“He was shot multiple times last month,” another client continued, “and was nearly killed again a week or two after that. It was all over the news.”
“Producers were calling us,” Janet said. “Directors were calling us. Because right there in those same horrible stories was the name of our agent. Most of the people in the business know you as Roz Graham, former Broadway actress and now talent agent. But when the papers referred to you as Roz Graham-Sinatra, the wife of Mick the Tick Sinatra, they all went ballistic.”
“They were trying to kick us off of shows,” Kinna Franks said. “I was one of the ones who got fired. I tried to call you several times, but you never returned my calls.”
Maybe it was because my husband was dying and that was all I could deal with, Roz thought. But Roz wasn’t about to tell them that.
“You’ve got to let us out of our contracts with you,” Janet said. “Or else.”
Roz knew this heifer didn’t just threaten her. “Or else what?” she asked her.
“Or else we will have to take matters into our own hands,” Janet responded, “and invoke the moral turpitude clause that each one of our contracts possesses.”
Roz smiled a smile that was more about disbelief than joy. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nobody will hire us if we’re associated with somebody like you,” Sue said bluntly. “You’re the wife of a vicious gangster. He’s mean and vile and a killer. At least that’s what the papers said. We don’t want anything whatsoever to do with you!”
“Now bitch, hold up,” Roz said angrily, hitting her hand on the table. “Hold the fuck up! Now you can talk all you want about your grievances. You have that right. But you do not have the right to sit up here and besmirch my reputation, and the reputation of my husband. He’s a businessman in this community--”
“Businessman my foot!” Sue shot back. “I heard Sinatra Industries was just a cover for his illegal activities. I heard he’s no more a businessman than Kim Kardashian is an actress! He’s fronting. He’s perpetrating. And for all we know, so are you! For all we know this business, the Graham Agency, could be a front for all kinds of illegal trade.”
“Get out,” Roz said, rising to her feet. “Get out of my building now!”
Sue rose too. “As soon as you let me out of my contract.”
Roz was so angry she wanted to tell the bitch to sue her. Let’s take it to court! But she knew she couldn’t go there. Because Mick was a mob boss. Sinatra Industries was completely legit, and wasn’t a cover for any illegal anything, and she was certain she could prove that fact in court. But she wasn’t going to risk exposing Mick’s other side just to keep some fair-at-best actress on her roll. “You’re out,” Roz said. “It’s my pleasure to get rid of you. Now get the fuck off of my property.”
Sue didn’t expect it to end this way. She was the one who was supposed to have the righteous indignation, not Roz. She was the one who was supposed to have the victory, not Roz. But it was Roz who sounded victorious. It was Roz who sounded as if Sue had offended her! But her goal was accomplished. Roz had said, in front of a hundred witnesses, that Sue would be let out of her contract. “I’ll have my lawyer contact your lawyer,” Sue said, as she made her way out.
Roz then stood there and looked at everybody else. Her agency wasn’t a usual talent agency. She didn’t go out to find the best of the best the way most agents did. Her heart went out to the least among them. Her heart went out to the older actors and actresses who’d been struggling to make a living all of their adult lives in an industry that did not treat their older members well. But she took them on. She took on younger actors and actresses too, especially those who were told they weren’t good enough, or would never amount to anything, or didn’t have the so-called classical good looks to ever be successful. But she took them on.
A knife stab would not have hurt Roz as completely as this mutiny did. But her clients would never know it.
“I’m not going to stand up here,” Roz said to them, “and beg any of you to stay. If you want out of your contracts because you feel I’m a liability to you, I’ll let you out. I don’t want to be a liability to anybody.”
Even saying those words upset Roz. All she did for them? “But I just want you to remember a few things,” she went on, knowing that anger would get her nowhere. “I want you to remember where you were before I signed you. How many other agents were knocking at your door? How many other producers and directors would take your calls? You claim some of them are now appalled that I’m married to a man with a past, and that’s probably true. But how many of you have messy passes of your own? How many of you have been turned down for jobs because of background checks, but were hired after I put my name on the line and vouched for you?”
“So what is this?” Janet asked with spite in her voice. “You’re trying to take us on a guilt trip? You want us to feel guilty for trying to protect our careers?”
“I’m trying to make your ass think!” Roz fired back at Janet. “And I know, given who you are, it’s impossible at times.”
Some in the room giggled. Janet look at Roz with hate in her eyes.
“I’m trying to get all of you,” Roz said to the larger group, “to remember that show business is still the same ruthless business it was when you couldn’t get a gig at a community center, let alone in a major production. I would hate for you to get out there and realize it too late. Because I will let you out of your contracts. I will do that right here and right now.”
“Good,” Janet said, folding her arms in satisfaction.
“But hear me well,” Roz said to the group, ignoring Janet. “If you get out of your contract with me today, I will not let you back tomorrow. I will never take you back. No matter what. The Graham Agency will not tarnish your reputation ever again. Even if you want it to.”
