Dance With Me {l.t.} ✔

Chapter Fifteen

Thank God for my attorney, Mike. He was able to fly in at the same time as the 1D legal team, and we got the issue resolved within an hour-long meeting. In that meeting, I was able to re-sign with the team as an independent artist, and their team didn’t have to adjust any of the agreed-upon terms of my last contract. It ended up working out quite well.
Once the band’s team had left, I had to stay in with my attorney to look into how to handle the situation with Taryn. In the last two weeks, I had tried calling, texting, and emailing her, but it was to no avail. I knew, based off my home security system, that she was still staying in my home, and that pissed me off to no end. In the meeting, Mike told me several ways to handle that situation alone.
“Basically,” He explained, “We serve her with a formal letter from a judge, stating that she has X-amount of days to leave the property. You’ve already left voicemails and texts asking her to leave, so this should not come as a surprise. When those days are up, we will send a locksmith team in to change all the locks.”
“What if she is in the house when they go to change the locks, and she refuses to leave?” I asked. It didn’t sound like something Taryn would do, but really, none of this did, so I felt like it was a valid question to ask.
“At that point, she will be legally and forcibly removed from your property,” He answered, not missing a beat. “None of her belongings will be able to go with her, and she will not legally be able to ever retrieve them once she is removed.”
“Sounds like a great plan,” I said, nodding along.
“Now, something that we need to get done right now is the changing of all of your information: log-ins, passwords, file codes . . . stuff like that.”
“Easy, I’ve gotten most of it changed already. I still need to get her removed from my bank account and credit account, and I need formal letters sent out to everyone who has received my resume before or who has ever hired me, stating that she is no longer affiliated with me. Can you do that? I can send you a list of contacts.”
“Absolutely!” Mike smiled, reaching out to shake my hand.
Really, Mike was an amazing attorney, and I trusted him completely with fixing this mess. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but I couldn’t quite get my smile to reach my eyes when I shook his hand and stood up to leave. I was exhausted, and I was upset. Emotionally and mentally, I was entirely drained. I had missed four shows, and I had missed the start of promo for the fifth album: Made in the A.M.
I hadn’t even seen Louis since our show in Kansas City because I was no longer allowed to travel with the team. More legal nonsense. So I had flown myself to my little home in New York City for the two weeks. I had really wanted to go back to my home in Malibu, but Mike had advised against it. Taryn hadn’t been answering; we didn’t know what she was doing or what she would do if I just showed up at the house.
Now that it was all handled, I was ready to see Louis again. I just needed to be held. As if the actual legal situation hadn’t been enough of a stresser, people on the internet were saying I was missing the shows because Louis and I had broken up. Even when the information leaked that I no longer had an acting agent, people blamed the breakup. Everyone was saying Taryn wanted me to get new jobs, and I had refused because Louis would only let me work for him. They said it created a rift in our relationship that led to a split. I guess I only fueled rumors by hardly being pictured out and about in NYC.
I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to go out for coffee or shopping and act like nothing was wrong. I wanted to get back on tour and finish the job I had been contracted to do. It was absolutely insane that I was dealing with all of this, right in the middle of the tour.
With it all finally starting to move behind me, I was just ready to be hotel-hopping again. I checked the time when I got out of my meeting. Perfect! Louis should be on the way to tech rehearsal right now, so I could snag a few minutes on the phone with him. I dialled his cell phone, and he answered right as I slipped into the back of a cab, headed for home.
“Hey, Milana,” He sounded busy. “Everything okay?”
“More than okay, babe! The legal shit is all handled, and I am officially contracted back onto the tour!”
“Baby, that’s fantastic!” He cheered, suddenly giving me all of his attention. “When do I get to see you again?”
“I have to call Simon and get all that worked out, but within a week, I should be back with you!”
“I am so ready to see you again! Love, you have no i- oh, well, you probably have an idea about how much I’ve missed you.”
He had both of us laughing, but all too soon, I was stepping out of the taxi, and he was pulling up at rehearsals. Sadly, we had to get off the phone, but it was less sad this time, knowing how soon we would be together again. As I climbed my front steps, I dialed Simon’s phone number. He wouldn’t be too wrapped up in rehearsal, and I wanted to know as soon as possible when I would be able to come back.