by J. M. Nevins
She sat down and was eager to be forgiven for her transgressions. “Lew, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am. I…”
He held his hand up to stop her. “You don’t have to do that, Kit. What’s done is done.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean by that? Are you letting me go?”
He laughed loudly. “Hell, no.” He threw her car keys to her across the desk. “Your car is out in the lot in your space. Mindy picked it up this morning. Kit, what I meant by ‘what’s done is done’ is that we all screw up.”
She shook her head remorsefully. “Yeah, but mine was a huge screw up.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, it was pretty big, but everything’s been taken care of. I don’t think I have to tell you that this can’t happen again. I’m pretty sure you already know that. By the look on your face, seems this isn’t par for your course. If you’re beating yourself up about it, stop right now. Let’s move forward, got it?”
She nodded, feeling relieved. “Ok.” She met his kind, brown eyes. “Thank you for saving my ass.”
He grinned. “You’re welcome. You’re one of my top dogs, Kit. And I go to great lengths to protect my top dogs.”
She felt her stomach churning with guilt. She didn’t know how she was going to tell him she had to step down. Her heart felt heavy. She let out a long sigh before looking up at him again. “Can I ask why you called this meeting? Was it just to clear the air? And dinner? I’m confused.”
He sat back confidently. “Kit, I read people pretty well. I know there are things brewing on your mind that you haven’t brought up. It’s time we talk about them. I know you feel like you’re in over your head for one.”
She frowned. “Where did you get that? Has my performance been unsatisfactory?”
He shook his head. “Nope, quite the contrary. It’s been stellar. I have other sources that shared that nugget with me. Hate to say it, but I think they’re right.”
Her head spun. She wondered who had said something. She was desperate to find out. “Who’s your source?”
He shook his head. “Let’s hold on a minute. Let’s go back to you. Kit, what’s eatin’ at ya? I think we can come to some solutions together, but until we do, we’re not leaving this office and going to dinner. Tell me what you want.”
She couldn’t face him. She pursed her lips and slowly raised her head. “I want to work out of the New York office for a few months and I think I should step down as chief counsel. It’s a conflict of interest for me to be working for Diamond Records and Gypsy Tango.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You want to move to New York for a few months?” She nodded silently. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. When do you want to go?”
She took a deep breath and let it out evenly. “Tonight… after we’re done with our dinner.”
Lew stared at her, stunned. He nodded slowly. “For a few months? Or permanently?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Ok, done. Give me a day to get an office set up for you there. I’ll make a call when we’re done with dinner. We’ll arrange for car service for you.”
She grinned. “Thanks, Lew. So what’s my new title?”
He sat back and chuckled. “I said yes to you working in New York. I did not say yes to you stepping down from your position as chief counsel. You’re one of the most brilliant legal minds in this business. I knew what I was doing when I promoted you to chief counsel. That still stands. And I agree with you regarding Gypsy Tango. We’ll put Daniel Thomas solely on their legal files. Is Daniel a suitable candidate for you or would you rather pick someone?”
She nodded. “He’s perfect, actually. Very sharp guy. But, I don’t get it, Lew. After everything that happened last night, you don’t want me to step down? I’m a liability for this company.”
He shook his head. “It was a fluke thing, Kitten. I’m willing to overlook it if you are. Now, tell me, I get the Gypsy Tango thing as a reason why you want to step down, but why else? You’re overloaded, right? The tip I received was correct?”
She cast her eyes down. She couldn’t face him. She nodded her head slowly. “Unfortunately, yes. Since we’ve acquired so many new artists it’s been crazy. I need a heavy hitter. I can’t throw more work on Daniel. He’s already got a crazy workload and now with Gypsy Tango, it’s going to be even bigger.”
He grinned. “I already have a solution. You’ll have the help you need. I just gotta get the guy on board. He’s a hot-shot from Templeton. He wants to jump ship. He’ll be perfect. I’ll have him fly to New York and meet with you next week. See what you think.” He winked.
