Ruined by You (11 page)

A moment of silence passed while she considered it. She leaned back in her chair, the smile on her face replaced with a tight-lipped, pensive, stare. The look told me that she was taking me seriously - she meant business.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the game,” she said, finally. “Most of my time, these days, is spent consulting. I’ve made my money, and had my time in the spotlight.”

I got a sudden dreadful feeling about the direction this was going. Was she trying to tell me that she wouldn’t be able to help?

Her voice took on a wistful tone as her eyes lost focus and she reminisced. I was too nervous to make a noise, as though the slightest disturbance would cause all of the tension to worsen. Her eyes refocused on me, and she regarded me for another long second.

“You’re young,” she said. I felt the weight of her eyes bearing down on me, judging. I nodded my head once. “I think I was about your age when I got started in the business.”

“Oh, I’m not getting started in the business,” I said, quickly. “This is just a summer job. To help pay for school.”

Her lip, somehow, managed to turn up in a tight smile.

“That’s how things always start,” She said. I felt the urge to correct her, again, but it would be useless. Lisa had already found a way of looking through me. I felt like she was reading me, and that she was certain of what she was seeing.

“I don’t know too many bands in the area, anymore,” she said. “But there is one that I’ve heard of…” Her voice trailed off while she considered it. “They may be tough to handle. For me to have heard of them, they’re getting pretty big, around here.”

My ears perked up and I felt my pulse begin to race. I needed a big band. I needed a band that was going to attract attention, a band that was going to get a lot of people to show up. That’s exactly what Scottie had hired me to do--that was what he was paying me to do.

“What’s their name?” I asked, too eager.

Lisa grinned. “Don’t get too excited. You have to talk them into it before there will be any cause for excitement.” She gave me a knowing, sideways, smile. “They may not even be available for the holiday on such short notice.”

I swallowed, hard, and tried to lower myself in the chair. She had a point that I hadn’t even considered, before. Why had Scottie waited so long to try and find a band? It’s not like the Battle of the Bands was a last minute thing - Sarah had said everyone looked forward to it all year.

“They’re a band that’s really beginning to build a name for themselves here in San Antonio,” Lisa said, again. “A friend of mine sent me a demo tape a couple months ago, hoping I might be able to get them national exposure. I think I still have around here, somewhere.”

Haden shifted in his seat, and glanced over at me. I realized, for the first time that he’d had a nervous way about him ever since we sat down. He didn’t look himself, and maybe that was why he had been keeping his mouth shut.

She pulled open a drawer on her desk and rummaged through it. Then, with an exclamation of victory, she produced a disc and set it on the desk. The disc had the words “Fighting Forward” scribbled on it in black marker. She pushed the disc across the table to me.

“Give that a listen,” she said. “Have Scottie listen to it, too. They blend country and rock in a magical way. There’s an energy there that you can’t teach.”

I took the disc and held it in my hand. I read over the name a few times and then slid it into my purse.

“Thank you, so much,” I said. “I’m sure they’ll be great.” I considered it a moment longer. “Do you know how we can get in touch with them?” I asked. That was the real thing I was after, wasn’t it?

Lisa frowned, and she leaned forward. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself. Listen to their stuff and make sure it’s for you. If you want to be a success, you can’t just go after what’s available. You have to do it right.”

I shrugged my shoulder. She was right, of course. But I was under such a tight deadline, that I didn’t think I had much time to waste. And if the band wasn’t going to be available to do the show, I needed to know right away.

“Well, how am I supposed to get in touch with them, if we like them?” I asked.

Again, Lisa’s eyes managed to look right through me. She saw what I was up to, and I only hoped that she could relate to the sense of urgency that I was feeling. Besides, she had decades of experience in the business, and I was just a girl, barely out of high school, that was in way over her head. I didn’t know the first thing about picking a band to play a concert, and I was going to have to trust in the judgment of others. If Lisa said they were good, then they probably were.

