Sometimes I question my decision to start up a label and take on artists of my own.  Well, I shouldn’t say that.  I never used to question my decision until I took on Abbey Rhodes and had to spend a ton of time with the girl.

Don’t get me wrong, she’s got some major pipes and she’s extremely talented musically, but Jesus, if she isn’t the annoying little sister I never asked for.

I hired an assistant to help out with all the management, but Trish can be a space shot most of the time, so I end up doing the majority of the work.  It gets pretty hectic at times.  Currently, I’m making sure that audition schedules are set up, and I’m checking the list of musicians to make sure I’ve called everyone I need to.

Abbey is more of a contemporary artist, but we’ve taken a different approach with this album so it’s got more of a pop flare to it.  I think it’ll connect well with the type of audience that comes to my shows.

I heard about Abbey through my cousin and PA, Rachel.  She heard the girl’s stuff on Youtube and wouldn’t leave me alone until I listened to it.  I was wary at first but when I heard her stuff I was really impressed.  She was still fairly amateur when it came to control and things like that, but she had enough raw talent to work with.  She’s come really far since that first audition we had together and I’m proud of her.  Abbey’s a cool chick, I’m glad I get to help her out.

Speaking of Abbey, I need to call her and tell her about auditions.

“When the hell did you get a hold of my phone to change the ring tone!”  Her amused but angry voice floats over my ear piece.  I love messing with this kid.

“Well hey to you too, Abs.  I’m having a great day, how about you?”

“You piss me off so much, do you know that?”

“I love you too, Jude.”  I can’t help but smile at our banter.  It’s a lot of fun to get Abbey riled up.  Her face turns bright red and stays that way for at least fifteen minutes.  It’s funny as hell.

“What do you want, Boss man?” 

“I scheduled auditions for dancers next week, you need to be there.  I also called together the people that are going to be your band, and you’ve got a meeting with them tomorrow at 7.”

“Seven?  Like, seven in the morning?”  She’s whining.  I hate it when she whines.

“Yes, seven in the morning.  You’re a big girl, Abbey, you can get up and make a meeting.  Besides, these are the people that are going to make you sound good on stage, you don’t want to make a bad impression.”  I can almost see her rolling her eyes at me.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”  There’s some background noise before he voice comes back over the line.  “I’ve got to go, my Mom’s here and she’s making me clean my apartment.  I’ll see you at the studio later and I’ll bring the chips and beer.”

That’s my girl.  “Good.  See you at 3.”

I drop my cell phone on my desk and step out of the office.  I can hear the TV playing in my living room so I pad down the hallway and see my girlfriend stretched out on the sofa.

“Hey baby.”  I kneel over her frame and crawl up the couch until I’m hovered over her body.  She flicks her eyes from the TV for a second to look at me, but she returns them quickly.  This can’t be good.

“You’re blocking my view, Justin.”  I roll off the couch and half fall onto the floor as I try to stand up again.

“Sorry.  I didn’t realize that DIY was so important to you.”  I’m being huffy, but she started it.

“You sure do spend a lot of time on the phone.”  She quips and I force myself to not roll my eyes.  Instead I close them and let out a breath.  This is a very worn out conversation but she can’t seem to leave it alone.

“That’s because I have a lot of business to do and most of that I take care of on the phone.  You know that.  You have to talk on the phone too, when you’re working through acting jobs.”  I can’t believe she’s going to get pissy because I was on the phone for maybe a half hour.  At least I’m actually here, which I won’t be when I take off on tour.

“Yeah, but I don’t spend hours with my female clients and then talk to them even more when we’re apart.”

Wow.

If that isn’t the most jealous thing I’ve heard out of a woman’s mouth, I don’t know what is.

“Are you talking about Abbey?”  She doesn’t look at me, a sure sign.  “Shit, Jill, you can’t seriously think there’s something going on with me and Abbey!” 

“You’ve been spending every day with her for the past month!  I just heard you talking to her on the phone, too!”  She sits up rigid in her seat and her fists are clenched at her sides.  She’s really upset about this.

I could do the mature, boyfriend-ly thing and go to her, calm her down, tell her I love her, and assure her that there’s nothing going on.  But, the male part of my brain is overriding any common sense I may possess and all I can’t think about is the fact that I’m being attacked.

“You are being so fucking ridiculous.”  She makes this squeaky noise that I have come to know means bad news.  “Really, Jill, Abbey is my artist.  She’s on my label.  I produce her albums, and right now she’s got to finish this album up so we can release it.  Of course I’m going to spend time with her.  I also happen to manage her career, which means I have to talk to her on the phone every now and then.”

“Yeah, and next you’re going to leave me here for months while the two of you traipse across the country together.”

Suddenly it dawns on me what this is all about.  Jill isn’t usually the jealous type and I can’t believe she’d start now, but I get it.  This really has very little to do with Abbey.

“You’re worried about me going on tour.”  Her anger cracks a little and I can see the worry on her face along with the start of tears in her eyes.  This time I do the mature thing.

Crossing the room I stop in front of her and drop to my knees, taking her hands in mine.

“You have nothing to be worried about, I swear to you.  I know I’m going to be gone for a while, but you have to understand that this is part of my job, ok?  I’m not leaving you, I’m not breaking up with you, I’m not doing any of the things that you’ve got floating around in that pretty little head of yours, ok?”

She sniffles and slightly nods her head.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers and I give her a small smile.  “I don’t know why I got so worked up…it’s just, I was talking to Lacey and she started telling all these stories about tours and groupies and…”

I hold up my hand to stop her.

