Chapter 13

13

A month passed. The world hadn't ended, and both Mia and Harper's lives and careers had continued. They were in contact, not as intense as those first few weeks, but they were keeping in touch about big news. Big news rolled around in force when Harper was in NYC signing a new group, a Manhattan-based art pop band made up of talented NYU dropouts. She was in a meeting with them, negotiating the finer details of a contract in a smokey cafe-come-wine bar covered in cute little houseplants. She was only a little distracted by this.

Should I get some climbing plants for the apartment back in LA? The walls are too tall for anything else to look nice. I could hire someone to water them for me when I'm away—or I guess I could just call Deb, she's loaded and doesn't need the extra income so much as a hobby. She's probably been hanging around for long enough with that Esme woman to know more about plants than me, I should ask her...

She thought about houseplant logistics more while going over her usual points with the band members, who to their credit looked equally distracted. She left the meeting with a sense that it had gone well, considering they had said they would sign once they finished their contract as house band at a local bar. When she went to check her phone after the meeting she didn't think much when she saw the missed call from Mia. Mia had been updating her every few days on how the album was coming along, if the documentary crew needed to be paid for overtime etc, so a missed call wasn't much of a shock.

She called Mia, standing in the bitter wind of a New York spring. The snow had melted before she got there, but still, she missed the West Coast.

"Harper, hi! Thank fuck you picked up, it's an absolute mess," Mia said in greeting. Harper could hear people arguing in the background, aggressive typing and paper being thrown around.

"Hi Mia, Jesus, what's happening?"

"You remember Carson?"

"Carson, yeah, smart kid. Did something happen, is he okay?"

"The execs have fired him."

"Sorry, what?"

"You remember those merchandise shortages from a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah? What's that got to do with him?"

"Well, the stolen shirts were put up on Ebay yesterday evening. Turns out he's been stealing merchandise and selling it under a few profiles to make a quick few bucks."

Harper couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Why the hell would he do something like that?!"

"Money, Harper. That kid saw a way to make some extra money and took it, but he used his real email on the profile from yesterday evening so he was caught really fast."

Okay, so maybe he wasn't that smart.

"Okay, but you've caught him and he's been dealt with. What are you calling me for?"

"That's the issue, he hasn't been dealt with. He still had his company login for a few hours after he was fired, and he's fucked with things and wiped my entire schedule for the next two months. "

Okay, this was bad. Very bad. This was a level of fuckery that Harper was not used to at all. It was something that could be dealt with remotely, sure, but it was going to be a pain in the ass.

"I'll get on that as soon as I can. I still have contact details for most of those people, and I'm sure if I explain the situation they'll be understanding."

They would have to be understanding, Harper thought to herself, or they would have to deal with her. The Huntress thing was useful every so often, she had to admit.

"Is there anything else I should know?" she asked, hoping to whatever higher power was out there that there wasn't.

"There is, actually."

Shit. "Shit. What is it?"

"The team isn't one hundred percent sure yet—oh yeah, Aiden, I'm on the phone with her right now. Right, I'll tell her. Aiden says hi!"

"Tell him I said hi, Mia. What else do you have to tell me?"

"She says hi! Anyway, they're not positive, but the team think that he's been using sockpuppet accounts online?—"

"What? Sock puppets?"

"Basically he's been using social media profiles under fake names to slander us. Not just me, both of us."

"Well. That's not very nice of him, Mia."

"No, it is not!" Mia agreed, and Harper could hear a door close on the other end of the line. She knew her phone volume was low enough for whatever followed to not be overheard, if confidentiality was needed.

Mia's voice was low when she spoke, as if she was worried somebody might overhear her. "He looked at some of our earlier emails and saw the pet names and affection there. He was constantly asking about you, who else you were working with, and I didn't tell him much so he must have gone digging for dirt."

Harper was shaking. To think that somebody she had trusted had gone looking for... compromising information like that so he could slander her. She felt blindsided.

"What on earth is happening?" Harper asked both Mia and the sky, looking up to the cloudy space above her for answers and only finding gray clouds. "Why would he do something like this?"

"Money? Attention? Revenge? I have no idea, Harper, I really do not. What kind of guy gets so mad he was fired for stealing he starts slandering his ex-boss online? Honestly, I'm worried he might not be the only one."

That seems like a bit of a long shot. Still, as Harper thought about it more, she realized that if she couldn't trust one of her own assistants, who else could she not trust?

Mia seemed to be on the same page. "You're pretty much the only person I fully trust at the moment, Harper. I know the guys at the label want the best for all of us, I do, but if one person was tempted to do it, who knows what else could happen?"

