Page 19 of Your Rhythm
“With respect, Marie-France, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” I pause to come up with a way of explaining that doesn’t dive too deep into my past. “My experience in the music journalism world showed me that Atlas Records is...not somebody you mess with.”
“I’m not asking you to slander them. What would happen if we got ourselves a lawsuit now,Dieu seul le sait!” She leans forwards over her desk, catching and holding my gaze. “But you areunejournaliste, Kay. We both know there is a story here, and that you can get these Sherbrooke Station people to tell it to you.”
I hesitate and she continues to urge me on.
“Kay, trust me. We need to...What is the phrase?” She taps her finger against her chin for a moment, thinking. “Make some waves!La Gareneeds to make some waves, and I want you to be the one to do it.”
Lately I’ve been focusing on doing the exact opposite with my reporting. I’ve spent the past few months covering things like sculpture installments and what’s new at the Montreal Opera. I don’t want waves—I just want the water raging around the name ‘Kay Fischer’ to have some time to grow still.
Marie-France narrows her eyes.
“La Gareis notLast Bastion.”
A shock runs through, jolting me like I’ve just brushed against a live wire. I didn’t even put my time withLast Bastionon my resume when I applied here. If Marie-France knows I worked for them, she must know why I stopped, too.
A few months into my time withBastion, I took on an investigation into a series of plagiarism claims made against Atlas Records. I knew just a few days into my research I was onto something big. I got in touch with eight different musicians who said they could prove bands on the Atlas label had ripped off their songs. None of them had ever taken legal action because of the costs, and stopped speaking out about it after Atlas sent out threats to sue them for defamation.
The boyfriend I was crazy about happened to be an Atlas intern at the time. He hated the job but stayed on with them for the work experience, and agreed to feed me information if he could remain anonymous. I was a week away from publication when Atlas caught wind of the investigation and toldBastionthey’d be facing the lawsuit of their lives if they didn’t shut the story down and fire me at the same time.
The digital age means even journalism giants likeLast Bastionstruggle to turn a profit. They knew they wouldn’t survive picking a fight with Atlas and they caved without a second thought.
After his employers connected the dots between me and my boyfriend, it turned out he gave more of a shit about his job than he let on. He covered his ass with rumours that I was a ‘media whore’ who spent our whole relationship begging him for inside facts he never gave and sleeping around with half the industry behind his back. He did lose his job eventually and plagued my answering machine with apologies for a few weeks, but that didn’t change the fact that I came out of the ordeal blacklisted in the world of music journalism. I spent four months unemployed.
I did gain two new rules for myself, though:
Never fuck with Atlas Records.
Never date or sleep with a source.
I’ve been able to follow both of them in the time I’ve been atLa Gare.I thought the only reason I snagged this job was because everyone here is so out of the loop they wouldn’t even recognize the nameLast Bastionto begin with.
“I know you might not believe it,” Marie-France continues, “but back in the day we knew how to cause trouble around here. This paper can weather a storm.En fait, a storm might be the only thing that can save it.”
I see it in her again: a steady, head-bent-against-the-wind kind of strength. It hits me that maybe she wasn’t just talking about the other employees when she said they’d have a hard time finding other jobs; maybe the end ofLa Garewould be the end of the road for her too. She’s got nothing to lose by betting everything on this story. Her ship is sinking either way, and in that moment I realize mine is too.
I could spend the next year working menial jobs like the one I have here, biding my time until I feel like the rumours have died down. By then I’d have wasted a year of my career though, and if even Marie-France can find out what happened withLast Bastion, any future employer would be just a few phone calls away from looking into the gap in my resume.
I’ve been acting like I’m guilty, slinking away to bury myself in obscurity and hope everyone forgets who I am. I have nothing to hide though, and maybe it’s time I started digging myself out of this hole, instead of just burrowing deeper.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
Marie-France gets up, making the growly ‘harrumph’ sound it took me awhile to figure out was her laugh.
“You weren’t actually allowed to say no, Kay, but I’m happy you want to do it.” She opens the door for me. “Pierre already has all the information, so you can get started on planning the rest of your news week together right away.”
* * *
Even with Pierre’s help,having my section of the paper double in size without any warning means the two of us have a hellish week trying to finish enough articles to fill the space.
The temperatures have finally started to rise, but not enough to make rushing around outside all day and night much more enjoyable. I’m pretty sure I’ve walked the entire length of the city several times by the end of the week. I have to squeeze in so many interviews, showcases, and exhibit openings that I don’t even have a chance to email Sherbrooke Station’s manager until Friday afternoon.
She gets back to me just as Pierre and I are making plans to go out and get thoroughly trashed together once we’ve sent off our final submissions.
Hi Kay,
Glad things with Matt went okay, and sorry again for Ace not being able to make it to your interview. To answer your inquiry, I think a front page feature inLa Garewould be great for Sherbrooke Station.
We’re still transitioning into working with Atlas Records, and eventually I’ll be referring things like this to their PR department, but to be honest I still feel rather protective of the band’s interests, so I’m going to risk coming under fire and just go ahead and say yes to you myself.
