Crazy on You

by Crystal B. Bright

  Damn. Tassia had a feeling she would have to do her research about her boss. She knew Chantel’s catalogue. As a fan, she devoured her music. Despite Truman marrying her idol and being her boss, she didn’t listen to a lot of his music. She knew that any song she had given him, he killed it.

  “What’s the deal with him?” Tassia crossed her legs. “Is he a Charisma artist?” A shiver went through her body just thinking about possibly bumping into him in the hallways there.

  “Not really. We’re trying something new. We want to try something new. We’ve talked with his management, and we want to do another album of duets where we cross genres.” Truman paused the video, leaving a close-up image of Hyde’s face on the screen.

  Oh, no. Tassia saw the writing on the wall.

  “We want you to do an album with Hyde.” Chantel beamed. “With the twins, Tru and I have been subjected to a lot of kids’ programming. Of course, we came across the Ratty Rat show, which they love. We saw a scene you did with Hyde and thought it would be a great idea to put you two back together again, but in an adult version. Bring your soul edge along with his country flavor to make something groundbreaking.”

  Tassia volleyed her attention between Truman and Chantel. “Like what you two did.”

  Chantel glanced at Truman. “Something like that. We think that now is the time to cross boundaries, show people that being different doesn’t mean you can’t work together.”

  Tassia had to wrap her mind around several concepts. Her first album would be a duet with a country singer she had worked with before but who wouldn’t even hire her a few years ago. She wouldn’t be doing a solo project after all of these years with the company. It sounded like Chantel and Truman saw this as some sort of political statement.

  “I don’t know.” Tassia shook her head. “I envisioned my first album having my own sound.”

  Chantel sat up straighter. “It still will. Truman and I want you and Hyde to write all of the music on the album.” She jutted her thumb over her shoulder to point at the still image on the TV screen.

  “Does the album have to have a political slant? I don’t think I want my brand to be that.” Tassia tried hard to get out of this situation as tactfully as possible.

  Christina may have catapulted her music career by riding on Hyde’s coattails. Tassia wouldn’t do that.

  Chantel furrowed her eyebrows. “You hate being called a ‘hook girl’, but given the opportunity to do something substantial, you don’t want to do that?”

  Tassia didn’t want to seem ungrateful. She had to turn this around and put this in her favor. “I truly appreciate you two thinking about me for this special project. I can tell it means a lot to you. I don’t know if I can give this project the right flavor it needs.” She grabbed her purse strap to signal she wanted to go. “Besides, I really should have Norma here with me to hash out deals.”

  Chantel sat up taller. “We’ve already spoken to your agent. And we looped in your manager. They were both on board and agreed to sit down with all of us officially with contracts if you were okay with this deal.”

  Great. Now the people Tassia paid to look out for her best interests hadn’t even bothered to contact her to give her a heads-up on this development. Did Tassia have anyone on her side? Did anyone have her back?

  Tassia shook her head. “It doesn’t seem fair.” She wanted to hold back her true feelings, but they came spilling out of her. “I’ve been busting my butt for you all since I signed my contract years ago. I’ve been writing, singing, and touring for you all since the day I graduated from college, all in the hopes that one day I’ll get to branch out on my own.” She jutted her thumb over her shoulder. “I get off tour with the hottest rapper in the game right now to find out that someone off the street is recording her first solo album before I could even get a chance at doing mine, and she has been here less time than I have.”

  “If you’re talking about Avery, you’re right about her recording her album before you.” Chantel nodded. “You two are a lot alike. You’ve gotten buzz because of your association with Aaron on his hit song, and the TV show, of course. She made her mark already because of some viral open-mic performances.”

  “Then why not ask her to do the duet? I’ve done my time playing back-up.” Tassia felt her face becoming hot and her hands trembling. She fisted them to keep some semblance of control.

  “To be honest, we did think about her doing this project first.” Truman glanced at his wife. “But then Chantel reminded me that because she hasn’t performed on a major stage, she may come off as a back-up singer rather than being on equal footing with her duet partner. We know you’re strong enough to go toe-to-toe with any singer. And honestly, we thought you would enjoy working with Hyde again.”

  Tassia snickered. “You’re asking me to do a duet with a guy who wouldn’t even hire me to sing back-up for him before I started working here at Charisma.” She watched Truman and Chantel blink hard before they looked at each other. “Then you want us to record in some mash-up genre that probably won’t fly with listeners. And although I’m not getting to record my own solo album, you think I’m strong enough to sing on an album, but only with a partner.” She backed up toward the door. “People like categories. They like compartments.” She held her hands a few inches apart. “Country.” She moved her hands over. “Pop.” She moved the duo again. “R&B.” Then she shook her head. “Anything muddled will get lost and it’ll get no radio airplay because stations won’t know what to do with the sound.”

  Truman cleared his throat. “Sounds like someone who has done a lot of homework on the industry. That’s what’s so great about this project. You two can make it be whatever you want it to be with our blessing and backing.” He put his hand over his wife’s. “If the sound you two develop feels more country, go that way.”

  “And,” Chantel quickly added, “if it feels more soulful, you can go that route.” She tried hiding a smile as she nudged her elbow against Truman’s side.