Roz hesitated, to collect herself. The idea that her company, a company she worked day and night to successfully brand, was now considered, by the very people who should applaud it, as something negative and wrong. As a liability. She could hardly believe it. “If you terminate your contract with me,” she continued, “my services to you will stop immediately. You’ll have to find somebody else to represent you in any of your current contract disputes. You’ll have to find somebody else to get those reluctant producers and directors to give you that role you’ve been waiting for. Because I will not participate. You’ll be the one breaking the contract, I will make certain my lawyers put that in writing, and it will be an immediate and permanent break. I want you to be clear about that.”
She exhaled. “But those of you who still want out are free to do so. Go upstairs and give your names to Tee. I’ll have my lawyers draw up the paperwork.”
There was first a pause, as if Roz’s words of finality were getting to the vast majority of her clients. But as Janet rose, and then a few others rose, and then a few others still, it became very apparent that she had misjudged the room. By the time it was all said and done, nearly ninety-two of the hundred or so clients had left. Only eight remained. Mark Simmons, Laurie Burk, and Jade Winston were among them.
Roz was crushed, but she soldiered on. And found the strength to smile. “Thank you for staying,” she said to her remaining clients. “And I will promise each and every one of you that you will not be sorry for staying. I will work my ass off to make sure you not only find work, but keep working. I promise you that.”
“Oh, Ms. G.,” Jade said, rising and going over to Roz and hugging her neck. “You know we love you.”
“Here here,” said Laurie, walking over and hugging Roz too. “You had our backs when nobody would give us a prayer. I remember those cold days. I’m not about to follow Sue and Janet and the rest of those fools.”
“How does it feel to be unemployed?” Jade asked. “That’s what I guarantee I’ll be asking them the next time I see them.”
“But you know they’re going to want to come back,” Laurie said.
“They can want all they wa
nt,” Roz said. “But there will be no coming back. I already warned them. Didn’t I warn them?”
“You warned them,” Jade said. “You sure warned them.”
Mark hugged Roz too. “In a way,” he said, “I’m glad they’re gone. Now you can concentrate on only us, not all of those other people. Like in the old days.”
“Group hug,” Jade said, and everybody smiled and hugged Roz. Roz smiled too. She truly did appreciate the few who chose to remain loyal and stayed. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. In her first week back at work after a month long absence, it felt as if her entire professional world, a world she thought was as solid as a rock, had shifted from beneath her like quicksand.
CHAPTER SIX
Mick thumbed through the file slowly. Gloria Sinatra, his daughter, stood in front of his desk and watching his every body language, from the way he was leaned back in his chair, to the way his green eyes darted from figure to figure as if he knew there had to be some mistake. They were in the presidential suite of offices inside Sinatra Industries, in Mick’s office, and Gloria’s heart was hammering.
During her father’s absence, he handpicked her to handle all new acquisitions. That meant meeting with men and women desperate to sell their struggling companies to a powerhouse like S.I., where they would at least get out without liability. But that wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was choosing winners and losers. Telling this desperate company yes, and that desperate company no. And Gloria, determined to think like her father and do it the way he would have done, turned down far more requests than she accepted.
“Three acquisitions,” Mick said as he continued to review the documents.
“Yes, sir,” Gloria said. “Those were the only three companies that fully met our criteria.”
“Only three?” Mick asked, and looked at her over his reading glasses.
Gloria’s heart began to pound. Did she get it wrong? Were her estimates loaded with tons of errors? “Yes, sir,” she said.
Mick removed his glasses, thought for a second, and then tossed the file back on his desk. Before he could speak, his cellphone rang. He glanced at the Caller ID. Then picked up his phone.
Must be Roz, Gloria thought. She was usually the only person he would interrupt his work to take the call.
But to Gloria’s surprise, it wasn’t Roz. “Hello, Ursula,” Mick said into the phone. It was Teddy’s mother, Ursula Mastriano. “How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you?” Ursula was out by her pool getting some sun.
“What’s up?”
“I need you to convene a family meeting,” she said. “With all of us, and you and Roz.”
Mick hesitated. The last thing he wanted was to be in a room with his bitter ex-lovers, or to have Rosalind in a room with them.
“It’s very important, Mick,” Ursula responded to his silence. “We can have it here, at my house.”
“When do you want this to happen?” he asked.
“Friday night,” she said. “The sooner the better.”
Mick knew they were overdue a meeting. They hadn’t come together since the shooting. “Okay,” he said. “Friday it is.” Then he thought about Roz and how unfair it was for her to have to be in a room filled with his ex-lovers and the offspring all of that lovemaking produced. The least he could do was to give her home court advantage. “But it’ll be at my house,” he said. “At eight.”
A sigh of relief could be heard on the other end. “Just as long as we have it,” Ursula responded. “I’ll notify everybody else. I just needed your permission. Your house is fine.”
But Mick had barely ended the call before his desk intercom buzzed and Blair Conyers, his executive assistant, announced that his Chief Operating Officer, Will Flannigan, had arrived.
Mick pressed the button. “Send him in,” he said, and within seconds Will walked in.
Gloria didn’t even know Mick had sent for the COO, so she was a little taken back. Will, however, smiled, spoke to her, and addressed her father as if he was about as nervous as she was. He was high ranking in Mick’s company, but that didn’t mean he was on Mick’s level.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” Will asked. He and Mick were about the same age, but that didn’t seem to give Will any more confidence. “And before I get too ahead of myself, I want to welcome you back. You look great.”
