Page 13 of Hollywood Undercover
“Wait, Rick. Before you say it’s impossible, let me tell you why you’re going to want to do this for me. If I don’t get this break, the remaining songs on this album are going to sound like shit. I’m overworked. The headlines will read ‘Lexxi Rock collapses from exhaustion’. They’re already having a field day with this Wilkes crap. Now, you don’t want an album that bombsandbad press for me, doyou?”
“Of course I don’t. Tell me something. Where were you planning on going? Because it sounds like you must have a new boytoy.”
“No. There’s no one. I’m going home, Rick,” she corrected him. “I need to have family around me. I miss Dad. But if you can help me do this, I want the public to think I’m somewhere else. Have them believe I’m living it up on an island or something. I don’t care what you make up. Just make sure it sounds fun enough that the paparazzi don’t end up camping on Dad’s frontyard.”
He sighed out a defeated agreement, and began moving around appointments on his smartphone with hisstylus.
He’s making ithappen!
It was more than a smalltriumph.
“Okay,” he finally answered. “You make sure those songs are kickass, Lex, because I’m putting a lot on the line for you. I’ll make some calls and get your schedule cleared. You had better come back with new songs and a new attitude. I don’t want to see you moping around the studio when you get back. Enough of the ballads. We need more up-tempo tracks for this album, and I know you candeliver.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she all but squealed and danced in herchair.
Alexandra was surprised by how easy it was to convince him. The two of them continued to negotiate as Rick went through her crowded calendar. They figured out what could be postponed, what they could cancel entirely, and tasks that were too important to wait. By the time they were done, she had a clear picture of what was expected of her before leaving. She could get home to Tucson before the month was out. That was an excitingprospect.
“Come on, Rick. Let’s go downstairs to celebrate. Lilly made you your favorite forlunch.”
