Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (19 page)

“What
take are we on for them?”

“Twelve.”

Kit
rolled her eyes and made a sour face.
 
“Yeah, that’s a good solution.”
 
A few moments later she got on the mic.
  
“Remo and Tony, play to the
click.
 
Got it?”

Remo
stood up from behind his drums and shook his head.
 
He threw off the headphones and made his
way to the control room.
 
She
exchanged a look with Fred.
 
“Oh
God, here it comes.”

She
stood up and folded her arms in front of her chest as Remo approached.
 
“Why are you clicking me?
 
What the fuck, Kit?
 
Don’t put me on a click, c’mon!
 
That’s the ultimate insult!”

She
stared at him.
 
“We’re on the
twelfth take.
 
Do you really think
this one is going to stick when it didn’t for all the others?
 
I’m not so convinced.
 
I say click.”

He
shook his head. “I say no click.
 
One more shot, Kit.”

She
held her finger up.
 
“One and one
only.
 
You don’t get it right on
this take, and we’re putting you on a click.”

He
growled.
 
“Fine, whatever.”
 
He stormed out of the control room and
re-entered the live room where he got down to business.

After
successfully getting the rhythm section laid down, she let the band leave for
the night except for Sully, who would be working on vocals.
 
They all took a quick break before starting
and when Kit returned to the studio; she was dressed to go out.
 

Sully
sat in the live room and looked at her curiously.
 
He leaned forward and spoke into the
mic.
 
“Are you going out tonight
without me?”

She
answered him from the control room.
 
“Yes.
 
I figured it would be
best to get ready ahead of time because our session may run all the way up
until I have to leave.”

Sully
frowned and then decided to joke with her.
 
“Where are you going?
 
Do you
have a hot date?”

She chuckled.
 
“I wish, with you.”
 
She shook her head. “Spence wants me to
meet some new manager girl that he’s thinking about hiring.
 
I have to go see her band at the Whisky.
 
You’re welcome to join me.
 
I didn’t think you’d want to.”

He
chuckled.
 
“You’d be right.
 
Let’s get going.”

Kit and
Sully worked for two hours straight through before she called him into the
control room.
 
She was beaming as
she grinned from ear to ear.
 
“I
think you’re going to love this.
 
Your vocals sound amazing!
 
Fred, playback, please.”

Sully
sat on the back sofa, and Kit took a seat next to him.
 
He looked over at her halfway through
the song and smiled.
 
He nodded in
agreement.
 
He was thoroughly
pleased.
 
When the song ended, he
leaned over and kissed her.
 
“I like
it.”

She
grinned.
 
“Me too.
 
I want to layer some more vocal tracks
in the chorus to make it richer, but we can do that later.
 
I’ve already made notes for it.
 
For the most part, the song’s pretty
close to finished.”
 
She glanced at
her wristwatch.
 
“Oh shit, and on
that note…” before she could finish her sentence, the phone in the studio
started ringing and Fred had grabbed it.
 

He
turned to Kit.
 
“Your brother is
here and he said to get your ass up there, so you’re not late.”

She
nodded.
 
She leaned over and gave
Sully a quick kiss on the lips.
 
“Bye, babe.”

He
grinned.
 
“Have fun.”

She sprinted
out of the studio, across the backyard and into the house where Spencer was
standing in the foyer tapping his newly purchased, posh, Franck Muller
wristwatch.
 
She giggled, liking how
he looked.
 
His transformation from
an east coast styled yuppie to a Hollywood music dealmaker was complete.
 
He looked like an executive but with a
distinctive, trendy, cool edge.

She
grabbed her Chanel handbag and her black stilettos on the way out the
door.
 
She scanned him from head to
toe.
 
“Did you put this look
together?”

He
chuckled.
 
“Why?”

She
giggled. “’Cuz if you did, I’m pretty impressed.
 
Is that Armani?”
 
She fingered his suit.
 
“Spence, are you gay now? Did I miss
that memo?”

He
laughed loudly.
 
“No.
 
Someone put this look together for me.”

She
grinned and raised an eyebrow.
 
“Oh
really?
 
And is this someone female
and is she the manager we’re meeting tonight?”

He
shook his head and grinned.
 
“You’re
not gonna let that rest, are you?
 
No, she’s not the one that put this look together, but there is another
female that did.
 
She’s a stylist.”

Kit’s
eyes widened as she got into the limo with him and her mouth dropped open.
 
“Oh my God!
 
You’re banging the stylist that I
assigned to you when you first decided to get into this biz?”

He
rolled his eyes.
 
“No comment.”

She
threw back her head and let out a long cackle.
 
She looked over and nudged him.
 
“She did good.
 
No wonder you’re so happy these
days.
 
You’re getting laid.”

He gave
her a look of warning.
 
He preferred
to keep his private life private, even to his sister.
 
He frowned watching her as she touched
up her makeup, her lipstick and put her shoes on.
 
He laughed at her and shook his head.
 
“I thought you’d be ready.”

She stared.
 
“What gave you that crazy idea?
 
You’ve worked in this industry long
enough to know time is a relative concept.
 
