Chapter Thirty-One
Chase placed his guitar on the stand and went into the control booth. Dozer was lounging on the couch with a shit-ass grin on his face.
“What are you smiling about?” Chase asked him, grabbing a soda out of the fridge, and a couple of sandwiches that were in there. He was hungry and inspected them to make sure they were still edible. He was so hungry his stomach thought his throat had been cut.
“I guess you created an impression last night.” Dozer spread his arms out along the back of the sofa and tapped his fingers. “Yep, when you do the talk, you sure do know how to do it right.”
“So, I take it I’m performing with Lance?” A thrill of excitement made Chase feel pretty damn happy. Ava would be excited and he knew Fredi would demand a meeting.
“You betcha. They want you to do two songs and are asking that one of them be your latest hit. And you can choose the other one.”
Chase thought about it for minute. And he was fine singing “You Drive Me Crazy.” Figuring out another one was a dilemma. “I’ll think on the second one.”
“What about the one you were doing just now?” Dozer lifted his finger and pointed at the booth.
“No, not that one.” Chase wasn’t ready for the Ava song to be made public yet. She had to hear it first.
“What’s wrong with it?” Dozer was insistent, and Chase knew, unless he shut him down right now, he’d be as relentless as a dog with a bone.
“No. I’m not singing it.” He stared Dozer down.
Dozer stood up and faced Chase, tilting his head back to make eye contact. Chase crossed his arms. Dozer narrowed his eyes and puffed up like a peacock trying to look big, ready to argue.
“No,” was all Chase said. “But, if I feel it’s ready, then I’ll do it. There’s a lot of factors involved in this song and it’s only been kept within this circle here.” Chase hitched his thumb behind him at the live room, where his band was probably watching the exchange with interest.
“You know I don’t like it when you go against what I think is the right thing to do,” Dozer told him.
“I know, and you’re usually right. But this time I’m making the call.” Chase was determined. The anger and protectiveness rushing through him made him realize how special the song was.
To show the conversation was over, Chase took a bite of sandwich and dropped into the big old leather chair that had probably been in the room since the early days and seen all the artists that have come and gone over the years.
“One thing I do want is backstage passes.” Chase finished off the bottle of water then started working on the second sandwich.
“Backstage passes, for CMA Fest? Are you out of your mind?” Dozer rested on the stool in front of the engineering console.
Chase shook his head. “Nope. I know you can do it. That’s why you’re my agent.” Chase gave him a look from under the brim of his cowboy hat and his voice carried a message that was clear as a bell.
“How many?” Dozer sighed.
Chase smiled behind the sandwich he’d just bit into. He didn’t like being tough with Dozer, but sometimes he had to be. He held up four fingers.
“Four! That’s asking a lot.” Dozer ran his hand through his hair.
Chase swallowed his bite before answering, “I understand. One, for sure, and the others if you can do it.”
He laughed when he saw Dozer relax.
“One, I can guarantee.” He stood and grabbed a flash drive sitting on the mixing board. He held it up and waved it. “These are good. You’re really going to be at the top, Chase. And I’m here to work hard for you, you know that, right?”
“Of course I do.” Chase washed down another bite of his ham and cheese sandwich with a big gulp of soda.
“Right, I’m off. I’ll be in touch later with details.” Dozer left and Chase finished off his food, eager to get back to his new song. But he had a thought and whipped out his phone.
He texted Dozer.
As he opened up his contacts, seeing Ava’s name gave him a burst of happiness. He was eager to see her later. He typed her a message.
He didn’t really expect to hear back from her, knowing they were being tourists today. He’d wanted to take them to more places yesterday but they’d run out of time. Chase was looking forward to later and wanted to cram in as much time with Ava as he could before she left. Unless he could talk her into staying a little bit longer.
The weight of the limited time they had together hung heavy in his chest. She’d just dropped into his life, turned it completely upside-down, and then it would be time for her to leave. The sandwich he’d just eaten felt like a rock in his gut now and he knew nothing would ever be the same again.
Tonight was the night they needed to talk.
His phone chimed.
He watched his phone and waited for a reply. Maybe he was putting her in an unfair position. He was about to type back to her not to stress it when his phone pinged.