Drama 99 FM (17 page)
Authors: Janine A. Morris
Chapter 29
M
adison was looking out the window of the cab. She knew she was close to the venue but she was looking for the exact location. She looked down at her BlackBerry and read the address for Sexiness on the Rocks. She had told the cab driver the exact address. Cîroc, the latest luxury liquor, was sponsoring an industry mixer at which all the VIPs were requested to dress their sexiest. This was right up Madison's alley, so although she hadn't been out too much lately, this was an event she planned to attend. She was supposed to meet up with Tamika from Bad Boy Records, but Tamika was running behind, and Madison had told her she would meet her there.
adison was looking out the window of the cab. She knew she was close to the venue but she was looking for the exact location. She looked down at her BlackBerry and read the address for Sexiness on the Rocks. She had told the cab driver the exact address. Cîroc, the latest luxury liquor, was sponsoring an industry mixer at which all the VIPs were requested to dress their sexiest. This was right up Madison's alley, so although she hadn't been out too much lately, this was an event she planned to attend. She was supposed to meet up with Tamika from Bad Boy Records, but Tamika was running behind, and Madison had told her she would meet her there.
Madison wore a black and gray fitted mini dress with black ankle boots. The dress had thick stripes of black and gray alternating side by side; the black stripes were made of a see-through material. She had wanted to wear her strappy shoes, but she hadn't been sure if the weather was warm enough. This dress was one of Madison's many one-of-a-kind, customized dresses that she loved. She'd had it made for a celebrity wedding and had never gotten to wear it again, so she figured tonight's little festivities were a good opportunity to get a repeat wear. Her hair was swept up in a slicked-back ponytail; a small bang dropped over one eye. Her drop diamond earrings, a simple diamond band on her right ring finger, and a tennis bracelet were all she wore for jewelry. She felt like a million bucks when she stepped out of the cab.
As she approached the entrance to the loft, she could see some of her colleagues standing out front. Cathy, the VP of promotions from Capital Records, was standing in the front of the line speaking with security. There were several others standing around, which usually meant they weren't “found” on the guest list, and someone was going to have to come get them, or they were going to have to go home. Madison said some quiet hellos to a few folks and made her way to the front of the line. The bouncer asked her name, and she told him. He scanned the list and removed the red rope for her to enter.
“Are you with anyone?” he asked her.
“Yes, she's my guest,” Madison replied.
Madison pointed to Cathy, who was at the other end of the rope still talking to the security guard. The bodyguard called the other bodyguard and signaled to let Cathy by. Once Cathy was on the other side of the rope, Madison was waiting for her.
“Thanks,” Cathy said and gave Madison a hug.
“No problem, I know how these promoters get the lists messed up. Then they expect you to stand out there while they find someone. It's so annoying,” Madison replied.
“And embarrassing, for that matter,” Cathy added.
“That, too.”
“Please, that never happens to you.”
“You'd be surprised. There's been an error or two. I can't say that person still has their job, but it happened,” Madison said with a laugh.
They made their way to the elevator that was to take them to the main loft where the party was taking place. The security guard held the door as they got on the elevator with two other people. It was a small elevator, only enough for a few people at a time. Once everyone was in, the elevator conductor pressed the button to close the door. Just as the doors were closing, Madison saw a glimpse of a familiar face on the other side. A familiar faceâbut not one she wanted to see tonight. She'd seen the side of Neil's face right before the doors had closed. He'd been standing in the lobby and more than likely was with Polytics. In the back of her mind, Madison was hoping there was some rare chance that Neil was with some other executives or another artistâanyone but Polytics.
“I have to run to the bathroom when we get inside. Meet me by the bar,” Madison said to Cathy, preparing for her escape.
When the elevator doors opened, all that was on Madison's mind was to stand at the other end of the room, away from the elevator. She tried to walk along the wall where there was some space, but as soon as she walked in, she was approached by Kelly from Warner Music.
“Hey, babe, how are you?” Kelly said.
Kelly was a longtime colleague, one of the few in the business with whom Madison never had any issues.
“Hey, missy,” Madison said.
“How long have you been here?”
They hugged, and Madison tried to walk and talk, but Kelly seemed to not want to walk along with her, so Madison had to stop so she could listen.
“Just about a half an hour, not long.”
“Will you be staying a while? I have to run to the bathroom,” she said as she positioned her body to head to the back.
“Sure, go ahead. I will see you.”
Madison felt like she was running from the feds or something. All she could imagine was Polytics and Neil stepping off the elevator and then her being forced to have to have an awkward conversation with them. She made her way through the crowd. She just simply smiled at, waved at, or told she would be back to everyone who spoke to her.
She got to the rear and noticed a small sitting area with an empty seat. She sat and pulled out her phone. If only her BlackBerry were her KITT car, and she were Michael Knightâif only her phone could suddenly inform her of some escape route or some amazing tips on how to handle the situation. There were no incoming e-mails, missed calls, or electronic advice, so she put the phone away.
She sat there and looked around the room at all the sexy ladies dressed in their short dresses and stilettos. The men wore suits and dress pantsâa few had dress shirts with the top buttons undone. This was their way of bringing sexy back, she figured. And then there were quite a few people who had paid no damn attention at all to the sexy theme of the night. Some folks were wearing sweat suits, jeans, baseball caps, and whatever else they had worn to work that day. That was the music industry for youâno one had to comply with anything. The industry was filled with people that were “too cool” to care.
Madison felt movement beside her. When she looked over, a young man was sitting down next to her. She turned away and then looked back, realizing she knew him from somewhere. He was talking to another young lady who was standing beside him.
“Is your name Corey?” Madison asked at a lull in their conversation.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Hi. Yes, Corey Coxâyou play for the Knicks. You did an interview at my radio station a few months ago.”
