Love Like Crazy

by Crystal B. Bright

  “Yeah? Does he do the butt pat to Bruno and Jessie, too?” Avery crossed her arms. “You need to keep your man in check.”

  Mona’s full lips pressed together so hard that it formed a thin line. “Don’t get cute unless you want to have even more time on your hands to study.”

  Avery cocked her head and glared at the woman in front of her wearing an outfit suitable to work around a stripper pole. “Are you threatening me?”

  Customers started filing into the restaurant just as Mona answered.

  “Absolutely.” She moved in closer to Avery. “Trust me. He doesn’t want you. Be flattered and move on.”

  Avery shook her head. No way could this woman think Uncle Pig’s behavior constituted as something normal or acceptable. Avery needed to get out of this hellhole, and soon. Until she could do that, she would have to put up with her boss’s mess.

  Graciela sauntered by Avery.

  Avery captured her arm and pulled her back. “Pick me up at seven.”

  Graciela’s eyes widened. “Drinks and singing?”

  Avery nodded. “A whole lot of singing. Just don’t say anything to anyone else. I know Jessie wants to go, but I don’t need to hear a lecture from Bruno. I need to do this for me.”

  She did just that as soon as she got off work, took a couple of bites of leftover Chinese takeout she had in a carton in her refrigerator, and studied for an hour. Avery stopped thinking about school as soon as Graciela arrived.

  Avery needed to release some pent-up energy. Nothing did that more than singing her heart out with an emotional song.

  “You really shouldn’t get so worked up by Pig.” Graciela pulled into Songbirds’ parking lot. “You know he doesn’t mean anything by it.”

  “I don’t care what he means. I know what it feels like to me and what it looks like to others.” Avery shook her head. “It’s disrespectful. If I didn’t need the money, I would be gone.”

  “Don’t let Uncle Pig hear that. He’ll cut you quick.” Graciela swiped her hand over her throat to illustrate her point.

  “I’m sure I can get another waitressing job.” A new job that would work with her schedule, especially mid-semester, would be challenging.

  If pressed, Avery would go. Her dignity meant more. If her parents caught wind of her boss’s impropriety, she would never hear the end of it.

  Avery and Graciela strolled through the door of the bar/restaurant and got hit with a bad rendition of “Proud Mary.” God bless the man who warbled the tune and included Tina Turner’s hip shaking and frantic dance moves, but he definitely butchered the song. Good thing these places existed for people to have fun, not start a career.

  “Hey, ladies.” One of the regular waiters strolled over to Avery and her coworker. “Thank God you’re here.” He nodded toward Avery. “The talent is low tonight.”

  “Come on. The guy has a smile on his face. Must mean he’s having fun.” Avery went over to a table positioned to the side of the small stage area.

  “At least he’s having fun.” The young man stood by Avery’s table until Graciela sat down. “You are performing tonight, right? Don’t tease me.”

  “Of course she is.” Graciela winked.

  “Damn. What are you, my manager?” Avery picked up the laminated menu that remained at the table.

  Going from diner food to dive food didn’t suit her, but she needed something to settle her stomach.

  “Yeah. And if you don’t start dating pretty soon, I’ll be your pimp, too.” Graciela laughed before she ordered her drink.

  As usual, Avery stuck with water. “Loaded nachos for me.”

  “You got it.” The waiter nodded.

  “You think it’ll get here before I go up?” Avery didn’t need to look through the establishment’s song book.

  She knew which song she wanted to do. After the day she had, the song rolled around in her head all day.

  “Oh, you are going to close this place down if I have anything to do with it. We definitely need someone strong to end the night.” He gave her a wink.

  Before Avery could argue that she needed to get home at a decent time, the waiter left to fill their orders.

  “I can’t stay late.” Avery shook her head. “I have to go to class in the morning, and I have a quiz.”

  She had studied, but she could use a bit more time to go over the material before the morning.