“Lacey is a conniving bitch and you should know better than to listen to a word she says.”

“Justin, she’s my sister,” She tries to give me a reprimanding look, but we both know I’m right.

“Sure, she’s from the same set of parents as you are, but that doesn’t mean she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to touring, and especially when it comes to me.”  I don’t often claim to hate people, but Lacey Hawkins is the exception to that rule.  When Jill and I started dating, Lacey took it upon herself to attempt to get into my pants and when I pushed her away and told her that I was with Jill, she got pissed and tried to tell everyone that I’d come on to her and asked her to sleep with me.

Unfortunately for Lacey, Jill had been standing in the door way when it had happened and she’d seen the whole thing.  I don’t know why Jill insists on still being friends with the girl, but I suppose they are sisters…

Anyway, ever since then Lacey has been doing everything possible to sabotage what Jill and I have.  It’s starting to piss me off.  I wasn’t aware that relationships were between three people.

“I know.”  Jill concedes, and we seem to have averted a major fight.  Whew. 

“I won’t be on tour forever, and you can come visit me anytime you want to, OK?”  She nods and smiles at me, “And you have nothing to worry about with me and Abbey.  She’s practically married to one of the Beatles, or she should be, and I’m pretty sure she would even want to think about holding my hand, never mind anything else.”

Jill laughs and I know that things are back to normal.

“She does make fun of you a lot.  She’s kinda mean.”  This time it’s my turn to laugh.

“Baby, you have no idea.”  I make another attempt to crawl on the couch and this time she allows me to take her in my arms and lay the two of us down.  She’s cradled between me and the back of the couch with her head resting on my shoulder, and I know that this is how things should be.  Just like this.

~*~

Jill and I watched TV for another hour or so, cuddling and relaxing.  I then convinced her to join me in the studio with Abbey.  I thought it would kill two birds with one stone, I’d get to spend more time with my girl and I’d get to prove that there’s nothing going on with me and my artist.

Jill sits down on the couch and types away at her Sidekick.  I hope she’s not completely bored today, but I need to focus on getting this album done.

The door busts open and Abbey stumbles in with her arms full of bags and two six packs of beer.

“A little help would be nice,” I jump up from my seat and grab the bags before she drops them all over the floor and makes a mess.  I grin when I see into the bags.  This chick has to be one of my favorite people at the moment.

“Honey barbeque twisted Fritos.  You are a saint.”  She chuckles and hands me a Coors.

“I grabbed some Cheddar Fries too, but I swear, if you eat them all again I’m going to hurt you in a very serious way.”  She glares at me and I just laugh.  A noise across the room grabs my attention and I remember that my girlfriend is here.  Oops.

“Hey Jude, you know Jill.”  I know the two have met before, but I figure it’s the polite thing to do to introduce them again.  Jill nods curtly at Abbey’s ‘hello.’  This might not have been a very good idea.  Sometimes I don’t think about the fact that my girlfriend might not want to spend time with the ‘other woman’ in my life…well, besides my Momma, anyway.  But Jill likes my Momma.  I’m getting way off track here.

“Uh, well, let’s get started, shall we?”  I hope focusing on work will change the atmosphere in this room, which suddenly got tense.

Abbey shrugs and grabs one of the Killians from the pack she brought.  “All right if I bring my beer in?”  I nod at her and motion with my hand for her to go into the booth.

“We’re working on ‘Silence’ today.  You warmed up, right?”

“I sang some scales when I was in the grocery store, does that count?”  I hope the look I’m giving her expresses the fact that I’m not happy.

“Abbey,” She rolls her eyes and I’m starting to wonder if coming to the studio was a good idea at all.  “I told you that you need to come to this studio prepared, now more than ever.   We don’t have a lot of time to get this thing finished and I can’t sit here and waste a shit load of time letting you warm up when you could do it before you get here!”

She sits back on her stool and I can see the bewildered look on her face.  I don’t often get pissy, even when I’m tense.  I’m hoping that it’s not because Jill is watching me like a hawk, but the little voice in the back of my head is telling me to calm down.

“Sorry Justin.  Just give me five minutes and I’ll be ready, ok?”  I don’t answer her, but I nod my head.  I make sure the microphone is off so Jill and I can’t hear her warming up, and I turn to face my girlfriend.

“This is probably going to be really boring for you, Babe.  I’m sorry I dragged you along.”  I rub my hands over my head in an attempt to relax a little.

“It’s OK, I wanted to spend time with you.”  She’s not pouting yet, but I know that after a few hours of me paying all my attention to the girl behind the glass, Jill isn’t going to be very happy.

“Here,” I throw her my keys, “go out and grab some food or go shopping or something.  At least that way you won’t be sitting here the whole time.”  I hand her my credit card too, but she waves it off.

“I’ve got my wallet.  I’ll come back in a couple of hours, OK?”  She pecks me on the cheek before heading out the door.  Maybe now I can focus.  I turn back to the window to see Abbey watching me, and she gives me the thumbs up so I click back on the mic.

“I’m ready when you are, Boss man.”  She seems thrown off by my little outburst, and I really hope that it doesn’t affect how things go today.  I’d hate to waste a day of recording.

“Hey Jude, I’m sorry about that little rant.  I guess I’m just feeling stressed today.”  She smiles at me and I can feel things returning to normal.

“It’s fine,” I know there’s a ‘but’ coming, “You’re not so bad, if you’d just be a little nicer and use a little more soap.”

“Right.”

“The soap’s because you stink, really bad.”

“You can stop quoting ‘Shrek’ now, Abbey.”  Smart ass.