They had to lease a few larger trucks as her shows began to have pyrotechnics and big screens. It took days to set up instead hours but they had a top notch crew and they were devoted to Cassie. She hadn’t lost her personal touch as Karin moved her into circles she had only dreamed of before. As Karin had stated, they were putting on a show and at the average $65 a seat and more depending on the venue these people deserved a complete package!
Karin had her take elocution classes and the guys had a good time teasing her about that until Karin turned on them and insisted they learn a few things too. Their whole band had to take dance lessons too and they no longer teased her exclusively as they all had something to laugh about together. Dancing with a bass guitar was not easy and the audience loved their new ‘moves’. They were entertainers now and not just singers and musicians. Karin had explained this in the various ‘boardroom’ meetings they had whether they were in Nashville around Cassie’s living room or in the office or on the bus. Karin didn’t travel with them often but when she did they got overloaded with ideas and excitement. They were all having a wonderful time and she made sure of it. She even made sure their families were a part of it finding out who lived where, who was married, who involved, children, birthdays, the smallest details did not escape her notice, her phone kept details that they were hoping would never come to light. She brought cakes, had family members brought on stage, made it a family affair for all of them. One or two band members had to leave for various reasons and they never left bitter, they were family and Karin kept them in her little black book as it were.
“How are you?” Karin called Cassie.
“Gawd it was exciting” Cassie told her. She had just sung in front of Country Music Association her new hit Network. It had been inspired from watching Karin work. It was a Southern Rock with a Pop flavor that had people out on the floor dancing and tapping their toes whenever they heard it. It was about staying in contact, hooking up, connecting. It appealed to a lot of people whether they liked Country or Pop and she was officially a cross over star. She had gotten a standing ovation from her peers at the show.
“Next year you will be the one getting all those awards” Karin said with absolute conviction.
Cassie didn’t doubt it. Everything Karin had said she would do was coming to fruition. It wasn’t all fun and games. She had seen some of the ugly things Karin spoke of and had seen her actually go nose to nose shouting at some people. To see someone who looked like Karin shouting was something to see, it was impressive, it was scary. It wasn’t actually a shout so much as an intimidation, more of a ‘you will’ do what I am telling you or face the consequences of your actions moment.
“Where are you?” Cassie asked. They didn’t see as much of each other as they would like but it wasn’t much different than before she had signed her contract with Kreske. In fact, now that Karin was handling her career they saw each other more but it was a lot more business. Karin made their time together precious though and Cassie appreciated the romantic side of her, it made her feel loved, it made her feel precious, it made her feel strong knowing someone like Karin was taking care of her. Karin showed her in countless ways that she did love her. She only could hope she felt the same.
“I’m sitting in my office looking at a funny picture you framed” she smiled as she looked at a beautiful Cassie Summers who was reclined on her tricked out bus playing a plastic blow up guitar. It really looked like she was playing it too.
Cassie smiled glad that she had sent that picture. Karin’s office and home were just too plain. She needed silliness and pictures in it. “Can you meet me somewhere this week?”
“No, I’m going to Milwaukee to see my sons” she said disappointing Cassie.
“I’ve known you over a year and not once in all that time have you suggested I meet them or go to Milwaukee. Are you ashamed of me or is there something you are hiding there?”
Karin blinked at the question “I am not ashamed of you. The house there is my past. I rarely go there as you well know.”
“Then why haven’t I met your sons?” she was pushing and she knew it.
“Just the way it’s worked out, lack of time, or opportunity” she answered puzzled as to why Cassie would push it.
“Do they even know about me?” she asked disappointed.
“Of course they do, I talk to them all the time, they couldn’t help but know about you!” she insisted.
Cassie cocked her head at that and thought before asking “but do they know what I am to you?”
“Jeez Cassie, what is this? Did someone piss you off out there? Of course they know what you are to me! I’m not hiding you; I’m not hiding my sons. You’ve just never met because it hasn’t come up, how often do you play Milwaukee?”
“I noticed it’s never on the tour schedule” she replied.
Karin sighed; she didn’t need a headache like this. “What do you want me to do? Set up a play date so you can meet my boys?”
“Yes actually I would like that...”
“Fine, I’ll try to get a bunch of dates in the Midwest belt, it’s actually a good idea. You can play Milwaukee, Madison, the Dells, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Wausau and then I’ll send you over to Minneapolis and you can hit up a bunch of the cities in Minnesota. We will start you on the college circuit. There, satisfied?”
“No, not yet, but I will be, if you can manage to be there with me.”
“You wouldn’t want me with you right now; I want to wring your neck!”