“Oh, yeah, you work at Drama Ninety-Nine, right?”
“Yes, I do. I'm the program director. I'm the person who allowed you to come up there and promote your new sneaker and athletic line,” she said, laughing.
“Well, thank you very much, it's a pleasure,” he said, reaching out his hand for a shake.
As Madison shook his hand, she noticed that the young lady he was standing with had looked away.
“This is my assistant, Sereeta,” Corey introduced.
“Nice to meet you,” Madison said as she shook her hand as well.
“Let me give you her business card in case you ever need anything from me or tickets to one of the games,” he said, gesturing for Sereeta to give Madison a card.
“Sure, and I'll give her mine as well, in case you need anything.”
Sereeta and Madison swapped cards.
“Great, I'll surely be in touch. You two take care,” Madison said as she stood up.
She looked toward the front of the loft and didn't see Polytics or Neil anywhere. She refused to hide out in the back all nightâshe hadn't come to this party looking hot to trot just to have some artist keep her boxed in a corner. She began to walk through the crowd to see if she saw Cathy or Kelly. She looked over by the bar, didn't see Cathy, and figured she had gotten tired of waiting or hadn't reached the bar just yet. So she walked around a bit more to see who else had shown up. There were several executives from different record labels, some radio people from competing stations, and a bunch of people Madison had no idea who they were. She mingled with several and caught up with a few colleagues.
Eventually, Cathy walked up. “Where were you?” she asked.
“I was walking around looking for you,” Madison said.
“I went looking for you in the bathroom. Thought you got kidnapped.”
Madison thought to herself,
What, did you find out about stalker Polytics?
What, did you find out about stalker Polytics?
She laughed. “No, I'm still safe.”
“I saw Tamika from Bad Boy. She is looking for you, too.”
“Oh, she's here. Good. I was supposed to come with her, but she wasn't ready when I was, so she told me to come ahead of her.”
“Yeah, she told me. She asked me if I'd seen you when I bumped into her. She was over by the front,” Cathy said.
Cathy pointed over to the second bar in the front right-hand side of the loft. Madison looked over but instead saw Neil walking in her direction.
Aw, damn.
She had almost forgotten, for a split second, that she was hiding from them. She didn't see Polytics, so she was relieved about that. Neil was walking with a girl Madison didn't recognize.
Aw, damn.
She had almost forgotten, for a split second, that she was hiding from them. She didn't see Polytics, so she was relieved about that. Neil was walking with a girl Madison didn't recognize.
“What's up, Madison?” he said when he reached her.
“Hey, Neil.”
“How are you?”
“Good, yourself?”
Madison figured Neil knew all about her situation with Polytics, and she wasn't sure how he would act or if he would say anything. She was ashamed of her actions, but Madison wasn't the type to hang her head low for anybody.
“Neil,” he said as he extended his hand to Cathy.
“Cathyânice to meet you,” Cathy said.
Madison turned to look at the young lady with Neil, hinting at the need for an introduction. She was just being nosyâfor some reason she was curious about this girl's relation to Neil and Polytics, if any.
“Hi, this is Naomi. She works at Intheloop. She's Tiffany's assistant.”
“Oh. How nice to meet you. I love your boss,” Cathy blurted.
“Thanks, nice to meet you as well,” Naomi said.
“Hi, I'm Madison. Nice to meet you. I have probably spoken to you before because I speak to your boss all the time.”
“Do you work for Drama Ninety-Nine?” Naomi asked.
“Yes, that's me.”
“Oh, yes, I do know you. Tiffany has asked me to get you on the phone several times.”
“Yeah, and my assistant, Alexis, probably speaks to you more so.”
“Yes, Alexis. We're usually trying to coordinate meetings for you two or good times to call back,” Naomi said with a chuckle.
“Well, nice to meet you, and I am loving your dress,” Madison said.
Naomi couldn't believe that Madison Cassell had complimented her dress. Naomi was finally feeling like she fit in with her new life. The dress was a BCBG dress she had gotten on sale. It was brown and cream with an off-the-shoulder cinch top. The bottom was flowy and free, and she wore a brown knee boot with gold accessories. She wasn't showing off much aside from her shoulders, but she felt sexy.
“Naomi has only been living in New York for a few months, so I'm trying to bring her out to more events so she can get to know people and mingle.”
Naomi hung her head in embarrassment that he had told them in a nice way that she was lame.
“Oh, well, call me any time you want tickets to any of the shows. We will help get you acclimated to New York life,” Madison said.
“Thanks,” Naomi said. She realized she should actually thank Neil for saying thatâshe was thankful for Madison's offer. But she still had a bad vibe from Neilâthe truth was that Neil had been there the night of the Weezy party, and he had noticedâlike many othersâthat she and Tyreek had disappeared; it seemed that tonight he was just trying to get his shot at the goods. Naomi had found it a bit odd that he had offered to take her with him to this event and had told her the theme was to dress your sexiest. She had been suspicious and thought about declining until she'd figured she would rather not just watch television all night. She hadn't heard from her boyfriend in a few daysâhe seemed pretty upset about his unanswered calls the night of Tyreek and her lack of explanation for not calling until the middle of the next day. Naomi felt guilty talking to him, so when he'd hung up, upset, she'd figured it was best to let him call back when he had cooled off.
A woman walked up to the group, and Neil took it as a chance to say good-bye. He and Naomi headed toward the bar in the back.
Approaching the group, Tamika smacked Madison on the hip. “There the hell you are,” she said.
“I was looking for you.” Madison laughed, looking to Cathy for support.
“Yeah, I told her you were looking for her,” Cathy chimed in.
“Yeah, yeah. I'm about to go soon. I'm about to be wasted with all these free drinks flowing around here.”
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