  Tassia stared at the two people she thought wanted her to succeed on her own. Now she only viewed them as puppet masters looking to make carbon copies of themselves. They didn’t care about her career, but Tassia had to care.

  Suddenly, Tassia could hear Burt in her head telling her she needed to run, go. If these people couldn’t see her worth like the people at the Ratty TV show hadn’t, then she needed to leave.

  “I have to think about all of this. I was hoping to have a different conversation with you two that would have involved me going off and doing my own thing. Instead, I’m still hitching my talent on someone else’s wagon. I have no desires to revisit my Ratty Rat days, and that includes working with a former castmate.” She hiked her purse up on her shoulder. “I’m not really down for a duets album, especially with another male singer, and particularly one out of my genre who, apparently, doesn’t like the way I sing. And although people seem to love reunions, I don’t see myself jumping on that train. Since I’m at the tail end of my contract with Charisma, I have a lot of thinking I need to do.”

  Chantel looked at Truman before dropping her gaze for a beat. “I understand. I’m sure you’re exhausted. We are asking for a lot from you, probably too much considering you just got off the road.”

  “Thank you for understanding.” Tassia kept her arms tightly wrapped around her body.

  “We do. We want you to think about this opportunity, talk to your agent, and discuss what this project could afford you.” Chantel stood. “I can definitely see more awards in your future from doing this. You would get the right recognition. I’ve always told you that you could sing the names in a phonebook and I would listen to it.”

  Hearing that from Chantel Woodley meant everything. Tassia swallowed to keep from breaking down in tears over the compliment. “You don’t know what it means to me to hear that from you.”

  Chantel smiled, but then it melted almos
t immediately. “I hope you understand that right now work at Charisma has slowed. Lots of tours are ending, so not a lot of work for back-up singers. Christmas albums have wrapped for the upcoming season. And no need for studio work.” She stood. “Did you do any writing while on the road?”

  Damn. Tassia had meant to write a song a day, that way she would have lots of options to show Chantel and Truman once the tour ended. Getting wrapped up in Dorian and all his activities put her behind on her goal.

  “Um, no.” She chuckled. “You know how the road is. When I wasn’t performing, I was rehearsing. If I wasn’t doing those two things, I was sleeping.”

  “And dating?” Truman raised his eyebrows at her. “I heard about you and—”

  “Done.” Tassia cut him off before he could continue. “Road romance.” She wiped her hands together. “Broke up on the last day. Now I’m really ready to go solo.” In more ways than one.

  “That’s unfortunate for you personally, but probably a good thing for your songwriting.” Chantel glanced at her husband. “Tru used to tell me when he taught me how to write songs that he got a lot of inspiration from being single.”

  Tassia would have to learn to mine some of that experience if anger didn’t fuel her right now. She didn’t think music lovers wanted to hear songs about a loser, and she didn’t mean Dorian. How could Tassia remain in a relationship with him for so long?

  “Enjoy your time off.” Chantel put her hand out. “If you change your mind about recording, let us know.”

  Shit.

  Tassia smiled as she shook Chantel’s hand. In a nutshell, her boss laid out Tassia’s financial future at the label. Do the duets album and get paid, or do nothing and have no work.

  “I’ll think about it while I’m relaxing on a beach.” Tassia beamed.

  “Oh, wow. Sounds nice. Where are you going?” Truman draped his arm around his wife’s shoulders.

  Tassia shrugged. “Not sure yet. I want to go where my heart tells me to go.”

  Chantel wagged her finger at her. “That line would go great in a song.”

  Tassia blinked. “Yeah, I guess it would.”

  “I hope you don’t plan on staying wherever you’re going for very long. We want to start this album in a month. The process will include songwriting and plotting out the album. Then we’ll start recording.” Chantel leaned forward toward Tassia. “We still want you for the album. I hope you’ll reconsider.”

  Tassia had a lot to mull over and not a lot of time. “I’ll think about it. I hope you two will think about me doing my solo album.” She didn’t see much enthusiasm on their faces. Tassia beamed to sell herself more. “I think if I were to release my solo project before this joint one, both could be winners.”

  Chantel nodded. “We’ll see. We would have to see songs for both projects to decide.” She patted Tassia’s shoulder. “You enjoy your time off.”

  Tassia knew what that line meant. Unless she played ball with them, they had little interest in pursuing anything else. So much for a summer vacation.

  She had to talk to someone, and she knew the right person to call. Not her best friend, India. Tassia hit the speed dial on her phone as she stomped out to her car.

  “Hey, baby girl.” Despite Tassia releasing her father as her manager when she got back into the industry, Burt never displayed any contempt or hard feelings toward his daughter. “What’s going on? Off tour?”

  “Yes. Back home in Virginia Beach.” Tassia got to her car and hopped inside. She cranked up the air conditioner to cool off since this turn of events made her overheated.

  “Good. You can take a road trip up to Maryland to see me.” He chuckled a little. “I can make the shaved ice you like, and I’ll start up the grill just for you.”