Cassie did play the Midwest belt and not just Wisconsin and Minnesota, Karin had her teams set up dates throughout Illinois and Iowa. The band had done all of these places before at one time or another but now they were going first class and drawing record crowds. No more was there any empty seats in the house. After Cassie and her band released their next album they were even more popular if that were possible. Karin had them appearing on the talk show circuit to get them TV coverage. She had film crews following them at various venues and posting the live performances on U-Tube and their webpages. Sales went through the roof for the album. People loved her ballads but they also loved the crossover Southern Rock with a Pop flavor. Karin set up a series of Country Music venues that had sprouted in recent years so that she had shows throughout the backwoods of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota where people would camp for weeks in R.V.’s and various artists showed up for one night only. It was really an education for them all as they built up their fan base beyond anything it had been before.
Karin was lying out on her patio, home for the first time in six weeks except for one or two overnighters. She had missed her pets and had C.A.T. in her arms and D.O.G. vying for petting.
“Watching you I would guess they had missed you.” Cassie said where she sat in the other chair amused.
Karin smiled where she sat in her chair, she looked utterly content. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”
“Oh yeah, I’m very excited too. It should be pretty spectacular.” Her gray blue eyes sparkled in the light from inside reflecting in them.
“Well, Madison Square Garden isn’t anything to sneeze at” Karin grinned. They had managed to get a venue that normally wouldn’t be available for years on end but another group had pulled out due to the flu at the last minute and Karin had snapped it up. A little bug had whispered in her ear about the opening.
“You didn’t have anything to do with the flu virus did you?” Cassie teased as she watched Karin rub C.A.T.’s neck as he purred loudly and appreciatively as his head arched up showing her places she could rub under his chin.
Karin looked at her with a sardonic look in her eye “wow, you’ve gone over to the dark side haven’t you?”
Cassie laughed. She knew Karin might bend rules, she didn’t break them and she was honorable and trustworthy. The money she had been making was now invested properly and she and her band members were solvent. The accounting firm was full of honest hard working people and her reports reflected an income that thrilled and
amazed her. The District Attorney’s office had handled the embezzlement for her and while she hadn’t recovered much, it was at least something.
“After this though I’m going to be making a strategic withdrawal” Karin told her conversationally.
“What do you mean?”
“I won’t be visible as you’re ‘manager’ or ‘agent’ or whatever people want to label me as. My teams will all be in place for you of course but you won’t be seeing me standing there waiting to hold your hand. I have to step back” she said knowing this would upset Cassie.
“Why? It’s going great. The album is selling well, the concerts are sold out, and I already have people whispering about Grammy’s and other awards...” she sat up concerned and leaned towards Karin.
“Yes and if it looks like I handled every inch of your fame don’t you think someone might come calling? This way at least it looks like a group effort. I won’t be just the spider with its web woven. I will just be one of the mechanisms in the machinery.”
“But if you’re known as the power they won’t mess with you.”
Karin shook her head and sighed again. She peeled the cat off her lap. “I want to take a step back. I want you to succeed despite me. I won’t ever let anyone hold something over me or you.”
“Does this mean you’re breaking up with me too?” Cassie asked with her heart in her throat. She needed Karin...
Karin shook her head “no, absolutely not. I don’t want to give you up. I want to make it appear that my team is a well-oiled machine but that I don’t personally handle clients. This will make people doubt. It will give me an edge so that I can eventually, when your contract expires, step away. No one will have a reason to come after me, try to manipulate things for more money, or anything like it.”
“That damn contract, I’ve regretted signing it from day one” Cassie said bitterly.
“You did sign it. We’re halfway there now, don’t give up on it babe, you can do this and it gave you the fame that you needed, that you craved if you will admit it to yourself.” Karin looked at her knowingly.
Cassie had to concede Karin was right. The fame had its benefits. She now played in venue’s that would have been unheard of a year or two ago. Who would have wanted a lesbian lead singer of a Country Western band? Karin had played to their fears but shown that Cassie’s talent warranted a second look. She had legions of fans both in the gay and straight world from Midwestern Hicksville to straight laced upper classmen, it amazed her the variety of fans she met at meet and greets now. Some people’s fears that it would become a lesbian love fest hadn’t come to fruition.
“I notice I still haven’t met your family...” Cassie changed the subject.
“That isn’t my fault. They had tickets to your concert. Alex had to go out of town for business and Caleb decided he didn’t want to go. I can’t force them to like Country music or you.”
Cassie felt hurt though. “Maybe it’s time you met my family?”
Karin wasn’t too thrilled with that idea either. “Let me look in my schedule and we can meet there after your next set of concerts?” She would try though...
“You’re sure she’s coming today baby girl?” her dad asked her for the third time as they drove to the small airport that Karin was flying into. It was a lot closer than the large airport in Wichita.
Cassie drove over a bump in the road and cursed the old beater her father owned as the springs weren’t very efficient. She had offered him a brand new truck but he saw no reason to throw away his old ancient Chevy while it was still running. The rust on the body alone made large gaping holes. She could only imagine the expression on her girlfriend’s face when she saw their transportation. The last time she had seen her they had been in a limousine, not a stretch mind you but a classy Park Avenue. Karin Myers wasn’t a simple gal. She had tried to explain this to her father but had been unsuccessful. “Yes daddy, she texted me the flight schedule so we would be there in plenty of time.”
