Page 79 of Animal Beats

“I can do that. How about this? When I point to this side, this half of the audience yells, ‘Dolphins.’ Then I’ll motion to this side, who will reply, ‘Leap.’ Then we can all jump high into the sky. Sound good?”

Bennett shakes his head. “Go for it.” He walks backward until he meets up with our little group. He grabs Jenna’s hand and kisses it. “How’d we do?”

Luke, not Jenna, replies. “That was good. Funny. It appears to have diffused the situation nicely.” The manager turns to me. “What do you think?”

My mind is a total scramble. I want to say the drummer’s an asshole, no matter how much fun he made of this afternoon’s incident. I choose a sanitized version. “I hope it wasn’t too little, too late.”

Under his breath, Luke says, “Me, too.”

From the stage, the shirtless Río has the crowd riled and jumping—rather, leaping—in the air. Everyone loves him.

Except for this woman standing behind the curtain watching the fake.

A call arrives and I pull my cell out of my back pocket. “Nina” is scrolled on my screen. I motion I need to take this, and retreat into The—now-empty—Closet. “Hey, Nina.”

“Hi, Hayden. I just spent the hour on the phone with Platinum Records. I pointed them to your press release, which has been picked up by the media outlets.”

My heart rate decreases. This has to be good news, if the media ran with my press release. “I bet they were happy.”

“‘Happy’ is a strong word. I’d say appeased is a better descriptor,” my boss replies. “I got them to understand that Río didn’t get hurt or harm anyone. Also, the reaction to his falling off the boat were not negative.”

To the outside world, yes. I keep my silence.

“However, they were on a tear. They demanded a change.”

This sounds ominous. “A change? What?”

Nina says, “I reminded them that we gave Río a babysitter to calm down his drinking.”

Me. I was that babysitter. My stomach churns again. “How did they respond?”

My boss sighs. “They were less than generous. While agreeing to keep Río on for the tour, for now, they wanted a … stipulation.”

My stomach churns harder than the river with the dolphins jumping in it.

When I don’t reply, she continues, “The stipulation is someone has to go.”

Me. I’m the stipulation. My heart rate picks up. “It’s me, isn’t it?”

“I’m very sorry, Hayden. I really am. You’ve done a fantastic job for the band. Luke adores you, as does Jenna. I’ve enjoyed your work, including today’s press release. But you have to understand, I didn’t have any other options. Don’t worry about talking with Luke—I’ll tell him everything.”

My lips purse, and tears well behind my eyes. “When?”

“Tonight.”

My eyelids slam shut. One concern overrides the rest—Mila. I need the money from this job. “When will I get my final paycheck?”

“I’ll make sure you are paid through the end of the European leg of the tour. I’ll also give you a fantastic recommendation.”

Swimming in tears, I take in the concrete flooring. “Which will be useful only if the label doesn’t sabotage me.” I’m done in the rock industry. I’ll be blackballed.

“I wish things could be different. If there was any other way around this, believe me, you’d still be with us.”

But I’m not. I don’t want to hear how sorry she is. She continues to have a job, and a paycheck. At least I’ll be paid for a few more weeks. My mind churns at how I can parlay what I’ve done for UC into my next high paying gig. Jobs like this don’t fall off trees.

Río’s offer to pay Mila’s tuition chooses this exact moment to rear its two-faced head. Not ever going to happen. Her fees are all on me. In the middle of The Closet, I succumb to tears.

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