Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (17 page)

She sat
back, listening intently and then nodded her head.
 
“Ok, that’s it.
 
That’s the one.
 
We’re done for the night everyone.
 
Guys, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They
said their goodbyes while Kit remained glued next to Fred, talking about the
events of the day, the song they had just finished and what was coming up on
the schedule for the next day.
 

She
patted Fred on the back.
 
“Thanks
for everything today, buddy.”

He
nodded.
 
“Long day, but worth
it.
 
See ya tomorrow, Kit-Kat.”
 
He got up and left.
 

She
glanced at her wristwatch and sighed as she put her head in her hands.
 
It was three in the morning.
 
The last part of the session had been the
longest and most complex vocal arrangement she had ever run into in her career
in music.
 
She started to wonder if
she had bitten off more than she could chew.
 

Sully
took Fred’s vacant seat and rubbed her back.
 
He grinned proudly.
 
“You did great today, baby. Amazing
stuff.
 
The song sounds incredible.”

She
looked over at him, her right cheek resting on her hands that were still lying
on top of the boards.
 
“Thanks.
 
I think I’m going to organize things a
little differently going forward.
 
Not so much chaos.”

He
chuckled.
 
“Tracking is always chaos,
babe.
 
You know that.
 
It’s a version of controlled chaos.
 
That’s the whole fun of it.
 
What’s on tap for tomorrow?”

Her
emerald green eyes twinkled as a content grin spread across her face.
 
“Anything For You.”

He smiled,
seeing look in her eyes.
 
“We’re
going to start that song tomorrow, huh?”

She
nodded.
 
“We probably should have
started with that one initially.
 
It
would have been easier.
 
It’s a much
simpler song.
 
Has the band played
it with you yet?”

“Nope.
 
That’s why we went with ‘Pretty Poison’,
remember?
 
You, Jimmy and me wrote
that when we were on tour and the band was familiar with it.
 
We played it onstage toward the end of the
tour, so it was fairly easy.
 
We’re
gonna need rehearsal time with ‘Anything for You.’”

She sat
up and nodded.
 
“Ok.”

He
stood up and took her hand, leading her up out of her seat. “C’mon, let’s go to
bed.
 
Stop worrying about this.
 
Let’s get some good rest and worry about
it when we’re back in the studio at noon.”

She
grinned and snuggled up to him.
 
“That sounds like a great idea.”

As she
shut down the studio’s power, she felt a sense of accomplishment.
 
One song down, eleven more to track.

CHAPTER 9

Pete
Lundy sat across from Kit with a large smile on his face after listening to a
preview of Gypsy Tango’s sessions.
 
He nodded proudly.
 
“I love
the direction so far.
 
Nice job,
Kit.
 
You’re certainly turning out
to be quite a producer.
 
Sounds like
their new stuff is headed down a great path.
 
At the rate you’re going, it may give the
previous album a run for its money once it’s finished.
 
An amazing feat considering it’s reached
five times platinum now.”

Kit’s
eyes widened.
 
“Five times
platinum?
 
When did ‘Dangerous
Curves’ hit that?”

“Last
week, officially, but you knew this was coming.
 
I wanted to wait until our meeting today
to spring the news on you.”

She was
completely astonished.
 
She could
have never imagined this level of achievement.
 
“Wow!
 
I knew it would do well, but this is
unprecedented.
 
Now, I’m feeling even
more pressure for the new one.
 
Crap!”

He
laughed.
 
“How far along is the
album right now?”

“We’re
cruising along well, right on schedule.
 
Half of the songs are done.
 
We’re putting finishing touches on the others from a writing perspective.
 
Sully’s got some up his sleeve that he
hasn’t even shown me yet, so that should be interesting.”

Pete
nodded.
 
“I’m sure they’ll be good.”

She
grinned in agreement.
 
“No doubt.”

The
agenda in her mind quickly shifted from Gypsy Tango’s new album to artist
development.
 
Balancing her producer
duties in the studio, and her responsibilities as chief creative officer were
no small feat and Kit was relishing it.
 

She had
recently found a hot new grunge band out of Seattle called Jade Riff who was
giving the successful grunge bands stiff competition.
 
