Chapter 10

10

A week. It had been a week since Harper had even heard from Mia and she was beginning to lose her mind. She continued to fill out the online calendar with bookings, communicate with the recording studio. She also realized that her focus on Mia had made her neglect some of her other clients, so she got into contact with a handful of other artists she represented. Some of them had managed to land big opportunities while she was working with Mia, and while she was happy for all of them, she was mentally kicking herself for not being more involved. Things really came to a head when she called Mia that evening.

"Mia!" she had opened, trying to stay as calm as possible. "You doing alright, sweetheart? Anything career-ending I should know about?"

She heard Mia laugh down the phone, that sweet, magnetic laugh.

"Hi Harper! I'm doing really good, I'm here with Rebecca and Landon, but I don't think you know them—Oh, Stefan and Taylor are here too!"

"Hey, Harper!" the two men chimed in. Their voices slurred. They were partying, that much was obvious. Just as Harper was about to ask where she was, a voice chimed in from somewhere and the line cut out.

"Whatever happened to professionalism!" she asked Deborah, nursing a negroni at a booth in the Indigo Lounge an hour later. "I give that girl the opportunity of a lifetime, hell, several opportunities of a few lifetimes in the space of about a month, and she doesn't have the fucking decorum to text me back?"

"Harp, you've gotta give her a minute to settle in," Deborah said after a sip of her pineapple mojito. "Though I'll admit, this isn't like her at all."

"We've talked about professionalism! She knows from experience what a lack of communication can do to a professional partnership!"

"Easy, tiger, you've also had her tongue in your mouth. I think your worries extend slightly past the professional."

Harper felt she couldn't really say anything to that. Deborah was right, as per usual. Sipping her drink, Harper remembered why she had come to Deborah in the first place. She, like Harper, was a powerful woman who would say it like it was, and right now Harper needed somebody else who understood the situation and would be honest with her. That meant that she had to be honest with Deborah, too.

"I think she's losing herself in all of this."

Deborah nodded, urging her to go on.

"She's spending hours at a time with people she barely knows! She's become completely swept up in the attention, but if anything, and I mean anything goes wrong, it will become an instant scandal, and she'll have to start fresh."

Deborah pursed her lips together, and something clicked in Harper's head.

"Oh God, this is all my fault. I've encouraged her to tap into her stage persona more, but what if that's overshadowing her actual personality? She such a sweet person, I can't have her lose that because of assholes who might take advantage."

"Harper, I feel like you can't be the only person to blame for this, she's a grown adult."

"But she's barely in contact with me because of it, and I encouraged her to act that way! I said it would make her powerful, oh my God." She dropped her face into her hands, genuinely exasperated. She didn't want to look at Deborah. Here she was, a grown woman, with her face in her hands because her crush wouldn't text her back. She was surprised at herself more than anything else.

Deborah gently reached out and touched her wrist. Harper looked up, realized what she had to say, what she had known the entire time but couldn't bring herself to admit to another person until then. Still not looking Deborah in the eyes, instead focusing on an old k.d. lang poster across the room, Harper sighed.

"I think I might be in too deep. With Mia, I mean."

Her eyes dropped to the table. Deborah gave her a sideways look, and began speaking.

"Harper, if you're about to do what I think you might do?—"

She was cut off by Harper's phone ringing. She quickly got up from the booth, faced the other direction and checked who it was. It was a photographer with NME who was over from the UK.

"Hello, Harper! I wanted to thank you again for having Mia do the shoot with us today. She's been an absolute treat to work with, a real professional, and she'd be welcome to do a shoot with me back home any time if she's on tour."

Harper made a mm-hmm noise but didn't say anything.

Mia's still doing photoshoots?

"I'll have the edited versions sent straight to you once they're finished, though fair warning, it might be a few weeks because I have other shoots to do while I'm here. Thank you again!"

"Thank you too, Damien, a pleasure as always."

Harper hung up the phone and sat back into the booth, fishing her iPad out of her bag and loading Mia's schedule.

"What is it? Is she alright?" asked Deborah.

"She's... she's been attending all of her scheduled interviews, photoshoots, recording sessions, shows..."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? She's still doing the work, evidently she isn't showing up drunk, and both of your professional reputations are still intact!"

"If she's still doing the work, and I'm still being kept in the loop, why won't she talk to me? We had a real fun time on a personal level… I know nothing is official, but what is the matter with her?"

Deborah fumbled for something to say, but Harper had already loaded up Mia's schedule for that day.

"She's doing a show nearby in about an hour. I'm going to go, try to talk to her, see what's going on."

"Harper, are you sure now is a good time? Harper! Harper!"

But Harper was already halfway to the door, sending the price of her drink to Deborah so she wasn't stuck for the bill. Esme, hippy as she was, would've probably given the drinks to them for nothing if given the opportunity, but neither woman was in a position where money was a problem.

The venue was a short walk from the Indigo Lounge, so Harper didn't end up calling Michael for a ride, instead walking the few blocks. Pure adrenaline fueled her, her goal clear in her mind; she needed answers.

Heading in through the stage door around the back of the building, Harper barely noticed that not a single person stopped her, not even the security guards backstage. Still, she introduced herself to the stage manager for the evening, just to make sure everybody knew exactly who was here.

"Hi, there, I'm Harper Nightingale, so nice to meet you, can I speak to Mia for a moment?"

"If you can find her, Ma'am, she's running late," the stage manager said. "Any other time I've worked with her she's been very punctual; I really don't know what could have happened."

As if it was timed, Mia came through the door, clearly having sobered up from her earlier partying.

"Harper! Hi, I can't believe you came!"

She wrapped Harper up in a hug, but Harper was stiff and dead-set on talking. She didn't move, instead stepping back when Mia moved away.

"Hello, Mia." She decided to allow Mia to speak for herself.

"The last few weeks have been super busy; I've made all kinds of connections. Taylor, Stefan and Ricky have introduced me to so many people, thank you so much for setting us up! I've been networking, don't worry, I'm not just having fun, although I've been having a lot of fun."

She took her phone from out of her pocket, opening her gallery.

"I got a photo with Leon Addison at the afterparty last week! I've been meeting loads of people, too, and people want my autograph! Can you believe it?"

The stage manager butted in.

"Mia, we need you side stage now. You're on in five."

"Alright, that's alright, I've just got to show Harper?—"

"No, seriously, you need to be side stage right now, this second."

Harper's worst fears had been confirmed. They were both in too deep, for different reasons, but it was having a negative effect on both of their careers. The stage manager took Mia gently but insistently by the elbow. As Mia was dragged side stage, Harper decided she had heard all she needed to hear for now.

"You go kill it out there. I'll keep updating the schedule but I think I get the message." Harper nodded at her, as she slowly moved away.

She knew she needed to take a step back from this. Harper was getting upset, frustrated that Mia couldn't see how hurtful it was that she had been left in the dark. She didn't even attempt to apologize or explain herself. This is not a feeling she liked, wanted or needed. Harper Nightingale is renowned for being in control of everything, including her emotions. She couldn't let this take over her anymore.

If this is the way she wants things to work, then that's the way they'll work. That's what Harper decided. She heard Mia calling for her as she was dragged side stage.

"Harper! Harper, please stay!"

Hopefully she would figure it out. She turned around and left.