“She know what she’s getting into?” he asked with a smirk.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked confused and hoping she misunderstood.
“Well, I ain’t about to change and if she’s as high falutin’ as you say I don’t know what the sam hill we’re gonna talk about” he groused.
Cassie rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. She wasn’t so sure her father wasn’t right. Karin was going to take one look at this one horse hick town and run. “Just give her a chance okay daddy? I love her and that’s all you need to know...”
“Yeah but does she love my baby girl?” he asked.
“Yes daddy, she loves me very much” she said softly.
“You sure she doesn’t love all that money you been makin’?”
“Daddy” she said exasperated “she made that money for me. I’ve explained that to you. She is kind of like a manager.”
“Kinda like that feller Travis that’s rottin in jail?” he asked.
She sighed, he sure was in a picking kind of mood “no, she’s much more than that. Nowadays you have a publicist, an agent, a business manager, all of those different people to help you make records, contracts, and concerts. Karin and her team does all of that, she’s like all of those people rolled into one, she calls herself a promoter but her firm handles it for a lot of artists. She directs it and has teams of people who she tells what she wants done to sell my songs and my talent. I perform at the venues she sets up. You saw me on television last month didn’t you?” she tried to make it simple.
“Seems to me you don’t need all them people to sing a song honey.”
Cassie smiled, perhaps her simple father wouldn’t understand all the complexities involved in show business these days but Karin did and she did it well for Cassie. Even her ‘withdrawal’ campaign was garnering results. She effortlessly or so it seemed directed people from all over the country and as a result Cassie Summers was now a top selling Country music artist with a Southern Rock influence and a Pop crossover. Some called her a ‘sensation’ but that implied she was new at this and since she had been doing this all for years it didn’t really make sense. It was just that more people had discovered her brand of music and enjoyed it.
They arrived at the rural airport. A simple tarmac strip practically in the middle of nowhere surrounded by hilly terrain that had been bulldozed smooth. Cassie could already see a private jet plane had just landed and was taxiing to the small building that was located in the middle of the field next to several hangers where people kept private airplanes. She parked in front of the building and she and her father hopped out of the king cab of her daddy’s old Chevy. She wanted to kick it but thought perhaps that wouldn’t be a good idea as she looked at the rusty relic, it might just fall apart.
They were inside when the plane parked and the door lowered. A steward popped out and went down the steps and then underneath to lower a door and pull out luggage. Karin was the next person out and Cassie almost groaned she looked so good and so totally out of place in a gray business suit. She had her usual briefcase hanging from its strap over her shoulder and she was followed into the building by the steward towing a bag and carrying another.
“Cassie” she smiled showing her beautiful smile as she walked into Cassie’s arms for a hug. She kissed her on the cheek but as always wouldn’t allow Cassie to kiss her on the lips in public.
“Hey baby, you look great” Cassie said in return thrilled to see her after three weeks apart. Karin had come to one of her concerts in Miami and they had partied until dawn but that was becoming more and more of a rarity. She was becoming busier as was Cassie. She now handled three other entertainment clients and their careers as well as her literary ‘stars.’ Cassie pulled back and said “let me introduce you to my father.”
Karin stood there expectantly looking up at the big bluff man that must be Cassie’s dad. How a pretty little thing like Cassie had come out of him she wondered but then Cassie’s mother had been of similar physique to Cassie’s
from the pictures Karin had seen of her.
“Daddy, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend and manager Karin Myers.”
“Howdy little lady, welcome to Kansas” he said putting out a big paw to shake hers. This wasn’t the first girlfriend of his daughters he had met but he sensed this one was a lot more important than the others to his daughter. While he had problems years ago with her sexuality he had come to realize she was still the good little girl he had raised. She hadn’t really changed. She had given him a book on parents of homosexuals and it had helped him understand a little better and he was relieved to find he hadn’t done anything to cause it and he wasn’t the first parent who had problems understanding it, accepting it. She was who she was. This little filly though who stood before him was a surprise though. She was a thoroughbred when his daughter was a scrub mustang. What in the world did she see in her except dollar signs? He had his reservations when he saw her step off the plane in her designer suit and shoes. From the top of her perfectly styled hair in its tight bun to her manicured fingertips she screamed high class. He had doubts whether she was the right one for his daughter. He’d hold judgment though because Cassie had sung her praises and explained what she had done for her.
“Hello Mr. Summers, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity for a while now. Thank you for inviting me.” She said formally and returned his handshake firmly knowing that he mistrusted her immediately. She was good at reading people and could tell in his simple way that he was reserving judgment. She loved his daughter though and was willing to try for her sake.
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