Page 28 of Dirty Like Jude
She glanced up at me. “You want to book me outtoo?”
“No,” I said, kinda surprised she’d even think I wanted to. Since meeting her, I’d been keeping in touch, dropping in at her shows, and she knew I was hoping to put a show together for her sometime next year; I’d made that pretty clear. The only issue was I hadn’t yet worked with a DJ of Summer’s calibre, and she knew that,too.
In short, I hadn’t won her overyet.
But I’d never really had anything to offer herbefore.
“You’re still playing,” I told her. “Ihope.”
She considered that as she got to her feet, then turned toward the mirror and started digging through her makeup. “What other DJs are you bringingin?”
“None. I’m bringingDirty.”
She stopped digging and looked at me in the mirror. “I’ve heard betterideas.”
“You’ve played with them before,” I pointedout.
“I can’t open for Dirty with this kind of notice, hon,” she told me, as she blotted the shine from her face with a tissue. “It takes preparation. I’m booked solid over the holidays, and I’m sure they’re busy. This idea needs proper planning andpromotion.”
“Which is what I’m herefor.”
Summer shook her head as she pulled out a powder compact and a fluffy brush. “The crowd will be wrong. The vibe will be wrong. You put me in front of a Dirty crowd without the proper promotion, it’ll be a blood bath. For me.” She tapped some powder onto her brush and set to work touching up her face. “You bring Dirty into a DJ Summer party? Could go sideways for Dirty, which is not what they deserve. You need the right audience. You need time and you need to finesse these things.” She stood back from the mirror and checked her face, smoothed her hair a bit with her fingers, not looking at me. “We took half a year planning the first show I ever played with them, where we did a partial settogether, and that was at a festival, electronic music and rock. Totally mixed crowd. Open crowd. You can’t just throw together an intimate New Year’s Eve party with me opening for Dirty and expect it towork.”
“It willwork.”
She met my eyes in the mirror, looking incredibly doubtful. “And you know thisbecause…?”
“Because you won’t be opening forthem.”
She turned to face me. She seemed to gauge that I was serious, and made a sound akin to a laugh. “You’re gonna ask Dirty to open for me? You’ve got a solid steel pussy, hon.” She turned back to her reflection. “Brody is gonna eat you for a nice, light snack and leave your pretty bones by the side of theroad.”
Well, there was someimagery.
“Or,” I said, as she touched up her lip gloss, “I get a hot electronic rock band to open, warm up the crowd. Then Dirty takes the stage in all their rock star glory. They play from say, ten, ten-thirty, whatever they like, until midnight. At midnight, they count in the New Year. Everyone’s happy. Everyone’s half-trashed. The venue is open until three on a special license and the bar pours until two. After the New Year countdown, Dirty heads offstage to drink champagne and fuck or whatever rock stars do after midnight on New Year’s, and DJ Summer takes over, presiding over the party until the wee hours. Just the way, I assume, she likesit.”
Summer quirked an eyebrow at me but said nothing. I knew I had her interest, so I wenton.
“You want to play for three hours straight, you can. You want to switch out with another DJ, bring in some friends to spin with you, special guests, whatever. It’s all on the table. They don’t even have to be on the bill. We can work itout.”
“You’re offering me topbilling?”
“No. You know there’s no way in hell I can do that. But I am promising you equal billing withDirty.”
At that, she looked doubtful again. “With an equal cut of ticketsales?”
“Equal. Your set is twice as long, but you get equal. This is Dirty we’re talking about. If I were you, I’d take the offer andrun.”
“You’re not me,” she reminded me, turning to face me again. “And I will take the offer. If you can get Dirty on board with that plan.” She looked at me like she wasn’t yet sure what to make of me. If she trusted me. If she even liked me or not. “I’m assuming you haven’t spoken with them yet, or I would’ve heard something fromElle.”
“I’ll get them onboard.”
“I’d love to seeit.”
So wouldI.
“If you don’t mind though, hon, I have people waiting.” She picked up a glass that was sitting on the counter, a cocktail I hadn’t even noticed, and took asip.
“Oh. Of course.” I shifted out of her way as she moved toward thedoor.