  “You will be fine.” Graciela patted Avery’s hand. “You’re young, and things work out for you.”

  If only that had been true. Life had been a struggle for Avery, and getting harder daily.

  “Don’t forget. I have to go to work tonight, too. Since it’s with my dad, I can’t be late.” It would be bad enough if she went to work smelling like cigarette smoke.

  No one smoked inside Songbirds, but as soon as she hit the door to leave, all the smokers would be there, puffing their stench in her direction. At least she got to sing.

  Two hours into their evening, Avery finally got her chance.

  “Okay, folks. We have our resident star. Taking the mic is Avery who is going to be tearing it up with her rendition of the Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand hit, ‘Enough is Enough.’ Let’s give her a hand.” The DJ started the applause going and the modest crowd in the restaurant joined him.

  As soon as Avery got up to the microphone on its stand and stood under a slightly brighter overhead light, some of the clapping became more enthusiastic. Apparently, Avery must have had some fans there who knew her talent.

  The original song started off softly, but Avery wouldn’t go that route. She had something to say, something to get off her chest. She belted the tune and kept it high octane throughout the song until the very end.

  She didn’t mind grabbing her audience by the throat and holding them hostage throughout her performance. At the high note at the end, she held it out as long as she could. Avery felt the muscles in her neck tightening each second of her closing note until she finally closed her mouth.

  She felt purged. She certainly had had enough of everything. Drama, judgments, expectations, loneliness. Like the song said, no more tears.

  The rousing applause from the diners lifted Avery’s spirit. She did a slight bow as she smiled and went back to her table.

  “You killed, lady.” Graciela hugged Avery before she sat down. Then she pointed to the microphone. “That’s where you really belong. Definitely not in school, and for sure not slinging hash at Uncle Pig’s.”

  Avery chuckled. “As soon as DJ Khaled or some other record executive walks through that door and offers me a contract, you’re going to continue seeing me hauling books and slinging hash.”

  When she pointed to the door, she froze when she saw a man come through who she hadn’t seen at Songbirds before. In his suit, he looked out of place. Peanut and sunflower seed shells littered the hardwood floor, and the dim lighting, meant to make shy singers feel more comfortable, also managed to hide a multitude of sins in the audience.

  He had his dirty blond hair parted to the side, which made him look ultra straightlaced. From where she sat and the darkness of the place, she couldn’t tell his eye color. In her mind, she imagined him being a typical blond-haired, blue-eyed stunner. With fine guys like that, Avery needed to keep her distance. That didn’t mean she couldn’t fantasize.

  She glanced down at her watch and cursed. “I’m going to be late for work.”

  “It’s your dad.” Graciela shrugged. “He’ll forgive you.”

  “Doubtful.” She finished off her water and stood. “I’ll settle the bill. You get the car.”

  “Fine. See you out front.” Graciela sauntered through the restaurant.

  Avery couldn’t help but notice her friend’s double take when she walked by the man she had been staring at as soon as he walked into the restaurant. She also noticed that the guy did
n’t look at Graciela, a striking beauty herself.

  Gay or married or both.

  Or maybe he didn’t get down with folks outside of his race. Graciela embraced her Latina look and heritage, which made her stunning. Avery kept her look low key and simple. So why, when he connected his gaze to hers, did he stop and stare for longer than normal?

  Avery returned the stare, and felt her insides becoming hot. She chalked the feeling up to the spicy nachos she had eaten earlier and not the fact that this stranger, with his full lips and disarming good looks, just rendered her motionless.

  If she had any hope of keeping her job, she would have to stop fantasizing and get going. After paying their bill, she cut her way through the crowd.

  “Great song,” one diner said to her as she passed a table.

  Avery smiled and nodded, but kept it moving.

  “Great voice.” An older man patted Avery’s hand.

  “Thank you.” She nodded to him.

  “When will you be back?” a diner asked.

