He stopped talking as soon as Avery started to sing. The air went out of the room. Or maybe it existed in the space only for Avery to sing. What surprised him had to be her song choice. Out of the millions of songs she could have chosen, she sang her song, “Secret Wish” with the same arrangement he had come up with and played on his piano last night.
At the end of the song, Sanaa applauded again. “Don’t know that tune, but it was excellent.”
Avery beamed. “Thank you. It’s one of my originals. You think I’ll be able to sing all of my own songs for my album?”
“Sure…eventually.” Sanaa signaled for her attorney to resume his spot next to her other employees.
“Eventually?” Avery furrowed her eyebrows.
“Yes. First album, I’ll pair you up with a known songwriter. What’s that one chick’s name? She does a lot for Charisma. Tessa? Teresa?”
The skittish, sweaty short man in a suit spoke up first. “Tassia Hogan, ma’am.”
Sanaa nodded. “That’s it. Thank you. I’ll see if she’s done sucking on Charisma’s teat to do some tunes for us. She sang on that ooh-wee nasty song not too long ago. What was that hook?” She snapped her fingers. “Yeah, I remember. ‘Baby, let’s get naked and let me ride on you all day.’ Not sure if she wrote that, but that was the song of the summer.”
“I remember it. Not sure if that’s my type of music.” Avery resumed her seat again. “I like writing. I want to express myself through my own music. That’s what I was hoping.”
“Probably for your next album.” Sanaa picked up her tablet and started tapping over the screen. “Or you can be backup for a year before your album drops. That’s guaranteed money right now.” She flipped her tablet around. “I’m prepared to offer you that for that plan of singing backing vocals and then dropping an album.”
For an unheard of artist without any experience, the amount looked insane. As her manager, Laz would be set. If only his conscious would allow her to sign that contract.
“All of that sounds great, but—”
Sanaa interrupted Laz. “And we would have a stylist assigned to you. I’m thinking a bit of Ri-Ri with a lot of Nicki Minaj. I want her tits and ass out.”
“Excuse me?” As though some of her body parts now showed, Avery tugged down on her skirt and pulled her top up. “My father is a pastor, and my mother—”
“Will be proud of you pulling in millions and millions of dollars.” Sanaa rubbed her thumb against the pads of her index and middle finger to signal all the cash she would be earning. “Besides, you’re an adult. You are over twenty-one, right?” She glared at Laz.
“Of course. That doesn’t mean I want the world to see me half naked and gyrating on a stage.”
As though something Avery had said triggered something, she snapped her fingers again. “That’s the other thing. Dance lessons. I’ll do you like Beyoncé’s daddy did her and make you run in stilettos to get you in shape to doing a full set in high heels.”
“But that’s not what I want to do. That’s not how I saw myself.” She stared at Laz with a pleading look in her eyes.
This meeting had spun out of control. Laz did not see it turning out this way. He had expected Avery to be excited about the label. The more questions she asked and the more items Sanaa wanted to change about her, the more he realized that going for the low-hanging fruit this time didn’t work.
Avery looked as uncomfortable as he felt. Signing a record deal at a major label shouldn’t have been set up as a surprise. He should have told Avery about Section Eight. He should have shown her the contract. He should have let Avery be instrumental in her career decisions. From what Laz heard and saw, no way could he allow Avery to be a part of this operation.
“Thank you for your time, Ms. Farook. I want to be able to discuss all of this with Avery and get back to you.” Laz stood.
“Before you go, I have another perk for you. You know most new artists get their big break by singing with an established and popular singer.” She clicked something on her tablet. “Bring her in.” Then she looked at Avery. “What if I were to entice you with singing with one of the hottest stars out there?”
Laz got an uneasy feeling in his belly as soon as the door behind them opened. He turned around in time to see Kat strolling in with a Cheshire cat grin gracing her face.
“Hi, all.” In a tight, knee-length red pencil skirt and a black button-up top, she looked like a true rockabilly chick, complete with her raven hair in soft waves. “Am I late to the party?” She stood by Laz. “Hey, you.” She bent over and kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “Since you didn’t fuck me, I’m going to fuck you.”
Damn.
Chapter 18
Avery could barely believe her day. First she sat in a record label’s office talking to the owner of it about her potential career there. Then Kat the superstar showed up, and Avery could possibly sing a song with her. The idea blew her mind.
She wanted to thank Laz, but the whole thing seemed off to her. Why didn’t he show her Section Eight’s contract? Why had he kept her in the dark about so many things? Why the hell was Avery even considering signing with a label that she knew her parents would hate? Why did it seem like Kat and Laz knew each other?
Kat sauntered to Avery, complete with an obvious sway in her hips. “Hi, I’m Kat.” She extended her hand.
“Um, Avery.” For whatever reason, Avery felt compelled to stand when she shook Kat’s hand.
Now Avery had listened and danced to a lot of Kat’s music. The poppy sound didn’t overshadow some well-written songs. She did go overboard with using auto-tune, but what star nowadays didn’t use that device?
“I saw your video. Whenever someone said something negative, I put them in their place.” Kat nodded defiantly.
