Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (28 page)

CHAPTER 15

“There
she is… it’s Mini-Kit!”
 
Bryan
yelled out, and the band started laughing as they walked down the hallway in
the hotel headed to soundcheck.
 

Giselle
spun around and playfully glared at them.
 
She pointed her finger at them. “That’s Ms. Mini-Kit to you!”

They
all erupted into laughter.
 
Kit
walked hand in hand with Sully at the back of the pack.
 
She grinned.
 
“I’m happy to see they’ve taken well to
her.”

Sully
chuckled and nodded his head slowly.
 
“She’s a hard-ass and has all that Brazilian fire.
 
That’s why they like her.
 
She keeps us all in line!
 
She knows how to navigate this massive
ship.
 
She’s a chip off the ol’ Kit
block.”

Kit
chuckled.
 
“Well, enjoy her while
you can.
 
She goes back home when I
do.”

“You
should leave her out here on the road with Sean and Danny.
 
She’s better than Gin and Bets put
together but don’t tell them that.”

Kit
shook her head.
 
“No way.
 
I’d be a mess at home without her.
 
She keeps me sane.
 
She’s the best assistant I’ve ever had.
She thinks like me.”

Sully
nodded.
 
“True.
 
She seems to be holding up well.
 
Bryan has a huge crush on her.”

Kit’s
eyes widened, and she smiled.
 
“Really?
 
I had no idea.
 
When did this start?”

“Day
one, baby.
 
He’s always liked
her.
 
He’s in awe of her.
 
Pretty cute.
 
Does she have a boyfriend?”

Kit
chuckled.
 
“Are you kidding?
 
She works for me.”
 
She joked.
 
“She doesn’t have time for a
boyfriend.”
 
She giggled.
  
“As far as I know, she’s single. I
thought Bryan had a girlfriend?”
 
Kit focused her attention on Bryan up ahead, who seemed to be making
Sully’s comment appear credible.
 
He
was buzzing around Giselle like she was a pot of honey.

Sully
shook his head.
 
“No.
 
They broke up during the last tour.
 
She couldn’t handle the life.”

Kit
nodded.
 
“Understandable.
 
It’s not for everyone.”

Sully
grinned thoughtfully.
 
“I think
Giselle could handle it.
 
Maybe we
should try to play matchmaker.”
 
His
steel blue eyes lit up.

Kit
kissed him and touched his cheek affectionately.
 
“You’re just a big romantic when it come
right down to it.
 
You want everyone
to be in love.”

He snickered
and put his finger to his lips, grinning.
 
“Sshh.
 
Don’t fuck up my bad
boy, rock star image, wifey.”

She
giggled and smiled.
 
“Don’t worry,
baby, your secret is safe with me.”

“Seriously,
babe, I think they might be cute together.
 
He’s a good guy.
 
Has never
been too crazy.”

Kit
nodded.
 
“True.
 
He’s always been nice.
 
I’ve never had any problems with
Bryan.
 
He’s very level-headed,
unlike the rest of you.”

Sully stared,
his mouth gaped open, yet still smiling.
 
“Are you saying that I’m not?
 
Wow, Kitty-Kat that hurts.”

She
giggled and kissed him on the cheek.
 
“You’ll get over it.”

He
squeezed her hand.
 
“I love having
you here on the road with me.
 
I
really do.”

She nodded
in agreement.
 
“I like being here
too, babe.”

His
eyes pleaded with her.
 
“Then don’t
leave next month.”

They
were about to hop into a limo with Jimmy when she stopped.
 
She looked at him as he continued
walking and called out to him.
 
“Sull, we’ll have to talk about that later.
 
You know I need to get back.”

He
grinned at her without saying another word and got into the limousine.
 
He was confident he would find a way to
convince her otherwise.

At
times like these, Kit truly appreciated the back entrance of the arena they
were playing that evening.
 
It
allowed the limousines to drive in underground.
 
It was unseasonably cold and snowy in
Helsinki, Finland.
 
Not only did the
exclusive entrance protect them from the elements, but from the fans that were
ten times crazier on this tour.

Kit
stood back watching again as the band headed up through the intricate
underground mazes below the arena.
 
Sully and Jimmy were talking.
 
Tony and Remo were laughing about something.
 
Bryan was trying to entertain Giselle by
making funny gestures while she yelled at someone on her large mobile
phone.
 

She
plugged one ear with her finger and loudly retorted,
 
“I’ve been so fucking busy I haven’t had
time to see any fucking fjords.
 
What do you think I do all day, sightsee? Yeah right, I’m here to play
around all day.
 
Right.
 
Let’s get down to it.
 
Why do we have delays and whose ass do I
have to kick?”

Kit
giggled watching her and seeing a little bit of herself at that moment.
 
She was grateful they had a new
technological advantage on this tour—several mobile phones.
 
Giselle had one that they coined “the bat
phone.”
 

She was
relieved that Giselle was handling most of the fires that arose, and there were
always plenty.
 
