I could practically feel her squirming on the other end of the phone, until finally she said, “Maybe we should go out for drinks. Me, you and Nick. To celebrate.”
I smiled. Now that was more like it. “Actually, Tom mentioned something about having a little dinner party at the beach house Saturday night.”
“Another party? He just threw a party.”
“Zoe—”
“Well, who’s coming? Not all those people who were there last weekend.”
I was tempted to taunt her by telling her that twice as many people were coming, but instead I said, “No, just us. And some other people from the company. Donnie Havens and his wife. Vince.” At least I hoped he invited Vince. Because if he didn’t, I would.
“Well, that sounds…nice,” she said.
I rolled my eyes.“Look, Zoe, I have to go. My other line is ringing.” I felt relief at the sight of another extension lighting up on my phoneset. I was hoping the new caller would give a more enthusiastic reception to my news.
And once I hung up with Zoe and picked up the new call, I did find a very excited Nick on the other end of the line.
“Hey, Sage,” he said breathlessly.
“Nick,” I said, wondering at the jubilation in his tone. “I was just going to call you.”
“Oh yeah? What’s up?”
“I just got promoted to sales manager of Edge!”
“Hey, it looks like we got two things to celebrate then.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, I just lined up my first band for the label.”
I frowned. “Wow, that was quick. How’d you manage that?”
“I have my ways.”
“Nick, you didn’t borrow money from your dad again, did you?”
“C’mon, Sage, what kind of man do you think I am?”
A poor man. “I was just wondering how you got a band under contract with no capital. Don’t you have to pay them?”
“Hey, listen, Sage, that’s my problem, not yours. The band will get paid in due time. I got it covered.”
I bit my lip. I had heard that before. Only to learn Nick had hit up his father for a loan. I wondered if he’d even paid that one back yet. His parents were doing better than mine, but by no stretch of the imagination were they rich. Somehow I held back from saying anything more. Last time I’d tried to tell Nick how to run his life, he’d accused me of smothering his dreams. I guessed I had to watch him fall down all by himself, though I had watched him do it so many times, it was getting harder and harder.
“Hey, listen,” he said now, “I’m calling cause I’m trying to round up some people for Nose Dive’s first New York City show tomorrow night.”
“Nose Dive? What kind of name is that?”
“I know—cool, right? Sort of a riff on the Led Zeppelin name. You know that story, right? How when Zeppelin was starting out, someone told them they were going to go down like a Led Zeppelin? They took on the name right after that. Probably to tempt fate. Nose Dive is kinda doing the same thing.“
It was easy to tempt fate when you were talented, and Led Zeppelin was a talented band. But Nose Dive I’d never heard of, and if they were anything like some of the other bands Nick had dragged me to see, I had to wonder. “Where are they playing?”
“Don Hill’s. Show starts at 11:00 p.m. You in?”
The last thing I needed during my first week of my new job was to be going out late. “You know it’s a school night, Nick.”
“Come on, Sage. This is the band I’m hoping to launch Revelation with. I’d like to get a good crowd there, you know?”
Though I was just as worried about this latest venture as I had been about all the others, I had to show support. What were friends for, right? “I’ll be there.”
“Cool. Could you let Zoe know? And if you could e-mail your list, too, that would be awesome. See if you can scatter up a crowd.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“You’re the best, Sage. But you knew that already, right?”
“Yep,” I answered, rolling my eyes.
“So I’ll see you tomorrow night then, right?”
“Okay,” I said.
“Excellent. Listen, I gotta bolt.”
“Wait, Nick—”
“What’s up?”
“You forgot to say congratulations.”
“Hey, don’t you worry about that, sweetie. We’ll be celebrating tomorrow night.”
“Whatever,” I said, hanging up the phone.
I wasn’t sure exactly what we would be celebrating, but at this point, I would take what I could get.
Chapter Twenty
Nick
Yeah, I got a good band. I just hope I’m not the one singing the blues.
I was glad, at least, that Ray was covering the door, but that was all I was glad about tonight. The crowd was looking pretty thin for a Thursday, and Thursday was one of Don Hill’s most happening nights, band-wise.
Not that I was worried. It was early yet. Nose Dive didn’t go on until eleven, and it was—I looked at my watch. Shit, ten forty-five.
Okay, so I was worried.
Sage and Zoe weren’t even here yet. I hoped they at least showed up. I didn’t bust Ray’s ass to get them comp admissions for nothing. He was a good guy, that Ray. He owed me anyway. I had packed this place enough times, back in the day.
I just hoped I could pack it tonight.
“Hey.”
I looked up to find Les Wolf, lead singer of Nose Dive, at my side. He was looking good. For an ugly motherfucker. My eyes roamed over his freshly shaved head, demon-green eyes and bushy-as-hell brows. At least he had dressed okay, I thought, studying his black T-shirt, black leather pants and thick, black-soled boots. And he was a hell of a musician. Wrote all of Nose Dive’s songs, with a few exceptions where he’d done some interesting collaborations with the band. Chicks dug him, too, despite his somewhat scary face. And though I hate to admit it, that matters.
I saw him glance uneasily around the half-filled space.
“Don’t sweat it, Les. If you build it, they will come.