I was almost ready.
 
I lost
track of time in the studio.”

Spencer
nodded.
 
“The driver is going to
drop us off on Clark Street as you requested.”

She
grinned.
 
“Trust me, that’s so much
better.
 
It’s a good way to keep the
attention off of us.
 
If we pull up
in front of the venue on Sunset Boulevard, everyone will want to see who’s
coming out of the limo.
 
It’s a pain
in the ass.
 
It attracts paparazzi.
It’s all around bad news.”

Spencer
glanced at her shoes.
 
“Are you
going to be able to walk down the hill in those?”

She
chuckled.
 
“Are you kidding?
 
I could run around the block in
these.
 
I’m an old pro, Spence.
 
I used to walk up and down the Strip in
heels bigger than this promoting Gypsy Tango with flyers for hours.
 
Walking down a little hill in these is
nothin’.”

Kit and
Spencer walked side by side down Clark Street and rounded the corner on Sunset
at The Whisky A Go Go.
 
She leaned in
and lowered her voice discreetly.
 
“What’s this girl’s name again?”

Annoyed
by her sudden memory lapse, he donned a smug look and humored her.
 
“Tabitha.”

Kit
nodded and followed Spencer’s lead as he chatted it up with the bouncers.
 
It had been so long since she had been
on the Strip.
 
She was fascinated by
it all over again.
 
Mostly all of
the faces had changed, except for the management and a bouncer or two who she
greeted immediately once they were in the confines of the club.
 

Spencer
and Kit mingled their way over to where the manager in question, Tabitha, stood.
 
The band she managed, Blood Brother, was
setting up.
 

Kit studied
her from afar wondering how accurate her brother was.
 
Tabitha was a tall, cute brunette with
long wavy dark brown hair, big brown eyes, and a fresh-faced glow.
 
She had a big smile that could light up
a room and seemed to be charming the pants off the executive she was talking
to.
 
Kit recognized him immediately;
Paul DeRose was from a local indie label.
 

Tabitha
was fashionable as well, in her tight, black, suede mini-dress, black suede
stiletto boots, and a cropped red blazer.
 
Kit noticed her shift from being pleasant, sweet and charming with the
executive to having a stern word with her bass guitarist.
 
She giggled.
 
Maybe Spence was right.
 
Maybe Tabitha was like her.
 

Kit
tapped Spencer’s shoulder to get his attention, keeping her eyes trained on Tabitha.
 
“How old is she?”

“Nineteen.
 
She goes to UCLA.”

Kit
laughed.
 
“What?
 
She’s a college student?”

He
nodded.
 
“Yep.
 
She fell into this, and she loves
it.
 
She’s been doing it for a few
years already.
 
She’s damn good at
it too.”

Kit’s
eyes reflected extreme apprehension.
 
“Spence, she’s too young.”

He
shook his head and glared at her.
 
“No, she’s not.
 
Age is just
a number, Kit.
 
Meet her and then tell
me she’s too young, ok?
 
People
thought you were too young too, remember?”
 

Kit
backed off and remained silent after being put in her place while Spencer waved
Tabitha over.
 
She headed in their
direction, smiling from ear to ear.
 
She gave Spencer a big hug that made Kit question the intentions of both
of them.
 
She dropped it and opted
to pay attention.

Tabitha
pulled back and grinned.
 
“Spence,
great to see you.
 
Who do you have
with you tonight?”
 
She confidently
outstretched her hand and flashed a bright smile.
 
“Hi, I’m Tabitha Kiernan.”

Kit
grinned, pleasantly surprised by her strong level of self-assurance.
 
She shook her hand.
 
“Kit McKenna, Tabitha.
 
Nice to meet you.”

Tabitha
nodded at her and for the first time, Kit could see her cool, calm, collected,
having it all together exterior start to crack as her eyes widened.
 
“Thee Kit McKenna as in GT fame, CCO of
Diamond, CEO of Flat 5 and founder of KMK?”

She
chuckled.
 
This girl was good.
 
She liked her more and more by the
minute.
 
She nodded.
 
“That’s me.”

Tabitha
grinned.
 
“It’s an honor, Kit,
really.
 
I hope to be half as
successful as you one day. I’ve got a long way to go.
 
You’ve paved some great paths for women
in the biz.
 
Thanks for doing that.”

Kit couldn’t
wipe the satisfied grin off her face.
 
This girl was charming the pants off of her, and she was eating it
up.
 
Now she fully understood her
brother’s obsession.
 
She met her
eyes.
 
“You’re welcome.
 
I’m sure you will be successful, Tabitha.
 
Spencer tells me you’re quite driven.”

She
shrugged her shoulders, suddenly playing modest.
 
“I guess.
 
I’ve got some great talent I’m
managing.
 
It’s easy to push them.”
 
She glanced over and noticed that the
band was getting ready to go on.
 
They were waving her over.
 
She turned her attention back to Kit.
 
“My apologies, Kit. I’m going to have to
step away for a moment.
 
We’re about
to start.”
 
She looked at both of them.
 
“Catch you two after the set?”