She was eager to start development as
soon as possible.
 
The green light
she had been waiting on from corporate was still a paltry yellow.
 
She decided to pump Pete for
information, knowing he was in the office more than her these days.
 
“Ok, so what are we looking at for Jade
Riff?”
 

He
nodded and chuckled, knowing she was hunting for information.
 
He sat back comfortably.
 
“We want them, Kit, but at this point,
you know it’s ultimately your call.
 
You don’t need my blessing or Jonathan’s.
 
Did you already put them with KMK?”

Her
head bobbed enthusiastically.
 
“Yep.
 
So we want them, huh?”
She looked him in the eye.
 
“That
means a no go for Flat 5.”

Pete sighed.
 
“Correct, boss.
 
Kit, the Templeton artists are great,
and they are filling the void since GT moved over to Flat 5, but we’re still a
little vulnerable.
 

You’ve clearly
picked another winner. Word on the street is Jonathan thinks this band is going
to be a huge feather in Diamond’s cap.
 
Grunge seems to be bubbling closer to mainstream every day.”

She
nodded.
 
“I predict, by next year,
it’s going to be on mainstream radio and charting.
 
1991 will see a major shift in the
industry.
 
I call Nirvana to be the
one to usher it all in.
 
They’ve
already got major skin in the game.”

Pete’s
ears perked up.
 
“Who?”

She
rolled her eyes and then stared at him.
 
“Pete, really?
 
Haven’t you
heard of them?
 
Please pretend like
you have for my sake.
 
You’re my
executive VP of A&R.
 
They’re white
hot.”

He
frowned. “Why didn’t we get them?”

She
shook her head.
 
“We were snoozing
on the job, man.
 
They got swooped
up last year.
 
They’re the
frontrunners.
 
Jade Riff and a few
others like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden are hot on their trail though.
 
We’re in a good position.
 
I suggest you get your reps on Seattle.
 
I want to see more artists.
 
I know they’re out there.
 
We’ll take Jade Riff to the top.”
 
She playfully joked with him.
 
“Now go get your ass up to speed on
grunge and get your team on it or you’re fired!”
 

They
both shared a laugh, and he nodded.
 
“You got it.
 
I’ll have an
update for you next week at the latest.
 
I’ll get a flight into Seattle tomorrow.
 
I’ll take JR with me.
 
He’s my best hunter.”

She
smiled.
 
“That’s what I like to
hear, Pete. Oh, and please continue to coordinate with Malcolm in New York on
the hip-hop and rap front.
 
I hear
he’s got a lot of good leads.
 
I
haven’t been able to make it out there to meet with him or any of these
artists, but it is on my radar.
 
Maybe you can go out there after Seattle and let me know?”

He
nodded as he got up to leave her office.
 
“You got it.
 
Malcolm is
killin’ it out there.
 
I think we’ll
have no problem building up a new urban roster.”

Kit
smiled.
 
“Fantastic! Thanks, Pete.”

As he
left her office, Giselle walked in and grinned.
 
“Kit,
Billboard Magazine
keeps calling.
 
There has been a total of five calls
today.
 
I’ve run out of
excuses.
 
What do you want me to
tell them?”

Kit
sighed.
 
“Next time they call, put
them through.
 
I’ll talk to
them.
 
Why are they calling this
late?
 
It’s almost ten in New York.”

She
shrugged her shoulders.
 
“Maybe
they’re calling from the L.A. offices.
 
By the way, Alexa called.”

“I’ll
call her right now.
 
Any word from The
Mint?”

Giselle
shook her head.
 
“As far as I know,
business as usual.
 
I assume the
guys are enjoying their day off while we slave away here at Diamond HQ.”
 

She
laughed.
 
“You’re probably
right.”
 
As Giselle left her office,
she picked up the phone and dialed Alexa’s number from memory.
 
When she answered, Kit smiled.
 
“Lex!”

“Kit!
 
Wow, we actually get to talk instead of
playing phone tag.”

“I
know.
 
Pretty crazy, isn’t it?”

“I’ll
say so.
 
How’s your double title
life now that it’s official.”

