Now We're Here

by Jessica Kale

  One of the mistakes that Gabriella made was that she hired her girlfriend as our producer. Such an unprofessional mistake, hiring a rookie to produce for a whole band.

  Alicia grazed her bottom lip with her teeth. She was fuming. “Well this ‘rookie' made you fucking famous,” she said, rather to herself. Gabriella didn’t even bother asking her what was going on. “Ridiculous,” Alicia muttered.

  “He called you a rookie?” Gabriella asked, lifting her head off the couch. Her speech was slurred, almost as if she was drunk. “What else did he say?”

  “Are you sure you wanna hear this?” Alicia asked.

  “I mean, it’s probably all over E! anyway. Hit me.”

  “He said that I have no talent as a producer, and that I contributed nothing to the band’s success,” Alicia said.

  Gabriella buried her face in her hands. She didn’t cry, not anymore. For the past couple of days, she had wept until the fount of tears seemed dry. But she looked disappointed. All her efforts to climb out of that melancholic state had crumbled, just like that.

  “Wait, there’s a link in here,” Alicia said, her fingers hovering over the mouse-pad. Her eyes darted to Gabriella. “Should I play it?” she asked. The blonde nodded solemnly.

  Alicia clicked on the video. Devon sat at a round wooden table, staring at the interviewer through heavy-lidded eyes. His hair was as scruffy as ever and his skin had turned a honeyed brown from the sun. Every now and again he licked his lips, as if preparing to give some kind of slanderous speech. Beside him sat Straub, who was fumbling with a pair of earphones placed on the table in front of him. He peered up at the interviewer with a smug look on his face, as if he and Devon had been preparing for this interview for a while now.

  “But we all know that Sawdust’s first album was number one on the iTunes chart. Isn’t Alicia Harper the reason behind this success?” the interviewer asked, raising an eyebrow at Devon.

  Instantly, Alicia’s eyes darted to Devon. His face went all kinds of red. He clenched his jaw and forced a smile, as if preparing to pounce right back at him. “Well, first of all, Gabriella only brought Alicia on board because she’s her girlfriend,” he said. “That doesn’t mean the girl has any kind of experience as a producer. And second of all,” Devon paused, clearing his throat.

  “Second of all,” Straub interrupted. “Sawdust were number one on iTunes because they worked hard to get to where they are. Very hard.”

  “So what you’re saying is, the band only made it to number one because they worked for it, and not because their producer helped them get there?” the interviewer asked.

  “Well, we have to give Alicia some credit,” Straub said, his lips forming an annoying pout. “She was the band’s producer for quite a while, and they did trust her and her vision. But unfortunately she had a very rigid view of what was to come, and in a way they felt like she was limiting their success.”

  Devon nodded in agreement.

  “He’s a puppet, a fucking puppet!” Alicia said, glaring at Gabriella. “After all I’ve done? All those nights spent in the studio, working my ass off! That’s what I get?”

  Gabriella moved in closer to her and brushed the hair out of her eyes. Alicia was furious. A part of her wanted to book her own interview, get up there and bash the band altogether. But then where would that leave Gabriella? It was enough Devon kicked her out of the band, and now this?

  “You know what’s scaring me?” Gabriella asked. Her eyes had a deadness in them, a certain stillness that made Alicia uncomfortable. “I’m scared they just bashed our reputation. Who would wanna hire us now?” she asked. “Who would wanna work with a talentless producer and a sucky singer?”

  “Gabriella, do you really think of yourself as a sucky singer?” Alicia asked, squinting at her.

  “Of course not!”

  “Then why do you care what he says?”

  “Because, um, wait for it.” She reached over and turned off full-screen mode. “Because so far the video has six hundred thousand views, maybe? Fuck!”

  “Listen, we’re not going to let this get to us, we can’t let it get to us,” Alicia said, slamming the lid closed on Gabriella’s laptop again. She rose to her feet, dusted herself off and straightened up. “We’re going to go to the studio tomorrow, work our asses off like we always do and discuss this whole thing with Jeremy, alright?”