She finally felt comfortable enough to smile. “Sounds great. Thank you, Lew. Now, can you please tell me who tipped you off?”
He growled and sat back. He shook his head and grinned. “I really shouldn’t. He only said something because he cares so much for you. I’m surprised you two haven’t…”
Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t let him finish. She already knew the answer. Her voice dripped with anger. “Sully told you.”
Lew stared at her. “I got it out of him. I met with him earlier today.”
Her eyes widened. “What? Why?”
He waved his hands. “Relax. It’s taken care of. We pushed back their release. He wanted to talk with me about it. So, he and Jimmy sat down with Pete and me earlier this afternoon. Got it all squared away. Actually, I’m impressed he took the initiative.” He could see the rage in her eyes. He shook his head. “Give the guy a break, Kit. He was trying to do the right thing. And he did. Is this New York thing, personal? Are you running away?”
She avoided his question. “I’m glad everything was taken care of. Thanks for being so flexible and letting me work out of the New York office. I’m really looking forward to it. So, where are you taking me for dinner?” She forced a smile.
She saw the look of disappointment in his brown eyes and hoped she could deflect the personal questions about Sully over dinner. In truth, she didn’t have the answers to give him. She had no idea how things would get resolved. All she knew was that she had to get out of L.A. and make a new start on her own, alone, in Manhattan.
CHAPTER 2
When Kit returned home after dinner with Lew, she walked across the backyard in a daze. She was still shocked that Lew approved her request to go to New York so quickly. She would be leaving in a matter of hours, flying out of Santa Monica airport non-stop to Teterboro courtesy of one of the Diamond Records’ company jets.
She was dreading telling Sully of her prompt departure. She struggled with her feelings. Her anger had not yet dissipated from the night before. It had only grown into indifference and that worried her. She recalled Joe’s warning not to harden her heart, but hearing those words from Sully’s mouth the night before had shattered her heart. Taking a break and leaving town was the only solution she could find to give her the space she needed to pick up the pieces and reevaluate her life’s trajectory.
She hoped to find her way in New York. Sully’s words had certainly stung, but she feared that there might be some truth to them. She shuddered at the thought and forced herself to put it on the back burner until she was on her way out of town.
In the studio, it was business as usual. Sully, Jimmy and Fred were in the throws of work when she strolled in. Fred noticed her sudden presence and gave her a compassionate grin as he inquired gently. “Hey, Kit. How you doing?”
She stared at him and felt awkward. She wondered if he knew the sordid details of last night’s escapade and guessed that he did. She forced a grin. “Doing ok. How’s it going in here?”
Jimmy looked up at her, doing his best to act normal in her presence, but unable to erase the image of the contents of her clutch on the foyer floor earlier that day. He strived to keep things on the level. “Things are going pretty well. Actually, Fred and I were just about to head out and grab some grub. Right Fred?”
Fred scrambled to follow Jimmy’s lead. “Uh, yeah.”
They hastily vacated the studio, leaving Kit and Sully to their own devices. He stood up, took her hand and led her over to the lounge. Once they sat down he looked over at her. “How are you feeling?”
She shook her head. “Like crap, physically and emotionally. I’ve been feeling like I was going to crack and instead of slowing down and backing off on the things I had on my plate, I went in even deeper and I snapped… almost literally.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Her voice was muffled when she spoke. “Epic failure.”
He faced her. “Why didn’t you tell me you needed a break? You take on too much, Kit. You’ve gotta dump something.” He sighed in frustration.
She nodded in complete agreement, keeping her head hung and her eyes focused on the floor. “I dumped KMK earlier today. Can’t handle it anymore. I appointed Dante to CEO and let him take it over completely. I’m taking a passive role as chairman.” She finally raised her head and looked at him. “And I gotta get Sean to take on more for you guys with the tour. I thought I could do it all, but it’s pretty obvious that I can’t.”