She studied me for a moment longer, and then she turned to her computer.
 

“Let’s see who’s representing them, these days,” she said. She spent a minute punching buttons in the computer, then a smile spread across her face. “That’s convenient,” she said. I sat there, unable to keep a smile from my face. Convenient was a good thing, right?

Lisa grabbed the phone on the desk, dialed a number, and leaned back in her chair.

“Stacey, it’s Lisa,” she said. “Have a second? You’re still working with Fighting Forward, right? No, it’s nothing like that, but I’ve got someone who might be interested in talking to you. OK… OK… I’ll pass your information along, then, and y’all can take it from there.”

I sat there, nervously, while Lisa finished the conversation. Things sounded like they were going well. And, judging by the confident smile on Lisa’s face, I was beginning to get my hopes up.

Finally, she ended the call and returned the phone to its place on the desk. She pulled out a pad of paper and scribbled something on it, then ripped off the top sheet and slid it over to me.

“That was Stacey Meyer,” Lisa began. “She’s their manager, and she said she’d be interested in meeting with you if you’d like to move things forward.”

“That’s great,” I said, beaming. Haden smiled at me, as well, his first sign of emotion since we’d sat down. “I can call her right away,” I said.

Lisa held up a palm. “Don’t forget, you have to do your homework. Besides, the band is busy with rehearsals right now. They’re over at the Warehouse prepping for some shows. Call her tomorrow. Set up a meeting. Do it right.”

I bit my lip, but nodded my agreement. “OK,” I said. “I’ll do that.” I folded the piece of paper, and stashed it in my purse, next to the disc.

“Thank you so much for your help,” I said. “I don’t know what we would have done without it.”

Lisa waved her hand and shook her head. “Scottie is an old friend - I owe him. And, it looks like he’s taken a real liking to you, so I wish you the best of luck.”

I scrunched my brow together. “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

She grinned at me. “This isn’t the sort of thing that he would normally give to a girl so young,” she said, simply. “He’s been in the business a long time, and he knows what he’s doing.”

Great. As if there hadn’t been enough pressure, already, Lisa had just confirmed that I was most certainly in over my head. Why had Scottie been so intent on having me handle such a responsibility? It’s not like he knew me, and it’s not like I had done anything special to prove that I was capable.

I bit my lip and nodded at her, nervously.

“Well, thanks again for all of your help,” I said.

“Let me know if I can do anything else,” she said.

I nodded at her, and Haden and I saw us out of the office.

* * * * *

We walked back to the car in silence. Haden took one final chance to admire each of the photos in the lobby on the way out. The way his lip turned up in a small smile at each one was endearing. Maybe he had been on to something when he had dropped everything and moved out to Hollywood?

We climbed into the car, and Haden fired up the engine.

“Where to, now?” he asked, looking over at me. I could feel intensity in his eyes when he stared at me, but was determined to not let it get in my way.

“Can I see your phone?” I asked.

He scrunched his brow at me, but handed it over. “Why?” he asked, as I began messing with it.

Absently, I pulled the disc out of my purse and handed it to him.

“Can you put that in?” I asked.

Slowly, he took it from me, and then slid it into the disc changer on the dash.

“What are you looking up?” he asked, before the first track started.

“Lisa said that they were rehearsing at some place called the Warehouse,” I said. “I’m trying to find it.”

Haden reached forward and pushed the Pause button just as the music started.

“Wait, you can’t be serious,” he said. “We haven’t even heard them. What if we don’t like their stuff?”

“You saw all of those pictures in her office,” I said. “She’s been around for a long time and knows what she’s talking about. If she thinks they’re good, then we probably will, too.” I looked up at him, and tilted my head toward forward. “Besides, we’re about to listen to them, aren’t we?” I returned to his phone, and to my search.

“She said they were practicing at a warehouse,” he said. “You can’t possibly think we’ll be able to hunt them down by looking at every warehouse in San Antonio.”