Harper did her best to avoid the implications of that. Professionalism. "Is the legal team on it?"

"They're trying to track him down as we speak, and we have the press team on standby to do damage control in case he does anything. I mean, what else is he gonna say, tell people I'm a lesbian? As if they'll be surprised?"

Gallows humor at its finest, there's my—nope, there's the Mia I know. My work friend Mia. Nothing else.

"Mia, I mean this in as nice a way as possible, you pretty much only write about being a lesbian and wanting to have sex with women. I love it, but it's your thing, and I would guess there are only a handful of confused straight people out there who don't understand."

Mia laughed brightly, and despite herself, Harper wished she could bottle it for the bad days.

"Like I said, I trust you," Mia said to Harper. "Honestly, I know your current signing is a big deal, but I really wish you were here. Communicating about this in person as things develop would be super useful, especially if... Oh my goodness, what if the offices are bugged!"

Harper felt bad for laughing, she really did, but it was so funny. "What are they gonna call it, t-shirtgate? Mia, I know you're worried. Maybe you should go home for the day, get away from the stress. The team know what they're doing. Look, I'm going to be back in town in another few weeks, can you hold out for me?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I guess I can, Harper. It would be easier for me if you were here, but I understand, really, I do. I'll see you the next time you're in town and I'll text you with any updates."

I wish I could go, Harper thought suddenly, feeling a magnetic pull through the phone as she said goodbye to Mia. She wasn't alone out in LA, not anymore, but it made sense that she had wanted Harper around when things got tough. As her representation, she had information that was useful, and as her… friend, it would be comforting to have somebody around she could trust.

She was completely torn. She would have the opportunity to head back to LA early, but she was unsure about taking it. She needed a level head. She needed someone who would tell it to her straight, no pun intended.

Scrolling through her contacts, Harper called Deborah. She knew she would pick up.

"Harp! How you doing? How's New York?"

"I'm in pieces and New York is still cold, Deb. I need some help."

"You know, we can never just go for coffee anymore, you're always needing help. You have enough money to get a decent therapist, you know!"

"Yeah, but a therapist can't give me updates on how Mia's doing… though I suppose if they could that'd be concerning. Besides, what would we talk about?"

"We could talk about anything else! Anything at all!"

"Deb, please. I can't talk about it but shit's going down at the label and I need to know how she is. I'm worried about her."

"You're always worried about her, Harp," Deborah laughed. Still, Harper knew she would come through for her; she always did.

"She's backed off the partying, you'll be happy to hear," Deborah said, a proud smile in her voice. "She's been coming back to Indigo Lounge nearly every night, not just to sleep, but she'll hang out downstairs in the lounge. She'll sit and talk with Ruby, ya know, sometimes they'll write together but it's mostly chatting—I still think that chef's got the hots for Ruby, but that's none of my business. Anyways, when she's not writing she's behind the bar. Esme's been training her in mixology, she's getting really good at making those fancy little drinks you like, as well as the good stuff."

As Deborah paused for breath, Harper reflected on how much of a change this was.

"Has she been getting much attention there?"

"Oh, heavens no. She's been very dressed down, rushing upstairs when she gets home to change into plain clothes and wash off her makeup so people don't recognize her. She's been able to have a good time without worrying about any attention at all. She's gotten some normalcy now her new fame has died down, which I suppose is healthy. Although…"

"Although what?" Harper pressed.

"She did a small set at the open mic on Tuesday. She didn't want me to tell you, so keep your mouth shut, but she wanted to feel normal again. It was wonderful to have her back, but something was off . Me and Esme, we could see she just wasn't comfortable anymore. The crowd loved her, and she sounded beautiful but, you know that usual persona she has on stage?"

"Yeah?"

"It just seems like she couldn't tap into that. I don't think anybody noticed, of course, but she seemed far less confident than she has been. You're not the only one worried about the kid, I promise you that. Can I tell you something?"

"Go for it," Harper said, figuring she already knew.

"She misses you; she really does. I know you two made the decision to end it and remain on a professional level, and far be it from me to intrude on other people's business, but I really think the two of you could have made it work. She's only really come back to herself since you decided to call it quits, so kudos, but you two were so sweet together. Your connection was so real."

It was as if Deborah had made up Harper's mind for her. She had made a mistake, and she was going to fix it. For real, this time, not some band-aid faux-professionalism that only made them hate each other. She just had to work out some logistics first...

"I'll be back in town at the end of the month anyway, once my work here is done. Keep in touch, Deb, and tell Esme I said hello."