Page 43 of Accidental Fire
No pressure there…
I took in my fellow bandmates to see how they felt about Olive’s comment, and the frowns told me everything I needed to know. “We don’t know you,” I said.
Olive nodded. “And I don’t know you either. What I know is that your tour is funded by Sound Wave Studios. You have an obligation to the contract you signed, and it’s my job to see that it’s fulfilled to the letter.”
I wasn’t sure I liked her, though, as I turned to Kit, he smiled. “She’s fine. You’ll like her in the end, I promise.” He hadn’t steered me wrong so far.
Her mouth was open to say something when Marsh walked up to the table with a smug grin on his face. “What did I miss?”
He turned to Kit, who was sitting at the other end of the long table with Clancy, Lauren, Sam, and Allen. “That message you left me was inappropriate. We’ll talk about it later.”
Marshall then glanced at Olive. “And youare?” One thing about Marsh, he was a smug son of a bitch at all times.
“I’m Olive Chevalier, your replacement as tour manager. Mr. Ashby sent me to fire you and take over the job you’renotdoing to his satisfaction. Where were you when your band needed you?”
Damn, the woman was intimidating.
“I don’t answer to you, Miss Chevalier,” Marsh snapped.
Kit abruptly stood from his chair and headed for Marsh, but I jumped up and got between them. “You don’t want to go back to the Central City Precinct, this time in the back of a squad car, do you?”
He met my gaze. “I do not, but I won’t let him disrespect you and the band.” I wanted to kiss him, but it wasn’t the time or place.
I turned to my band brothers. “We need to decide right now. In or out?”
Arlo was the first to answer. “Out. We needed him, and he was nowhere to be found.”
“Same,” Goldie responded.
JD and Hardy both nodded, so I turned to Marshall. “You’re fired. We’ll fight you in court over the contract. You were negligent in your job, and we have plenty of witnesses to back us up. I’d suggest you go back to your other business engagement because I doubt Mr. Ashby wants to pay for you to stay here.”
“Oh, you have my word. There will be a fight over this.” Marshall shot a withering glare in my direction before he stormed off.
Kit’s hand on my neck was warm and supportive. It was exactly what I needed at the time.
“Let’s talk, guys,” Olive said. We all returned to our seats as she pulled a folder out of her bag and opened it on the table. “How did this second show at The Van Buren come about?”
With that, we went through the schedule, and she asked which cities we would consider adding a show. Her reasoning was that it was better to have more footage and recordings of the shows to choose from during the editing and remixing process in case we had a bad night. That made sense to me, and judging by the way the guys were nodding, they agreed.
“Okay. I need to make some calls so we can move things along. If I don’t add a show to the schedule, don’t you dare agree to do another one. I’ll make sure you have practice space in each city, proper hotels, and a music reporter at each venue. I’ll handle the parking issues related to bringing a show of this size on the road, and if you encounter any issues, I want to know about them immediately.
“At the break in August, we’ll all go back to Los Angeles first so we can meet with Nate to go over what we’ve collected in the first half of the tour.” Olive handed each of us a sheet of paper that turned out to be a much more organized schedule than just the list of cities we had from Marshall.
It seemed as if the meeting was over, so I stood to leave. Kit had taken the seat next to me, and he pushed out of his chair and stood to leave.
As we were about to walk away, Olive said, “River and Kit, may I have a word?”
The tone of her voice brought goose bumps to my skin and sent a shiver down my spine. It was like being called to the principal’s office when I’d been in school.
Kit moved closer to Olive and pulled out the chair across from her for me. I sat, and he sat close, which I didn’t mind.
Olive took a sip of her iced tea and placed the glass back on the table. “I’ll get to the point, and you can tell me to fuck off, but there are things I truly need to know. Are you two a couple?”
I was surprised at her question, but before I could say anything, Kit spoke up. “If we were, would that harm River’s career or the band?”
I turned in my chair to stare at him. “I refuse to hide who I am, for the band or for anyone. I’ve never been in any kind of closet.”
Olive laughed. “Okay then. I just wanted the lay of the land. If you’re a couple and want to beout, then please make sure you’re appropriate in public. If you want to keep it quiet, you’ll need to stay far away from each other. The air crackles when the two of you are together, and it won’t be hard for anyone to pick up on it.”
