UNBROKEN (Friends, Lovers, or Nothing Book 5)

by Jackie Chanel

  When I heard that he was in town for a few days, I called him up since I know what Apryl and Roxy are up to. They’re shopping Shay for a record deal and all the A&R people on Roxy’s contact list are probably inside Estrange to check out the goods.

  “Your manager couldn’t pick a less crowded spot?” Cash asked as we walked through the club straight towards the VIP.

  I’m supposed to be here on business and sitting in gen pop with the rest of the A&R people but that shit doesn’t fly when Cash is with us. We learned that the hard way. I love hanging out with my fans but they get a little too crazy and touchy-feely at times. Cash being around doubles their boldness. Roxy will shit bricks if we take the focus off her artists and make this night about us.

  “Roxy doesn’t do less crowded,” I answered. “Especially when she’s trying to get someone a record deal. What you drinkin’, man? My treat.”

  Cash grinned and leaned back in the deep leather chair. “You buyin’? Then let me get a bottle of Don Julio.”

  I waved a waitress over and ordered Cash’s tequila and a bottle of Grey Goose for me and Paulie. I scanned the crowded club knowing I wouldn’t spot my manager in the crowd. She was probably backstage making sure her artists were sober, warmed up, and giving her infamous ‘you know what’s at stake’ speech. However, I spotted every A&R rep that I know, including Dre from Power Records, the man who signed me to my first deal.

  “Excuse me,” I said then got up and walked down the steps over to Dre. He looked surprised to see me when I tapped his shoulder.

  “This ain’t your neck of the woods.”

  Dre looked up sharply like he was surprised to see me in a club in Los Angeles, like I don’t live here. He took a swig of his Corona.

  “What up, A.T.? What you doin’ at a showcase?”

  Since Dre and I don’t live in the same city and don’t run in the same circles, we rarely see each other. We don’t talk at all. As long as my royalties keep coming in from Power the way they should, there’s no reason for us to talk. I don’t have a problem with Dre or anyone else from Power. They have a problem with me. Before me, they were strictly a hip-hop label. I made them a credible and versatile label. They should be happy with what I did for them. Instead, they’re still bitter that I left to sign with Joey and took my masters with me. Roxy is no fool. She wouldn’t let me sign a contract with any label if I didn’t have the rights to my own music.

  “Same as you, I suppose,” I answered. “CMG is always looking for new talent.”

  “CMG, huh?” Dre scoffed. “Yeah, I guess your roster is kinda light. But that didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?”

  “I’m head of A&R just like you. And ain’t nothin’ light about our roster. Last I heard, Power’s was though.”

  “I suppose Roxy gave you Shay’s demo already then?”

  I nodded. The anger on Dre’s face was laughable. I don’t even want Shay on my label. He can have her.

  “She did,” I nodded.

  “Well, just so you know, Power is in a better position to outbid you if it comes down to that.”

  I grinned and patted Dre’s shoulder. “We’ll see.”

  I don’t want Shay but if I can help her get the most money out of Power as she can by starting a bidding war, I’m cool with doing that. If she has that star quality in person that she has in the booth, she’s worth it.

  I went back to my VIP booth and told Cash and Paulie what happened. We had a good laugh over Dre and how incredibly arrogant A&R people are. Every single one of them wants to be Puffy except me. I never want to be a full time record executive. Becoming Joey’s partner at Clausen Music Group was a great financial decision. I get to keep my masters, produce my own music, and never have to pay for studio time. I have label backing for all my projects because I am the label. Plus, Joey has done more for my career than anyone else has. The least I could do is make him a millionaire too and give his once small independent label a major artist and make CMG a contender in this cutthroat business.

  “Roxy thinks you and I should start a label,” Cash yelled over the music which seemed to have gotten louder while we waited for Shay to bless the stage with her presence.

  “Yeah, she told me. But you’re not ready to come off the road and neither am I, right?”

  Cash shook his head. “Not at all. I told Roxy that I’ve only been doing this for nine years. When I retire, I’m gonna teach music.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I commented and reached for my phone.

