Chapter 25

I had cleared the breakfast dishes off the table and I motioned for Liz to bring her phone into the living room. I sat down in my favorite chair and Liz frowned until I motioned for her to sit on my lap.

That got the first smile I’d seen in a few minutes.

She looked cute wearing my clothes. She was tall enough that my cutoff sweatpants hit her at the knee. My T-shirt was a bit too wide but she just tied it off under her boobs. I stuck a finger in her belly button as soon as her butt hit my lap.

“You goof!” Liz said, laughing.

“It’s a very alluring navel,” I said. “Or so I’ve read on the Internet.”

“So, what’s going on with L.A.?” Liz asked in a calmer voice than she had used in the kitchen.

“There is a bit of a problem with the setup and tear down of the set,” Stephanie said. “The team has a game on Friday and the crew said we have to be completely gone by four a.m. I guess the team is pissed that we’re going to require all day Thursday to set things up. That means the players won’t have access to the field or the training room that day. We’re going to have to call in the backup crew to get the stages down in time anyway.”

“Shit!” Liz said. “Why are we just finding this out?”

“I guess the time schedule was sent to RFN instead of LLE,” Stephanie said.

“And those fuckers just sat on it,” Liz hissed.

“So it seems,” Stephanie replied. “I called Mark Jacobs as soon as I found out and he said he knew absolutely nothing about any time requirements. He pulled up the original contract and it said that the venue reserved the right to limit usage but that prior notification would be sent. He swears he didn’t hear anything about it. Uh, the team owner was onsite yesterday. He wasn’t happy but he said he would work with us. If we can get the stage off by seven or eight things will work out OK. He left a number for us to contact him if we need anything. I didn’t really like him but he said all the right words. If it is in the contract, we have to do it or pay a penalty.”

“Yeah,” Liz grumbled. “Have you spoken to the backup guys yet?”

“They’re on board,” Stephanie said. “With them helping, we can have everything down in plenty of time. But it won’t be cheap.”

“What’s the setup time with both crews working?” Liz asked, reaching over to rub my shoulder.

“Three hours to set up and five to tear down,” Stephanie said.

“OK, we’ll let the team know Monday that they can have the training room and field until noon Thursday if they give us until six a.m. Friday to tear things down,” she decided.

“Eight should be plenty of time,” I cut in. “Look, there’s not going to be a mosh pit in centerfield. You’re not going to have to worry about someone digging a hole at second base. This isn’t a thrash metal concert. Tell them that the cleanup isn’t going to be any worse than when the Giants pay a visit. Hell, it’s likely to be cleaner. They don’t play until seven. No one will get to the stadium until six. That gives them 10 hours to sweep up just like they’ll have to do Saturday morning after Friday night’s game.”

“We can split the difference,” Stephanie said. “The last thing we want is for something to get broken because we’re in a hurry. I’ll tell them Monday that they can have four hours on Thursday morning if we can get three hours overnight. That should make everybody happy.”

“What else?” Liz said.

“The security is going to be good,” Ryan said. “Uh, Travis, you probably remember a few years ago when that guy got hurt by a fan. I met with Cynthia Lu, she’s the head of security there, and she is on top of things. For once, I’m not real worried about that.”

“Shock of shocks!” Liz said.

“However...” Ryan said with a sigh at the end, “I am worried about the logistics of getting you here.”

“I figured Travis and I would just drive up Monday morning,” Liz said. “We could turn in the rental car and meet your flight.”

“That won’t work,” Ryan and I said at the same time.

“You owe me a Coke,” Ryan said after chuckling. Liz had shifted on my lap to look at me – and I was thankful. She had an arm around my shoulder and the sleeve of the shirt was loose enough I could see her bare boob. “Liz, the TSA won’t let anyone into the actual terminal – not even you. If you’d drop off the car, you and Travis would be stuck standing out front with everyone else to await the arrivals.”

“Oh, yeah,” Liz said sheepishly. She noticed where I was looking and rolled her eyes – but she smiled at me.

“So, here’s what I’ve worked out,” Ryan said. “I’m going to fly to San Diego instead of L.A. I’ll have to leave earlier and change planes in Atlanta but that’s not a big deal.”

“I don’t want you to leave home before you have to!” Liz said firmly.

“I have to,” Ryan said just as firmly. “It’s the difference of 45 minutes. The plane to Atlanta leaves at 7:10 a.m. The direct flight to L.A. leaves at 7:55. Sondra has morning rounds and she’ll be at the hospital by six anyway. Stephanie is going to fly straight to L.A. and Jill is going to drive back over. I’ll get to San Diego at one o’clock your time. There is a flight from San Diego to Los Angeles at 2:10. We’ll fly up together.”

“We could just drive up and meet you there,” Liz protested.

“You could,” Ryan agreed. “But ... think about how you want Travis to be introduced to the masses. The photogs at LAX are tame. The ones we run into at the hotel are not. You can do your walk through LAX, get your answers on the record and it’ll be out there before we even hit the hotel.”

“You seemed pretty sure I was going to be able to talk Travis into spending time with me,” Liz said.

“I figured you’d think of something,” Ryan said. “Now, the drawback to the plan is that there will be increased activity at the hotel. You know the label already leaked where you’re booked.”

“Yeah,” Liz said glumly.

“So we’re going to book you somewhere else,” Ryan said. “We’ve decided that there is no reason for the label to make travel arrangements any longer. We’re in a position to send advance teams to Phoenix, Jacksonville and Dallas. We won’t mention a word to the label and let them book rooms. Hell, if you want, we’ll go to the homeless shelters and offer random people free accommodations for a day or two. But I’m done dancing to RFN’s tune. They want to play tough ... well, I’m as tough as they come.”

