REPRESENTED (40 page)

             
Karin relaxed a little as she told Cassie what she had done.  Getting up and threatening Meredith and taking her key from her she had thrown her almost bodily out of the house.  She had slammed the door and then picked up the gowns that she had left and thrown those in their garment bags at a bewildered and retreating Meredith before slamming the door again.  Sitting there for only about five minutes, long enough to call Cassie the first time who she knew was rehearsing; she headed for the shower and soaked there for about fifteen minutes.  The heat of the water had relaxed her muscles, taken off the layers of dirt that were on her skin, in her pores, and taken the edge off her anger.  She began to pack methodically.  She was an expert at it as she had lived out of these suitcases for the past couple of years so she was done quickly.  It only took a few minutes actually before she was out the door and surprised to see the limo still sitting in the driveway.  She was surprised it was still there but she supposed Meredith hadn’t wanted to leave without Cassie’s authorization and was confused what to do next.  The driver practically dove out of his seat to take her bags.  She kept her briefcase with her as she got into the back where Meredith cowered.

             
“Give me your phone!” Karin barked at her.

             
“My ph phone?” Meredith stuttered looking bewildered.

             
Karin held out her hand and waited.  Meredith handed it to her hesitantly.  For a second Karin considered smashing it or throwing it out the window.  The slamming of the trunk though startled her from that line of thought.  “I’m not having you calling her, texting her, or notifying her that I’m following her orders.  You will not tell her that I’m on my way, or have arrived.  You will get your phone back after I have a little talk with her and not before!”  She didn’t say another word to the assistant who looked at her as though she had gone crazy.  The limo drove off.  Karin intimidated Meredith, always had, but she had also always been kind and courteous.  This side of Karin no one had seen and Meredith wasn’t sure how to handle it.  She cowered in her corner.

             
Karin also talked to the captain when she got on the private plane.  She told him she didn’t want Meredith having access to a fax machine, a phone, or any communication.  Was that understood?

             
“Is there a problem I should know of?” he asked her in surprise.

             
Karin looked at him exasperated and realized it wasn’t his problem.  “I’m about to marry your employer” she waved her engagement ring for effect, as if he and the other employees didn’t know how happy Cassie was about this “who do you think she will listen to when it comes time to fire or be fired?” she asked him.  He got the idea and agreed to her request.

             
During the five hour flight to Los Angeles Karin fought hard to stay awake.  She didn’t trust Meredith to somehow communicate with Cassie and she watched her like a hawk, a very sleepy and irritated hawk.  The limo ride took a relatively short time from the airport.  She was glad that Meredith wasn’t holding grudges as she expertly handled the desk clerk as Karin and she were soon in Cassie’s private suite of rooms.  Meredith went directly to her own small room and Karin wondered if she made a call from there but was too tired at that point to care, she was there as ordered and she pulled her jeans, her bra, and her socks off leaving her shirt on and crawled into the welcoming bed.  The next thing she knew, Cassie was making love to her.

             
“Look, I’m sorry.  I really am but I wanted you here this weekend and when you got done so soon I thought getting you here early would be something you wanted too...”

             
Karin looked at her.  She couldn’t stay angry.  She loved her too damn much.  Giving her a big sigh she looked into those gray blue eyes and leaned in for a kiss.  That was all it took to forgive and forget as they began to make love.  Karin and Cassie exploded into each other’s arms.  They were apart too much to waste time in anger.  It was a while later before they got up to start the day.

              They went to shop on Rodeo Drive to find Karin a last minute gown for the Grammy Awards on Sunday.  Karin found nothing that she liked that wasn’t outrageously expensive and even then, nothing felt right.  She did not want to ‘match’ Cassie so the gowns Cassie had bought were totally out of the running.  Cassie had to go to the theater to practice as they would be performing Sunday.  Karin was left alone to find her own gown and was growing frustrated.  She knew she shouldn’t have waited until the last minute or she should have gotten something appropriate in New York.  She couldn’t wear just another business suit as she was representing Kreske Public Relations firm as well as Cassie’s fiancée and manager.  She knew she wanted to look nice for Cassie and wearing a business suit would be her defeat, she wanted to make Cassie happy, she wanted to make her proud.  She wanted to fit in and yet not draw attention to their real relationship.  No one had figured out that their rings matched although the press had tried to figure out the significance of Cassie Summers wearing an engagement ring for the past two months.  They hadn’t really been seen together and on Grammy night they would be.  Karin still wasn’t sure if she wanted the world to know that they were engaged, that she was the one that Cassie Summers loved.  For all anyone outside their immediate circle knew, they were just promoter and client.  Many times clients took their managers with them to these events.  Karin had been to the various award shows as Cassie took awards at the CMT Music Awards, the MTV Video Awards, and various others but she always kept in the background, always kept Cassie out front and never let on that she was anything other than ‘just’ her manager.  It wasn’t easy, the press weren’t stupid but Karin was very adept at avoiding questions and Cassie’s no comment on the subject of her engagement had only fueled the fire.  The madhouse would be at the Grammy’s.

             
Karin wandered into the Galleria Mall in downtown LA.  She stopped at a few shops and found nothing that she could wear.  She stopped in a bridal shop and began looking at the different gowns they had on display, not the bridal gowns but the bridesmaids and the ones they rented out for those ‘special’ occasions.  Well, this was certainly a special occasion.  She couldn’t tell the saleswoman she needed a gown for the Grammy’s but she helped her look through those they had on the floor in her size.  She was getting depressed as she had seen hundreds of dresses that day and nothing had really done anything for her.  She had seen hundreds of cocktail dresses, sleazy things, ones that were over the top and would never been seen on her body, some that would have been okay but she was looking for that one special dress.  She wanted to dress to please Cassie and she was almost getting desperate enough to wear one of those Cassie had chosen that would match her own.  She thought that would certainly give them away to the press.

