Page 8 of Only for the Moment
Chapter Four
Isaac made the leap down from the stage, feeling the impact quake through his body as he jogged through the pit toward where Dylan had set up camp. His production manager directed the sound and light crews with the hand of a master—without the whip. He didn’t need one. He had an intuitive eye and an uncanny ability to understand exactly what was needed to get the effect he wanted.
He was staring grimly at the stage when Isaac reached him. “Time’s almost up; we have to shoot through in”—Isaac glanced at his phone screen before slipping it back into his pocket—“fifteen. Whatcha think? She’ll be right, yeah?”
Dylan tapped his chin and grunted. A man of few words. But then that concentration lightened the tiniest bit and an almost grin pulled at one side of his tight mouth.“It’ll be epic.”
Isaac agreed. This was the most ambitious show they’d put on, and considering how hard he tried to push the envelope, that was saying something. Live performances were, for him, more than just a stringing together of songs. They should tell a story, draw the audience in until they couldn’t tell which world they inhabited, the one they lived in or the one he’d created. This particularshow had been in the works for more than a year, with bits and pieces tested over and over throughout the tour, but now it would all come together. He could taste the excitement in the air as his people got the physical lay of the land on something that had been in the conceptual stages for so long.
“The real question is, how the fuck could you ever hope to top this?”
Isaac punched the smart-assin the arm. “How d’you think?”
Dylan grinned then. His firm belief that, after the two years they’d worked together, every show was only going to get bigger and better was unshakable. Given how fucked Isaac’s mindset was right now, not to mention its effect on his songwriting, he wasn’t so sure. Who could focus on bigger and better when you were barely focusing on now?
They discussed a few finaldetails, and then Isaac left his friend to begin gathering the crew. He’d almost made it back to the pit when Nick rounded the corner of the stage, two unexpected guests in tow. The last two people he wanted to see right now.
Forcing his facial muscles to relax, his grin into place, he walked toward Tad Dugan and Susan Weisz, hand extended.
“Susan, I didn’t know you were in Vegas.”
Susan smiledindulgently up at him, and he thought again how pretty his manager was. She had the classic beauty of Caroline Kennedy and Jackie O. At least when she was focused on him. When it got down to business, she was a barracuda in a mermaid’s form—he wouldn’t want to be across the negotiation table from her. “It’s good to see you too, Isaac.” She turned to the man at her side. “You remember Tad.”
Therecord company was pulling out the big guns, it seemed. Normally he and Susan worked with the head of the Strange Eye Entertainment record label; Isaac had earned that status after his first gold album. Tad Dugan was the VP of Strange Eye’s parent company.
Big guns indeed.
“Of course.” He shook the man’s hand, meeting his intelligent gaze without flinching. “What brought you out this way, Tad?”
“Not the weather.” He wiped sweat from his brow. “Had an executive board meeting to attend, and since I was in the neighborhood…”
The man’s smile wasn’t typical of so many of the reps, the ones that were nice to your face but bit worse than a tiger shark when you turned your back to them. Tad had always seemed straightforward, and the other musicians who’d worked with him gave him a good rap.That didn’t mean Isaac thought the man just happened to stop by.
Nor was he the type to ignore the obvious. “And…?”
Tad chuckled. “Nothing gets by you, huh?” He gestured toward the first row of seats nearby. “May we…?”
Isaac led the way, twisting sideways in his seat to face his guests. He tried not to think of them as opponents—they were all on the same side here. Still, they’d want answers,and he didn’t have any.
Susan sent him a look as they settled in. He couldn’t tell if it was reassurance or warning, but he offered her a small smile anyway. He was a big boy. He could take whatever was coming.
“This looks like it’ll be one spectacular show,” Tad said, glancing around approvingly.
“It should be, as long as we’ve worked on it. You’ve provided the best designers, choreographers,performers. I don’t take that lightly.”
“No, you don’t.” Tad transferred that laser gaze from the stage to Isaac’s face, staring for a long moment. “You never have, and I’ve always appreciated that about you. So I won’t beat around the bush.”
Isaac raised his brow and waited.
“Why don’t you have studio time booked yet?”
“Because I’m not ready to record yet.” It was as honest an answer as hecould give.
Tad grunted. “So when will you be ready?”
“When the concept comes together.” If the concept came together. “I have a few ideas, but it’s not solid enough to present yet.”
Tad didn’t call bullshit asap, so there was that, at least.