It gave her time to
focus on more important things like how she was going to break the news to
Sully that she had agreed to produce the debut album for Jade Riff in
Seattle.
 
She had also elected to
take a more active role with her duties at Diamond and help her mother-in-law
get the Los Angeles office for their foundation set up.
 

Sean
sidled up to her.
 
“Observing the
monkeys in their natural habitat?”

She
laughed.
 
“Yes, as a matter of fact,
I am.
 
I’m pretty impressed at how
smoothly this tour has been running, Sean.
 
I guess, at this point, you’re an old pro.”

He
nodded.
 
“Yeah.
 
I forgot how much I enjoyed being out on
the road.
 
For these guys, I
wouldn’t miss it.
 
This time is a
little different.
 
It’s like driving
a high-maintenance sports car with six gears when you’re used to driving a
sporty hatchback with the four or five standard gears you’ve always known.
 
A little tricky.”

Kit
pulled out a cigarette and Sean lit it for her.
 
“What’s the biggest difference?
 
The fans?”

They
started walking again, and he continued.
 
“That’s a big element, yeah.
 
Trying to juggle their press schedule, their appearances and get them to
the show on time.
 
They’re at the
peak of their popularity right now, and everyone wants to see them, hear them,
touch them.”

Kit exhaled
the smoke from her cigarette evenly to calm her nerves.
 
Although things were running smoothly on
the surface, something in her was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
 
The landscape had changed dramatically
for them on this tour.
 

She met
Sean’s friendly brown eyes. “Triple Tango has been sitting at number one on the
Billboard 200
for two weeks now and I
don’t see it declining anytime soon.
 
I got a call last week that we’ve gone triple platinum already.
 
The album hasn’t even been out for two
months.
 
This is unprecedented.
 
We’re dealing with a whole new level of
fame here.”

Sean
nodded.
 
“I’m gonna keep an extra
close watch on ‘em once you leave, Kit.
 
We can’t have them burning out.
 
This tour is a long haul. We’re only six weeks in, and I can already
tell that Sully is performing at a hundred and ten percent.
 
He’s on fire.
 
It’s not sustainable.”

She nodded,
instinctively knowing Sully’s patterns.
 
“He’ll be fine, Sean.
 
He’ll
cool his jets and back off a bit.
 
I
think he’s just so excited about the shows.
 
Almost every show on the schedule is
sold out or close to being sold out, and he loves his fans.
 
He wants to give them the best possible
performance.
 
That’s why he’s out
there hitting it harder than he ever has.”
 
She watched Sully as he headed up the stairs to the stage.
 
She nodded to Sean again. “I’m out.”

“Gotcha,
chief.”
 
He saluted Kit as she walked
away.
 

She
headed into the arena where the soundboards were located.
 
Giselle trailed after her.
 
Kit had stopped doing this at
soundchecks after their last immensely successful tour.
 
They were all at the top of their game
now with the best sound engineers in the business on the boards finessing any
bugs or hiccups that could potentially throw things off.
 
The band’s performance had jumped up to
another level again.

She
stood on the elevated platform on high alert watching everything.
 
The band hadn’t started playing yet, but
she was in awe assessing how large their crew had become.
 
They were all working like busy little
bees to ensure that the evening’s performance was its best.
 

She was
amazed.
 
She knew Gypsy Tango would
be successful and famous, but this level of big production and fame was
something that took some getting used to.
 
They were now one of the most popular and beloved rock bands in the
world.

Giselle
looked at the stage.
 
“It’s cool
being out here when a show’s not going on.”

She
nodded.
 
“Yep.
 
Wait until you hear them play.
 
It’s unique because the arena is
empty.
 
Different sound when the
arena is packed.
 
It’s a cool experience.”
 
She grinned and winked at Giselle.

Sully
took the stage and stepped in front of his mic.
 
He noticed Kit standing out at the
boards, smiled and pointed at her.
 
She grinned and waved.
 
They
started ‘Jaded,’ the very song that put them on the map in the first
place.
 
She hadn’t heard it in a
while.
 
They very rarely checked
with this song, but she was pleasantly surprised.

When
the song filled the arena, Giselle glanced at Kit and smiled.
 
She nodded silently and grinned
acknowledging that she liked what she heard.
 
Since the tour started, Giselle usually
remained at the hotel during the day and met up with Kit at the arena for the
show.
 
Kit was pleased she picked a
great day to share the full experience of soundcheck with her.
 
The entire band sounded fantastic, and
Kit was impressed not only with them, but with the sound engineers.
 
Not one thing needed attention.
 
They were on it.
 
When the song was over, she held two
thumbs up so the band could see them clearly.
 

Sully
grabbed the mic.
 
“Really?
 
No tweaks?”
 
She shook her head, smiling.
 

Jimmy
leaned forward and spoke into his mic.
 
“This is a first.
 
We must be
doing something right this tour.”

She
nodded from where she was and then headed up to the stage.
 
Sully walked over to her and hugged
her.
 
“It sounded that good, huh?”