Sweet Harmonies (35 page)

“
Anytime. No big deal,” she responded,
trying as hard as she could to make the tone of her voice match the
sentiment of the words.

“
It's a very big deal,” Ryan teased,
“You broke your personal credo for me. Don't think I don't
appreciate it.”

“
What credo?” she asked,
puzzled.

He grinned widely and responded, “I thought
you never spend the night.”

Chapter
24

“
I'm not saying I approve,” Renata
reiterated to Karina for about the hundredth time, “I don't want
there to be any confusion about that.”

Karina got up from her kitchen table and
walked over to refill her coffee cup. She had gotten almost no
sleep the night before, and it's not as if she had started out the
evening feeling well rested. Now, she was pretty much dead on her
feet.

As Karina poured the fragrant brew into her
cup, Renata said again, “I just don't feel comfortable with there
being tension between us, Karina. Life is too short. You are an
adult, and you make your own choices. I will respect that. But
please don't think that means that I approve.”

“
I understand, Grandmother,” Karina
said, her voice even and respectful, but as she spoke, she grabbed
a fork off of the counter and mimed stabbing herself in the head
with it behind her grandmother's back.

“
Karina, I have eyes in the back of my
head,” her grandmother said sternly.

“
Sorry,” Karina mumbled, sitting back
down in her chair.

At that moment, the front doorbell pealed,
and Karina had honestly never in her life been so glad for the
interruption of those insistent bells.

“
Oh, look, Grandmother. That's probably
Sam. Thanks for dropping by. Good talk!” she said brightly as she
stood, trying to make it abundantly clear to her Grandmother that
their conversation was at an end.

“
I fed and entertained Samantha Holt
enough times in my own home that I think she can manage to put up
with me now in yours,” Renata said firmly, making it equally clear
to Karina that she had no intention of leaving.

Karina's shoulders drooped and she trudged to
the front door, opening it listlessly. To her surprise, it was not
Sam that stood on her porch, however, but Bernie Kaplan and Davis
Johannsen. Her eyes widened.

She looked down at the ratty thermal shirt,
faded jeans, and red Converse she was still wearing. She looked
like a 12 year old skater kid. And not even a female skater kid, at
that.

“
Hi!” she said, surprised, stepping
back and gesturing them inside, “Did we have a meeting?”

They both walked confidently into her
entryway as if they owned the place. Bernie took a deep breath in
through his nose.

“
Is that coffee I smell?” he asked
disarmingly.

"Oh, of course!” Karina said, “Follow
me.”

She led the way into the kitchen, the two men
trailing behind her. When she saw her grandmother sitting, straight
and regal, at her kitchen table, she realized that she had
completely forgotten she was in the house.

“
Oh!” she exclaimed, “Grandmother, this
is my manager, Bernie Kaplan, and the head of my label, Davis
Johanssen. This is my grandmother, Renata Blackstone.”

She inclined her head gracefully at the two
men, reserved with them, as she was with most new people.

“
Pleased to meet you,” Davis said
heartily.

Karina expected Bernie to immediately echo
this sentiment, but he was silent. She glanced over at him,
worried, sure that nothing short of a heart attack or something
else equally catastrophic could render Bernie Kaplan silent.

What she saw actually disturbed her more.
Bernie was staring at her Grandmother, dumbstruck, and Karina could
almost see the cartoon hearts floating around his head the way they
used to around Pepe Le Pew's when he would become enamored of the
black and white kitty cat.

“
No way, don't even think about...” she
started, but it was too late. He had slid into the chair across
from her grandmother and was staring at her with lovestruck doe
eyes.

“
Renata,” he breathed reverently, “Such
a beautiful name for a beautiful lady.”

Renata extended her hand stiffly for a
handshake, and in a tone which was equally as stiff, said, “Pleased
to meet you, Mr. Kaplan.”

Instead of shaking her proffered hand, Bernie
took it gently, turned it one quarter of the way around so that her
palm was facing down, and raised it his lips. He pressed it there
and Renata – shocked, perhaps – left her hand in his grasp and
pressed to his kiss much longer than Karina would have
expected.

Finally, she snatched her fingers back and
wrapped both of her hands around her coffee cup.

“
Mr. Kaplan, you are very bold,” she
admonished sternly.

“
Do the meek inherit the earth? No,
they do not,” he said emphatically, still smiling at her like a
lovestruck schoolboy.

“
I believe the quote is that the meek
DO inherit the earth,” Renata corrected.

“
Quote? Who's quoting? I'm talking
about the way the world works,” Bernie clarified, his grin
spreading until it stretched from ear to ear, “If you want to talk
quotes, I have always been partial to 'fortune favors the
bold.”

“
Oh, dear lord,” Karina interrupted,
not able to watch this any longer, “Grandmother, don't you have to
go now?”

Renata did not even acknowledge that Karina
had spoken. Although her face was as impassive as granite, she
continued to look at Bernie.

“
Grandmother, this is business,” Karina
insisted, “Let me see you out, I'll stop by your place
later.”

“
Don't be silly!” Bernie said
expansively, “I'd like to hear your Grandmother's perspective on
things. It's clear you got your beauty from her, I'd be willing to
bet you got your brains from her, as well!”

Karina squinted at her Grandmother. Was that
the barest hint of a smile tugging at the side of Renata's mouth?
Karina couldn't tell.

Renata stood gracefully, as she did
everything, and crossed the kitchen as she said, “I'm perfectly
capable of seeing myself out, Karina. We can continue our
conversation later.”

“
Or we could not and say that we did,”
Karina mumbled under her breath when she heard the front door open
and knew Renata must be all the way across the entryway.

“
I have ears in the back of my head, as
well, young lady,” she heard her grandmother's voice call sternly
an instant before the door slammed shut.

