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MARIKA
“Brenda?” I nearly shout. “You’re thinking about your ‘not girlfriend’ right now?”
“Yes. I mean, no! You don’t understand,” he stumbles over his words.
“I think I understand. It’s Sven all over again,” I think out loud, folding my arms over my chest.
“Who’s Sven?” He asks after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.
“It’s a long story. But Sven was my swim coach who tried to sleep with my sister and me. Like, at the same time. You're lucky. He wound up in the hospital,” I say while staring at the ground.
“The hospital? Sounds like an interesting story. Feel free to tell it to me. We still have a way to go.”
“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” I let out an exasperated sigh.
“I’m sorry. You mentioned it, so I thought you wanted to talk about it,” Josef says.
“Well, I don’t!” I say, sounding just a tad more annoyed than I wanted to sound. “That was a long time ago. Brenda is a ‘now’ thing. Tell me about her.”
He’s looking around at the trees now. It’s like he has some secret he doesn’t want to tell me. Is he married to Brenda or something? No, I don’t think that’s it. I drop my arms back down to my sides and we continue walking.
“Brenda is like a therapist. That’s a long story too. And it’s a little personal,” he says while looking down sheepishly.
“Well then, what are we doing here anyway?” I glare at him.
“Alright, let’s talk about your contract then. That’s what we’re supposed to be meeting about anyway.”
“Fine. Go ahead, talk,” I say with a stone face.
Josef stops and turns to look at me. I cross my arms over my chest again, waiting for what he has to say.
“The Siren sold your contract.”
“What!” I shout at him, not knowing what to think. “What the hell are you talking about? Sold it to who? Wait, did you buy my contract? Is that why you’ve been wanting to meet with me so badly? You think you own me now?”
“No!” he answers defensively.
I feel a pang of guilt for making such an assumption. I look at him, waiting for an explanation.
“I wanted to get to know you a little, as well as talk about your career, and I recently found out your contract was sold and wanted you to know if you didn’t already.”
“Who bought it? Was it my dad?” I’m not yelling anymore, but I’m still angry.
“No. Your dad did want to buy you, I mean your contract. Sonomi sold it with the right of first refusal, which means she gets first dibs if the new owner wants to re-sell it.”
“Who did she sell it to, then?” I don't want to yell again, but I can’t help it.
“I don’t know. Artyom is looking into it. It looks like she’s trying to use you to get control of your father’s company, or at least a piece of it. But I can help you.”
“Why? Why do you want to help me?” I can’t help but wonder. He looks around before casting his eyes at me, then back down to the ground.
“Alright, fine. What do you want in exchange for helping me, Joseph?” I sigh before adding under my breath, “I really should have known.”
“I’m not sure what you’re thinking. I have no ill intentions. I just want to hear you sing. More kisses wouldn’t hurt either if you want to. Even if they are pretend,” Josef says softly, but I’m not falling for that pretty boy charm again.
“Manipulate people much, Bratva Blondie?” I snap back at him. “That would violate my contract even further with whoever owns it now. Wouldn’t it? And I would sooner kiss a frog at this point.”
“I was being sincere,” he says to my back as I walk away. I’m heading back to my car to drive to the studio. I’d like to have a word with the Siren.