  Avery glanced at the handsome man, who now made his way to the bar area. “I don’t know. Hopefully soon.”

  “I would pay to hear you sing. You’re incredible.”

  Nice to hear, but it wouldn’t pay Avery’s bills. Getting to work and finishing her degree would get her the life she wanted.

  “Buddy, you just missed the best singer here.”

  Avery overheard their waiter making the comment as soon as she hit the front door. She turned in time to see that her waiter had spoken to Mr. Hotness.

  As soon as he started to bring his attention to her, she bolted from the door. She had gotten enough admiration from people in the audience who she had seen there before. Questions from a stranger held no interest to her, and it would delay her from getting to work on time.

  It did feel good to be complimented and admired like that. If she could bottle that feeling, she would take it with her everywhere. For now, she had coveralls to wear and toilets to clean.

  Chapter 4

  Laz started to chalk this trip up as a bust. He had been in Virginia for a solid week, torturing himself every day by listening to Destiny Starr’s demo. Who was this woman and where could she have gone?

  No. The real question had to be why the hell had it taken Laz this long to find her? In this age of digital media and the era of YouTube stars, Laz found it rare to still get audio recordings on CDs. In the intern area of Universe, Laz had seen a discarded box filled with discs with all kinds of covers. Some had groups on them. Some had risqué photos of men and women. Others had kept it simple with a landscape scene or something artistic.

  As soon as he had spotted the disc in the clear jewel case, he decided to give it a listen. If nothing else, it would either give him a good laugh or a way to pass the time.

  He still remembered the feeling he got when he heard her belting out that first note. His body went stock still as though preparing it for goose bumps to shoot all over him. Then from the top of his head down to his toes, he went from warm to molten hot. The singer had a way with controlling her voice and manipulating notes like an artist making a simple but artistically stunning stroke of paint over a canvas.

  As soon as he finished listening to the demo, he should have reached out to her. Bad timing. He had been put on assignment to deal with the Shauna Stellar situation, as Zinner put it. Then the massive cleanup afterward took the rest of his time. He wouldn’t have been focused on Destiny. He hoped beyond hope that someone else hadn’t made time for her since he had missed out on his opportunity.

  Each open mic and coffee shop and dive bar he went to offered him no inspiration. Singers came off as cutesy girls suited for Instagram, not an arena. Then again, his mind wrapped around the idea of finding this perfect singer who had invaded his life like a ghost.

  At his lowest point, he decided to try a karaoke bar. He didn’t like going to those places because people tended to copy what the original artist did when they recorded their songs. He wanted to hear originality and new voices. He had no interest in hearing someone copying Michael Jackson or Beyoncé.

  It did make him curious about the act he had missed last night that the waiter told him about when he had arrived to a place called Songbirds. The other patrons in the place concurred with the waiter’s assessment. When a snippet of this singer’s karaoke song played back through the place, Laz had to sit down.

  She sounded incredible and very close to Destiny Starr. Soulful yet gritty. Commanding, but still approachable. Just like everything else in his life, when he asked to meet her, the waiter said she had just paid her bill and left. Too little, too late.

  Damn.

  Laz also wanted to kick himself for not approaching that beauty he had seen across the room when he had gotten to the place. She looked stunning under the overhead light near the stage. He liked the way her dark brown hair framed her thin face. He also couldn’t help noticing her full, rounded breasts under her tight T-shirt and the way her waist dipped in right above her hips.

  If he had time and the inclination, he would have gone up to her and introduced himself. His personality would only get him so far. What woman would want a man without a job? At least he had prospects and ambition, which both had brought him down to Virginia.

  Laz had gone to bat for Chantel Woodley a couple of years ago. He hoped that she remembered him enough to offer him a job at Charisma Music, since it seemed like Section Eight would only give him a chance if he brought someone good to the table. No guarantees of that during this trip. He didn’t have any other prospects left after that place.

