4
Zoey
Before leavingThe Roxy the other night, Cade Summers invited Zoey to their show at The Whiskey. Tan Lines was a great band and she knew he was excited to play there. Lots of bands dreamed about getting a date at TheWhiskey.
Truthfully, she would've gone even without the invite. It was her first night off in a while and she couldn't think of a better way to spend the night than listening to agoodband.
She got there early so she could secure her spot in front of the stage. Megan had to work that night, but Zoey didn't mind going to The Whiskey alone. She knew she'd run into people she knew. That was the benefit of being a club rat, even if she hatedthatterm.
"Excuse me," said a man's voice frombehind.
She turned around to find a tall man with salt and pepper hair she didn't recognize. He had on a pair of khakis and a blazer, making him stand out intheclub.
"Yes?" she asked, wondering what hewanted.
"You're Zoey Ackerman, right?Themuse?"
"Yup, I'm Zoey, but I don't know about themusepart."
"Well, that's what the bands call you,"hesaid.
"They call a lot of women different things, doesn't meanthey'retrue."
"Fair enough. I still want to talk to you. I have a propositionforyou."
"A proposition? Who are you?" Zoeyasked.
"Sorry, I'm Richard Black, CEO of Black Dog Recordings. I don't know if you realize it, but you have quite thereputation."
"Yeah, as a club rat or a groupie. I know allaboutthat."
"Not just that, but as someone who knows music. You've got a talent for choosing bands to back. You've supported some bands that have done really well. Like Tan Lines here. You've gotanear."
"Stop blowing smoke up my ass, Mr. Black. What doyouwant?"
"Please call me Richard. I want you to workforme."
"Alright, that's it, you fucked up perv. I've heard about guys like you going after groupies like we're slutsforhire."
"No, not like that," Richard said, laughing as he reached into his pocket. "Here's my card. Ask around about me. I'll be here all night. Let me know at the end of the night if you want tohearmore."
He handed her a business card that read 'Richard Black, CEO, Black Dog Recordings' and left. Holding the card, she flipped it around a few times as she thought about what he said. Could he be legit? What could she do besides get him coffee? She hadn't even startedcollegeyet.
Slipping the card into a small cross-body bag she wore, she decided to ask a few people she knew about him. She was sure she had seen him at the clubs before, so someone had to know something about him. And he did say to askaround.
She spoke to a few different people, casually bringing up Richard Black, and was surprised that most people had heard of him and had good things to say. She didn't tell anyone he talked about working together, it all seemed too crazy that anyone would want to work with a girl most people thought of as some club rat. There was one more person she wanted to talk to though, and thatwasCade.
As she turned around, she spotted the drummer from the other night, Jude Morrison. He smiled at her and she felt her knees go weak.Stay cool, Zoey!she told herself. Smiling back, she turned away from him when she felt her face begin to burn. No way was she going to let him see her blush! But it took everything in her to not turn around and look at himagain.
Moving closer to the stage, she saw Cade peek out from backstage to look at the crowd. He saw her and waved her over so she quickly climbed the stage, hoping if Jude was watching he wouldn’t get the wrong idea. She didn’t know why she cared since she hadn’t even met him, and she was pretty sure this was just another one of her rock star crushes that she got every day, but he was so sexy and that smile…she couldn’t help but dream alittle.
“Hey, glad to see you made it,” Cade said. “I saw you talking to that Richard Black guy, youknowhim?”
“No. I mean yes, we were talking, but no, I don’t know him.Doyou?”
Cade looked around and pulled her further backstage to a dark corner away from everyone. “He’s been talking to me about leaving Tan Lines. He’s got thisideaand—”
“I was looking for you,” Jude said as he appeared from thestage.
