Broken Record

Chapter 10: Benton

Stevie kept refreshing her screen. She couldn't believe her eyes. Her first solo remix was already trending with 250 million streams and climbing. By the end of the week she was sure she'd have a billion. Just about a month in and she'd have one down and three to go. She was seated outside one of the Pacific Records conference rooms. After weeks in dark studios, the space felt oddly bright, too bright.

"Hey, nice work, MarLow," Aero approached the conference room and extended his patented fist for a bump. Stevie smiled at him. "The big boss should be happy. Or at least his version of happy," Aero laughed and gestured for Stevie to head into the conference room. A long, glass table took up the center of the room and more records and grammy's lined the walls. Stevie sat next to Aero, her knee bouncing with energy. She took a cold sip of water placed at her seat. It was scented with citrus. Fancy she thought to herself.

"Hello Stevie," Cortland barreled in, his belly even more protruding than the last time she'd seen him.

"What's this meeting about?" Stevie blurted out brusquely, not nearly as guarded as her corporate counterparts.

"Well, we have an artist who is interested in meeting you." Cortland didn't elaborate further and Stevie looked between him and Aero. Neither said anything. She heard a female voice down the hall and then she saw a flurry of honey blonde hair enter the room. Jelena freaking Kingston. Stevie was not a fan of the popstar, far from it. But it was still startling, seeing her in the flesh like a normal human being, sitting in a chair like everybody else. She almost had the demeanor of a child, without any manners but not in a way that was doing it on purpose. A middle-aged, cold-looking woman entered the boardroom next, her cool, assessing gaze glaring down on Stevie, making her feel small. It was like a draft had settled over the room.

Then Benton entered, all cool, calm and collected. "Jelena, Moreen." He greeted Jelena and her mother with a nod, unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat at the head of the table.

"So, this is the infamous MarLow? The thief who's been stealing my shit?" Jelena jabbed a manicured finger at Stevie, her tone bored.

"That's correct," Benton cleared his throat, the gravelly sound making Stevie's stomach flip.

"Uh, hey. Sorry about that," Stevie gave a small gesture and close-lipped smile in Jelena's direction and the popstar looked back at her like she was a freak.

"Stevie's remix of Heart of Ice has over 2 billion streams, and her latest remix is nearly at 300 million. We think there's an opportunity here for," Benton paused, glancing between Jelena and her mother, "a collaboration."

"No thanks," Jelena's response was terse and immediate. Her mother rested a cold hand on her daughter's forearm.

"What Jelena means is that we will consider it. We're open to a collaboration, so long as the lead artist is still listed as Jelena." Stevie looked at Jelena's face which turned sour like she'd just eaten a lemon. Stevie and Jelena must have been about the same age, but something about Jelena made her seem much younger. Stevie almost felt bad for her, with her mom railroading her every decision. Guess the tabloids didn't always lie.

"Of course," Benton's reply was velvety and patient. "Stevie and Pacific Records have a very unique arrangement. There won't be any ownership issues, I can assure you of that." Benton shifted his gaze to Stevie, something in his dark blue eyes searing when they landed on her face. Did he like the fact that she was basically trapped under this thumb? Had she been wrong about not assuming he was actually the devil? Something lingered between them that didn't exist in the rest of the icy room. It made Stevie agitated, the freeness of her spirit screaming at the deal she'd made and making her feel guilty for the enjoyment she'd been experiencing over the past few weeks.

"I think," Aero sat up straighter from his slouched position, inserting himself to cut the tension, "that we should remix either Hallucinations or After Hours. They are both trending on the charts but neither are in the top five. They have enough space and room in the chorus for more digital work. I think Stevie could really work some magic on them." He gave her a friendly smile and she thanked her lucky stars that he was there.

"Let's see what she can produce in two weeks," Jelena's mother Moreen spoke directly to Benton, talking about Stevie as if she wasn't even there.

"I'm right here, you can speak directly to me," the words were out of Stevie's mouth before her brain had a chance to catch up. She was done feeling like a deer in the headlights. These people wanted her skills, her talent. They'd trapped her with the force of the law but they couldn't dampen her spirit.

"Make it one week, Benton," Moreen glared at Stevie but still refused to address her directly. Stevie didn't care. Her gaze was focused on Jelena, whose face was a mixture of awe and intrigue. Clearly she'd never spoken back to her own mother before. Stevie fidgeted in her seat.

"One week," Benton echoed, "Stevie, choose between the two songs and be prepared to play back to us next Friday." Great, Stevie thought, another challenge. She nodded past the annoyance crawling up her throat. This remix would have to be a fucking mega-hit. Even if that meant giving Jelena's mother exactly what she wanted, success was Stevie's only form of revenge in her current situation.

"I need to be in hair and makeup soon for my photoshoot," Jelena stood up from her chair, essentially ending the meeting. Her mother nodded cooly and the two women left the room as Cortland started organizing a stack of papers. Aero stood up from the table, pushing his chair in.

"Stevie," Bentons' voice cut like glass, "stay a moment please." Stevie sank back into her chair feeling like she was about to get an old fashioned talking to. A corporate timeout. Aero flashed her a sympathetic look as if to say, 'you've got this' before leaving the room with Corltand. The space felt massive with just the two of them. Benton steepled his fingers on the top, resting his chin on top.

"You have no filter." It wasn't a question. Stevie didn't move. "Has anyone ever tried to fix that before?" Stevie blinked rapidly, not really knowing how to answer that.

"Uh, no. I mean, maybe. But clearly they weren't successful." To Stevie's surprise Benton laughed and the deep sound had a wave of heat slamming into her stomach. Benton was far from Stevie's usual artsy, punk boy type. But something about his movements, his mannerisms, his laugh. He was so masucline that her hormones couldn't ignore him. Not even a little bit.

"Maybe they weren't up for the job." His smile faded into a serious look. Stevie gulped past the confusion in her throat.

"Did I...did I do something wrong? I mean, are you going to try to make me apologize to Jelena's mom?"

"Stevie, if I want you to do something, believe me when I say you'll do it. And gladly. There will be no trying involved." Benton's eyes had taken a far off look and Stevie had no clue what they were really talking about anymore.

"You're going to make me sign another contract?"

"You think that's the only way I can get you to do something?" Benton's tone was a full-on challenge. There was no crack in his armor, his confidence was ironclad. Before Stevie could fumble for a response, Mary opened the conference room door, her face displeased at seeing the two of them alone.

"Mr. Benton, you have a CFO interview. She's in the lobby." Benton looked like he resented Mary's interruption and stared at Stevie a moment longer before standing up from his chair and buttoning his suit jacket. He left without another word and without looking back. Stevie glanced down at her hands and noticed they were trembling slightly. Whatever Benton had been talking about was far more than her meeting outburst. And she was hell-bent on finding out what it was.