Despite Sully’s efforts to make peace initially, he found his anger rising again. Seeing the contents of her clutch didn’t help matters either and he found himself on the offense.
He shook his head, unable to hide his annoyance. “No, you can’t. You’re not invincible, Kit. None of us are.” He sighed and shook his head. “I talked to Lew. I took the tape in so he and Pete could get a taste. He’s going to find a way to take some pressure off you in legal. He said he has some new guy that he wants to hire to help out.”
He leaned forward and perched on his knees. “I talked to him about the release too. He said we could push back a month. We’ll have a July release instead of June. I know that’s going to fuck up a bunch of dates, but we’ll just have to reschedule them and hit ‘em on the back end of the tour.”
Kit’s emerald eyes narrowed with anger. “I know, Sully. I had a meeting and dinner with Lew. He brought me up to speed. I’m not exactly pleased that you went behind my back and did all of this. If you had only waited, I would have taken care of all of it. But, no, you had to…”
He glared and interjected. “A simple, thank you for saving my ass, honey, would have been a more appropriate response at this point, Kit.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Ok, ok.” She shifted her eyes away and stared straight ahead. The wheels in her mind started turning. She wasn’t sure how to tell him she was about to fly the coop without igniting world war three. They could barely speak civilly.
She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to get the hell out of there. She would figure out a way to tell him about New York later. Right now, she just wanted to leave. “Are we done here?” She started getting up from the sofa.
He shook his head. “No. Sit back down.” She took her seat again and noticed the determined look in his eye. She knew better than to speak. She sat in the space silently awaiting his lead again.
His steel blue eyes bore into her. “I have some questions about last night.”
She swallowed hard. “Ok. I’ll do my best to answer ‘em.”
He took her ring out of his pocket and held it up. “Missing this much? First off, did you really mean this? Are you truly done with us and resigning? Are we in the midst of a management contract renegotiation that I don’t know about? Secondly, when did you start doing blow and carrying it around with you? And last, but definitely not least, why do you have a condom in your purse with a guy’s phone number written on it?” He folded his arms in front of his chest. “Now tell me, is there something I should know here about the direction of where our relationship is headed both personally and professionally, Kit? Should I be worried? ‘Cuz, I’ll be honest. It’s not looking too good from where I’m sitting.”
She shifted in her seat and tried to recall the evening as best she could albeit a fragmented mess. She stared at him. “I know why I took the ring off. I was really angry with you, Jimmy and the album’s mixing situation when I left. I was pissed and seeing that on my finger made me think of you guys, of course. I just wanted to get out and try to forget our argument. And no, I wasn’t serious about the resignation. That was said in the heat of the moment. There is no contract renegotiation going on. I’m sorry. I retract that statement. I’m still the manager of Gypsy Tango and happy to be.”
He stared at her in anticipation. “Ok, question number one answered. Continue.”
She sighed. “I did some lines last night… for the first time in my life… ever.” She let out a long, disappointed breath and hung her head. “Bad idea.”
Sully’s eyes widened. He was surprised. “I thought you had at least tried it before.”
She shook her head vehemently and couldn’t face him. She felt like an ashamed hypocrite. “Not until last night.” She finally looked up and faced him. “I was with Marla. Do you remember her?”
He let out a disgusted chortle and shook his head. “Uh yeah, who doesn’t? Marla the cokehead. She has that nickname for a reason, Kit.”
She sighed. “I know, I know. I ran into her at the Rainbow. We were hanging out for a bit. I was really drunk. She offered me some lines, and I did them. Then we decided we were going to a party. I told her I would meet her there. She handed the vial to me and told me that it was a little something for the road, even though I was only driving a few miles to meet up with her and some others at a party off of Coldwater. I put it in my purse, but didn’t do any more lines.”