“I agree, for what it’s worth,” Stephanie said. “The contract calls for them to make arrangements and pay for them. It doesn’t say a word about us using them. It’ll be an added expense but I think your privacy ... and Travis’s privacy until he gets a better idea of what he’s facing ... is worth it.”

“You’re right,” Liz said, looking at me. I had already figured out that I was going to be the reason for a lot of changes that Ryan and Stephanie wanted to make. I decided that I was OK with it because I was going to use them for the same purpose. I decided to start immediately.

“Ryan, I wanted to run something past you that I noticed the other night,” I said.

“Shoot,” he said.

“Uh, the after-event meet and greets,” I said. Liz glared at me but I plowed ahead. “Is the timing of those contractually required?”

“No,” he said. Again, I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I think it’s time to put an end to those,” I said. “From a marketing standpoint, they are a nightmare waiting to happen. From a security standpoint, I know you have to hate them. I know it’s probably too late to work things out in L.A. but for Phoenix, I think that has to happen in public with security very close to Liz.”

“I agree but tell me about the PR side,” Ryan said.

“Liz’s core fans are everyday, hard-working moms and dads that save their pennies to go to see her live and kids that save their allowance to buy her music,” I said. “Permitting corporate types to purchase access sends an incredibly bad message. I like the way she makes time for her fans but these people aren’t fans. They’re just people with enough money passed to the right people at the right time. If word of those private meetings ever got out I’m not sure we could contain the backlash easily. It would be a lot better for everyone if Liz could set aside maybe five minutes during the concert for a group introduction and photo. The honchos get their handshake and a group picture. They get their recognition but they don’t get the chance to cause a scene like that asshole did on Wednesday. The whole new marketing team is on board with this, by the way.”

Liz had narrowed her eyes at me.

“Stephanie, your thoughts?” she asked.

“I agree with Travis,” Stephanie said with a bit of hesitation. “Personally, I’d like to see them come to an end completely. I’m talking about the first group of people you meet with as well as the last group.”

“It would give you an extra half an hour before the concert to interact with the people buying your music,” I noted. “It will give you 10 or 15 minutes afterward to wind down before leaving the venue and walking the gauntlet.”

Liz stayed on my lap but crossed her arms as she looked at me. I smiled and winked back at her.

“How hard would it be to change that?” she asked Stephanie.

“From a backstage standpoint it wouldn’t be hard at all,” she answered. “You might have to cut a song from your onstage presentation.”

Liz frowned.

“Or you start the show five minutes earlier or end it five minutes later,” I said with a shrug. “No one is going to pack up and leave before you’re finished. Jesus, you should know that better than I do!”

“Yeah, fine,” Liz said, shaking her head at me. “OK, work it out for Phoenix, Jacksonville and Dallas.”

“Not Dallas,” I cut in. “Some of the people I’m going to work with won’t want public recognition. But I might have to promise them a handshake afterward.”

I was greeted by silence.

“Uh, Jill didn’t fill you in on the rest of our conversation?” I asked.

“I don’t think so,” Stephanie said.

“I think the label has been tacitly working against Liz up until now,” I said. “I think Dallas is their big gambit. They want Liz to go into negotiations after selling only half of her tickets to the final show. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Can I ask how?” Ryan wondered.

“Some people in the greater Dallas area are familiar with me still,” I said. “I’m going to get them to purchase large blocks of tickets to be donated or to front the purchase of smaller blocks of tickets by worthwhile groups.”

“No criminal types,” Ryan said immediately.

“These are all businessmen and women,” I said. “I would not bring any criminal types near Liz. It’s my job to help you keep those people as far away from her as possible. But a lot of these people like to operate below the radar. They’re major investors in charitable foundations and ... athletic programs.”

“Like the University of Texas baseball program,” Ryan said.

“Like that,” I said. “I’m going to wait until things shake out with RFN before I officially accept a job with LLE. For now, I’m going to operate ... independently.”

“Dream on,” Stephanie said. “From the moment you set foot at LAX on Monday the days of you operating independently are a thing of the past. She might as well put you on the payroll because you are going to permanently linked to Liz Larimer.”

“Shit,” I muttered. I knew instantly that they were correct.

“It’s a good plan, though,” Stephanie added. “Liz, what do you think?”

“I don’t like it,” Liz said. “If I can’t sell out the stadium then I can’t sell it out.”

“For fuck sake, Liz,” I said in a harsher voice than I intended. “You could sell a million tickets to any place that could hold the people. But you’re going to have a very powerful, very wealthy entity actively working against you. That’s the reality. Now you can sit back and take it or you can live up to your tour name and become a fighter. But you need to accept that, without a lot of things falling in the right direction, you’re not going to sell a hundred thousand tickets to a show the night before the Memorial Day weekend starts when nobody knows a fucking thing about it until two weeks before!”

I rubbed my face and shook my head.

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to be a dick about things. I was still peeved that I hadn’t thought my plan all the way through. If you want to sit back and hope, I won’t bring up the subject again.”

“He’s right, though,” Stephanie said. “The label sets your availability for promotional spots. I have nothing on the schedule for Dallas at all. We’re six weeks out and they won’t even start ticket sales for four of those weeks. A couple of radio stations are scheduled to promote the show but most of them are clueless.”

“Or in collusion with the label,” I added with a frown.

“Or that,” Stephanie agreed. “So, we’re going to have to do something. I would love it if all the tickets were snapped up in a day but we’re not even going to have an advertisement on a stupid bus before they go on sale!”

Liz sighed and looked at me.

“I’m an old hand at dirty tricks,” I said with a shrug. “To me, this is no different than dusting the assholes that gave you shit when we were kids. And you can bet, if I get a free shot to drop an exec from RFN, I’m gonna take it.”