  Sunny had sent me three texts. I was surprised to see that she’s back from Dallas. I thought she was supposed to be gone a week, not four days. I replied to her text telling her where I was and that she should join us but she declined. I should have known she would. She’s gotten to the point where most of her clothes don’t fit and she doesn’t like pictures of her pregnant on the Internet. She never shows up at anything I want to do anymore. She’s perfectly content with lounging on the couch watching television or locked in her studio. If it doesn’t have anything to do with S.T.Y.L.E.Z or Uninhibited, she doesn’t want any part of it. I’m trying to be understanding because she’s pregnant but if this keeps up after she has the baby, we are going to have a problem.

  “So,” Paulie started. “We’re here to see Shay, right? How the hell did she pop back into your life?”

  “She just showed up at the house one day with her demo,” I explained. “I haven’t talked to Shay in a long time.”

  “Sunny is going to shit bricks when she finds out that Shay is back in the picture.”

  “Oh, you and Shay used to have a thing?” Cash asked. “Word?”

  “Yeah, for a few months.”

  “Man,” Paulie laughed. “He’s trying to act like it wasn’t serious. That boy was whipped by Shay. He stopped messing around with Chyna Miller to get with Shay and you know how fine Chyna Miller is.”

  Cash nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Chyna is fine. I’m not too familiar with Shay though.”

  “That’s ‘cause you only mess with actresses and bloggers,” I kidded.

  “Man, don’t even bring up my baby mama. At least you and yours are cool and, as far as I know, Sunny isn’t bipolar.”

  “That’s what you think,” Paulie joked. “Victoria seems cool though.”

  “Victoria is far from cool,” Cash stated. “and I’m out with my friends so the last person I want to think about is Victoria.”

  “Yeah, let’s not talk about past girlfriends,” I said.

  “We’re here to see your past, remember? How we gon’ not talk about her?”

  “Because,” I groaned and filled my glass with ice and Grey Goose. “Shay is just another artist now. We start talking about relationships, past, present, and future, and we might as well start talking about our feelings and shit too. Look,” I held up my phone and turned it off. “Let’s forget about the women in our lives tonight and just chill.”

  As soon as I tucked my phone back into my pocket, Roxy walked onto the stage to quiet the crowd and introduce Shay. I turned in my seat to give my manager the attention that she deserves. Roxy stepped onto the stage in an all black ensemble that made her look like Jada Pinkett in Magic Mike. When I first met Roxy, she wore her hair in a long ponytail like Sade but now, she keeps it cut short and sharp. I call it her power cut. Roxy is maybe an inch over five feet tall but, from the way she carries herself, she’s like an Amazon. From my mom, to my manager, having such strong women in my life never escapes me.

  “LA!” Roxy shouted in the mic. “What’s good?”

  When the crowd stopped laughing at Roxy’s Nicki Minaj impression, she began to speak.

  “First, thank you for coming out. The person I’m about to bring to the stage is one of your very own. You may have seen her at half court at the Staples Center dancing with the Laker Girls. But tonight, you’ve never seen her like this. Put your hands together for Shay Alexander!”

  From the moment she stepped on the stage, before she even op
ened her mouth, Shay had the crowd captivated. Even Cash was mesmerized. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She sounded great and looked even better. She drew the crowd in and never let them go.

  “She’s good, isn’t she?”

  I felt Roxy slip into the booth next to me. All I could do was nod.

  “She’s hotter than Katy Perry and has a range like Mariah,” Roxy stated. “She can sing, dance, and she’s sexy as hell. Who in pop can say that right now? Sign her, Aiden. Apryl and I are going to make that girl an international superstar with you or without you.”

  “Power wants her.”

  Roxy wrinkled her brow and filled a glass with ice and my vodka. “Dre can kiss my ass. He’s never getting another one of my clients.”

  “Power can offer her more money and more exposure than CMG,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, but can they get her the caliber of producers that you can? Dre and Rayshawn aren’t going to pay you to work with her and that’s what she wants. She wants to work with you.”