  “Right,” Gabriella said. “I just don’t want this to affect our opportunities later on,” she continued.

  “It won’t if we don’t let it,” Alicia said, matter-of-factly. “Now, come here,” she whispered, leaning in close to Gabriella and resting her forehead on hers. “I’ve missed you.”

  ***

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Gabriella asked, staring at Alicia. She had been stoic all morning, not wanting to talk to anyone, not even Gabriella.

  “I don’t know, I just woke up feeling defeated,” Alicia said. “But I’ll try my best to power through this day.”

  The two of them decided not to take the car to the studio; it was a long walk, a tiring walk. It wasn’t like Alicia had never walked there before, but this time, it felt like her legs could barely carry her. She dragged her feet across the asphalt, trying not to fall apart at any given moment. Every now and again she would check her phone for any updates, but there would be none. And Alicia would be relieved.

  Finally when the two of them arrived at the studio, Gabriella took out her keys and unlocked the door, only to find that Jeremy was already inside. He was hunched over his laptop, scrolling through what Alicia could only guess was the interview. The moment he saw Alicia, he slammed the lid shut and rose to his feet.

  “It’s alright, we saw it,” Gabriella said, rolling her eyes. She went over and sat next to him, but he didn’t say a word. His eyes jumped right to Alicia, who went straight to the mini fridge.

  “This is getting out of hand, but we can fix it,” Jeremy said.

  “Fix it? Fix it? How are we gonna fix it?” Alicia asked, her face turning all shades of red.

  “I don’t understand, you were very calm about this yesterday. What changed?” Gabriella asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “Come on, Alicia, it’s going to be okay.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on with me,” Alicia replied. She had woken up feeling like her world was falling apart. She had a dream that her whole neighborhood was on fire, that everything was burning down to ashes. She saw herself standing at the window, staring down at her own house as it went up in flames. And she had no choice but to jump. “Did you see the part where he said I’m talentless?”

  “Alicia, they’re just trying to get to you. Don’t give them that,” Jeremy said, eyeing her as she pulled out a water bottle, popped the lid off and downed it all in one gulp. She crushed the bottle in her hand and dropped it in the trash. Gabriella watched her as she clasped her hands behind her head and eventually, let them fall to her side.

  “Whatever,” Alicia said. She looked around and spotted someone standing out in front of the studio. “What the?” she said, marching to the front door and jerking it open. “Logan?”

  James Logan stood out in the yard with his fingers laced behind his back. He looked at Alicia with a remorseful gaze, and when she motioned for him to step inside, he slowly walked up the driveway and reached his hand out to her. “Hello, Alicia,” he said, his indigo eyes staring straight at her.

  “Hi,” she said. “Come on in.” For some reason Alicia remained pinned to the floor. She heard footsteps at the door, and then suddenly remembered she had an appointment with Sandy.

  “Oh, hey!” she said, greeting Sandy at the door.

  All three of them walked back inside, and when Logan’s eyes settled on Jeremy, he went straight to him.

  “Hey, I kind of wanted to talk to you about something, if you don’t mind,” Logan said, trying to absorb the awkwardness of the situation.

  Jeremy hesitated, but after seeing t
he look on Logan’s face, figured he at least owed him his attention. “Sure, go ahead,” he said. But he didn’t move. Logan eyed him expectantly, as if waiting for him to get up so he could talk to him in private.

  “Um, well,” he said finally. “I turned down my contract with StoneCrawl.”

  There was silence. Alicia and Gabriella exchanged brief glances, but nonetheless pretended like they weren’t listening. “I watched the news and … I just don’t think I can trust Straub after what he did to Alicia, and to Gabriella,” he continued.

  Jeremy pursed his lips and looked away. He was trying to gather his thoughts, to put them in a way that didn’t sound like a big “I told you so.”

  “Straub isn’t to be trusted,” Jeremy said after a long pause. “And I’m sorry you had to see that. It was a low blow from him, and Devon.”