I shook my head. “She said
the
Warehouse. Not
a
warehouse,” I said. I waited patiently while the phone finished its search. A map zoomed out with a tiny red dot that read, “Warehouse.”

“There,” I exclaimed. “Found it.”

I pushed the phone toward him, beaming, but he didn’t seem as amused as I was.

“I don’t know about this, Maggie,” he said. The way he said my name gave me pause. “Don’t you think we’re moving too fast? Maybe, we should talk to Scottie, first?”

I shook my head. “He hired me to get this done,” I said. “And he’s the one that put us in touch with Lisa in the first place. She gave us a lead - we can’t blow it.”

Haden gave me a sideways look. But, he shook his head once, and put the car in gear. “It’s your show,” he said. “Let’s head over there.”

I wished that his words had been more comforting than they were, but I was happy to have his support. He hadn’t said much in the meeting with Lisa, but the simple fact that he was with me was calming.

After we made our way back to the highway, Haden pushed the play button, and the disc jumped to life. The first few chords of the fist song came on, and I found myself instantly entranced by the off beats and melodic sounds. I could see why they were making a name for themselves. They had a different, unique, sound. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but it was unlike anything I usually listened to. Haden’s head bobbed along with the beat of the drums, and the corner of his lips turned up into a tight little smile.

I found myself getting lost in the way he looked. There was honesty in the way moved. It was like he was at peace with everything.

“What do you think she meant by what she said?” I asked.

My question snapped him out of whatever blissful state he was in. He frowned and looked at me.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“When she said that Scottie must see something in me to trust me with this job,” I said. “She said that he’d been in the business a long time - so why would he trust something as important as this to someone he doesn’t even know?

He thought about it for a second, and then shrugged his shoulder.

“I don’t know that she meant anything by it,” he said.

“But she had a point,” I said. “Why would Scottie trust something like this to me? He doesn’t even know me. Sarah was telling me that he’s done so much for the town, and that he pours his heart and soul into the Battle of the Bands - so why would he trust something so important to a girl that he’s never even met before?”

Haden’s eyes focused on the road, and considered what I was saying. There was a long moment of silence before he responded with a shrug.

“I think that you’re looking into it too much,” he said. Then he added, “Just take it for what it is. He’s asked you to do something, because he thinks that you can do it.”

I groaned. “But, what if I can’t? What if I let him down?”

Haden smiled at me, and my heart pounded harder. I wanted so badly to get lost in that smile.

“Judging by how you’re handling everything, I very seriously doubt that you’re going to let him down,” he said. “We’re going to find something - we’re going to make it work. I promise.”

A part of me wanted, so badly, to believe him. It wanted to believe that, somehow, he was going to keep his promise. I didn’t know exactly how he would pull that off, but everything seemed to be falling into place.

I turned my attention back to the road as we drove. A peace settled into me that mixed well with the soothing sounds of the band coming from the stereo.

Everything was going to work out - one way or another.

We pulled up outside the Warehouse a bit later. It sat across the street from the Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital. The hospital was gigantic, and at first I’d been worried that we were in the wrong place. But, the iPhone led us to where we needed to be, and Haden found a tiny parking lot reserved for the Warehouse.

I felt euphoric after the drive. Haden had a way of calming my every nerve. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t need to. The fact that he was sitting there next to me was enough.

I looked at him, worried about what was coming next. I had never talked to a band before. I didn’t know what to expect. I wondered if they were going to be like all the rock and roll bands in the movies - arrogant and strung out on drugs - or if they were going to be something else. I needed them to be something else. I needed them to be the perfect fit. I needed them to agree to play the show. And, I needed them to do it before they realized I was a fraud.

“What now?” I asked.

He grinned.

“Now, you go in there, and you blow them away,” Haden said.

“You’re not coming with me?” I asked, suddenly anxious.

He shook his head. Every nerve he had calmed ignited into tight fire, at once.
 

“You’ve got this,” he said, giving me a reassuring smile. “I’d just be getting in your way.”