  Laz outfitted himself with one of his best suits. He made sure his hair looked perfect. On top of that, he had demo CDs in his briefcase. He would come to this impromptu meeting with all guns blazing. He would have to, considering he hadn’t made an appointment with anyone there.

  The Charisma building looked nothing like Section Eight’s huge skyscraper. The simple three-story building sat on the oceanfront side of the Virginia Beach strip. Laz had only met Fatima Evans, the founder of Charisma Music, once in his career.

  The bubbly African-American woman had left an impression on him. He could see her laid-back nature setting up shop at a serene oceanfront location. Laz found it hard to believe that a huge star like Chantel Woodley, and her equally popular country-singing husband, Truman, would continue running the business Fatima had left her from this location.

  Laz walked into the front door and couldn’t believe he didn’t get greeted by security guards that looked like bouncers. The two he saw in the lobby reminded him of men who would work for the Secret Service.

  He strolled up to the receptionist desk. This woman actually made eye contact with him and smiled.

  “Good afternoon. How can I help you?” She coupled her inquiry by leaning forward.

  “Hi. I hope you can help me. My name is Laz Kyson. I was hoping to get a meeting with Chantel or Truman.” He smiled as he stared at her.

  The young woman glanced down at her computer screen first. “I’m sorry. I don’t see an appointment for them for this afternoon.”

  “Probably not.” He chuckled to lighten the mood. “I’m the one who called yesterday about meeting them for a potential job. I’ve worked A&R at Universe.”

  He wanted to bite his tongue as soon as he mentioned Chantel’s former record label. The word must have gone out to all of her people about the place. As soon as he mentioned it, the receptionist leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She wouldn’t be helping him today or any day.

  “I no longer work there.” Maybe mentioning that will melt away her frosty attitude. “I was hoping I could use my talents for Charisma. It would be great to discuss it with Chantel.”

  “Mrs. Woodley does not entertain unsolicited offers.” The woman with a purple pixie cut hairdo and big green eyes shook her head as she leaned
forward. “Please check our website for any open positions.”

  Laz looked around the nearly empty lobby area with the exception of two guards. “The type of position I’m looking for isn’t usually posted. I want to go beyond A&R. I want to secure talent for this label and manage them. I’m looking for someone with your beauty and an incredible voice.” He leaned forward and lowered his tone. “You wouldn’t happen to be a singer, too, would you?”

  The chubby woman with a pixie cut giggled while shaking her head. “No. Of course not.”

  Laz snapped his fingers in the air. “Just my luck. I can’t seem to catch a break.”

  “Charisma isn’t hiring managers. If you have a business card, I would be happy to pass it along to Mr. and Mrs. Woodley. If not, I can get your information.” She pulled out a pad and pen like she knew he wouldn’t have his contact information readily available. “You can give me your number, um, if you want to give it to me. Your number, I mean. Give that to me and nothing else.”

  Laz spotted her talking under her breath to herself.

  “Stop talking. You sound crazy.” Then she smiled, baring all of her small, white teeth.

  “I would love to give you anything and everything you want.” He smiled harder. “What I really need, though, is that meeting. I would like to wait if that’s okay.” Laz looked to the side and spotted a black-and-white striped couch along with a couple of chairs in a waiting area.

  “You would be wasting your time.” She shook her head. “I don’t think they’re coming in for the rest of the day. But I don’t know that for sure. They sometimes pop in.”

  “Then let’s hope today is one of those days. Besides, I’ll get to sit here and stare at you the whole time.” Laz continued to smile so that he didn’t show this young woman his frustration. “I know that with the recent birth of their twins, both Chantel and Truman have been staying close to home.” He adjusted his cuffs underneath his jacket. “I also know that both are still conducting business. Chantel just signed a new country singer a month ago, and Truman has been tapped to be a judge on a singing competition show that will film here in Virginia. Sounds like they’re working pretty hard to me.”