Chapter 15

15

I f pressed, Harper would admit that she had grown fond of the Indigo Lounge since her first visit. She could see why it attracted the clientele it did, and, most importantly, she could see why Mia was so fond of the place. It didn't hurt that it smelled absolutely gorgeous, either.

She tried not to look nervous as she walked through the front door. Harper had spent hours putting this plan together, trying to keep it away from anybody who might compromise it, including Deborah. She loved Deb, but the woman couldn't keep a secret to save her life when it came to her friends, and it was important that everything went off without a hitch. This would be her one chance to prove herself to Mia, once and for all.

To her credit, Mia was easy to find. She was sitting at a booth in the corner, sipping one of the new seasonal specials, a Lavender Mule. Her notebook was open on the table in front of her, and she was scribbling quickly, hunched over. Harper's heels clicked as she walked over but Mia was focused, not making a move. Harper slid into the booth next to her and she didn't even look up, instead muttering, "Hi, Esme." Harper gave her a nudge, trying not to smile. Mia's face when she looked up was a picture of confusion followed by panic.

"Oh, uh, hello Harper! Sorry for not saying hi sooner, how have you been?" Mia didn't pause for breath, rushing to stand, but Harper gently laid a hand on her shoulder and she sat down.

"I've been okay, Mia. How about you?"

"Not too bad, can't complain, you know?"

Harper took a second. Here goes nothing. "I feel like I should apologize to you again."

"What? No, Harper, we've already had this conversation, it's okay?—"

"No, really, I should. I was hurt by the way you acted but that didn't give me the right to hurt you, either. I should have talked to you about it properly. I'm sorry. I may be a good communicator in the industry but sometimes when it comes to my personal feelings, I freeze up."

Mia visibly grew more comfortable.

"Thank you for apologizing, it's appreciated, trust me."

"There's just… one other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

Mia's head cocked to the side. It was something Harper noticed she did whenever she was confused, and Harper didn't want to point it out in case it embarrassed Mia and she stopped. It was unbearably cute.

"The team is working really hard to deal with everything Carson did, and I want to assure you that anything brought up in that mess won't have to be dealt with again. Both of our reputations will recover. Once we're both back to where we were, which I think will be soon enough, I don't think it would be a good idea for us to work together anymore."

Mia didn't even say anything. Is this what she's grown to expect? Harper asked herself as she watched Mia slowly nod. As if it was planned, Harper's phone suddenly started ringing, and she checked the Caller ID before excusing herself. Mia said nothing, just nodded again as Harper got up and walked out the door to take the call. It was from

Aiden at the label.

"Hey Harper, just wanted to check in. Is Mia still coming today?"

"Hi Aiden. Yep, she is, we'll be leaving in a minute, so I'd say we'll be there in about half an hour. Is everybody there good to go?" Harper gulped.

"Absolutely! Everyone is really excited. See you in a while."

Harper took a second to admire Mia before making her way back over to the booth. She was stirring her drink, looking defeated and a little upset. If Harper didn't know better, she would offer to get her a second drink to cheer her up. Instead, she put on the most convincing panicked face she could muster and made a show of rushing over.

"Mia! Oh my God, I can't believe this has happened, but I forgot to put one of your shows back on the calendar. That was the organizer, he just called wondering where you were. Could you go upstairs and grab a jacket? I've texted Michael, he'll be here with the car in a few minutes. Hurry!"

Mia couldn't get a word in edge-ways, instead nodding, downing the rest of her drink and running upstairs to get changed.

The car ride to the mysterious venue was quiet, with Mia applying messy black eyeliner. Trying to do any type of eyeliner in the back of a car will make it messy, but since that was what Mia usually went for Harper figured she wouldn't mind too much. Michael had been briefed and made pretty convincing small talk with Harper on the ride over.

"So, a smaller show today, Ma'am?"

"Yeah, pretty niche crowd. Influential though, so this wasn't one we could miss."

"Well, I'm glad I could get you both here on time," Michael said as they pulled up to the building.

"Thank you again, Michael, you're a star."

"I'll be here when you need a ride home. Break a leg, Mia."

Mia confusedly thanked him as she was bundled out of the car. "You know, I've never understood that phrase. Does he want me to hurt myself? Is it a joke?"

"I don't know where it comes from other than saying ‘good luck' is actually considered to be bad luck."

"We have a similar phrase in Spanish, we say mucha mierda instead of good luck."

Harper had been trying to learn Spanish in her spare time, so she had an idea of what it might mean, but she wanted to ask anyway. "What does that mean in English?"

Mia smiled, letting out a little laugh. "‘Lots of shit!' I don't know why we say it, but I don't know why you would say ‘break a leg' either."

They laughed together, walking up the path to the main entrance of the steel-gray building Michael had dropped them off outside. Mia was, understandably, confused. Harper felt like she was glowing. All of a sudden, things felt normal again.

"Is this a hotel or something? Is there a stage? It looks more like an office building."

"That's because it is an office building, sweetheart. There's a group up here who wanted to meet you, have you do a private set. I'm afraid I can't tell you anything more than that right now."

The elevator ride was quiet, and Mia stared into space so she couldn't look Harper in the eyes and blush at the return of the beloved pet name. They reached their floor and Harper led Mia to a corner office.

