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I watch him become crazy with anger. “But feel free not to sign; this is absolutely not meant to be blackmail,” I add in such an innocent tone that if I were in his place, I would slap myself.
I see the exact moment he realizes he has no way out. Grabbing the papers in front of him, he rifles through them without even reading. He signs on every line I’ve indicated and then looks up at me.
“You missed the stamp on the last page,” I remind him before picking up the documents and getting up with a smile. Emily follows me like a shadow.
“It’s always a pleasure doing business with you.” I bow before turning around and leaving the room. I don’t even pause to look at his expression. I don’t care. I want no memory of him because this is the last time I’ll have to deal with these snakes.
Only when we get in the car do I allow myself to breathe a sigh of relief.
“You were great in there.” Emily’s excitement and admiration make me turn to her.
Her smile is my biggest reward, even better than seeing Anthony Flores grovel.
“Did you really send an email to every record company head?” she asks incredulously.
I shake my head and hug her. Adrenaline is leaving my body, and I need physical support. “No, but I hoped to be convincing enough to make him believe it. Sending that email would mean risking all the new artists under contract who may find the clause about intellectual property included. Better not to make a fuss that could harm the musicians. Anthony will never talk about this if he doesn’t want to lose his credibility and his job,” I admit.
It was risky. He could have easily picked up the phone and, in a couple of calls, discovered my bluff, but this time I won. I turn to her and find her looking at me, mouth and eyes wide open.
“I swear I couldn’t tell! Damn, I still have a lot to learn,” she chuckles amusedly. Her tone, full of admiration, makes me gloat.
“Trust me, you’ve just solved one of the most complicated situations that could happen in this industry. You’re already well on your way. If you hadn’t noticed that detail, I couldn’t have done anything. I didn’t tell Flores that you found the solution because I needed him to focus on me, on the anger he feels toward me, and make him unreasonable. I didn’t want him to get distracted and think about actually making those phone calls. It’s not because I don’t trust you, but I had to play all my cards to make that bluff work.” I kiss her and hold her close to my chest.
“Of course, I totally understand why you did it. In all honesty, I would have let you do it even if you had asked me to intervene. I’m not ready to face someone like him yet. I need to practice with the smaller fish before thinking about standing up to such a shark.”
I nod and close my eyes, feeling the relief make its way into my chest.
“Nothing could be done for the Red Velvet Curtains to release them from their contract, right?” Emily’s voice is hesitant, as if she doesn’t want to awaken the guilt in my chest that never disappeared.
I open my eyes and look at her face. “Unfortunately, no. I can’t sign a contract on their behalf because they fired me as a manager and chose someone else to represent them. A contract signed by me has no value.”
She nods thoughtfully. “I thought so. I hoped there was something I had missed or some detail I hadn’t thought of, but I suspected there wasn’t much to do.”
I thought about including them in my blackmail, but the truth is that I risked losing both contracts a second time. I can bluff with the Jailbirds, but I can’t risk signing for the Red Velvet Curtains and then being dragged to court because I had no power of attorney to negotiate for them. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I was wrong once and will not repeat the same mistake again. The guilt I feel is mitigated by the happiness of the success I’ve just achieved.
I hold Emily and bask in this feeling of serenity with the woman who I still can’t believe has decided to stay with me through all of this, letting Max take us back to the office.
“By the way, I have a surprise for you tonight. To celebrate,” I whisper in her ear.
She snaps her eyes to mine curiously, but I kiss her and let the curiosity make her quiver all day. I know she’ll try to find out what it is, but I want to enjoy her expression tonight when I take her to my apartment. I already know it will be priceless.
***
I enter the recording studio alone. I didn’t even have to ask Emily to give me a few moments. She understood it was something I needed to do alone. The guys look up with curiosity when I put the contract on the stool next to them. Damian picks it up and reads it, then stares at me in disbelief.
“What is this?” Michael asks impatiently.
“It’s the intellectual property rights to all your old albums. It’s not the master rights, but you can re-record all your music and release it with Jail Records,” I explain.
Their eyes widen in surprise. I knew they’d lost hope or confidence that I could fix this for them. It’s been the most challenging part of this whole thing. Until a few months ago, they never questioned my competence. They had always trusted my instincts for every strategic decision in their career. But when the friendship broke down, they saw me differently, and I know we’ll never be able to go back to the way it was. That crack in our friendship has left an indelible mark.
“How did you do it?” Simon asks, grabbing the papers from Damian’s hands.
I shrug and put my hands in my pockets, not sure how I feel right now. “I told you I’d solve this mess. Sorry it took me so long.” And I’m not just referring to the last few months, but to the crappy contract they signed ten years ago.
I see the relief making its way to their faces, and it makes me happy. As much as they always said it wasn’t a problem, that contract was a stain on our relationship that I wanted to clean up, even if I couldn’t cancel it entirely. I turn around, ready to return to the conference room, when Damian’s voice stops me, my hand on the door handle.
“Thank you.”
