by Joy, Dani
He took the bite and made a face at me. I thought about it for a full minute. “I work with kids. I deal with them day in and day out. Mostly not under the best circumstances. I think that slowed down the clock that everyone talks about.”
I shrugged at him when he seemed to need more. “It was just me and mom when I was growing up. Along with every other kid that mom felt a responsibility to take care of. In an off hands kind of way.” I left it at that.
“I haven’t even met your mom.” He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t even remember you mentioning her.”
“My mom Mary and my dad Sean.” I spelled it for him. “Divorced when I was sixteen. Mom now has a companion. Shawn.” I spelled that for him also. “They go here and there as their mood changes. No brothers. No sisters.” I thought about it for a minute. “Mom didn’t even call on my birthday.” I shrugged. “I didn’t call her on hers either.”
He made a face at me as if to say, you have got to be kidding me.
“My dad S-E-A-N is now married to Gloria, Glory. His third wife. She has three kids. The oldest reminds me of Dakota. I saw all of them at Christmas.” I added helpfully. “I just don’t think of home and hearth with two point five kids.”
“You’ve met all my family. Mom usually demands a once a month dinner with all of us. I think with all that has been going on with Adam it has slipped her mind. I wouldn’t be surprised to get a call in the morning telling us when dinner will be ready tomorrow night.”
I smiled at him as I finished my last bite. “I never really had a family that was around. I would be okay with yours. I like what I have dealt with so far.”
He smiled at me. Then I watched it fade. “Would you go on tour if they asked you to?”
“I don’t think so. They haven’t asked and Bray refuses to go.” I thought about it for a minute maybe two. “I’m okay being in a crowd. I just don’t think that I could do it for an extended period of time.” I chose my words carefully. “I like having you here with me. Just you and me. Living on a bus or having to eat with ten other people for every meal. Not going to happen.”
I watched Rand closely. I could see the relief flow from him. “Besides, this is just a one-time thing I think. I don’t see it being more than just something that I did for fun for a while.” I shrugged. “How many people are really going to buy it? I few hundred if I’m lucky.” I shrugged as best that I could. “I don’t see it as anything more than that.”
I went in search of something for desert. I found nothing. Not even a cookie. I closed the freezer when it didn’t magically produce a carton of ice cream. “Your brother has put a serious dent in my sweet buying habit. Get dressed. We need a road trip.” I had my hands on my hips with a mock scowl on my face.
“I could give you dessert.” Rand said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
“You already did that. Now I need ice cream. Your stuff is hot. Not cold.”
“You’re just no fun.” He said as he retrieved his shirt from the floor by the couch.
I laughed at him. “Sure I am. Just not right now.”
Rand took another spoonful of my ice cream two hours later as we sat in bed. I had the sheet pulled up over my lap but that was all that I had on. He didn’t even have that covering him. “You’re right,” He said to me with a light kiss. “You are a lot of fun.”
“Told ya.” I said as I finished the ice cream.
Chapter Twenty
I sat in yet another office with Bray. We had been to this particular lawyer a few times. He was explaining in terms that made sense to him and Bray. Me on the other hand, not so much. I kind of got that Bray would be my manager and producer. Vince and Black Day would be my Label. I wouldn’t be required to tour. We would record at Bray’s studio and he was using studio musicians. When the lawyer looked to me and asked. “Do you understand or do you have any objections?” I had enough legal-eze to last a life time. More than that I was tired of being the stupid girl in the corner. Yes, they could understand each other but I was just this much short of enough caffeine and they had just stepped over that line.
So I started to explain joint formations. How the muscles and ligature helped to form shape so that an object, such as a pen, could be held. I even went further to explain how the veins fed the muscles so that they would have the control to hold said pen in minute detail. Then I explained the medical name of every single joint, muscle, vein and capillary that fed to the fingers that held the pen. I reached out and grabbed his pen holding it up and wiggled it side to side.
They both looked at me as if I had sprouted a third eye and it was dripping pus down my face.
“What?” I said innocently. “I just told you that I can hold a pen. It made perfect sense to me. I thought that we were being technical here.”
Bray burst out laughing. Phillip Maxwell LLC, aka the lawyer, hid behind his lip twitch as not to grin at me.
“Okay.” Phillip hit a button. “Off the clock now.” He then spent an hour explaining in layman’s terms what it all meant. I finally understood what he said.
“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” I said as I signed my life away to the music industry.
For once he didn’t hide his grin. “My way makes me sound smarter.”
I grinned back at him slightly. “Not really but I promise not to tell you what it did make you sound like. Even more I won’t bill you for my medical explanation of holding a pen.”
He slid another pile of papers towards Bray. “Industry standard non-disclosures and pay rates. Keep the originals give them copies only. I will forward these to all applicable parties. The two of you included.” He stood and held out his hand for us to shake. We did. “It has been a pleasure working with you.”
He led us to the door and walked us to the foyer. “Ms. Chapman. Just so you know, my wife calls me her pompous ass.”