             
“Ma’am” the clerk was feeling her own desperation as she showed her just one more.

             
Karin turned from where she was staring bemusedly at a bride trying on a gown and was pleased with the dress the woman was holding up.  Of a deep green color she liked the cut of it.  “Wow, where did you find that one?” she asked enthusiastically as she held her hand out for it.

             
“I know we’ve seen a lot of dresses this afternoon but we can keep trying” the saleswoman said helpfully.

             
Karin held the dress up to her body in the three way mirror and narrowed her eyes.  She realized immediately if this one fit it would be the dress for her to wear.  It matched her jade green eyes exactly, she was startled to realize.  She hurried into the dressing room to try it on and hurried out just as quickly to look in the mirrors.  The clerk helped zip up the long zipper from her buttocks up her back and Karin had never felt something so skin tight but when she looked in the mirrors she was amazed.  It fit her like a glove, like it had been made for her.  She turned this way and that and was thrilled with what she saw.

             
“Oh miss, that looks marvelous” the clerk gushed spontaneously.  They were supposed to compliment the clientele but she was sincere this time.  This woman had been a hard sale but even she realized this one was something special.

             
Karin didn’t even look at the price tag, she bought it on the spot and they promised to dye some satin shoes she tried on to match.  They would deliver them to her hotel the following day.  She whipped out her credit card and felt pleased that she had accomplished her mission.  As she took a taxi back to the hotel she found she was tired.  She hoped the bruises and bumps that had shown up from moving that week would be faded enough by Sunday that that awesome dress would be shown to its best and she wouldn’t be embarrassed by those marks.

             
“Hey” Cassie said as she walked in their suite.  She was looking over some music trying to find something for their next set of concerts.  Karin had a very busy schedule planned for her if she won the Grammy.  Odds were she might win at least one.  She was set to be on several talk shows and radio shows if she did and she wanted to perform not only the songs that had won it for her but a new one, maybe one no one had ever heard.

             
“Hi, I found a dress” Karin breathed a sigh of relief as she plopped down in a chair and threw a leg over the arm.  A totally unsophisticated look for her and one not normally seen.

             
Cassie grinned at the sight of a sprawling Karin.  “You did?  What does it look like?”

             
Karin smirked “a dress, didn’t you hear me?”

             
“Ha ha, very funny, describe it.”  She smiled at Karin’s jest.

             
“It has ruffles and bows” Karin teased.

             
“Okay okay, when can I see it?”  She realized Karin hadn’t come in the suite with a bag over her arm.

             
“They are dying shoes to match it and will deliver it tomorrow” Karin answered.

             
“That’s cutting it a little close don’t you think?”

             
Karin shrugged.  The whole thing had come down to the wire.  “Are you nervous?” she asked knowingly.

             
Cassie smiled but it had a tight look “I don’t know, I’ve performed for thousands.  Tens of thousands.  But never millions of people” she referred to the expected TV audience.  “Even performing at the Country Music Awards wasn’t as harrowing as this.  This is the Grammy’s!” she said excitedly.

             
“You’ve won other awards, plenty of them as a matter of fact” Karin reminded her.

             
“Yes, but this is the Grammy’s!”

             
Karin smiled “all you need to do is win one you know, just one and all the terms of the contract are fulfilled” she reminded her a little more seriously.

             
“I know, but jeez, what if I don’t win?” she said sadly knowing Karin’s butt was on the line too.

             
“Then the appendix goes into effect and we have another year of this” Karin said sadly.

             
Cassie rolled her eyes as she got up from the couch and came to sit on Karin’s chair with her.  She leaned into her and said sadly in return “I don’t know if I can keep up this pace for another year.  I loved what you did for me but even you have to admit it was a little much.  I want to create more; I want to develop those people we have found.  That was a brilliant idea you had and the work those people have done deserves exposure.”

             
“Just relax babe, you might be worrying yourself for nothing” Karin tried to soothe her but knew a lot was riding on Sunday night.  More than Cassie knew since Elliott had an eye on that contract renewal.  He would be hot to sign her again and for a longer term this time especially if they could promote her as a Grammy winning singer instead of Grammy nominated.

              Sunday dawned bright and sunny but then in California that frequently happened.  They lay in bed reading the funny papers that Karin had ordered along with their breakfast.  They wanted to take it easy until they had to head to the theater that afternoon.  Cassie had ordered a masseuse at 2 and they could shower and be ready for the limo by 4.  The cameras would be rolling for the red carpet and they wanted to arrive right on time for the awards show to begin at 5.  As it would be live across the country the later times in the other time zones kept them from having it later in California, besides the arrival of the stars looked better with the sun still out.  Before the camera’s rolled a lot of awards would be handed out in the lesser categories.  One of those just might be Cassie’s saving but they wouldn’t know until they got there or even later.

             
Karin thought a lot that day about the last two years that they had been together.  She had tried hard to stay out of Cassie’s life on a business level but had been forced in by the impossible contract that Cassie had dictated to Elliott.  Now it was a make or break for all the work that they had done together, Cassie creatively and Karin doing the footwork to expand her career to astronomical levels.  Tonight would be the culmination of all that hard work.  Karin was well aware she hadn’t done it alone but she had orchestrated it and she was thrilled at Cassie’s success.  Only those in the business realized how an agent, a manager, a promoter could make or break a singer, an entity, a store, or a company.  To have the entire firm behind someone like Cassie had almost been a guarantee of her success but it took a key player such as Karin to put it all together.  She hoped she hadn’t failed.