  I looked back at the stage. Shay was singing a power ballad directly to a dude in front of the stage. Every time she touched him, he looked like he was about to bust one. Then it hit me.

  “Beyoncé…you’re trying to make Shay into the next Beyoncé.”

  “Most definitely. And she may be the only one who can do it.”

  I nodded slowly and took a swig of my drink. The cool liquor wiped away the cloudiness in my thought process that watching Shay was causing. I’ve never negotiated a contract with Roxy before but I’ve been in the room while she was doing it. It was not a pretty sight. When I moved from Power to CMG, the person she was negotiating with was her ex-husband whom she still loved and she still didn’t hold anything back. I can only imagine what this will be like.

  “I’ll talk to Joey and our lawyers,” I relented. “But, you have to talk to other labels. If you can get a better deal from them then I want you to take it. She deserves it.”

  Roxy was silent for a few minutes. I couldn’t tell if my statement had done the unthinkable and rendered her speechless. I was barely paying attention to her. My eyes were on Shay as she swayed her hips to the seductive beat of a song about the sounds of making love...until I felt a sharp pain in my ribs.

  “Ouch! What was that for?”

  Roxy glared at me. “Do not make me remind you of your current relationship status. Stop lookin’ at that girl like she ain’t got no damn panties on!”

  I laughed then kissed her cheek. “On that note, I’m outta here. I’ll call you about Shay in a few days.”

  After giving Cash a pound, I left the club as quickly as I could. It was ten times easier getting out than it was getting in. Instead of going straight home, I took the scenic route with the top down. The cool air was good for my brain. I felt more tipsy that I should have after only a few drinks. What the hell is that all about?

  ***

  “What’s up with the fancy restaurant and you looking like you’re the latest cover model for GQ?”

  Shay smiled at me from across the table. Her smile was warm and infectious. The light pink gloss made her lips look like an open invitation to kiss them.

  “You don’t look too shabby yourself,” I complimented her.

  Shabby was a far cry away from what Shay looked like tonight. Her long sleeved black dress stopped mid-thigh exposing her dancer’s legs. It was cut just low enough to be respectable and still have every man with two eyes staring at her when the hostess sat her across from me.

  “Your text said Ja’Vu so I dressed for the occasion. What is the occasion by the way? Are you going to make all of my dreams come true, Aiden?”

  I couldn’t help but grin at Shay’s playful way of flirting. Truthfully, I was about to make all of her dreams come true. On my iPad mini, tucked away in my jacket pocket, was the three-album deal that Roxy, Joey, and I had spent a week hammering out. It was primed and ready for Shay Alexander’s John Hancock.

  “Tonight is a celebration. Every new CMG artist gets the star treatment before you enter Joey’s infamous sink or swim boot camp.”

  “Are you sure this isn’t a date?” Shay teased with a wink.

  I slid the iPad across the table. “I don’t date my artists.”

  “Bullshit,” Shay laughed. “You almost married one of them.”

  She took the stylus and signed her name with flourish. “I’m just messing with you, babe. I want to work with you, not sleep with you. Like I told you when we first met, I’m not a home wrecker.”

  As I took the iPad back, I realized that Shay hadn’t actually read the contract, a bad move on her part. An artist needs sto read and comprehend every piece of paper that someone wants them to sign.

  “It’s cool,” Shay assured me when I pointed out her mistake. “Apryl sent me a copy this morning. I know exactly what I’m getting in to.”

  “Shay, I’m going to keep it real with you. CMG isn’t an easy label to be on. Joey runs his shit like the military. His artists work all day, every day. There’s no fuckin’ around with him. I’m talking vocal training, song writing, rehearsals...the works. He’s not going to put you in the studio with me or any other producer until he feels like you’re ready.”

  “Does he treat you like that?”

