A Song for Julia
away,” she said, her voice sounding catty.
I stiffened.
Crank snorted. “No one can steal what you didn’t have in the first place, Serena.”
Serena’s eyes fixed on him for a few seconds, then back on me. She moved like a very calm, very dangerous predator. I didn’t like the feel of this at all.
I didn’t even know why Crank had asked me to come over this afternoon, but he’d made it sound important. If it was to parade me in front of his band, I wasn’t going to be happy. Not one bit. I wasn’t interested in getting into any kind of conflict with Serena, and I didn’t know enough of their history to know what was going on here. Had Crank and Serena been involved? Or worse, had he slept with her at some point and dumped her? Or … who knew? Did I even care? I didn’t know where we were headed, if anywhere. The questions swirled in my head, and I swept them away. I wasn’t going to get wrapped up in that. Not right now. But I would certainly discuss it with Crank later. In private. And he wasn’t going to enjoy that discussion.
I turned to him, raising an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell me what this is all about?”
Serena said, “I think we should let her hear the recording first.” She practically purred.
Crank said, “You’re being dramatic.”
She leaned her head forward, just slightly, her eyes on him. “No, I’m being serious. I want her to know exactly what we’re dealing with here.”
“Fine,” Crank said. He walked over to a stereo and pressed some buttons, then sound poured out.
I recognized the song. It was the one I’d heard that night at Bill’s Bar & Lounge…”Julia, Where Did You Go?” But it was different. That had been at a live show and the first time they’d played it. Here … they’d perfected the transitions, the timing, done some work on the chorus. It was … amazing. I’d heard all of the band’s music, but this was an order of magnitude better. The kind of song that could get hit radio play.
When it was over, I looked at the four of them. “You’ve got a—a possible hit there. A big one.”
Serena smiled, but it still wasn’t friendly, and Pathin and Mark looked at each other. Crank stayed quiet.
Serena finally spoke. “The president of Division Records was in the studio yesterday when we did that cut. He wants to meet with our manager. To negotiate a contract.
“That’s great,” I said, feeling a little hesitant. Why had they brought me here to tell me this?
“We don’t have a manager,” she said. “And we can’t afford to hire anyone.”
Oh. No. She had to be kidding me.
“And?” I said.
“You’re a business major at Harvard. When do you graduate?”
“June.”
“Crank said you interned at Division Records?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I did. One summer. And I’ve done all the coursework I could related to the music industry.”
“Planning on going to graduate school?”
I frowned. Then answered, “I was. But honestly, I’ve been having doubts … I’m not sure I want to go in the direction my parents want. Is this a job interview?”
Crank chuckled, and Serena got a fierce grin on her face. “Think of it like that,” she said. “But don’t be acting pricey.”
“I’m a long way from being an expert on the industry.”
“That’s fine,” Serena said. She had her arms crossed over her chest, a frown on her face. “We don’t have any money to pay you. What I want to know is: do you have the balls to do it?”
I didn’t like her attitude. She acted like I was asking them for a favor, not the other way around. I stared back at her, and Crank, standing next to me, shifted uncomfortably. He’d be a lot more uncomfortable when we talked later. I didn’t appreciate being brought in here cold.
“I might,” I answered her, “if it’s worth the trouble. What exactly do you have in mind?”
“First thing, negotiate the single. Get us the best deal possible. Up until now, I’ve been handling scheduling our gigs. But you’d take that over. If the single takes off … we want to go on tour. Record a real album. Opening for someone, whatever. It would be your job to club that together. If you think you can handle it.”
I was starting to like Serena. She was being a bit of a bitch, but there was nothing wrong with that. She was confident, bold as hell. “Okay, let me make sure I’ve got this right. You want me to take my minimal experience with the music industry and your complete lack of money, and
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