Bernie laughed riotously – much more
enthusiastically than Karina thought was warranted – and shook his
head, impressed.

“
She's a smart lady, your grandmother,”
he beamed.

Karina placed a hand affectionately on his
shoulder, “Oh, Bernie. I hate to break this to you. But you haven't
got a snowball's chance.”

Bernie looked entirely undaunted, “To behold
beauty is its own reward”

Karina shook her head, “I think the quote is
just 'beauty is it's own reward' actually.”

Bernie shrugged, “Who's quoting?”

Davis, as if the entire exchange between
Renata and Bernie had not taken place, said, “Karina, we've met
with Ryan. We talked to him about building on this buzz and
chemistry between the two of you to launch him as a new artist.
He's beyond excited.”

“
Beyond,” Bernie echoed.

Karina inclined her head.

“
What exactly would that entail, on
each of our parts?” she asked.

“
He'd open for you on your next tour,
for one thing,” Davis said.

She nodded. So far so good.

“
You'd co-write with him, possibly do a
duet that gets launched on each of your projects.”

Karina nodded again. She hadn't heard
anything yet that she wouldn't have actually suggested herself.
This conversation was going well.

“
So, here's the thing,” Bernie began,
and Karina cringed. She knew that tone, and she knew that phrase.
Coming next was the part she wasn't going to like.

“
We need to talk about your direction
for the next album,” Davis jumped in.

“
I can do you one better,” she
responded coolly, “I have three rough tracks laid down. Let's go
listen.”

Bernie looked relieved and Davis looked
enthusiastic as Karina led them through the halls to her home
studio. When they arrived, she gestured for them to sit. When they
were seated, she cued up the three tracks and played them without
comment. She wasn't going to beg on behalf of this work, and she
wasn't going to justify. The music could speak for itself.

When the last chords of the last song died
out, Davis enthused, “Great, great, Karina. Really great work!”

Karina nodded her thanks, but didn't get her
hopes up. This was how it always started. Next would come the, “If
you could just make it a little bit more...” portion of the
conversation.

“
Here's the thing,” Davis began, and
Karina reminded herself to remain calm and professional, “It's a
little...complicated...for what you usually do.”

“
I agree,” Karina said, behaving as if
what Davis had said was a compliment rather than a complaint, “I
think it's a real step up from my previous work. A 'next level'
kind of thing.”

“
A progression,” Bernie suggested, and
Karina nodded.

“
Oh, I agree, I agree,” said Davis,
“It's outstanding. I, on a personal level, really enjoyed the
tracks.”

Karina nodded again, waiting for the next
portion.

“
The thing is,” he continued, “We just
want to make sure that progression happens in the right direction,
am I right? Your fans are more used to things like simple lyrics.
That repeat often. In chords C, G, or F. And peppy topics. Maybe
you could just incorporate those things into this work.”

“
That would fundamentally change this
work,” Karina replied steadily.

“
No, no,” Davis insisted, “It would
just...spice it up a little.”

“
A little spice is all,” Bernie
echoed.

Karina sighed, allowing her frustration to
bleed through her calm demeanor slightly.

“
Look,” Davis said reasonably, “We want
to send Ryan out on tour with you, we really do. But in order for
that to happen, you have to put out a record that we can be
profitable promoting.”

Karina cocked her head, “Is that a
threat?”

Davis shrugged, standing up as he said, “It's
a reality.”

Karina and Bernie stood as well, and she
moved out of the room to show them to the front door. She felt sad,
and defeated. If it were only herself in the picture, she would
have thought about fighting them tooth and nail. But they'd managed
to hit on her weak spot – Ryan.

Now, she held not only her own professional
future in her hands, she held his, too. And she took that
seriously. She really needed to think about what she was going to
do next.

Ryan was buzzing with excitement and nerves as he walked up
to Karina's door. This was the first time he was taking her on what
she must consider a “real” date, a date of the caliber that she
deserved.

Sure, the things they had done so far – the
ice cream, the mini golf, the ice skating at King's Pond – those
had been wonderful. Ryan had loved them. But, then, he was a small
town kind of a guy – of course he loved them. They were small town,
bucolic activities.

Karina deserved better than that every once
in a while, she deserved sophistication and finery, and tonight he
was going to give her just that.

Ryan had made reservations at one of the
finest restaurants in Lake Tahoe. He had, in fact, managed to get a
table immediately next to the large picture windows which
overlooked the lake. Best of all, he had been able to score a
reservation which had them at the table during exactly the right
time to watch the sun going down over the great glassy expanse.

There were few sights in the world which were
more spectacular than the festival of brilliant oranges and purples
melding into each other as the sun sank below the horizon of Lake
Tahoe each evening.

Ryan felt privileged to be in a position to
share the wondrous sight with someone so special.

Hopefully this evening would help her to see
that he was so much more than just a small town guy, but was worthy
to be her partner no matter what social strata they may travel
through. That was the plan, at any rate.

Ryan also had to admit to himself that part
of his excitement as he walked up to Karina's door to pick her up
sprang simply from the fact that he hadn't seen her for several
days.

It often seemed to him, since he had met her,
that she was like a drug to him, in more ways than one. Not only
did she have a physical effect on him much like a narcotic would,
but she also had the curious quality of making him crave her more
the more he was around her. There was no being “satisfied” for him
when it came to time with Karina Blackstone. Every moment of every
day for the rest of his life would only feel like the tiniest
sliver of the very beginning of the amount of time that he craved
spending with her.

Ryan wiped his palms on his thighs. He was as
nervous as a schoolboy when he reached out to ring her doorbell. He
had planned tonight so carefully, and he wanted it to be
perfect.