But once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to work with movers and shakers in the music industry were called once-in-a-lifetime for a reason! They didn’t come along every day. I’d risked everything for the chance to work with the most awesome producer in Austin, and I was pretty sure the whole situation was giving me a world class stomach ulcer.
“You want me to bring down a few more books?” she asked. “I’ve got some really boring ones on financial planning.”
“No, it’s fine. I kind of just want them to add to the ambiance, you know? I don’t want so many books around that they catch her attention enough for her to quiz me on them.”
“Good point. I knew those boring, old college books would come in handy someday.” She laughed.
“Yeah,” I said, trying and failing to keep the light tone of my voice from draining away. "Who knew?"
“Hey, you all right?”
I sighed long and heavy into the phone. Jovie had been my best friend ever since she’d moved in upstairs. I couldn’t hide anything from her. “What am I doing, Jovie? Am I crazy? How am I going to convince Grandmother I’m not a next gen version of my mom when that’s exactly what I am?”
“Are you sure you really have to?”
“The woman hated my mother from the first moment she laid eyes on her. She blames her for my dad dropping out of Harvard Law school, and me by extension, I think.”
“Okay, let’s just take a moment to breathe and think this through.” Jovie always had a way of calming my nerves when I was on the verge of a breakdown, but I didn't know if it was possible this time. “What’s the worst thing that can happen if you don’t convince her to give you the money?”
“I lose the fifteen hundred bucks it took me ten years to save up. I lose my chance to record my music. And I spend the rest of my life collecting paychecks that are too small and paying bills that are too big.”
“Not necessarily. What about yourGimme Moneypage? How close are you to reaching your fundraising goal there?”
“Oh, you mean the single most embarrassing flop of a fundraising page in the history of… ever? I’ve raised twenty-seven—"
“Don’t be so hard on yourself! Twenty-seven thousand is awesome! It’s more than halfway to your goal. Even if your grandma doesn’t come through, you won’t have any trouble raising the last thirteen grand by fall.”
“No. Twenty-seven as in twenty-seven dollars. As in the cost of pizza and a movie. As in not even enough money to get my nails done. As in not enough to fill up my gas tank. As in—”
“Okay, I get it,” Jovie broke in. “So, I think we’ve established that youhaveto win over Grandmother Dearest. What else can I do to help?”
“Well, I did have this crazy idea, but it’s too ridiculous.”
“There are no ideas too ridiculous when your dreams are on the line,” Jovie said.
She wasn’t entirely wrong. I’d dreamed of being a recording artist ever since before my fingers were long enough to reach all the strings on a guitar. This chance to make my debut album with Bobby Midas was the big break I’d waited for my entire life.
There was a reason the man had legally changed his last name.Everythinghe touched turned to gold.
“All right, I was going to ask if we could trade couches while you’re out of town because I don’t even know if my grandmother will be willing to sit on my futon.”
“Girl, listen, if you think trading couches will help you seal the deal, let’s do it.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but…” I sneaked a peek out my kitchen window again. Cash was still there, putting on a gun show that all the ladies in our building would have paid good money to watch.
All the ladies but me, that is.
“But what?” she asked.
“We can’t move that thing by ourselves.”
“Ask Cash. He’s home. I’ve been watching him play with his new dog in the commons this whole time. The man isbuilt. He won’t have any problem moving it.”
I looked out the window again. Yes, he most definitely was built, but I wasn’t going to touch that conversation with a ten-foot pole. “It’s nothisdog. It’s a foster.”
What was I doing? I sounded just like Cash. Who cared who that dog belonged to as long as it wasn’t eating me! “And I’m not about to ask that raging ego maniac for help.”
“So, don’t. Offer to hire him.”