  “Yeah,” Logan said, nodding. The silence washed over them like a tide. “Do you mind if we sit down and talk over coffee, perhaps tomorrow morning?” he asked.

  “I don’t mind at all,” Jeremy said, flashing him a half-smile. Suddenly he felt victorious, like he had just won a match. Except he wasn’t even competing, or trying to compete. He thought that this whole interview made Straub out to be a liar, someone who shouldn’t be trusted.

  “You know what,” Sandy said, shooting up. “Alicia, you’re a great person to work with. Don’t listen to them; you’re an awesome producer, and I personally find you very talented.”

  “Thank you, Sandy,” Alicia said, her lips curving into a smile.

  “So, seriously, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to hit me up.”

  Alicia tried to suppress her smile but couldn’t. “I’m so happy you guys have my back,” she said, looking around at everyone. “And Gabriella’s, too.”

  “I think we all just need to put our heads together and figure things out, as a team,” Jeremy said.

  Suddenly Alicia felt an overwhelming rush of emotion. Who said it was too late to save her career? Who said it was too late for Gabriella to save hers? These people were rooting for her. But before other people could believe in her, she had to believe in herself.

  “Let’s put our heads together as of now,” Gabriella said, her lips curving into a wry smile, “because I’m not going to rest until we expose Straub for who he really is.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Gabriella jerked her makeup drawer open. She dug around for her last bottle of foundation, her setting powder, her mascara and her lipstick, spreading them out in front of her and smiling to herself. Today, she was going to look exquisite. She was going to dress exquisitely, walk exquisitely, talk exquisitely. She threw her closet door open and started going through her things.

  “Nope, nope, nope,” she whispered quietly.

  Alicia was still asleep, but Gabriella was up early today. Finally she pulled out a spaghetti-strap top and pencil skirt combo that had once made Alicia swoon. She went into the bathroom, threw them on, did her makeup and was good to go. Without waking Alicia up, she hurried downstairs, grabbed the car keys and left. The roads were empty; it was pretty early in the morning, but she knew she would find the people she was looking for.

  A short while drive later she arrived outside StoneCrawl studios. She strutted across the parking lot, her heels clicking against the concrete. Her keys jingled in her hand; she felt in control. She walked into the lobby all the way to the security desk and flashed the guard a wide smile. “I’d like to have a word with David Straub?” she said.

  “One moment,” the big bellied man said.

  He disappeared for a while; Gabriella could hear him going in and out of the rooms. She must’ve waited for a good fifteen minutes. Normally, she would have given the guard a piece of her mind, seeing as though she once used to work with Straub. But today, she was going to play it cool.

  Finally the man stepped out. “Mr. Straub’s waiting for you,” he said. “Studio number five, to your left.”

  I know where that is, you dickhead, she thought to herself. She flashed him another smile.

  Gabriella walked down a short corridor until she caught a glimpse of Straub and Dorothy in her peripheral vision. Gabriella smiled and stepped inside.

  “Hello,” she said. “Am I interrupting anything?”

  “No, no,” Straub said, motioning for her to pull out a chair. “Alan just randomly walked into my office telling me you were outside, what a pleasant surprise!” Straub’s smile was as fake as his Rolex. His face resembled molded plastic, but he didn’t care. He just stared at Gabriella expectantly, waiting for her to reveal the reasons for her being here.

  “Well,” Gabriella said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “I came here because I have a proposition.”

  Immediately, Dorothy’s eyes bounced to Straub, who continued to stare at Gabriella.

  “A proposition?” he asked, tilting his head sideways. Dorothy averted her gaze to the blonde and continued to stare at her like a lioness gawking at its prey. “What kind of proposition?”

  “Honestly,” Gabriella said, crossing one leg over the other. Partially to fake confidence, and partially to show off her black velvet heels. “Since I left the tour I took my time to think about things, to reconsider, I guess you could say.”

  “I’m all ears,” Straub said, leaning in across the table. He licked his lips impatiently, as if waiting for Gabriella to fall at his feet and tell him he was right.