“You did?” Avery had to sit down again. She couldn’t take any more surprises.
“Yep. Between you and me, I’m Kitty Girl.” Kat winked at her.
Laz lowered his head.
“No way.” Avery shook her head. “That’s insane. I can’t believe someone like you even found my video to make a comment on it.”
“Talent finds talent.”
That comment made Laz lift his head up.
“Laz, did you want to say something?” Kat cocked her head. “No? Pity.” She sauntered around the desk to stand next to Sanaa. “I’ve never done this before, but I want to make you my protégé, like what Usher did for Justin Bieber or T.I. did with Iggy Azalea or Akon and Lady Gaga. I want to be in on the ground floor of your success.” She rested her hand on the back of Sanaa’s chair. “When I told Sanaa about my plan, she was all for it. But she found one problem.”
Avery’s gut tightened. “What’s that?”
“Who you had listed as your manager.” Kat pointed to Laz. “I warned Sanaa that he might pose an issue.”
“An issue? What do you mean?” Avery looked at the man who she had shared not only her body but also her soul in the form of her lyrics.
“A couple of videos I saw.” Kat nodded to Sanaa.
“You mean when I sang at Honey’s?”
“No. Other videos.” Kat faced the large screen.
In one shot taken from the end of a hotel hallway, it showed Laz kissing Avery against a hotel room door. It had to have been when Avery left with Laz from Marissa’s place after dinner.
“How did you get this video?” Avery covered her mouth with her hand.
“I have my ways.” Sanaa looked at the quiet young woman that stood between the short man in the suit and the big man in the track suit.
“You had us followed.” Laz’s voice sounded gravelly like he wanted to scream at any moment.
“It’s what I do before I make a deal with anyone. Don’t take it personally.” Sanaa shrugged like this invasion of privacy shouldn’t be a big deal.
“Personally, this other video is my favorite.” Kat pointed to the screen.
It showed Avery straddling Laz’s lap while he sat at his piano in his apartment. The night vision camera caught their images through the window despite the lights being off and them sitting in the dark.
“Okay, turn this off.” Laz stood. “This is a joke.”
“Really?” Kat crossed her arms. “Wasn’t a joke when you took a video of me, right?”
Laz squeezed his eyes shut as Avery rose to her feet.
“You and Kat were together?” Avery didn’t want to be that woman that got caught off guard by her man, but the fact that he said nothing about them floored her.
Kat came around the desk. “Did he tell you that he regularly records his meetings?”
Avery didn’t answer. She couldn’t. The words choked in her throat while she stared at the man who had started to look like Mr. Perfect to her. Now he came off as Mr. Predator.
“Did he tell you that he normally doesn’t sleep with people he works with but he loves your talent?” Kat nudged her elbow into Avery’s side.
Laz glared at Kat and shook his head. “Don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?” Kat blinked. “Is there something you want to say?”
He exhaled through his nose. “You know I can’t.”
Kat shrugged. “That’s a shame.”
“It is.” Laz nodded. “Avery signed my management contract. I don’t want her working with you.” He reached for Avery’s arm.
She ducked out of his grasp. “I—I didn’t sign your contract.”
Kat laughed and then covered her mouth. “Burn. That’s got to sting.”
Laz faced her. “What are you talking about? We talked about the changes. I made them and printed it out. I saw you with a pen reading it over in my living room.”
Avery nodded. “I was reading it. I did have a pen. I was ready to sign. But I wanted to read it over one more time first. I still want an attorney to review it. That’s what I was trying to tell you in the lobby before we came up.”
“You know we have an excellent management team here at Section Eight.” Sanaa raised her hands up like a game-show beauty.
Laz shook his head. “You don’t want to do that. Think about Pebbles and TLC. You will get the short-end of the stick in this deal.” He glanced at Sanaa. “Think of this as a casino. The house always wins.”
Avery moved away from Laz. “What I’m thinking about is myself. I believed every word you told me. Turns out, you’re just…” She shook her head. “You’re not the man I thought you were.”
Laz shrugged out of one of the guards’ grasp before they forcefully escorted him from the premises. “I’ll wait for you outside. I waited forever for someone like you. I can sure as hell stay for a meeting.”
“Come on, Casanova.” The other guard grabbed Laz behind his neck.
The move triggered Laz to take the man’s hand and wrench it behind his back like he had done with Uncle Pig. Avery didn’t know what else Laz had done with his hand behind his back, but the big man screamed and stood on his tiptoes.
“I’ll go. Just let me say something first.” Laz turned to the other guard. “Don’t make a move or something is going to get broken.”
“Shit. I thought I was gangster.” Sanaa snickered. “Say what you have to say and let my man go.”
Laz stared at Avery. “Don’t sign anything.”
Avery shook her head. “I’ll do what I want. You don’t control me. Don’t say anything else to me.”
Laz continued. “Don’t sign anything, understand? I’m sure you find all this incredible. The fame, the money, the opportunity. You’re talented. You can have this at other places if you just believe in me and wait.”
