julia, that’s enough,” Damien cut in. “Like Zara said, it’s in the past. Leave it alone.”

  “Thank you, Damien,” I replied. Amadeus had gotten out of his chair and stood behind me. I felt his hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked up at him holding the baby and couldn’t help but laugh. He gave me the strangest look, as though I’d lost my marbles.

  “Um, you’ve got mustard streaked all down the side of your face, and she doesn’t look much better.”

  “Elizabeth! I’m not a canvas to paint on!” he exclaimed, tickling her. She howled in laughter.

  “Nice look, bro. It’s so you,” I heard Angus remark.

  “Here, you sit down. Don’t let her near anything while I go get some wipes.”

  I turned to leave the room, noting Julia watching my every move. The look on her face was one I did not care for. When I returned, box of wipes in hand, Julia was cleaning off Elizabeth’s hands with a paper towel. I dropped the box on the table, saying nothing. Amadeus and I locked eyes for a second… he knew I was at my limit of nice.

  “I need to get her lunch and put her down for a nap. I trust we’re through, Julia?”

  The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and Amadeus knew it. He gathered Elizabeth up in his arms, motioning for me to get my stuff. “Yeah, we need to go take care of her. We’ll see you guys a little later.”

  Everyone grunted their goodbyes, Julia standing there, arms folded over her chest, a smug grin on her face, as though she had won some prize. I ignored it, choosing to arm myself first before I swooped in with my assault. But then she had to have the last word. “I should have the rehearsal schedule finished by then, Amadeus. I’ll drop a copy off when it’s ready.”

  “Just email it, Julia,” I replied, raising my hand as I walked out the door.

  We walked back toward our cottage next to each other. Elizabeth was nodding off to sleep. The day was gorgeous, as most Caribbean days were. I silently hoped we could have some time to ourselves so we could take Elizabeth down to the water’s edge. Amadeus interrupted my thoughts.

  “While Elizabeth’s asleep, I want us to read that contract. Don’t worry, I’m not signing anything; I just want to get a grasp on whatever it is she’s up to.”

  “You think she’s up to something?” I replied, moving closer to him. “That makes me feel better, because I’ve been thinking the same thing since last night. We’ll read it, then perhaps the day after Christmas, we can scan and send it to Scott. Let him give it a good once over.”

  “I like how you think, babe. One step ahead.”

  “Told you a long time ago, we made a good team.” I wrapped my arm around his as we approached the front door to our cottage. I opened the door and let the two of them pass, following behind. Taking the baby from him, I took her to the spare bedroom where a crib had been set up.

  I returned to the main living area to find Amadeus already comfy on the sofa, beer in one hand and the envelope containing Julia’s contract and other information on his lap. He hadn’t opened it. He patted the cushion next to him. “Come, I got you a beer. Let’s see what she has in mind.”

  Sitting next to him, I took the beer he’d had placed next to him, opened it, took a sip, and placed it on the floor in front of me. Taking the manila envelope out of his lap, I slowly opened it and pulled the papers out. The contract was lengthy. Julia had either done her homework or had someone assisting her. I set aside the other papers and envelope and placed the contract where we could both read it. It didn’t take long before Amadeus began spewing his dislike of what little we’d read.

  “Is she nuts, Zara? If she thinks either Angus or I will accept these figures, she needs to think again.”

  What figures Amadeus was referring to was the split Julia proposed the three take, giving Damien, of course, a larger piece of the pie. A much larger piece. I wondered if Damien had even seen this.

  “Either she splits it even three ways or there’s no point in talking any further. She evidently has someone helping her with this. This didn’t come from Julia. She knows nothing about event contracts, much less anything else surrounding a tour.”

  Amadeus grabbed the contract and showed me the paragraph he’d just read. “She’s formed her own management corporation, Zara. Do you see the fee she’s demanding before expenses and our payment?”

  “Yes, I see it. Well, to form a corporation, you have to have more than one person involved. Once we finish going over this, I’ll see if I can’t find something about her newly formed company.”

  “Well, I see no point in any further discussions. Not with this.” He tossed the papers to the floor.

  “Did you read that with this tour she becomes yours and Angus’ manager, voiding any prior management contracts?”

  “Yes, I read it. I knew she had to have something like that included, or she wouldn’t have been telling me what she did.”

  “Well she’s fuckin’ nuts if she thinks either of us will sign on to this pipedream.”

  “Don’t get all excited. I have a plan. Let me go up to the main house and use Peter’s copier. I want to make a copy of this.”

  “Scan it, too, while you’re at it, Zara,” he replied, gulping down his beer. “You’ve got something in mind, I can tell by the look on your face.”

  “Let me go do this. While I’m gone, why don’t you get on the internet and see if you can find
anything about this company she’s formed. Once Elizabeth wakes up, you and I are going to get theatrical.”

  Hearing him laugh, I knew he was okay. We had worked together far too many years for someone like Julia Tudor to come between us. I’d tried it once, quitting. It didn’t work.

  I walked up to the main house and found no one around, but the house was open. Knowing Peter wouldn’t mind my coming in and using the equipment, I made myself at home while I copied and then scanned the documents. I left them a note letting them know I’d been by, figuring they’d gone for a walk or something. I chuckled to myself as I peered in the main salon. Grace had an enormous Christmas tree on display even though it was artificial. It looked out of place in such a tropical setting.

  Elizabeth was awake when I returned, and Amadeus was attempting to feed her with little success. She wasn’t having any part of anything he tried to tempt her with.

  “She’s not going to eat, A. Her little body clock is all screwed up. Just fix her a bottle of juice and let’s go.”

  “Got everything done?”

  “Yep. Let’s go give a show.”

  “I didn’t have a chance to get online. Someone woke up as soon as you left.”

  “That’s fine. We’ll do it later.”

  Amadeus, Elizabeth, and I all marched toward the cottage Julia and Damien occupied. I held Elizabeth while Amadeus carried the dreaded contract. He had a plan laid out. She wasn’t going to like it, but we’d certainly get our point across.

  Julia answered the door, making our job oh so much easier. Amadeus held the contract out in front of her. As she reached for it, he drew back his hand. Taking the papers in both hands he ripped it in half in front of her and threw it at her.

  “You must think I’m a complete idiot when it comes to the business end of my career, Julia. I’d have to be out of my mind to sign this piece of crap.” He turned on his heel towards me, leading me by the elbow towards the beach.

  “We can discuss it. I didn’t say it was final.”

  “No,” Amadeus replied. “You made out like it was the final deal. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing more to say. Either the split is equal and you lower your so called fee to industry standards, or you can forget it.”