Crazy in Love. Crystal B. Bright

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СКАЧАТЬ Tasting the bitter drink now would bring back too many memories and way too many missed opportunities that she didn’t want to admit.

      Like him, Shauna didn’t answer until he acknowledged her again. When he connected his gaze to hers, she shook her head. The diamonds in her drop earrings brushed her cheek.

      “You want to do some scales?” He snapped his fingers for her vocal coach who always came with her on the road.

      As soon as she spotted him, Shauna felt her eyes get scratchy. She didn’t care if tears messed up her makeup. Besides Craig, her vocal coach had been with her from the start of her career at fifteen. Now she saw him as a reminder of Fatima, the woman who had given her life in more ways than one.

      Again, Shauna started to say something. She needed to be heard.

      “Get out of here.” Craig held the coach’s shoulders before he could get any closer to Shauna and turned him to the door. He pointed to a makeup artist. “You. Get in there and fix her up. The Princess of Love Ballads has to be impeccable.”

      A young man scurried to Shauna with a silver-and-black makeup case in hand.

      “Make sure that mascara is waterproof. She has to look flawless. This has to be like every other performance.” Craig took a seat on a couch next to her, but kept his attention directed to his phone.

      His request pushed Shauna to the edge. She waved her hands in the air to prevent anyone from getting too close to her. “Get out.” She pointed to the door.

      Craig bolted to his feet. Before saying anything, he put his hand on Shauna’s shoulder as though to remind her to remain silent, preserve her tool.

      “Okay, you all heard her. Everyone, get out.” Craig nodded to the door. “Come get her when it’s time for her to get on stage.”

      Shauna shook her head. “No.” Now that she found her voice, she didn’t want to stop.

      Craig silenced her with a raised hand and waited until the room emptied before he spoke to her. “I know you’re feeling a little shaken up right now. Raheem—”

      The mention of her ex-boyfriend had her head throbbing. Shauna balled her hands into fists before she bolted to her feet. The dangly sequins on her dress clinked together like a wind chime, creating a soothing melody for her. Something had to be on her side.

      Craig powered through his speech. “I know the breakup was rough, especially how he did it.”

      She started to pace in her spindly heels. To say Raheem broke up with her in a grand and humiliating way would be a severe understatement. He crushed her spirit. Everything else that happened to her crushed her soul.

      “I made sure he wouldn’t be anywhere close to you. According to his recent tweets, he’s in California right now.” This time Craig held up both hands. “Universe Records has asked that you keep this obligation.”

      Of course the record label would want her to continue performing no matter what. They needed money to line their pockets. It didn’t matter how Shauna felt.

      When Shauna worked, which seemed to be all the time now, Craig remained business-minded. It seemed so easy for him to switch from business to personal mode in a matter of milliseconds, a trait Shauna never acquired.

      All the laughing and joking stopped with the involvement of money. Shauna ached for a friend right now, someone to commiserate over recent events. Even with Madison Square Garden being packed full of people, she felt so alone.

      Craig tried giving Shauna the most sincere look he could muster. “Fatima would want you here doing what you’re doing.”

      Shauna doubted that. The mention of her mother stilled her in her position. She held on to the back of a chair as she regarded her manager. When she brushed her thumb over the wood, she brought her gaze down to it and the rest of the room.

      What happened to her large throne-like white velvet chair that felt like a hug when she sat in it? She’d done shows at the Garden before and had had that piece with her when she performed there.

      She scanned the room and noticed that the normal all-white furniture she always requested didn’t make it to her dressing room. The drab battleship-gray walls brought her mood down even more than the burnt burgundy-colored carpeting with stains in various spots. Where was the expensive Oriental rug that came along with her for every show?

      Shauna glanced over to the area where the venue normally had her specialty drinks and snacks. Nothing. No. Not nothing. Bottled water. Generic bottled water. She turned to Craig.

      As though reading her thoughts, he answered what had been running through her mind. “I’ve asked them to scale back on some of your perks.”

      She felt her eyebrows furrow. On a day like today, having overpriced water, bouquets of daisies, and an assortment of Now and Later candies didn’t seem like it would be too much to get. Then she noticed how much Craig fidgeted in his spot.

      “We need to talk.” He took a step closer to her. “About a lot of things. In the morning, we’ll see the lawyer about your mother’s will.” He ran his meaty hand over his shaved head. “Hopefully, she left you something.”

      The way Craig’s voice dipped, it seemed like he didn’t want her to hear the last part of his statement.

      Shauna’s heart raced. Forget preserving her voice. She needed to say something.

      When she opened her mouth, a knock sounded at the door before the person came inside.

      A young woman wearing a headset glanced at Shauna before dropping her gaze, avoiding eye contact like she had been instructed to do so. “Your stage is set. The second opening act is finishing their last song. You’re up.”

      “Thanks.” This time, Craig waved her away. He held Shauna’s shoulders as he gazed at her.

      The way Craig stared made her feel like a commodity, an art piece he wanted to buy, or a horse he had put his life savings on for a race. She tried taking a step back, not to run but because she needed some space.

      Craig must have thought the motion meant she didn’t want to be there. He gripped her arms tighter.

      “You can do this.” He turned to the door. “You have thousands of fans out there cheering for you. They paid a lot of money to see you. Fatima’s death was a setback.”

      Shauna blinked. Did he actually call her mother’s death a setback? Losing her mother had been more than an inconvenience. What the hell was she doing there?

      “I can see you looking a little unsure.” Craig shook his head. “I don’t need Chantel Evans right now. I need you to be Shauna Stellar.”

      The mention of her real name gave Shauna another reminder of how disconnected she had become from her family, her mother. She turned her head and caught her reflection in the mirror, and had to drop her gaze just as fast. She couldn’t take staring at a stranger.

      Although she understood Craig’s hard-nose attitude, she wished he would drop being Craig George, the business manager, and be the nice man who vowed to protect her and her interests when she, at fifteen years of age, and Fatima sought him out to represent her in the music industry. She could be Shauna СКАЧАТЬ