Inside, they were greeted by several people in colorful office wear, some of whom were sporting piercings or dyed hair, as well as Ricky, Taylor, Stefan and several other members of the band. Harper noticed that one of the workers, a masculine woman in a gray pinstripe suit, had a heart-shaped carabiner with her keys hanging from it at the same time Mia did, and they made knowing eye contact.

"Our guest has arrived!" She announced, holding her hand out to Harper and then Mia for a very professional handshake. She gestured to Harper to introduce Mia, guiding the two of them to the top of the room. Harper quickly turned to Mia, taking her by the elbow once again.

"You have something you can sing acapella, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Mia confirmed, nodding as Harper stepped in towards her.

Harper smiled cheekily as she leaned down towards Mia's ear, whispering "Mucha mierda." Mia laughed, and Harper was sure she had made the right choice as she turned to address the crowd.

"Hello everybody! Hi! Yes, I have had the incredible privilege of representing this rising star over the last few months and, although there have been some challenges along the way, I know that standing here with us today is one of the great musical talents of our time. It is an honor and a delight for me to present to you all the incredible Mia Cortés!"

The small crowd whooped and cheered, and as Harper walked to the back of the room, she felt a shiver run down her back. They had no idea what was about to hit them.

Mia, at the top of the room, drew her first crucial breath. The entire room was on a knife's edge, the unsuspecting industry higher-ups visibly blown away when Mia began singing. This wasn't a song Harper had heard before, not even in the demos the studio had been sending her, but she found herself unable to focus on that.

She found herself, once again, tangled in the web being weaved by Mia's voice, her hands moving slowly through the air as she danced. She hadn't been sure if it was possible for Mia have a more powerful stage presence, but without a backing track or music, Mia's voice cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. She had an intensity that could pin you right where you were standing, Harper thought. This time when Mia made eye contact with her and Harper's heart beat fast against her ribcage, she smiled.

As caught up as Harper was in the physicality of it all, she couldn't help but notice some… interesting lyrics. She hadn't been paying much attention at first, to be totally honest, swept up in Mia's presence, but as the song continued, she grew unable to ignore the implications.

" ...your turn to be the hunted...your fragrance stains me...cling to me, songbird...

songbird...

songbird..."

A warmth bloomed in Harper's chest. She should have known from the start, really. The song was about her. She wasn't the only one to notice, either, catching Stefan giving her a look. She rolled her eyes but smiled. It seemed she was smiling more and more often these days.

Mia's new song ended, and it hung in the room for a moment before those assembled burst into applause. Harper cleared her throat, and the room turned to face her.

"So, what do we think? Will you accept my offer?"

"Are you sure this is an offer you want to make?" the butch in the gray suit asked. "We would be absolutely delighted to represent her, but is this something you really want to give up?"

"I'm certain, in fact I don't think I've ever been more certain in my entire life." Harper walked across the room, standing next to Mia and taking her hand. Mia seemed like she wanted to keep a hold of Harper's hand but wouldn't stop looking around the room, worried about what the onlookers might say.

"Alright then, Miss Cortés, my name is Isabel Hart, but you can call me Izz." The butch woman—Izz—strode through the crowd, reaching to shake Mia's free hand. "I'm one of the agents here, and Ms. Nightingale here has offered us a joint contract to represent you. Now, I won't bore you with the details, all it means is that we'll be taking over the lion's share of your scheduling. With your consent, of course, you'll finish recording your first album here and we will distribute it. Now, don't go worrying about your income, I assure you we won't be taking any more of a cut than Harper did. In fact," Izz said, leaning into Mia, "Harper took a pay cut in order to get you this deal. You have a very good woman there, Mia, I suggest you keep her."

Harper tugged on Mia's hand, attracting her attention. "I meant what I said earlier today. If you choose to accept this contract, I won't be representing you… most of the time anyway. I'll still be around to organize local shows, and my team will be at your disposal if you need anything. The majority of things surrounding press and distribution of your music will be passed to Izz and her team…"

Mia's eyes were wide. Harper grabbed her other hand, facing her, and for a second it felt like they were the only two people in the room.

"… so that, if you'll have me, I can serve you full time as your girlfriend instead."

Harper barely breathed. If she had misjudged the situation, she would lose Mia completely and have to rebuild her reputation from the ground up.

Mia went to speak. You could hear a pin drop in the room before she began. "Why on earth would you agree to something like this? I'm a client of yours, and you'll lose money from the deal if I take it. Do you…"

Harper didn't rush her. This was a lot to take in at once, she knew.

"… Will you be happy to be with me if you're not getting a share?"

"Sweetheart, the reason things got so mixed up in the first place is because I was far, far too invested in what I thought you would want out of the contract. Parties, exclusive shows… But you told me, you said that none of that mattered. You told me that it was the music that mattered the most, and by taking this deal, you'll be able to focus on the music and I won't have to worry about another rogue assistant going AWOL."

The room laughed at that, including Mia. Harper continued.

"This puts us on equal footing. I'm not your boss, I'm just your girlfriend."

Another moment on the knife's edge, until Mia yelled, "Just my girlfriend?! Mi corazón, do you hear yourself? Of course I would be happy with that! I can't get you out of my mind day or night. You mean so much more to me than you'll ever understand."

Mia swept Harper into a bear hug, squeezing tightly. Harper laughed and buried her face in Mia's shoulder, squeezing back. Wolf whistles and cheers rang out around them as they both realized that they could finally, finally just be together.