Star Maker (21 page)

Wes
pulled his car across three lanes, almost causing an accident, and sped into
the parking lot of a liquor store. He reached behind under his seat and
retrieved a portable phone. He hastily opened the case and handed it to Alexa.
“Call Kit! Call her now.”

Alexa
seized the phone and hastily dialed their apartment. The phone rang and Kit was
grateful for a distraction. It was half past eleven and studying wasn’t
getting any easier. She answered on the second ring.

Alexa
screamed into the phone. “Put on KNAC now! Right now!”

Kit
didn’t have to ask why. She threw down the phone and bolted into the living
room, where she quickly turned on the stereo. She had already programmed the
preset to 105.5 and cranked it up. Sully’s voice blared through the speakers,
backed up by the band, sounding amazing. She jumped up and down and hooted
with joy and excitement. She ran back over to the phone. “Lex! Where are
you?”

“In a
parking lot on Wilshire. I’m on Wes’s portable.”

“Come
over, you and Wes both. We have got to celebrate. This is huge!”

“We’ll
be right over.”

Steve
stared at her, partially stunned and slightly annoyed with her behavior. She
pointed to the stereo. “That’s my band on the radio! That’s one of the bands
I manage! That’s Gypsy Tango…on the radio!” She screamed again and started
giggling.

He chuckled. “That’s great Kit, but we still have a lot to do
tonight.” She stared at him and shook her head. Nothing like a good buzz
kill, she thought.

Bryan
changed lanes on the 101 Freeway, moving over to exit on Highland Avenue as
Sully changed the radio station. He flipped it to 105.5 and heard his own
vocals. The band and Sully were all momentarily speechless and then started
screaming at the top of their lungs. Bryan yelled excitedly. “She did it!
She got us on KNAC! Fuck yeah!”

Sully
nodded and smiled confidently. “Of course she did! I knew she would.”

Jimmy leaned forward and tapped on Bryan’s shoulder. “Head over to
Kit’s. We have got to celebrate with her.”

Kit
didn’t know how to break it to Steve that Wes and Alexa were coming over to
celebrate. She figured this might end up being a night where they either
decided to take a break from dating so seriously or break up altogether.

Alexa
flew through the door fifteen minutes later with Wes in tow. He was carrying
the champagne. Alexa ran over to Kit and hugged her. Both of them jumped up
and down, screaming and Wes laughed, happy to see them celebrating months of
hard work.

He then
hugged Kit and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Congratulations, beautiful. You
did it! We brought something to do a little celebrating.” He presented her
with a chilled magnum of Dom Perignon champagne.

Alexa
giggled. “This man does not mess around when it comes to celebrating.”

Steve
stood up and looked at Kit. “Hey! We’re supposed to be studying here.”

She
looked at him and shook her head, smiling. “Not tonight. We’re done with our
study party, honey.”

He
shook his head and angrily started packing up his stuff. “Then I’m outta
here.” He left in a huff, slamming the door behind him.

Alexa
laughed. “More for us!”

Seconds
later, Gypsy Tango came running through the door yelling, screaming, and
cheering as they tackled Kit onto the sofa, hugging and kissing her. Wes shook
up the magnum and opened it over the band and Kit, expensive champagne
christening their victory.

Sully
pulled Alexa into their big dog pile. She had certainly helped Kit get them
there and they all respected her for that. Wes stood back watching and
laughing as Alexa grabbed the bottle from him and started chugging it, then
handed it to Kit who did the same and passed it onto Sully.

It was
ten full minutes before everyone settled down. Bryan headed out to move his
van, hoping it was still there. He had parked in a red zone in front of the
apartment building with his hazard lights on. Wes talked with Sully and the
guys for a bit, while Kit pulled Alexa into the kitchen.

She
grinned. “I wanted to say thanks again. If it weren’t for your connections we
wouldn’t be here… yet. We got here much quicker than I expected. Really, Lex,
I appreciate it more than you know.”

