Killing Me Softly(A Broken Souls Series)

I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath and squeezing Tate’s hand. “Holland, relax.”

“Do you have any questions?” The lady who wasn’t introduced to me asks. Her pencil skirt is perfectly straight, not as much as a wrinkle from sitting in a car. She’s dressed older, but her face is porcelain white without a single flaw.

“I only sang two songs in front of you. Tate is the talent, I’m just a girl who was only half serious about singing. I think you’re making a mistake.”

Everyone but Tate and I laugh. “Your two songs were ready to be recorded. Don’t underestimate your talent.”

“Email it to me, I will have to check with my commander and attorney. Holland and I will be back to you as soon as we can. Thank you for the opportunity,” Tate stands and I follow.

My head is swimming as we walk out of the office.

“Was that real?” I ask.

“I’ve heard of him before and he’s signed all of those stars with big labels. Even not signing with a label, that’s good money for these small gigs. I’ve been doing them for a hundred bucks. Listen, I don’t want to discuss the contract with my grandma around. She’s so determined that I run the farm and it will piss her off,” Tate says.

The bouncers walk with us back to the table where Florence is sipping on a glass of wine and laughing with the crowd.

Tate and I sit down and he leans over and whispers something to Florence. She’s pleased with whatever he says. He looks over at me and winks. My head spins with the thought of being paid to sing. Life just got more complicated.

***



Chapter Ten. Temper

I CAN MEET YOU AT THE ATTORNEY’S OFFICE AT FOUR. 10:02 am

OKAY. I WAS ABLE TO TRADE SHIFTS AT WORK. DID YOUR GRANDMA GET TO THE AIRPORT OKAY? 10:15 am

SHE DID. IS YOUR HAIR DOWN RIGHT NOW? 10:16 am

THAT’S A STRANGE QUESTION. YES IT IS. 10:16 am

WEAR IT THAT WAY TODAY. WE’LL GET SOME DINNER AND GO TO THE LAKE IF YOU CAN GET AWAY FOR THAT LONG. 10:18 am

OKAY. HOW DOES MY HAIR PLAY INTO THIS? DAD IS BEING RELEASED TOMORROW. 10:18 am

I MISS YOU. IT LOOKS SEXY THAT WAY. TWO DAYS NOT SEEING YOU HAS BEEN THE WORST DAYS EVER. 10:19 am

EVER? TATER, I MISS YOU TOO. LOL 10:21 am

I sit and laugh as I wait for his response.

YOU’RE EVIL. I LIKE EVIL. GOTTA GO, PLANE IS COMING IN. 10:22 am

LATER TATER! XOXO 10:22 am

I’ve cleaned the house and scrubbed the bathroom down. One day, I want a house with at least two bathrooms. There are times Dad sits on the toilet forever and I end up needing a gasmask if I have to go to the bathroom after him. It would be nice to have my own private area.

Tate forwarded me the contract so I can check it out. I expected it to be filled with tons of legal jargon that would be confusing. Everything is straight forward, nothing sounds unreasonable. Although, every time I think about singing in front of people for money, my stomach gets upset. Between my college fund and the money I’d make from a gig, I could cut back on my hours at the store. Dad will be excited about me singing, but he would freak out if he finds out they’re selling us as a couple.

Twenty minutes later.

I’ve been sitting on the edge of my porcelain tub and shaving my legs. After every stroke, I run my hand along the line to make sure I didn’t miss any stubble. When I first started to shave my legs, I didn’t have anyone show me the right and wrong way to work a razor. It didn’t take long to figure out the ankle and knee area tend to get nicked and bleed. One time, I barely cut my ankle and it looked like I’d been stabbed! There was blood running down the drain and the water felt like alcohol it burned so bad. I wonder at what point a woman said, to hell with my hairy legs, find me something to mow this shit.

I grab the raggedy towel I’ve had since the beginning of my existence and dry off my legs. The last time Andy came to the house, she saw the towel and swore she was buying me a set of towels for my birthday. If we sign the contract, I’m going to buy a set of towels with my first check. They’ll be lime green, Andy’s favorite color.

There’s a lot of maintenance that goes into impressing a guy. Shaving my legs, painting my toes, curling my hair, eyeliner, lotion, and the list goes on forever. What does a guy do? Shower, deodorant, and a splash of cologne. Some guys bathe in the cologne, Tate doesn’t.

My phone buzzes on the bathroom counter as I’m smearing lotion on my legs.

I BET YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT ME RIGHT NOW. 1:16 pm

TATE – I BET YOU’RE PINING FOR ME RIGHT NOW 1:25 pm

I BET YOU’RE RIGHT. STILL THINKING ABOUT ME AREN’T YOU? 1:26 pm

IF YOU MUST KNOW, I JUST SHAVED MY LEGS. SO YES, I GUESS I’M THINKING ABOUT YOU. 1:27 pm

GIRL, YOU JUST MADE MY DAY! I CAN’T WAIT TO RUN MY HANDS UP AND DOWN YOUR LEGS TO CHECK THEM OUT. I’M THE LEG PATROL. 1:28 pm

BOY, YOU’RE A DORK. I’M READY TO BE PATROLED. LATER TATER 1:29 pm

GOD, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU. BYE. PS – I LIKE YOUR BOOBS! 1:30 pm

He likes my boobs? This reclaimed virginity rule is starting to annoy me.

***

The lawyer’s office is across town, where all the fancy office buildings and ritzy houses are located. Tate’s truck is backed-up into a spot under a shade tree. In new areas you don’t see many established trees. Builders like to wipe out everything and start from scratch. I pull the Charger into the empty spot next to him.

Tate comes over and opens my car door for me.

“Hey beautiful, did you have a good day?” Tate asks as he kisses my forehead.

“Yeah, how about you?”

“Can’t complain.” I thought he would be wearing his dress uniform, which is so much better than camouflage. Instead, he’s wearing a fitted dark blue golf shirt and jeans. “Let’s go find out what our attorney says.”

The secretary escorts us into a small conference room with a round table and leather chairs. It’s exactly how I would picture the inside of an attorney’s office to look. Dark wood paneling on the walls, expensive looking artwork exquisitely framed and hung on the walls. Mr. Byrd is standing up, he’s no more than five foot eight, but he looks and dresses like Ryan Seacrest from American Idol. I don’t know which one is older, I’d guess Mr. Byrd to be about thirty.

“Mr. Cook, Miss Clifford, please have a seat. I’ve been looking over the contract for you this afternoon. Do you have any questions regarding the contract?” Mr. Byrd asks.

Tate clears his throat before answering the attorney. “I’m just concerned about not being able to fulfill a predetermined gig due to my Air Force obligations.”

“I’m going to request an addendum to make the provision for your military career. Now Miss Clifford, are you wanting to go on stage alone in the event he’s off playing war hero?”

War hero? “Alone? No. In that war hero addendum, go ahead and say I have a migraine and can’t perform. He can perform without me any time, but I don’t want to return the favor,” I say as one long run-on sentence.

Mr. Byrd chuckles like an old man and nods his head and squints his eyes as he looks my direction. “Miss Clifford, you can request anything you want. Keep in mind, they can reject any request we make. You haven’t signed yet, so you are in control. Are you both okay with getting paid quarterly? We can always ask to be paid monthly.”

“Yeah, I want to get paid monthly if possible,” I say without thinking of Tate.

“I agree with her, monthly would be more beneficial to us. I’m okay with singing alone so they don’t need to worry about me. The contract is for twenty-four months, I’d like to make it eighteen months if Holland is on board.”