by Linda Verji
CHAPTER 20
“Can you believe it?” London’s eyes glittered with unrestrained excitement as she paced the length of floor in front of Zeke’s TV. “Vicker wants to sign us. I feel like I’m in a dream.”
Zeke, who was feeling decidedly less excited about this whole thing, said, “What exactly did he offer you guys?”
“Once we’re signed with his label, he’ll produce our first album. We’ll have complete control over what songs go into the album while he’ll focus on funding the album’s production then marketing and promoting it.”
Trying to inject some enthusiasm into his voice, Zeke said, “That sounds good.”
“Good?” she scoffed. “Chocolate chip cookies are good. This is amazing. Out of this world. And that’s not even all. To promote the album and help us build our brand, he’s offered to fund a fifty-week tour around the country.” Her eyes widened. “We’ll be singing in every state, Zeke. Every state.“
She was right. It sounded amazing. Too amazing to be true.
“Are you sure it was really Vicker who offered you this deal?” His voice dripped of skepticism.
“Of course, it was.” London swung around to look at him. “What? You think I don’t know who Vicker is? You think I imagined all this?”
No. Yes. Actually, he didn’t know. All he knew was that this whole thing stunk to high heaven. Zeke wasn’t as familiar with the music industry as London was but he knew who the money-guys were, and Vicker was as moneyed and influential as they came. The man only represented the crème de la crème and was notorious for head-hunting already established and best-selling artists from other labels. They always caved in because as good as you were doing, Vicker could make your fortunes one hundred times better. For Vicker to pluck an unknown band off the streets - even one as good as the Xin Monsters - was unheard of.
“You don’t believe me?” London kissed her teeth as she strode to the armchair and picked up her purse. She rifled through it to come up with her phone. Swiping her fingers over the gadget’s screen, she made her way to Zeke then held out the phone to him. “There. I took a selfie with him.”
Yup! Zeke stared at the image of the tall, smiling, bald, black man standing next to a grinning London, his arm around her shoulders. That was Vicker, all right. Zeke’s heart sunk, because a considerable part of him was really hoping that all this wasn’t true. That whoever had approached the Xin Monsters was a scammer and not the real deal.
Why? Fifty weeks - that’s why.
“What you got to say now, Zekey?” London grinned as she clapped. “We’re going to be superstars. Move over, Beyonce, cause we’re coming for your ass.”
He wanted to be happy for her but he couldn’t muster up any excitement. How the hell was he supposed to survive fifty weeks without her? Last week when she wasn’t talking to him, he’d been walking around like a junkie suffering withdrawal symptoms. Now he’d have to survive fifty weeks while she ran around the whole country? And he was supposed to be excited about that?
“Zeke. Zeke.” London yanked him out his troubling thoughts.
“What?” He dragged his attention back to her, only to realize that the excitement seemed to have drained from her expression.
“Aren’t you happy for me?” she asked as she lowered herself to the couch next to him.
“I am. I am.” He forced a smile. Setting his arm on the back of the couch behind her, he stroked her shoulder. “This is a wonderful opportunity for you guys. I’m just thinking of how long that whole tour is going to be. Fifty weeks is a long time.”
She nodded slowly, her eyes keenly studying him. “Yeah, it is.”
He asked, “Won’t you miss everyone? Shakira, Misha, Miss Wendy, the kids?” Me?
“I will.” She bit her lip and her eyes clouded over as if the cons of this tour thing were just hitting her. “But this is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity. Something I’ve been waiting for all my life. I can’t walk away from it.”
Even for me? he wanted to ask. But he kept the question to himself because he had absolutely no right to ask it. He had nothing to offer her. So he smiled and said, “Then you shouldn’t. I just hope you won’t forget the rest of us earthlings while you rocket to fame.”
“So you’re really happy for me?” she asked, her expression still troubled.