Alexa
smiled. “Baby, I am in this with you one-hundred percent. I’m in it to win it
as much as you are. I see how brilliant these guys are. I see how Sully can
light up a stage and seduce his audience like a pro. This is just the
beginning, sweetie. This is what we came here to do. We’re in it and it’s
better than I ever imagined it would be.”

Kit
squealed with joy and hugged her tightly. “This is really exciting!” She
pulled back and looked at Alexa. “I have an idea that I want to run by
them—something that hit me the other day. It’s going to cost a chunk of
change, though. We’ll have to talk about it.”

Alexa
grinned. “How much are we talking here? A few thousand or a whole lot more?”

“Not
sure yet, but I know it’s going to be over ten for sure.”

Alexa
giggled. “Hold that thought.” She leaned out of the kitchen. “Hey, Wes, get
your ass in here, brown sugar.”

Kit
chuckled. “Do you always talk to him like that?”

She
shrugged her shoulders. “Once in a while. He kinda likes it.”

He
walked into the kitchen and smiled at her. He gave her a quick kiss on the
lips. “You rang?”

She
looked up at him and grinned. “Remember that conversation we had in the car
earlier about GT?”

He
nodded. “Yep.”

“Here’s
your golden opportunity, honey. Kit, here’s the pitch of your lifetime. I’ll
leave you two to your own devices.” She walked past Wes and out of the
kitchen.

Kit
grinned and tilted her head to the side. “I’m sorry, Wes. I’m a little
confused. Care to clue me in?”

He
leaned on the counter and grinned. His kind, dark brown eyes twinkled. “How
much do you need, Kit?”

She
chuckled. “I don’t know my number yet, but let’s say it’s definitely over ten
grand. Why are you asking?”

He
smiled. “Lex told me you want to take your management company, KMK, to the
next level and that you already have some bands established. I’d like to be one
of your investors for KMK Management, but I want the majority of my funding to
be allocated specifically to Gypsy Tango.”

Kit’s
mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you serious, Wes?”

He
nodded and grinned. “Oh yeah. You and Sully willing to meet with me this week
to talk about the details?”

She giggled. “Absolutely.”

Kit
walked into the rehearsal studio where the guys were running through their set
for the show coming up in two days. She was pleased to see them much more
serious and focused. They looked like a polished, professional band—one
that would be worthy of a seven figure record deal. She took a seat on the
sofa in the back and watched them until the song ended. She nodded. “You guys
sound good.”

Sully
looked at her. “Any tweaks?”

She
shook her head. “No. I’d say Tony needs to turn up a bit, but that’s it. Ok
guys, band meeting, right now.”

They
all assembled moments later with Sully taking a seat to her right, while Jimmy
sat on her left. Remo, Tony, and Bryan sat in front of her on plastic
crates—each one of them eager with anticipation. She wanted to laugh.
She had never seen them this attentive, but ever since the success of the
national tour, the sell out show at the Roxy, and the radio airplay on KNAC,
they hung on her every word.

“Guys,
I have an idea. Your single is building momentum back east and I have a
sneaking suspicion that you’ll be charting soon. This puts us in a good
position because record companies are going to come after us, and a few already
have.”

Jimmy
looked at her. “They have?”

“Yes.
We have interest from several indies, including Enigma, right now.”

Remo’s
mouth dropped open. “Holy shit.”

She
shook her head. “We don’t want an indie, guys. We want to go big. We need
corporate muscle behind this.”

Sully
nodded. “Yeah guys, c’mon. This is not the time to settle.”

Kit
looked at him and nodded in agreement. “Here’s the idea. We cut a four song
EP on our own and push it out at shows, through the fan club, give it to the
stations, etcetera.”

Tony
frowned. “But, we don’t have the songs for an EP.”