He was stunned as he stared at her. “Never thought I’d see the day that you’d do blow, but ok. Jimmy found it. He accidentally knocked over your purse and everything fell out, including that. I flushed it down the toilet. I can’t have that shit around. You know that. I like it too much and it turns me into an asshole. I can’t handle what it does to my brain. Plus, I would think after Joe we would both know better, but I dunno, Kit. You’ve proved me wrong on all accounts.”
She nodded in agreement. She wasn’t enjoying his verbal lashings, but they were well warranted. “I know. I guess it turns me into an asshole too.”
“Apparently.” He folded his arms across his chest again and waited for a response to his last question.
She let out a long sigh and then gulped. “I was flirting at the party… a lot. I started hanging out with this one guy, Damien. Then things seemed to take a turn for the worse and my innocent flirting blew up in my face. We kissed and he made a very aggressive unwanted advance on me.”
Sully’s temper immediately flared up. He shook his head. “I’m going to beat that mother fucker’s ass in! Who is this guy?” He stood up and she pulled him back down onto the sofa.
“Sull, stop it. Relax. I can defend myself, you know.” She stared at him until he calmed down and shifted his glance away. She waited until his eyes met hers again. “I got him out of my space. I was getting ready to leave the party and noticed he had slipped something into my purse. He told me he gave me a party favor for later and to call him when I was ready to be with a real man.”
Sully was livid. “I’m gonna kill this guy!”
She rolled her eyes. “Sull, calm down. He’s not worth it. I’ll probably never run into the guy again. He was a jerk that was probably just as drunk and high and doesn’t remember. He didn’t hurt me in any way. I didn’t let him. I think I may have broken his nose when I hit him.”
Sully shook his head slowly in disbelief. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Kit, I don’t know if I can do this right now. I think we need to take some time off. I feel like we’re on two totally different planets right now. And after last night, I’m feeling like we’re on some pretty shaky ground. We’re not communicating.”
She stared at him, stunned. He had beaten her to the punch and caught her off guard. That was her line. She had planned to ask him for some space. Her plan had changed. She decided to play along and give him exactly what he wanted.
/>
She was so dead set on heading to New York without him, she figured it would play out in her favor somehow. She calmly grinned and nodded. “Ok. You’re right, Sully. I think that’s for the best. I’ll be on the road with you guys in a few months. Maybe we can talk about things then and see where we’re at and how we’re feeling?”
His eyes widened. “What? Are you saying we should break up?”
She chuckled. “Isn’t that what you want?”
He sat back, stared at her and realized he had been too hasty with his words. He was backed into a corner. He swallowed hard. “Kit, do you really want to give up all that we’ve worked for together so easily?”
She shook her head. “Not necessarily. I want what’s best for both of us and you had some very valid points. I’m merely agreeing with you.” She leaned forward and took his hands into hers. She stared into his eyes. “What do you want, Sully?”
He felt himself getting lost in her eyes and then forced himself to snap out of it. “I just want to take a break, Kit. I wanna be on my own again for a bit. I need some space to figure it all out. I want to date other women.”
His final statement felt like a knife that stabbed her in the heart. She chastised herself for asking him for the specifics. The truth was staring her in the face and she didn’t like it one bit. She sadly nodded. It was time for her to drop her own bomb. “Ok, Sull. That’s fair and I think it’s for the best anyway.”
He frowned. “Why do you say that? Why aren’t you resisting?”
She stared into his eyes. “Because I’m moving to New York for a while. I’m leaving in an hour.”
His eyes widened again and his heart started to race. He desperately wanted to take back his words, plead with her not to go and to stay there by his side, but he couldn’t do it. The words wouldn’t come. He was horrified. “What? Why?”
She released his hands and sat back. “Because, Sully. I lost myself in this city. You hit the nail right on the head when you said you didn’t know who I was anymore. Hell, I don’t even know who I am. I need to find myself and I can’t do it here. Diamond has an office there and I’m helping Lex get Platinum Magazine up and running. It will be a good move for me. And I can run things remotely for GT. You don’t have to worry. I’ll still be responsive and I will be showing up on tour with you guys at some point.”