“I am.” Lifting his hand to her hair, he stroked the fine strands as he said, “Ever since the first time I heard you sing, I’ve known that you’re a talented woman. It’s about time those music bigwigs finally noticed it.”
Her mouth widened into a smile. “Talented, huh?”
“Fishing for compliments, Pistol?” He chuckled before bringing his mouth to hers for a soft kiss. “Congratulations, honey.”
IN THE LIGHT of day, Vicker’s offer didn’t seem quite as attractive as it had the previous evening. Now that the reality of what it meant - what it really meant - was sinking in, London’s excitement had dimmed significantly. Fifty weeks away from everybody - away from Zeke. It just seemed like too long to be away.
“I am so happy for you,” Shakira exclaimed as she took her eyes off the road for a moment to glance at London. “I can’t believe Vicker - Mr. Midas himself actually wants to sign you to his label.” She grinned widely. “You have finally arrived, babe.”
“Yay.” London waved her hands weakly and sighed.
“Okay, what was that.” Her friend shot her a puzzled look. “Aren’t you happy about the offer? You’ve been waiting for this since forever.”
London sighed again. “I was happy yesterday.”
“Then-”
“Then reality smacked me in the face.” She complained, “Kira, it’s fifty weeks on the road. Fifty weeks without you guys.”
Shakira gave her a sympathetic wince. “I know, right! Honestly, that’s not my favorite part of this whole offer. I don’t even want to imagine you being so far away for so long. If it was me making the decision for you, you’d definitely stay. But it’s not my decision, and I know how long you’ve waited for something like this to happen and how hard you’ve worked for this opportunity. Besides this tour is really important if you want to make a splash, right?”
“Right.” London nodded. “Vicker said that since we’re new, the only way to keep our album from drowning is to promote it like crazy.”
“It won’t be so bad,” her friend encouraged. “You’ll have Enzo and the crew to keep you company. And you and I can Skype every night. Maybe I can even fly in for a few of your performances.”
That should’ve been enough to bolster London’s mood, but it wasn’t.
Ever perceptive, Shakira asked, “Or is there another reason you’re not excited?”
“No.” London shook her head.
Shakira drove silently for a moment, then asked, “Is Zeke the reason why you’re not excited?”
“What?” London’s head snapped towards her friend. Stumbling over her words, she asked, “Why - why would Zeke affect my decision?”
Her friend shot her a quick glance before saying slowly, “I know, London.”
London didn’t even have to ask what she knew. After a brief silence, she asked, “How?”
“You two were trying too hard to avoid each other during Danny and Misha’s barbecue.” Shakira kept her eyes on the road. “Then I remembered how you reacted when Misha asked you about who you were dating, and how shocked you were when you saw that article about him and Meredith Weinstein. After that all I had to do was put two and two together. Voilà!”
Was she such an open book? London rushed to say, “It’s nothing serious. We’re just having a little fun.”
Shakira thought on that for a moment. “It’s got to be more than just a little fun if you’re thinking of turning down Vicker’s offer because of him.”
“Who said I was thinking of turning it down?”
Shakira threw her a silent ‘really?’ glance that had London sighing. “Fine! It’s not just fun anymore. But he’s not the reason I’
m thinking of turning down the offer.” When her friend gave her another skeptical look, London defended herself, “He told me yesterday that he wanted me to go.”
Shakira’s eyes widened. “He did?”
London nodded. “To be honest I don’t really know how I feel about that. I mean, I want him to support me, but…” Her words drifted into silence.
“But you also want him to tell you not to go,” Shakira finished, stating the exact words London was thinking but didn’t want to say.
As nice as his support was, she’d expected something more. Certainly not a declaration of love, but even an ‘I’ll miss you’ would’ve been better than his ‘I’m happy for you. It will be good for your career’ spiel. Considering how emotionally entangled she already was with the guy, the reminder that he wasn’t into her was quite disheartening.
Shakira asked softly, “London, are you in love with Zeke?”