Avery considered his words as she approached him and the man Laz had in a precarious position. “Before we walked into this building, I would have listened to everything you said. Now I don’t even trust you. I don’t believe you.” She took several steps back from him. “I’ll finish my business here, go to your place, get my things, and go home. I have enough on me to take the train home.”
“No, I flew you out. I can fly you back.” Laz placed his hand on the guard’s shoulder that he controlled.
“Better yet, Avery. I’ll have my personal jet fly you home whether you sign with us or not.” Sanaa smiled. “Good day, Mr. Kyson.”
Laz scanned everyone in the room before he finally let the guard go. The big man twirled his arm around to get some feeling back into it. Then he turned to land a punch on Laz’s jaw.
Laz managed to miss the intended hit, and instead cracked his fist against the man’s face, knocking him to the floor where he groaned and remained.
Laz looked up at Avery. “I’ll wait for you.”
Then without another fight, he went to the elevator and waited for the other guard to escort him back down.
“Good. Now that he’s gone, let’s talk about your future.” Kat rubbed her hands together.
“Yeah, my future.” Avery had envisioned it with Laz.
Now she had no idea what to do and who to trust. The fact that her heart felt broken into a million pieces didn’t help. She didn’t want to talk business. She wanted to crawl in bed and throw the covers over her head.
After her meeting, and with the contract in her hand, Avery stepped outside of the Section Eight building. True to his word, Laz stood on the sidewalk in front of the building. He had probably been told to stay off company property.
Although Avery’s heart pounded seeing him waiting for her after a couple of hours in the office with Sanaa, Kat, and Sanaa’s staff, she couldn’t forget everything Kat had said about Laz recording her.
Avery stayed on the Section Eight plaza area until she had to hit the sidewalk. At that point, Laz caught up to her.
“Avery, please listen to me.” He tried standing in her path, but she got around him.
“I need to catch a cab and get my stuff.” She stood at the side of the street and raised her hand in the air like she had seen on TV and in movies.
“You don’t know how to get back to my place.” He whistled and held his hand up, too. At that point, a bright yellow cab pulled over to the side. “I’ll take you back to my place.”
“Fine. I’ll need to go to the airport. I’m taking Ms. Farook up on her offer to take the jet back home.” She climbed into the backseat, and Laz followed her.
After giving the driver his address, he turned to Avery. “I didn’t mean to hurt you by not sharing the contract details. I wanted to do what’s best for you.”
She snickered. “I wanted to sign with Charisma. You ignored that request. I wanted to sing my own songs. I guess I’ll do that eventually. I wanted to be instrumental in my career, and you shut me out.” She clutched the contract closer to her chest. “I’m more than just a voice. I wanted a man who wouldn’t treat me like I don’t matter, like a means to an end.” She turned away from Laz. “I need to stop doing this to myself. I need to realize my worth. I need to be a star in my own production.”
“Why do you sound like a little bit of Sanaa and a little bit of Kat?” Laz attempted to put his hand on Avery’s knee.
“Don’t touch me.” She pushed his hand away. “I have my own mind. I don’t need to listen to you or anyone else.” She rubbed her forehead.
“Avery, I wanted to tell you the situation with me and Kat, but I couldn’t.”
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?” She looked at him to gauge his response. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I get my stuff and get as far away from you as possible. I don’t want to hear about you or anything else related to you again.” When the images of them kissing in the video and the sex they had had in his apartment played in her head, she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. “They saw me. They saw us. My dad will…”
Laz held Avery’s hand. She tried hard to pull it away but couldn’t. “You’re a grown woman. We did nothing wrong.” He moved in closer to her. “I did nothing wrong. You have to believe me.”
She removed her hand from his. “I don’t.”
“Avery. I love you.”
She couldn’t look at him. The last bit of her heart cracked. “People who love each other don’t keep secrets. They don’t hide things. They don’t shut people out like you’re doing with your dad, and how you’re treating me.” She wiped her hand under her nose. “Please leave me alone for the rest of the ride home. I can’t deal with you right now.”
Laz moved away from her. “I’m not giving up on you, on us.”
“There is no us.”
Laz shook his head. “I’ll figure out how to make this work.”
A small part of Avery wanted that, wanted someone to fight for her. The other part reminded her that Laz tried controlling her, controlling her career and situation. She couldn’t have that.
After they arrived at the apartment, Avery slammed her items into her overnight bag along with her notebook full of songs. Getting that had been her main concern. Since she didn’t take it with her to the meeting, she had to come back to Laz’s place.
A car horn outside grabbed Avery’s attention.
Laz looked out of his front window. “That’s right. They do know where I live.” He shook his head. “Black stretch out there. I guess that’s your ride.”
Avery said nothing as she headed to the door. Laz stopped her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and kissed her.
She wanted to claw his eyes out, slap him, tell him that everything she had done with him had been a mistake. Instead her body melded into his. She moaned a little when he rubbed his hand up and down her back.
As soon as he broke from the kiss, the car horn sounded again.
“Goodbye.” Avery left the apartment with the words “I love you” stuck in her throat.
She made it to the car and found herself with her knees drawn up to her chest on the ride to the airport. The car took her to the section with private planes.
Love Like Crazy Page 24