Kit
chuckled.
 
“Blissfully crazy.
 
How’s life treating you, preggers?
 
And how are things over at
Platinum Magazine
these days?”

“Good.
 
Busy.
 
And I’m gaining weight much too
rapidly.
 
As much as I would love to
sit and chat all night with you, this is a business call, unfortunately.
 
I’m looking for my big cover piece for
next month.
 
Hint, hint.”

She
groaned.
 
“Oh no.
 
Is that the real reason you were calling
me?
 
To pitch me on an article for
GT?”

“No.
 
I don’t want to feature GT.
 
I want to feature you, Miss Thang.”

Her
eyes widened, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
 
She thought she was done with being the
center of attention, apparently not.
 
“What?
 
Me?
 
Why?”

Alexa
chuckled.
 
“Duh.
 
Yes, you, silly.
 
C’mon, I want to do a series on big
hitters in the music biz.
 
I want
you to kick it off!
 
Ladies first.”

She
sighed.
 
“That depends.
 
Who’s my successor?”

“I want
to feature Clive Davis for the November Issue and David Geffen for December but
that’s only if you do October.”

She
giggled.
 
“I hope I don’t live to
regret this, but I’ll do it.
 
Make
it classy, though, ok?
 
No pin up
shots or shit like that.
 
I’m a
professional, Lex.
 
My modeling days
are well behind me, and I have no desire to relive them.
 
Portray me as a respectable, viable
executive, please.”

Alexa joined
in her fit of giggles.
 
“Don’t
worry, Kit-Kat, I won’t bimbify you.”

“I’ve
got to be honest, Lex.
 
Billboard
is hot on my trail too and to
be fair, they were calling before you.”
 

“No
problem.
 
The more, the
merrier.
 
Do
Billboard
too.
 
It will
be good exposure for you.
 
They
won’t scoop us.
 
Platinum
is virtually unscoopable, knock
on wood.”

She
grinned, knowing there was a story behind this she was determined to hear.
 
“And how is that?”

Alexa
chuckled.
 
“We’ve got rock solid
sources and some pretty serious loyalty.
 
Yes, that may be fleeting, we are in the media business, but I’m going
to ride that wave while we have it.
 
I think you should prepare for a media storm, my dear.
 
You’ve hit the big time.
 
Can’t beat top of the music food chain.”

She
shook her head, still in disbelief at her recent catapult to music industry
superstardom.
 
“This is weird.”

Alexa
laughed.
 
“Why?
 
This is what you always wanted.
 
C’mon, Kit.
 
We both know that music is where your
heart is.
 
You’re developing
artists, have full creative control and are producing one of the hottest rock
bands in the world right now.
 
You’ve arrived, honey.
 
It’s
about time you bask in it.”

She
sighed.
 
Alexa always knew how to
put things into perspective for her, and she was grateful for the new
reality.
 
“Yeah, you’re right; I’m
just a little apprehensive.
 
I don’t
want to steal Sully’s spotlight.
 
He’s
sensitive about stuff like that.
 

“It’s
one of the dynamics of our relationship that has always been difficult to
navigate. I’ve always felt like there was an unspoken rule in our relationship
after we had that big blowout.
 
He’s
the star, and I take the backseat.
 
You know that wasn’t how it was in my previous long-term
relationship.”
 

She
sighed and shook her head, ashamed at how easily that rolled off her
tongue.
 
Her grandmother’s death had
triggered some ghosts from her past that she was finally able to speak about
after years and years of chosen silence.
 
She swallowed hard, not liking her mental slip.

Alexa
caught on immediately and let out a long sigh.
 
“Kit, I know you still love him and you
always will.
 
He was an amazing
person with a beautiful spirit.
 
It’s ok for you to carry a piece of him in your heart for the rest of
your days on this planet.
 
What you
and Kirby shared was special and unfortunately not replicable.
 
It was a very rare connection, kind of
like you and Sull, but different too.
 
Baby, let’s be honest here.
 
He always stood two steps back to let you shine.
 
You had the reverse of you and
Sully.
 
Are you having regrets?
 
Are you and Sull having problems?”