Page 84 of Hittin' the Right Note
Yeah, that settles it. I’m really going to have to do something about him, find someone else who can do the work he does for me. He’s not irreplaceable, however much he might think he is.
It was oddly empowering to think about cutting Damian loose. Of course, he wasn’t going to be able to reveal his decisionjust yet. He needed to wait until Damian had done what he needed him to do, and then he could start thinking about ways of replacing him.
“So, uh, now that’s settled, I actually do have a favor to ask of you,” he said. God, how he hated feeling like he was begging Damian to do something. But, as he’d said to Luke, there really was no one else who could manipulate the press quite like Damian. He honestly had no idea how he did it, but he was some kind of sorcerer.
Damian looked down his nose at him in the way he’d perfected over the years. It was the look similar to the one his mother gave him, and he hated it.
Be patient, Mikey,he reminded himself.If you can get through a phone call with your mother, you can get through this.
“And just what would that favor be?”
“I want you to make sure the press is nice to Luke when we make our relationship official,” he said. He held up a hand to ward off whatever snarky thing or objection Damian was going to voice. “I don’t want to pull rank on you, Damian, but remember you work for me. Besides, this relationship will be good for both of us. It’ll be just the kind of publicity we’re always chasing. Like Tricia said, it’s a win-win.”
Damian looked like he was going to argue–Mikey knew the devilish gleam he got in his eye too well–but at last he just shook his head.
“Okay, fine,” he said. “If that’s the way you want it, then that’s what you’ll get. I’ll make sure the press goes easy on Luke.”
Mikey couldn’t resist pushing.
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”
Damian scowled. “What else do you want me to say, Mikey? You asked me to do something, and I said I’d do it. Isn’t that enough?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s just you don’t seem to like Luke that much, so why aren’t you making a bigger deal?”
Tricia huffed off to the side.
“Give him a break, would you, Mikey? He already said he’d do what you wanted. Just let it go at that, huh?”
“Okay, fine. Just as long as I have your word you’re not going to do anything nasty.”
Damian put his hand in the air.
“I solemnly swear I’ll do everything in my power to make sure your relationship with Luke works out,” he said.
Mikey gave him another narrowed gaze and then, when he didn’t see any signs Damian was lying to him, he let it go.
“Okay,” he said. “So, let’s talk about the concert.”
He quickly filled them in about how things were going with the music and, as he recounted what he’d managed to pull together with Luke, he felt again the joy of reconnecting with his art.
Luke Carter, you’re a miracle worker,he thought.
Tricia, at least, seemed very much on board with his ideas. He caught her nodding along with him as he spoke, while Damian…well, Damian was never really excited or enthused about much of anything, so he wasn’t surprised at his lack of enthusiasm.
When he was done recounting the week and the music they’d put together, Mikey was excited all over again. Right then he just wanted to call Luke and demand they meet up again.
No, it’s okay to wait a bit,he thought.You can’t spend every single waking moment together.
“I have to say, Mikey,” Tricia said. “This is more excited than I’ve heard you be about anything musical in…a long time. I really like to see it.”
He blushed a little. It must have really been bad if Tricia had noticed it.
“Was I really so dead-eyed?” he asked.
Tricia shook her head.
“It’s not that. It’s just…for all the time I’ve known you, at least since your late days with the band, you’ve never really seemed very excited or invested in the music part. You usually just seemed to be going through the motions, almost as if you’d lost sight of what brought you to your career in the first place. Now, it’s like you’re a whole different person. I like it.”
