All I Want Is Everything

Listening party

It's guilt edged
Glamorous and sleek by design
You know it's jealous by nature
False and unkind
It's hard and restrained
And it's totally cool
It touches and it teases
As you stumble in the debris.

Eurythmics, Love Is a Stranger

Ella was busy. She bought a couple cool outfits for the press interviews and outfits for onstage--the expectation for women seemed to be higher than for men--and had a hair stylist come up with a couple of styles that she could do herself that still looked dramatic for performance while keeping her hair controlled and out of her face. Loki had the last of her contracts to sign, and he gave her detailed schedules that had all the information for her promotional tour and another with every show on it, information about each hotel she'd be staying at with address and a phone number in case she needed to contact them, the name of each station or newspaper or venue and a point of contact, and much more, plus a list of phone numbers in case there was a problem or had questions. And she'd have Sharon to organize everybody and keep things going. She was apprehensive but reminded herself that she had to take it one day at a time. She furnished the guest bedroom nicely, and gave the house a really thorough going-over just before Bec and Mrs Barnes arrived.

The Barnes women stopped off at the hotel Mrs Barnes was going to stay at before coming over, and Ella was excited to see them as she opened the gate for their taxi. Hugs were given all around, and she provided a tour of the guest house so Becca could drop her stuff off, then the grounds and the main house, dodging the contractors. The major repairs were mostly done; now the cosmetic work was beginning. There would be a lot of it, but now they all understood the scale of the rooms and what Ella was going to need. She had a rather lengthy list of stores recommended by Ayo and Pepper, and a list of items that she and Ayo had agreed she needed. 

The week was a whirlwind of shopping, both for Ella and for the Barneses, sightseeing, and exploring the restaurants. Ella went to a few meetings that she couldn't avoid, and her guests accompanied her to her listening party. It felt pretty high-stakes to Ella--interest in her project was high and movers and shakers in the music industry all across the country had been invited, including promoters in big markets, owners of radio stations, MTV executives, and other labels' executives. She'd also asked Fury to be sure to invite Pepper and Tony. She treated herself, Becca, and Mrs Barnes to a salon visit for hair and makeup, dressed in a soft dark emerald silk dress and boots, and they went to the party. She introduced her guest to several others, then went to do her job, speaking with attendees and standing by Nick's side as he greeted everybody. Then he turned the microphone over to her.

"Thank you all for coming," she said politely. "It's been a heck of a year." She paused while people laughed at the understatement. "But I feel like it's brought real growth to me as a musician, and while my sound has evolved some, it's still me, only now it's unfiltered and just Ella. I think you'll be interested in what you hear." She stepped back, and after she found a drink and a seat, the music began to play. The singles were reserved for last so that the videos could be shown simultaneously.

The music was very familiar, so she people-watched awhile, noting reactions. It seemed largely favorable, so about halfway through she started working the crowd, meeting people who could be important in getting her airplay and good venues. "I love what you said, Ella," Wanda said. "I'm going to work that into your publicity, about the sound being unfiltered. You named the album "Honey" so that fits in well. Raw and unfiltered, like honey just out of the comb..." she patted Ella's shoulder and moved away, headed to her office to make some last-minute changes.

But like everybody else, she stopped schmoozing when the videos flickered onto the TVs placed around the room. It was the first time she'd see them too and she was nervous now although she tried to stay cool in this roomful of powerful people, mostly men. It turned out that she had nothing to worry about. Tony had done his usual masterful job. The video in the octagon set was intimate and sexy, the performance on the stage (which was going to be great to tour with) was high-energy and infectious, and the train station one was atmospheric and thought-provoking. Her nerves hit red on the meter when the final track was queued up. She wished really hard that Clint had been able to be there with her for moral support and to hold her hand. What if everybody thought it was sappy, overblown, sentimental?