I smiled at him. “I like your wife already sir.”
I slumped against the side of the elevator for all eleven floors that we had to go down. I finally said to Bray on the fourth floor. “If you drag me to another lawyer I telling your mom that you are being mean to me.”
Bray just smiled to the elevator door. “Just protecting the two of us.”
“Whatever.” I said with the best impersonation of Glory’s fourteen year old daughter in mind. Including the mandatory eye roll.
“You just need food. You seem to be much happier after you’ve eaten.”
“Let you in on a secret.” The door opened and I walked past him. “It’s the caffeine in soda form, with lots of ice, that is what gets me in the better mood.”
We climbed in his car. “It’s also getting out of these stupid shoes. Six new outfits that I love. The new shoes. Not so much.”
“Wear flip flops. I don’t care.” He shrugged at me.
“You’re not a girl. Of course you don’t care.” I grouched at him.
“I’m hurrying. I’m hurrying. Soda soon. I promise.”
I giggled. “Angie has been a good influence on you I see.”
“So have you.” He backed out. “You handled him well with your medical jargon. Me too. I should have known earlier and been better about it.”
“So should I. I didn’t get it but you seemed to. I have never once thought that you didn’t have my best interest in mind. If I didn’t understand it is my responsibility to say so.” I shrugged even though he wasn’t watching.
He pulled in to a diner and parked. “What was it that you said by the way?”
I giggled. “The joints bend with help of muscles and tendons that are fed be veins so that we can hold something as simple as a pen.”
He started chuckling. “You took twenty minutes to tell me that you can hold a pen?”
“Yep.” I smiled at him. Then I flipped him off. “Do you want a medical explanation of what I just did?”
“Hell no. You need a soda.”
**
I was back in a good mood, despite my headache, until we walked in an
d I saw Vince Ross sitting strategically at a table. We got close and I turned with a smile on my face. I connected below the heart but above his diaphragm with the right hook that he had accused me of. I sat without holding out my hand. “Mr. Ross.” I kicked off my shoes aiming for his shins. I was pretty sure that I connected from the wince on his face with the first shoe. I think that either he hid the next one or I missed. I couldn’t tell.
“Ms. Chapman. Brayden had said that you were seeing lawyers today. I see that is correct.”
I opened my mouth to describe my hand action to Bray earlier, but he put his arm across the back of my chair with a squeeze against my neck. “Yes. We just came from there. I’m afraid that I am a little low on my caffeine intake.”
“I think from your look you may be a little over your legal bullshit level. I apologize for my abrupt appearance. I have a six hour layover. I thought that I would spend it wisely.”
The waitress came and took our order. Vince stopped her. “My friend has an extreme caffeine headache. Can you bring her two at the same time?”
“Sure.” She said. I envisioned her with bubble gum in her mouth and started laughing. While I rubbed my temples.
Both Vince and Bray looked at me. “Double bubble. Do either one of you have a piece? She would be hilarious chomping away at it.”
Bray pulled me against his shoulder. “How can you and Rand be brothers and smell so different? I don’t get it.” I rolled my eyes up to his.
“Relax. I won’t make you see another lawyer for a while.”
I did relax and Bray ordered for me as a slugged back my first soda. When I was done I straightened and set my glass down. “I’ll be back in just a minute.” I stood up not asking for my shoes and went in search of the restrooms.
When I was washing my hands I decided that I needed some cool water on my face. I managed to only get a few drops on my shirt. I knew that I owed both men an apology. Especially Vince. He hadn’t done anything wrong other than catch me at a bad moment. I prided myself on rarely losing my temper. I also hated to have to apologize. I sucked in a few breaths and walked back to our table.
I stuck out my hand. “Vince.”
He visibly started.
“I would like to introduce myself. The non-ogre Terra. I believe that ogre-Terra is taking a walk.”
He shook my hand. “Glad to see you again. You had me worried.”
I sat. “I owe you an apology. I lost my temper at the lawyers and you were the first person that I encountered. You got the brunt of it instead of the person that deserved it.”
“So the double whammy was you kicking him not really me.”
I knew my face was bright red but I held my head high. “You can throw them back to me and then I can kick Bray. That’s who I wanted to kick.”
“I’ll keep the weapons for the time being.” He was visibly chuckling. He had a gleam in his eyes. He obviously found my temper tantrum funny.
“So tell me how it is really going.”
“I have no fricking clue. I feel like this is the first time on a roller coaster. This part feels like the slow approach to the top where I’m going to get thrown over the edge not knowing where it will take me.”
“Good analogy for a first time artist. Do you want me to give you a road map?”
“I would love one.” I glared at Bray. “But if you use any legal-eze homicidal-Terra will probably make an appearance.”
Vince gave Bray a pointed stare. “Usually your manager would have taken care of this beforehand.”
Bray ducked his head. “She’s so good, even I forget this is her first time through the grinder.”