Mick didn’t respond, as Gloria suspected he wouldn’t. Her father was not the kind of man who accepted false flattery or even real flattery. It was better not to go there.
Mick handed the folder he had been reviewing to Will. Will began reviewing it.
“My daughter has selected those three companies,” Mick said. “Do you agree with her selections?”
Gloria stared at Will. She had no idea her father would rope in anybody else. But Will smiled and immediately placed down the file. “I completely agree with her selections,” he said.
For some reason Mick seemed surprised to Gloria, which didn’t help her feel any better. “Completely agree?” Mick asked Will.
“Yes, sir. Completely. She was very thorough. I think she even ran all of her figures by Brad.” Brad Kirkly was Mick’s chief financial officer. “And he felt the figures were sound as well. So, yes, sir,” Will concluded. “I’m onboard with her decisions.”
Mick stared at him. Then he leaned back. “I’m not onboard. None of those companies should have been approved. And will not be approved.” He looked at Gloria. “Send out rejection letters today. Tell the CEOs we are not interested.”
Gloria was crushed. “But why?” she asked. “All three of those companies could bring big capital into S.I.”
“And even bigger headaches,” Mick said. “Don’t sugarcoat the problems. Don’t overlook the fact that I’ll not only be saddled with their debt as well as their assets, but with fifteen lawsuits.”
“But they’re all winnable suits.”
“That’s what you say.”
“That’s what our legal department has told us,” Will interjected.
“They can’t guarantee any victories, and if their asses are wrong, it’s my ass on the line, not theirs. And I don’t like their debt.”
“But there’s debt with every acquisition,” Gloria pointed out.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Mick said. “But all debt is not the same. The three companies you selected have linear debt. I would have to liquidate to break even. And if I can’t liquidate, I’ll have to pay it off, which will mean I won’t break even at all. I’ll be swimming in debt just to get those companies out of debt. What kind of sense would that make, Gloria?”
Gloria was floored. “I didn’t look at it linearly,” she admitted.
“And neither, apparently, had Will and Brad. Which is a problem,” Mick added, looking at Will.
“Send out those letters,” Mick told her. “And you did right running it by upper management. I’m sorry they failed to give you sound counsel.”
“It’s okay,” Gloria said. “It was my fault. I should have looked at every angle. Not just the obvious ones.”
Gloria took the folder and began leaving. Mick very much wanted to pull her in his arms and tell her she was still learning, and it would get better soon enough. But he couldn’t.
“I’d better get back to my office,” Will said.
But Mick motioned for him to wait. When his office door was closed and Gloria was gone, Mick looked at him. “You’re fucking my daughter,” he said.
Will’s eyes nearly doubled in size. “Excuse me?” he asked.
“I wasn’t the father I should have been to her,” Mick said. “Now she falls for father figures. Men like you. End it now.”
Will swallowed hard.
“You touch her again,” Mick continued, “your wife will be notified.”
Will was shocked that Mick knew about the relationship, first, and would threaten him with exposure second. It was the second point, more than the first, that disturbed him most. “Yes, sir,” he said, and was about to say
more when Teddy walked into the office.
“That’ll be all,” Mick said to Will.
Will wanted to explain himself, but he knew now was not the time. “Yes, sir,” he said, and left, nodding toward Teddy as he left.
“Where’s your brother?” Mick asked.
Teddy plopped down on the couch. “Lunch date,” he said. “I told him he had to check in with you first.”
“Always after a hit,” Mick said.
“Right,” Teddy said, “but he said he had a date and he wasn’t breaking it.”
Mick didn’t respond to that.
Teddy looked at his father. “We cleaned it up,” Mick said. “I think that had an effect on him.”
Mick and Teddy exchanged a glance. This was why Mick never wanted his sons involved in his business. Not that part, at least. But Joey insisted. He wanted it more than Teddy ever did. But he still wasn’t half the man Teddy was, and couldn’t bear the heat. Joey was still a kid. He still had a lot of growing up to do.
“As you know, Dad,” Teddy said, “word travels fast in our world no matter what happens. But it’s going to travel like wildfire given how many of your underbosses fell today. Especially when word hit that Danny and Angelo were among them. We’ve got to prepare their men. New bosses have got to be promoted. We’ve got to make sure this train stays on the tracks.”
Mick looked at his oldest son. He was improving, which Mick liked. “Call a meeting.”
“For when?”
“This afternoon.”
“Where?”
“You pick the place.”
Teddy nodded. He was unaccustomed to being given that level of authority, but he gladly took it. “Will do,” he said.
“Make sure Joey shows up too,” Mick said. “I do not like the fact that he is not here now.”
“He’s still a kid, Pop,” Teddy explained. “He talks tough and wants to be the next Mick the Tick and all that shit, but he’s really a sensitive person. He’s a little shocked by what happened this morning. He never experienced anything like that before. He’ll be okay.”
Mick Sinatra: Now Will You Weep Page 4