Page 15 of Another Fox Bites the Dust

I bite back a smile. Even though Carson is technically Oliver’s employee, they act more like siblings. “I was asking Piper if she wants to rent my apartment while I’m in Whitby. Temporarily.”

Carson perks up. “I can rent it.”

“Really?”

Oliver scowls. “You don’t want to live here anymore? What’s wrong with here?”

“It’s not that I don’t enjoy residing in the whole east wing of your building, but it might be a good thing for me to have my own place. I’ve intruded upon you and Piper long enough.”

“It’s only been a few months.” Oliver frowns down at his plate.

“It’s been almost six months.”

Oliver’s tone gets crisp. “Do you find the accommodations lacking?”

Carson sighs. “It’s not about that.”

“Then what is it about, exactly?”

Piper reaches across the table and pats Carson’s hand. “What Oliver is trying to say is that he worries about you and he likes you living here, and showering people with food and shelter is his love language. But if you need to move out, he understands and he only wants what’s best for you.”

“I know. He’s a real dick. We can all talk about this more later.” Carson tilts his head in my direction. “So, Mindy, what are you going to do in Whitby?”

“You could stay here, Mindy,” Oliver tells me, shooting a glare at Carson. “We apparently will have some space soon.”

I bite my lip to stop the laugh wanting to erupt. “Thank you, Oliver, I would love to stay in your mansion while I look for work outside of the city, but I promised Finley I would come to visit. I can come to stay with you after that, though.” Since I may be a homeless wretch for a long while I may as well keep my options open.

Oliver nods, shooting Carson a glare that says,See? How hard is that?

Carson ignores Oliver and gives me a sympathetic wince. “Nothing going here?”

“Nope.”

Piper dabs her mouth with a cloth napkin. “You’ll find something. Labels should be lining up around the block for the chance to hire you. You have a gift. You have a sixth sense for finding artists who will be successful. Your track record is unparalleled.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Not that any of that helped me keep my job with Rebel Records.

Piper taps a finger on the table, her lips pursed in consideration. “Did you give any thought to starting your own label?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, not really.”

Which is a half-truth. I thought about it, the same way you might think about winning the lottery, finding a vinyl of Prince’sThe Black Album, or meeting Tom Hiddleston and having him fall madly in love with you.

It’s a fantasy.

I would need startup capital. I would need some decent equipment, a space for recording, and people to deal with the legal aspects, accounting, producing . . . not to mention finding actual decent artists that would be willing to take a chance with someone who has none of the above and a shitty reputation to boot.

An image of Luke pops into my head, his dimpled smile, shaggy hair, and easygoing personality. He has the charm and presence to pull it off, maybe, but the fact that no one has picked him up yet despite his obvious persistence makes me wonder if he has the chops.

Being a musician is hard. Not only do you need to craft killer hooks and riffs and catch the interest of listeners, but you also need to be appealing, emotionally vulnerable, and authentic. That’s what makes the fans stick around.

Carson taps a finger on the table. “Maybe you should think about it. You’ve got the experience.”

Piper nods, sitting up straighter. “He’s right. You’ve had your hands in literally everything from concept to launch for a ton of artists and their albums. Why not find your own talent and use your existing contacts and resources in the industry to launch your brand-new label? It could be whatever you wanted, and I bet you would crush it.”

I poke at a piece of lettuce with my fork. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Piper lifts her brows and gives me the sister face, the one that says she’s going to hound me until I acquiesce to her demands.

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