  “Remember what you said about pop music? How it’s all that people listen to these days?” Straub opened his mouth to speak but Gabriella made it clear it was only a rhetorical question. “I think you were right. I tried to resist it, but you’re right. Pop music really is important; it’s all that the industry runs on these days, or at least it constitutes a large part of it,” she said.

  There was a pause. Dorothy wasn’t even trying to be subtle in the way she kept glaring at Straub, her eyes fixated on him like daggers.

  “So anyway, I’m not gonna lie to you, my music career means everything to me,” Gabriella said, flipping her hair to one side. “And I’ll do anything to keep it.”

  “And by that, you mean?” Dorothy asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  Gabriella was more than tense in her presence, but she tried to shake it off by focusing on Straub.

  “What I mean is that I’d like to keep my place in the industry, which, as far as I know, entails transitioning to pop, in exchange for one thing,” Gabriella said, her gaze falling on Straub like an act of violence. He leaned in even further across the table, waiting eagerly for what she had to say next. “You drop Sawdust.”

  Straub laughed. “That’s ridiculous!”

  Gabriella looked at Dorothy, who clearly thought otherwise. “So you want us to drop the band in exchange for what?” Dorothy asked. It was like she was ready to pounce.

  “In exchange for me. I’ll work with Kevin, tweak my style a little bit. A whole lot, actually. You get to keep me, but you drop Sawdust,” Gabriella said. On the outside she looked calm, but in reality, her heart was beating out of her chest. She hadn’t put herself out there in such a long time, that even closing a deal felt like a challenge.

  “So basically what you’re saying is that you’re worth more than Sawdust?” Dorothy asked, lighting a cigarette. She offered Straub one and then put the pack away.

  He leaned back and put his glasses on, as if that would help him make a decision. He could see Dorothy and Gabriella talking, but he couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying. Gabriella had him at hello. Why? Because she just came out recently. Or, Alicia outed her, to be precise. But what did it matter? At the end of the day, Gabriella was the sexy lesbian country star that was wowing millions. And in this day and age? People were more open now to the idea of coming out than ever before. Gabriella was their money-maker; Straub was convinced with the idea now more than ever.

  “You know what? I’m going to think about this,” he said, interrupting the women’s talk.
Dorothy looked at him like he was a madman. “We’re going to talk about this later,” he told her.

  “The hell we will. I’m not on board with any of this. Tell me why you think we should drop a whole band just to sign you? It doesn’t make sense to me,” Dorothy said, shaking her head at Gabriella, obviously playing hard to get.

  “If you sign me, I’m going to get you two other artists,” Gabriella smirked. “James Logan and Sandy Day.”

  Well, that is definitely a game-changer. “Logan’s already turned us down,” Straub said. “Why do you think he’ll change his mind?”

  “Believe me, I can talk him into it,” Gabriella said. “And you’re forgetting all about Sandy Day. She’s a rising star, and she’ll be happy to sign with StoneCrawl.”

  Straub wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, signing with Sandy Day would probably make them millions, but on the other hand, how could he believe Gabriella with no proof?

  “I even have proof that I can get both artists to sign with you,” the curly-haired blonde said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a USB. “Here’s a record of Sandy and Logan talking to Jeremy about signing with StoneCrawl. Play it if you don’t believe me.”

  Straub raised his eyebrows and took the USB from her. It was small and resembled a golden bullet. “What is this, a James Bond movie?” he asked, connecting it to his computer.

  So, what do you think? Jeremy’s voice protruded from the speakers. I mean, I don’t think we have the capacity to sign any more artists. Not right now, at least. There was a pause. Straub could hear rustling sounds. I hear StoneCrawl are a hefty record label, so I don’t see why not, Sandy said.

  Gabriella’s eyes were glued on Straub. He was leaning back in his chair, stroking his beard, listening attentively. He didn’t look fully convinced, but when Sandy swooped in, he raised his eyebrows approvingly.

  “Alright, well, what do you think?” he asked, turning to Dorothy.