“What? No,” she rushed to deny, her voice rising. “No way. I’m not in love with “
“Okay, okay. You don’t have to deny it so loudly. Any louder and you’ll wake Talia. ” Shakira glanced at the baby fast-asleep in the backseat through the rearview mirror.
“Sorry.” London lowered her voice. “But just know I’m not in love with him.”
“Hmm.” Shakira snorted.
“Hmm - what?”
“The lady doth protest too much.”
No, she wasn’t protesting too much. She was just stating facts, and the fact was she was not in love with Zeke. She just liked him - really hard, which in itself was nothing to be proud of. She wasn’t supposed to like him at all. Maybe, this tour was exactly what she needed. Once she was far away from Zeke it would be easier to like him less. Perhaps by the time she came back she could go back to thinking of him as just a friend.
As if Shakira could read London’s thoughts, she said, “If you’re in love with Zeke then you should let him know how you feel about him. Find out how he feels then make an informed decision about whether you’re going on tour or not.”
“I already know how he feels,” London snapped. “He’s made it clear more than enough times that I’m not his type of woman.”
“Aren’t you?” Shakira glanced at her. “I know Zeke. He isn’t a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy. If he wasn’t attracted to you, he wouldn’t even be sleeping with you in the first place.”
“Attraction isn’t love.”
“But it’s usually the first step.”
London pressed her lips together and said nothing. Shakira didn’t know Zeke very well if she thought that attraction equaled love for the guy. He was just horny, not in love with her. What was the point of opening up about her feelings when she had no doubt that he’d just toss them out? No, no. She couldn’t tell him.
She released a sigh of relief when Shakira finally pulled up in front of Nappy Palace because that meant that this disturbing conversation was finally over.
CHAPTER 21
Vicker was on Zeke’s mind - and not just because the man was about to drag London away. Now that Zeke had had more time to think about it, the offer seemed even more suspect. Sure, Vicker was a legitimate producer, but there was something about his signing the Xin Monsters that had Zeke’s internal alarms going off like crazy.
There was something dodgy going on there and he’d find out what it was if it was the last thing he did, Zeke thought as he parked his Mercedes in front of the three-storied Victorian Manor. Even before he stepped out of his car, the front double-doors opened and a tall, swarthy-complexioned man in a black suit strode out.
“Master Ezekiel,” the man greeted the moment Zeke emerged from his car. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too, Miguel,” Zeke greeted his mother’s butler. “Is my mother around?”
“She’s in the morning room, sir.”
“Thanks.” Following the butler’s directions, Zeke entered the house and headed straight for the morning room, an extra living-room at the far end of the house.
The moment he emerged in the archway that separated it from the music room, he saw his mother. She was seated on a chaise longue reading the morning paper while drinking tea.
“Ezekiel.” His mother set her cup of tea down when she saw him. “I wasn’t expecting you.” Her face creased - or at least tried to - with concern. “Is something wrong at the company?”
“No, nothing’s wrong at the company.”
“Then what is it?”
“I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this.” He removed his glasses to swipe his hand over his face before setting them back on his nose. “Did you-” He paused because asking this question would blow away any hope he had that his mother didn’t know about London. “Did you make Vicker offer to sign London?”
“Mm.” His mother cleared her throat. Her chin rising she said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
That was answer enough.
He leveled a narrow-eyed gaze at her. “You did it, didn’t you?”
Frankly, until this morning it hadn’t even crossed his mind that she had a hand in this whole thing. He’d thought that his and London’s activities were a well kept secret. However, he’d realized that Vicker’s offer had Edya’s fingerprints all over it.
Proving that he was right to suspect her, Edya sniffed. “Did you really expect me to let it go on?”
“I expected you to do nothing.” Zeke crossed his arms over his chest. “How many times must I tell you to stop interfering in my life?”
