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“The more you travel this way, I guarantee it gets easier. I used to be just like you.” He tips his head.
“Maybe,” I answer thoughtfully, “and maybe if I make it huge, I’ll even have my own plane.”
He chuckles and I feel free to smile with him for once. “I have no doubt you’ll make it. You’re already on your way. Right now, just try and get some rest, princess.”
The smile on my lips falters and I turn to face the window, hoping to keep him from seeing the way my face floods with embarrassment. I need to get through this trial. I just need to keep reminding myself of that fact.
Chapter Four
Ezra
The music industry is a tyrannical beast. Despite the glamor, fancy cars, and mansions, it's grueling. Every client I’ve worked with has been torn down and rebuilt in order to survive the business. Usually, it's easy for me to go in, fix everything, and help a new star rise before making my exit. Usually, though, my clients aren’t teenage girls lost in the industry and oblivious to what is happening with their careers.
My first impression of Ocean Heart on paper was that she was a socialite who made the right connection and became an overnight sensation. Then I read her background. I felt a punch to the gut reading about how she lost both parents in the same car wreck. How she was left with her uncle, who drove her around the state to shows and radio stations to hear her sing. How some people observed her crying about this but that she always pulled it together by the time she had to perform. I did my research and I did it thoroughly. There was no way I was taking on a kid who couldn’t handle the lifestyle. By the time I actually watched the recording that had her going viral onTiktok, all my previous thoughts about her went out the window. Not only is this girl a survivor, but she sings like an angel and has the spirit of a fighter. I can work with all of those traits. What I cannot work with is the fact that Ocean doesn’t run her own business. She’s like a baby turtle with her head stuck in the sand while the world goes on around her. Fixing this is my number one priority.
Around noon, Clifford Heart finally graces us with his presence, mostly sober, not that I had been missing him. Everyone, including Ocean, seemed to be more relaxed and working hard until he arrived. Once Cliff enters the building, everyone begins glancing around for approval as if there was a secret code they needed to follow that they didn’t when he was absent. Ocean immediately becomes a shell of the girl she’s been all morning, moving to exit the stage. I stop her with my hand.
“Keep going.” She glances under her lashes from me to her uncle then back to me again. I raise my brow at her and she finally turns and goes back to practicing with her dancers and back-up vocalists.
“What do you think you’re doing, Hamilton? You little shit.” Cliff’s face is red, his words are daggers aimed at me. He’s close enough that I can still smell the booze from last night on him. The room around us becomes charged with violence. I give the man my full attention and roll my shoulders back. I don’t appreciate anyone talking to me this way. Ever.
“Following my schedule,” I respond and turn my back to him, my eyes connecting with Ocean. “Everyone can take a ten-minute break.” She nods and they scramble to get off the stage.
“You can’t kidnap my niece and take over her performance!” Cliff yells, spit flying from his mouth. I take a step back.
“I didn’t kidnap her. As part of her contract, she has to follow the rules and schedule I set for her. My job is to improve her performance, her security, and the overall fluidity of hermovement and life. So yes, Cliff, I am taking over.” I meet his eyes, and for the first time since he stomped in here, Cliff is looking a little wary.
“She still can’t perform unless I am present.” His chin lifts and his eyes roam the room before settling back on me. I don’t miss the spark of triumph he most likely feels. And if I was him, I might have thought I won this round. Unfortunately for Cliff, I already knew that stipulation in Ocean’s contract, and I was prepared for it.
“She isn’t performing. She’s practicing for a performance. And if she doesn’t perform, that is a violation of the contract you signed with BNE to ensure my services.” Fucking asshole is what I wanted to say. I glance quickly at Ocean and notice the stricken look in her eyes and how pale her face is. So she doesn’t know what’s in her contract. Interesting.
“I-it’s still a matter of principle. You can’t just call the shots and leave her guardian out of it.” Cliff puffs his chest, refusing to back down. Even though he is incompetent at his job and knowing what's best for his niece and her career, he refuses to let go. He only wants the acknowledgement of owning her in some way and profiting from her fortune.
I slide my phone from my pocket. “Do we need to call your legal team, BNE’s legal reps and my own team to go over the semantics? Or are you going to give your niece the kudos she deserves for showing up on time and working hard because at the end of the day, that's what makes her money.”
Cliff’s gaping mouth slams shut. For the first time, he looks around the room and at the audience he created with his tantrum. When he looks back at me again, he’s relaxed, happy, fake. “I think I’ll just help myself to a bagel over there and a mimosa. Looks like you got this covered here, Hamilton.”
“I do,” I remind him, dipping my head while he walks away. From across the room, I feel her eyes on me. There are manythings that need to be said and I want to make sure Ocean is on the same page with me. But practice comes first.
“Let’s run that last set one last time,” I call out to the group and they resurface on the stage. Ocean moves slower, unsure of her place now that her uncle is here. I move to the edge of the stage, looking up at her.
“Are you the main vocalist?”
Her eyes widen. “Yes.”
“Then act like it. No matter what happens down here, up there, it's your world. Command it. Don’t let me or anyone else think this isn’t your show,” I snap at her. Her eyes glisten, and in the next second, her head drops. I refuse to go easy on her. Ocean needs to be used to taking control. When her head lifts the tears are gone, only the pink smudges on her cheeks remain. She nods to me and turns back to her dancers and the other vocalists. Her shoulders roll back and her head lifts higher. I once again see the performer I know she is.
“Okay, the last set, let's practice it. Ocean, when you leave the stage, you head in Theo’s direction. He will escort you through the row of your security, who are hidden by the curtains. At the end of that hallway, Theo will hand you off to me. You have twenty seconds to get off the stage, through your security and to me. Everyone got that?” I glance at everyone and all I see are heads nodding.
The music starts and I make my way to the tunnel where I will meet Ocean. She sings through her last six songs of the set and that is when I start the time clock. At twenty seconds on the dot, while the band finishes the last notes of her last song, she makes it to me. Theo nods to me, as I reach for her and usher her into the dressing room. Theo keeps moving, just as we practiced, to the fake getaway car.
“Not bad,” I tell her, pleased with how well it actually went. Transitions were something her small team had issues with inthe past. With my vetted crew to assist as her security, I have no doubt a solid plan like this will keep the past mistakes from happening again.
She exhales a shaky breath. “I want this to work, Mr. Hamilton.”
I snort at how proper my last name is coming out her mouth. “Ocean, I may be in charge right now, but my intentions are only good. You can call me Ezra.”
“Okay,” she whispers, and my heart clenches. Ocean’s exterior looks tough, but I’m learning that she is sensitive and purely nice. “I’m sorry about my uncle.”
