Page 97 of So Not My Thing
“Get up there,” Jordan told Miles. “It’s your turn.”
Miles leaned toward me instead, his eyes glinting. “These are all friendly faces. How about you get up there and sing? Do a cover if you don’t want to do your own stuff.”
My cheeks burned even at the thought. “No. Not even covers.”
He lowered his voice, his expression turning serious. “It kills me that everyone else doesn’t get to see how good you are.”
“Dylan and Chloe know. That’s half the room. And it’s enough.”
Miles looked like he wanted to say something else, but he closed his mouth and shook his head instead. “Okay. But I wish you’d change your mind.”
“I know.” He stressed me out more each time he brought it up. “But they’ll be happy to listen to you. Go,” I said, as Jordan called for him to go up again. “Do one of your new ones.”
“Which one?”
“Any of them. I love them all.” It was true. He’d played me three new songs over the last two weeks, and I’d loved each of them for different reasons.
Miles went to the piano and sat for a few seconds, like he was deciding what to play. As soon as he plucked out the first notes, I recognized it. He’d chosen his new up tempo one, a song about dancing like no one is watching. If the industry was a fair place, this would be everyone’s new summer jam, and it was fun to watch everyone’s head move and fingers tap, even cranky Dylan’s.
And once again, when Miles sang about love, I pretended the words were for me. For now, it was enough.
The second chef showcase went well too. Jordan brought in Boogie to play while we ate so we could get more of the full Turnaround experience, and while the second chef was good, the group voted six to two in favor of the first chef, Le Anh.
As if hiring her made the prospect of opening real, suddenly everything went into high gear. Keisha from the gallery had connected Miles with the muralist she’d mentioned, Elijah Remy, who came in and transformed the walls into something magical. He designed it with moments of color in a dark grounding, meant to be seen by the low lights of the jazz club. That also required another visit from the electrician to install strategically placed lighting floods to bring the art to life. Miles called Jordan over the next morning, stood us in the center of the club, and switched on the lights. We all caught our breath.
“It looks amazing,” I told him.
“Yeah,” Jordan agreed, moving closer to study one of the murals. “Like this place has been here forever and was always meant to be here.”
“Won’t be if you don’t get the bookings up.”
We all turned to Aaron, who had offered this cheerful prediction.
“The bookings are fine,” Miles said, his voice mild. “We’re booked the first three months solid.”
“But sales aren’t,” Aaron said. “We haven’t even sold out the first week completely. We still have half the tickets left for opening night.”
My stomach clenched. That didn’t sound good. Opening night was only three weeks away.
“You know how to fix this,” Aaron added.
But Miles shook his head. “Drop it.”
“No, I won’t drop it. Because you’ve dragged yourself back here to do this, and it’s not working. My job is to make sure you’re making the right business choices, and this is a bad one.”
Jordan caught my eye. “Hey, Ellie, want to go look at the...kitchen with me?”
“Yep.” I jumped at the chance, already turning to follow him, but Miles said, “Don’t leave, guys. You can hear this.”
He faced Aaron, his arms crossed, his jaw tight. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this. I won’t put my name on the club. I don’t want my name in the PR. It’s not the draw you think it is, and I want the Turnaround to succeed because of the talent we bring in and the food we serve. So I’m going to say it one more time. Drop. It.”
Aaron made a disgusted noise and grabbed his keys from the table. “Whatever, bro. I’m going to the gym.”
He walked out, and Miles blew out a frustrated breath. “Sorry, y’all. I just need him to hear me, and so far he hasn’t.”
“No problem,” Jordan said. I didn’t know what to add to that.
“I’m going to go check on some paperwork. Catch you after work?” Miles asked me. I nodded and he gave me a quick kiss before he headed into the office.