“And how many times must I tell you that that’s not going to happen?” Edya’s stare was as hard-eyed as his. She picked up her cup of tea. “I’m not interested in discussing this with you. If you-”
“Well too bad,” Zeke cut her off as he took a step into the room. “I’m not leaving here until you tell me what the hell you were thinking.”
“Well, I’m going to keep doing what I was doing before you barged in here with your accusations - which was reading the day’s paper and drinking a cup of tea.” She sipped some of her tea delicately. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No, no, Mother. I don’t want a cup of tea.” Zeke gritted the words between his teeth. “I want you to call Vicker right now and tell him to stop this nonsense.”
“Miguel,” She called out, ignoring her son. When the butler appeared in the doorway behind Zeke she said, “Bring Ezekiel a cup. He looks like he needs some tea.”
Grr! Edya could be so infuriating. While Zeke’s anger was at boiling point, she was nauseatingly calm – as if he hadn’t caught her red-handed. He didn’t even know how she’d found out about London, and he didn’t even care. All he wanted was for her to stop toying with London’s life.
“Take a seat, Ezekiel.” Edya took another sip of her tea. “You’re making me dizzy, with all that brooding.”
“I always knew you were crazy,” he said as he lowered himself to a seat. “But of all the crazy things you’ve done this has to take the cake.”
“There is nothing crazy about what I did.” She set her cup on the coffee table. “I was merely looking out for our best interests.”
His eyebrows shot up so high, he was sure they touched his hairline. “Our best interests?”
“Yes. The family’s best interests.” She turned to face him fully. “Have you thought about what would happen if the media caught wind of that little thug you have running around my hotel? You could destroy us.”
“London? A thug?” Zeke glared at her. “The only thug I see around here is you.”
“Then you don’t know London as well as you think.” She stood up. “Wait here.”
She exited the room. By the time she came back, Miguel had already dropped off an extra cup and more biscuits, but Zeke wasn’t really interested in food right now. His appetite disappeared further when he saw the contents of the black folder his mother held out on her reentrance.
“You investigated her?”
“Of course.” Edya set
tled back on her seat, smoothing her skirt. “Did you expect me not to?”
“Hmm.” Zeke harrumphed as he flipped open the folder. Inside it was four page dossier on London. He flipped through each page slowly, skimming over the words. When he was done, he looked up at his mother. “I already know all this.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” Edya raised perfectly arched eyebrows. “This woman is the daughter of criminals. And from what’s in there it’s obvious the apple doesn’t stray far from its tree.”
“All those things are in her past,” Zeke said coldly.
“As if that matters,” Edya scoffed. “But if you’re looking for something in the present to put you off her then let’s talk about the fact that she’s a prostitute.”
“No, she isn’t!”
“What do you call the nonsense she does over the phone?” his mother countered, her face screwed up in obvious disgust. “I thought Nathan had hit rock bottom with that homeless accountant of his, but apparently rock bottom has a basement and you’re living in it. What were you thinking, Ezekiel?”
“I was thinking that it’s my business who I sleep with.” He pointed at her. “Not yours.”
“Wrong. Who you sleep with is my business, literally,” his mother countered. “Do you know what would happen to our bottom line if our investors found out that you were now fraternizing with prostitutes. We’re a family business, catering to a clientele filled with conservatives. We can’t afford bad press like that. And you know it.”
Yes, he did. But that didn’t mean that he was just going to concede his mother’s point, so he kept silent.
“I had to get her out of your life.” Edya’s shrugged. “And since Meredith and Enzo couldn’t get the job done-”
“Enzo,” Zeke cut her off, as shock crashed through him. “What does Enzo have to do with anything?”
“Nothing,” his mother hedged as she stood up. “Oh, look at the time. I have a meet-”
“Don’t even try it. Sit. Down. Mother,” he roared.
His mother reared back, obviously startled by the rise in his voice. He’d never used that kind of tone with her, but in this case it was well deserved. For a moment he thought she might walk out. Surprisingly, she shot him a tentative glance before lowering back to her seat.