Kit
stared at him. “Tony, we take the songs from the demo, turn it into an EP, and
promote the shit out of it locally. It’s a very grassroots strategy. And yes,
it’s a risk, but I’m willing to do it if you guys are. If this goes how I
think it will, we’ll be poised to have the majors we want coming after us in
the New Year. We can probably push this out right after Thanksgiving if we
hustle.”

Bryan
nodded. “Kit, we did make some money on the tour, but we don’t have that much.
Are you bankrolling this?”

Kit
shook her head. “We have two potential investors, Bry. Sull and I are meeting
with them this week.” She glanced at Sully.

He knew
better than question her. He didn’t know the details, but went along with it
anyway. He sat back and put his arm along the back of the sofa. “Yeah, we’ve
got a meeting all set up.”

Kit
looked around at all of them. “I think the investors will go for it. If
that’s the case, we’ll pull the trigger and go into production getting the demo
pressed. We’ll go vinyl and cassette, more cassette than vinyl, though. You
could potentially chart without a deal, which would put us in a position to
pick and choose what we want. It will position you to go with the highest
bidder—one that you want and not the other way around. It’s the ultimate
power play. What do you guys think?”

Jimmy
chuckled. “Once again, Kit-Kat, I think you’re fucking brilliant. Let’s do
it.”

All of
the other guys nodded their heads in agreement and Sully spoke up. “Ok, then
that’s the plan. Kit and I will call another meeting after we meet with the
investors. In the meantime, let’s focus on being on point for our upcoming
show. And guys, let’s optimize our time with Kit, ok? She’s under a lot of
pressure with school this year. Let’s help her out as much as we can and make
her job easy. Got it?”

They all
nodded. She looked over at him and smiled. “Thanks, Sull. Ok, guys. Get
back to it. I’m outta here—back to the law library for me. I’ll be home
tonight.”

Sully
ran after her. “Hey! Let me walk you out.” He strolled out to her car and
leaned against it. “So, tell me, who is this investor? I know Veri is in town
and we agreed to meet her this week, but there’s another one too? Is it
Alexa?”

Kit
grinned. “Yes, we’re meeting with Veri and another person. It’s not Lex.
This is a whole lot bigger, babe.”

“Who is
it?”

She
chuckled. “One Mr. Wesley Matthews. He thinks you guys have the goods to make
it big. He wants a piece of the pie.” She tugged on his shirt. “Hey listen,
can we discuss this tonight? I really need to get a move on. Steve is going
to kill me.”

He
frowned. “Who the hell is Steve?”

She
laughed. “My boyfriend.”

He
nodded and grinned. “Ah. Didn’t know you had a new one. What does this one
do?”

“He’s
in school with me. Classmate. Smart classmate.”

He
chuckled. “Ok. Go have fun at the law library. We’ll talk tonight.” He
leaned forward and hugged her tightly. He then pulled back and gave her a
quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Kit-Kat.”

She smiled as she got into the car. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Foxx.”
She winked as she shut the door and started her car.

* * *

As they
had planned, Gypsy Tango’s EP was unleashed to the public after Thanksgiving.
They had underestimated demand and had to put in another production order.

It was
now December and Kit was relieved to be done with finals and so was Alexa.
They had decided to throw a party—this time inviting school pals plus
their Hollywood pals, figuring it would make for an interesting mix.

Sully
had moved out again, finally feeling comfortable enough to take over Joe’s place
as his own, sharing it with Bryan and Jimmy. The three-bedroom condo suited
them perfectly. Sully felt better having them there and they were good about
respecting the place. He had started dating a model that he met through
Veronique the last time she was in town, but wasn’t enjoying the experience as
much as he would have hoped.

Kit was
busy talking to record companies. Nothing substantial yet, but she kept the
faith. She knew things would hit soon enough and the majors they wanted would
be knocking down their door. The ‘Jaded’ EP had certainly created intrigue,
but now that the industry was slowing down for the holidays, it didn’t look
like anything would pick up again until February.