Three's a Crowd

Chptr Three ☆ Off The Hook

There was a stick of incense burning on her desk, the earpiece of her phone humming into the skin of her neck. Suzy had about a dozen numbers to call, and if their little photoshoot was any indication, they all seemed like real motormouths.

She pulled open her drawer to reveal the mess of business cards, scribbled-on napkins and crumpled pieces of paper. A hand flew up to run through her hair at the memory of the pandemonium that preceded her acquisition of those numbers. Seeing as she'd just arrived at the office before that chaos, it took her a much needed hour of silence to decompress afterwards. And, even a day later, the memory still haunted her.

But regardless, she had work to do. And with that many calls to make, she figured it'd be best to have some sort of layout to her process to combat the disorder of the drawer and the horrid state of the cards. Deciding to go in chronological order, she started with Eddie, laboriously typing his number into her push-button phone.

He didn't answer her first call, and part of her was glad. With the way he'd behaved the day prior, she wasn't exactly eager to speak to the guitarist. Still, she had to remain professional, and tried again a minute later in case he'd just missed her. Surely enough, and to the brunettes minor dismay, he quickly answered.

"Hello?" Inquired the man on the other line, voice crinkling with all the warm static of a telephone call.

"Hiya. It's Suzy from Misery. Misery Records, that is." The woman clarified, pressing her lips together in remembrance of a similar clarification she often had to make when she worked for Mercury Records. The girl had traded in one cursed name for another, and it would certainly be the death of her, she thought.

"Oh. Hey! Didn't think you'd call so soon." He chuckled. "I'd actually been wanting to speak to you. 'Cause I'd uh, well, I'd like to apologize."

Suzy almost couldn't believe that the timid guy on the other end of the phone call was the same rabid man who'd stormed into Raul's office just the day before. Still, she wanted to humor him, asking him a question they both knew she knew the answer to.

"What for?" She asked. She could hear him sigh away from the microphone, then bringing it back to his face.

"I'm sorry about the uh, picture-day-thing... uh, sorry about how I was acting. David had just really been pissing me off that day and uh... well I shouldn't have made it everybody's problem." He sighed into the receiver.

Suzy wondered just how many 'uh's a man can fit into one sentence. She kept her snarky remark to herself, making the decision to ease the poor boy's worries.

"As long as it doesn't become a habit, I can't hold it against you." She spoke, flipping open yesterday's agenda. "So, you need a rundown on the meeting?"

"Uh, yes. That's be nice." He said shyly.

Suzy proceeded to regurgitate everything Raul had said that day, reading it nearly line for line from the paper while cracking little jokes in between, which Eddie appreciated. They soon said their goodbyes, the brunette printing his name and number down on a new card and clipping it into her Rolodex.

Next on the list was Eric, but before she could even finish punching in his number, Raul burst through the door. His hair was neatly styled, in contrast with his undone tie, and he carried with him a piece of paper and a bag of pretzels.

Without a word, he tossed a bag on her desk; Rold Golds, her favorite.

"Suzy. You're gonna love me." He spoke.

The girl simply laughed, carefully opening the bag as she had a reputation for making a mess. "How come?"

"I have an amazing idea. To kick start Misery Records, to show everyone we're not to be messed with, to show the artists of the world that Misery is the one and only money-making machine in the music industry—"

"What is it?" Suzy interrupted dryly, knowing he'd go on forever if she'd let him. The girl attempted to contain her amusement at his boastful expression as she snacked on the pretzels. Raul swaggered up to her desk, slapping a tiny poster prototype over her agenda.

"A joint tour: KISS, Def Leppard." He stood there with jazz hands eagerly awaiting the drop of Suzy's jaw.

The girl put the bag down, picking up the paper with mild interest. It was a very intricately designed piece of art, she'd give it that. However, despite its beauty, the only detail that caught Suzy's eye were the dates. They were months away. As in, less than 4 months.

"Did you survey the boys about this before you got yourself excited?" She asked, sticking the paper out for him to grab. Her expression was unimpressed.

Raul straightened out with a roll of his eyes, letting his arms swing like a uncoordinated toddler. "No." He said facetiously, snatching the paper back from her. "But why wouldn't they want to do it?"

Suzy sat up in her chair, crossing her arms over her desk. "Hmm, let's see... maybe because touring is exhausting and we've barely had any time to plan? Plus, I hope you're not expecting me to call them about this, Mr. King-of-the-cold-call."

"No, no. I'll take care of it. Lord knows you know how to make anything sound awful."

Suzy laughed at this, returning to her bag of salty treats.

"I'm just letting you know what's going to happen. You know how to promote music, I know how to promote an experience. That's why we go so well together. So get back to your calls, I've got some calls of my own to make."

Raul was out of the door before Suzy could reply, leaving her with her thoughts and without a clue how much of Eric's number she'd typed in. She briefly placed the handset back on the hook to start from the beginning.

Eric seemed nice enough yesterday, maybe he'd be a good person to use to gauge how willing KISS would be to tour, she thought.

As she punched in the last digit of the drummers number, she subconsciously fixed her hair, as if she were about to see him in person. The brunet picked up on the first ring, his cheery voice filling Suzy's right ear.

"Hey! Who's this?"

"It's Suzy from Misery. Misery Records, that is." The woman cringed. "Quick question."

"Alright, shoot!" Eric obliged, Suzy imagining his wide and elvish smile.

"How would you feel about playing a few shows pretty soon?"

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