  Tassia could almost smell the flaming charcoal from where she sat in her car. Then she could calm herself down even more with her daddy’s famous shaved ice with blueberry syrup.

  She couldn’t think about anything refreshing. She needed to vent, and she knew Burt would understand.

  “I just had a meeting.” Tassia drummed her thumb on the steering wheel.

  “Really? With who?”

  “With Chantel and Truman Woodley.” She took a deep breath. “They made a proposal to me.”

  “Great. Finally getting that album that you should have gotten years ago?” A lightness filled Burt’s voice.

  Too bad Tassia’s news would deflate him as much as her spirit had been. “They did propose an album to me. But they want me to do a duets album.”

  “Oh, with one of them? Or both of them?”

  “Neither. With Hyde Love.”

  An uncomfortable silence filled the phone.

  Tassia started to fill the gap, but Burt interrupted her. “Leave. You don’t need to stay there. They’re not making you do this.”

  Tassia needed to hear someone else’s support of her decision.

  “What have I told you before? If they don’t recognize your talent, you move on to a place where they will. You can do much better, and they’ll see that once you go.”

  She imagined her father stomping around and hooking his thumb around his suspenders. She didn’t remember a time when the man didn’t wear them.

  “You’re talented. I told those producers that when you were on that show. They didn’t see that. You don’t need to do this duets album. You can do better.”

  Tassia nodded. She still had some thinking to do, but the words from her father helped. If she had to go, she would.

  Chapter 4

  “So?”

  Tassia allowed her father’s inquiry to hang in the balance while she continued packing.

  “Are you going to tell me what you’ve decided?” Burt had no patience.

  Truthfully, she couldn’t hold anything back from her dad. “I’m taking that much-needed vacation.”

  She’d taken a few days to decide. Tassia would call Chantel and Truman once she landed. She needed to be as far away from Virginia and as far removed from the bad offer as she possibly could. Maybe then she could be allowed to take a deep breath.

  And then what? What would she do for a career?

  As though her daddy had read her thoughts, he said, “Take your time to decide what it is you want to do. If the money gets tight, you can always come home.”

  A smile hitched at the corner of her mouth. “Thanks for the offer. I’ll do okay with residuals from the show and the single. Hell, there’s always Dancing With the Stars, right?”

  “As long as you get a good partner.”

  Oh, lord. Her father actually took her seriously.

  “How long will you be away?” Burt’s choppy words sounded like he did his normal pacing while he plotted next moves.

  “Probably a couple of weeks. I’m going with India. I don’t think she has the time to stay longer.” Tassia returned to her dresser to retrieve some more garments to take.

  “Oh, you’re going with India.” Worry laced his voice.

  That tone stopped Tassia in her tracks. “Is there a problem?”

  “I don’t know. She seems a bit, um, forward thinking.”

  That had to be code for Burt disapproving of India’s choice to date around often and openly talk about her bedroom antics to anyone within a ten-foot radius.

  “That’s why I like her. She tells it like it is, and you never have to wonder what it is that she wants. Kind of reminds me of Mom.” Tassia didn’t talk about her deceased mother often with her father, which seemed strange. He should have been the person she could be the most open with when talking about her mom, even with her passing so long ago.

  Tassia jumped high enough to hit her twelve-foot ceiling in her bedroom as soon as she heard a loud scream. As she gasped for air, she turned to her doorway in time to see her best friend strolling through it.

  “Wha
t’s going on?” Burt made some rustling noise through the phone. “I’m on my way over there now.”

  “Don’t, Daddy. It’s just India. I’ll talk to you later when we get to where we’re going. Love you.”

  “Love you, too. And tell that gal to straighten up.”

  Yeah, easier said than done. Tassia disconnected the call.

  “You scared the hell out of me.” Tassia abandoned her packing duties to smack her friend’s bare arm before she hugged her. “Why in the world are you screaming like that?”

  India stuffed her keys into her expensive purse before she threw it on Tassia’s bed. “I have been waiting forever for you to come off tour so that we can go on this vacation.”

  India had to practically take a running start to plop herself back on Tassia’s high bed. It didn’t help that her friend stood a good foot below her. Even with her short stature, her voluptuous shape let anyone viewing her see that she could not be classified as a child.

  “I’m glad you were able to go on such short notice.” Tassia would leave out the fact that her original plan had her going with Dorian.

  Life had thrown her a major curveball.

  India reclined on her side and looked at Tassia with a smile. “I know you were going to go with your boo thang.” She nudged her sandaled foot against Tassia’s leg. “I also know you two broke up.”

  Tassia turned her head to her. “How did you know? We didn’t talk about that when I—” She stopped when India held up her phone.

  “Your boy posts everything. He said he dumped you.”

  Tassia returned to her packing. Maybe she needed longer than one week in Fiji. Or maybe she should do a week there and then go somewhere cold, like her relationship status. Hot one minute. Frigid the next.

  “Doesn’t really matter how it all turned out. The fact of the matter is that I’m a single woman, and I’m free.” Tassia smiled to prove to her friend that she meant every word.

  “Yes, you are.” India rolled onto her stomach and rested her chin on her hands. “Don’t forget to pack condoms.”