I got in some time with my musicians, which I was increasingly, for some god-forsaken reason, finding that Ihad, and somehow things were… working? I wasn’t even reallythinking about it, but one night in a jazz bar I was just tapping along with the music and thinkingRoxie would love this,and without overthinking it, I’d approached the musician after his show, a gentle giant of a Black guy named Vincent who was probably four hundred pounds and felt like he’d lose a fight with a puppy, and asked him if he had a label. Only the next day, I had him in front of one of the labeling managers I’d met from one of the big studios, and sure enough, Roxie loved it. Vincent teared up a little when Roxie said they’d talk more about what branding could look like, and I had to explain to Helena over drinks later that I genuinely felt worried when I clapped the guy on the back in congratulations that I might have knocked him over.
And she congratulated me by grabbing us food and taking me back to her place to scissor until I exploded, so all in all, that was a pretty good night.
My list on Jewel filled up with names that were starting to reflect real people who had actual potential, and the biggest problem, aside from the sleep deprivation that was only loosely managed by Helena making sure I occasionally did sleep, was that Kingmaker looked smug about it.
“A king doesn’t win a battle overnight,” he said over a slice of Tasty Slice one evening. “But he makes victory inevitable.”
“Okay, but I’m still living in a laundry closet,” I said. “I mean, you remember that part, right?”
He made a face that said he had forgotten that part. “Ah, nah, ‘course I remember. But a king’s battlefield ain’t always gonna be luxurious.”
“When is a battlefield ever luxurious?”
“Still gotta get you that supermodel girlfriend, too,” he said. “You meet any hot models?”
“Oh, uh… no…” I scratched my head, my voice awkward. “I mean, I’ve met a couple, but nobody I’ve been, uh…”
“You met some?” He had a marker and paper in his hand again. I swear he just conjured those things with magic.
“Dude, put those away. We’re not listing them down.”
“How’d you meet ‘em? We’ll lean into the situations where you meet hot models, leverage your action portfolio towards supermodel exposure. Pareto’s principle.”
“Who is Pareto?”
“Some kind of pea farmer.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No—you know—forget the pea farmer. It’s not a situation, it’s just… been working alongside Helena Warrick, and she’s got a lot of friends who are models…”
He threw the paper and markers aside. “You workin’ with that Warrick girl?”
“Jeez, dude, calm down. It’s just business.”
He leaned forwards. “You mindin’ each other’s business?”
I felt my face flare up. “Are you asking if I’m fucking Helena Warrick?”
He played his stupid fucking turntables. “I’m asking if you’re staying accountable, Julie.”
“About fucking her?”
“Yeah.”
“No, I’m not… we’re not doing anything.”
The girl from behind the counter came over to the counter with another Coke for Kingmaker, the stylish Black girl I’d only ever heard referred to as Mani because of her insistence on immaculate manicures, and we were in too deep now for me to ask her actual name. “You say Helena Warrick?” she said. “I saw Kingmaker looking her up, andbabe.If you’re hooking up with her, I’m gonna be mad jealous.”
“No—I’m not hooking up with a hot supermodel!” Everyone in this pizza place must have thought I was insane by now, the number of times I came in here and shouted about hot supermodels. They were right, though.
Mani looked crestfallen. “What, why not? I wanted to hear the tea on what she’s like. I looked her up, and sheisgay.”
“Yeah, I know that,” I shot back hotly. “I’m here to talk about next steps, Kingmaker, not who I’m sleeping with!”
He narrowed his eyes. “Gotta know I can trust you, Julie. A king don’t lie.”
“What the fuck do you mean, a king don’t—do you know how often you’ve had me—” I threw my hands up. “Forget it! A king don’t lie. I’m not lying. Let’s move on.”
He dropped it, and I managed to avoid the subject with him a while longer still, focusing on work. Krysten was delighted with how things were moving along too, and I was a regular enough now at their coworking office that the receptionist greeted me by name when I came in. I spent a lot of time with her events manager Liv working out the details, and of course, most importantly, now that Helena wasn’t worrying every minute about Linyue appearing over her shoulder, we got to work together more openly, showing up to Krysten’s office together or meeting Liv or Krysten somewhere for coffee.