  “When I first signed with Joey, I had three hit albums and he made me start working with a vocal coach. I’m a guitar player and I was in rehearsal and vocal training every single day for three months before he would even let me start writing my fourth album. I’m a partner now so I’m the exception, but it wasn’t that long ago that I was in your shoes. I just want you to know what you’re getting into. And, full disclosure here, I don’t do pop. I know that you want to work with me, but I know a ton of producers who would be better at producing a pop album for you than I’d be.”

  “Aiden, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. If neither you or Joey think I’m ready to start recording, then we have nothing to worry about right now. I trust your judgment one hundred percent. I watched you create yourself as an artist from the ground up. I respect you, Aiden. I’m just happy to be able to work with you.”

  Since the business portion of our dinner was complete, I felt more relaxed and comfortable at the table. I was out of record exec mode and back to my normal self. Shay and I sat at the table and ate and drank for hours. I’d forgotten how cool and easy to talk to she is. It’s been a couple of years since we talked so we had a lot to catch up on.

  Around nine, we headed out of the restaurant but I wasn’t ready to go home to Sunny on the couch in her pajamas. Shay and I hit up Prey for a few drinks. We sat at the bar and took shots of Johnny Walker Blue and joked around for a bit.

  “You are a mess,” Shay slurred after her fifth shot. “You haven’t changed a bit. How does your fiancée handle you when you’re on the road?”

  “We’ll soon see. She wasn’t my fiancée when we were on the road over the summer.” I threw back another shot. “You might see too. If Joey approves, I might let you come on the road with me.”

  Shay leaned over on her barstool and patted my thigh. “You want me on the road with you for what?”

  “Not like last time,” I laughed.

  “But last time was fun.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Me and you have done some shit on the road that we better take to our graves.”

  Shay looked up at me with big lust-filled eyes. “We were great at that, huh?”

  I glanced down and caught a sight of her cleavage begging to be released. All at once, memories of Shay in bed flooded my head. My dick sprang to attention. Shay noticed and slowly moved her hand up my thigh.

  “Ummm,” I heard a familiar voice say.

  Both of us jumped back. I turned around to see Erica standing with Matt. I certainly wasn’t expecting to run into her.

  “What is this?” Erica asked with her face all screwed up. I just rolled my eyes at her.

  “Meet your new label mate. Shay, you know Erica, right?”
/>   Shay giggled and nodded. She stuck out her hand for a shake. “I most certainly do. Hey girl! How are you?”

  Erica ignored Shay’s hand and glared at me. “Seriously, dude? What the hell are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” I told her. “Just having a few drinks with a friend. We’re leaving soon.”

  Erica looked angrier than she did when I first noticed her. I assumed that if I didn’t leave now, her next move would be a text to Sunny. I helped Shay off her barstool and started to head for the exit. Erica grabbed my arm.

  “I don’t know if you realize what this looks like but there’s a shitload of paparazzi outside. And if you don’t want to explain to your fiancée that this isn’t what she thinks it is, you two better leave out of here separately. One picture is all it’s going to take to get people saying y’all are back together.”

  “We just signed a three-album deal,” I commented and grabbed Shay’s hand. “I don’t give a damn about what people think. This is business.”

  I wrapped my arm around Shay’s waist and guided her away from Erica and her boyfriend. We were still laughing and talking as we waited for my car and security to pull up.

  During the ride to her apartment, Shay rested her head on my shoulder and slurred something about being famous for more than just her body.

  “What’s wrong with that?” I asked. “You have a great body.”

  “Wasn’t enough to keep you though.”

  Shay opened her eyes as if she was shocked that her drunk lips had uttered her sober thoughts.

  “You could have kept me,” I muttered. “You left.”

  Shay reached up and stroked the side of my face. Her eyes were glassy but full of an indescribable emotion that I couldn’t quite read.

  “Does Sunny know how lucky she is to have you?” Shay asked. “I mean, does she truly understand how great you are? Because, you deserve someone who realizes that, Aiden. Someone who appreciates you. When we were together, even though I knew that you’d do whatever you had to for Sunny and your kid, you were still the best boyfriend I ever had.”