Vince reached down and pulled up his briefcase. He pulled a legal pad out and put the case back on the floor. “The two of you are doing all of this out of order.” He pulled out a pen. “Normally the manager signs an artist then goes in search of work. Bray already had the work and you have the blueprint for the album. That is almost always the last thing that you do before going in to the studio.” He was tapping against the paper.
He made a list down one side that had about thirty entries. Then he made lines to the other side showing what we have done re-writing the new list. The second list was only about twenty entries that I could count while trying, and failing, to read his scribble upside down. He turned the paper towards me and left the pen on top of it.
“I can’t say that his way isn’t faster but it was probably a lot more stressful for you. Especially since you didn’t know what was going to be throw at you.”
I did a quick count in column one. It was closer to thirty five. List two was indeed twenty. Both ended without lines attaching each side together. There was studio, digital and money left unattached. Today’s lawyer in column two had four different entries from column one drawn to it. No wonder my head hurt. I had finished my second soda while I looked over the paper. I was surprised when I heard myself slurp. I looked up embarrassed. “Sorry.”
Vince motioned to the waitress and pointed to my empty glass. She came back with two more post haste.
“Okay. I get almost all of it now. Knowing these guys for a while I actually understand, mostly, why Bray did what he did. I actually am kind of grateful. I don’t have a lot of spare time myself.”
“Are you still in school?” Vince asked casually.
“One more week and one on-line class. Then I get to study for boards. Yeah.” The yeah came out as I mean it to. Flat and no enthusiasm behind it.
“Not looking forward to that I take it.”
“The tests are expensive and not user friendly. If you don’t pass the first time, which most don’t, you get to take them again at your own expense.” I shook my head. “Not looking forward to that.”
Food arrived and I realized that I was starving. I scarfed my food down in record time. I was honestly feeling human again when I was done.
“So can you explain the last three entries to me?” I finally mumbled around my last fry.
“I don’t know how Bray has studio time planned. He hasn’t shared that with me.”
“On purpose.” Bray set his napkin on top of his plate.
Vince ignored the barb. “Once he has the final product he sends it to my people and we market it.”
“Market?” I asked.
“Any and all places that can get it to an audience. Preferably ones that will buy and or sell it.”
“Ever hear of iTunes?” Bray asked.
I know that my eyes got wide and my mouth dropped open.
“We won’t go on tour but there may be a few interviews. Most can be done over the phone or they will have to come to us if they want to talk to you in person.”
I did a number of slow blinks at Bray after he said that. Then I answered, “Okay.”
“I set up a great shield of accountants and lawyers that will take care of almost everything. It will require a few more signatures but not much more from you than that.”
I didn’t know what to do with that information so I said the only word that I seemed to have. “Okay.”
“You should receive a card in a few days and a statement from the account when sales start.” Bray shrugged.
I looked to Vince. He smiled at me. “I take a healthy chunk out of it. No worries.”
I slugged back one more soda. Unrepentant at the slurp at the end. I stood up. “I gotta pee again.” I stood up and two male chuckles followed as I walked away, shoeless. iTunes was one of my addictions. I couldn’t imagine being on it. Maybe I might get more than one hundred people who at least looked at it. I had visions of showing it off at work and pointing to it at work and saying, “Look. That’s me.”
Showoff that I am. How awesome would that be!
Then I sent I silent thank you to Dakota who had unknowingly sent me down this path.
Chapter Twenty One
All of a sudden it was July. The second week of July to be exact. Bray said he needed the first weeks to put down tracks. Whatever that meant.
I
spent most of the first two mornings standing in front of a microphone that had a spit guard in front of it. I had fitted ear pieces. I felt like I did a good enough job. It was hard to tell since the music was in my ear and Bray’s eyes were on his board. It was anti climatic and I hated it. There was no one to judge by. I did my best. Most of the time my eyes were closed so that I could envision people.
Truth be told I despised it. I was pretty sure that it showed.
Half way through the second day Bray threw down his ear covers. “You sound dead. Why?”
“It is dead! I have the top of your head to judge how I’m doing.” I stomped around the room. I finally whirled around. “As interesting as your hair follicles may be they don’t relay anything back to me.” I was tapping my foot with my hands on my hips. “I feel like I can’t move away from the spit machine and there is nothing.”
I scowled at his surprise. “Nothing!” I stomped around even more throwing my hands in the air pulling my hair as I glared at him.
“Nothing to give me an idea of what I need to do!” I was huffing and puffing as if I had ran a mile. I threw my hands up in the air and stormed out of the room.
Bray found me by the front door. I wanted to just walk out of it. What I was doing was banging my head against the wall. Literally. What we had done before was fun. There was interaction before. Now I had a spit guard as my companion.
A spit guard.
Yeah me!
Right. I wiped the tears off of my face. Then I banged my head one more time.
Hard.
I finally turned around. I was going to go get my purse and leave. I had had enough for one day. Bray was standing there with both elbows in the air rubbing against his neck. I walked around him but he stopped me with one hand against my arm.