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“That’s very poetic…”
“It’s true. Conspiring is half the fun, and the other half is the mystery of it all. You’re even served food and drinks in the darkness of the low glowing lanterns. A semi-hidden delight of the senses, so to speak.”
“You’re loving this, aren’t you?”
“I will be.”
A gentleman showed them to a booth at the back and asked Harper if she would have her usual.
“Yes please, Percival, but make it for two this time. I’m with company.”
The man nodded and disappeared into the curtains and smoke.
“Did you just order for me?”
“I did, is that a problem?”
Mia reminded herself that Harper was buying this meal and thought she should be quiet, but the notion ticked her off a little.
“What if I don’t like what you’ve ordered?”
“You will.”
“What if I’m allergic to something?”
“Then you’ll have the best medics money can buy. Have you quite finished?” Harper smiled at her. Mia could feel that she was losing the confidence she’d had earlier and didn’t like it. She wasn’t normally a confident person unless she was performing, but Harper was like this all the time, she couldn’t compete.
“Don’t look so downtrodden, Mia, this is your first day in showbiz, this is my thirtieth year. Once you learn that everything in LA is a performance, that confidence will come as a second nature, but for now, stop pouting and let me treat you to an exciting mystery dinner.”
Mia conceded and sat down. Harper slid into the booth behind her, sliding her arm around pulling her close. Mia went a little rigid, forgetting for a moment the proximity of which Harper was getting dangerously accustomed to assuming with her. The booth had a thick luxurious curtain for complete privacy, and it looked down towards the stage.
“See, it’s not so bad to let someone else take the lead every now and then, is it?”
She leaned forward and kissed Mia on the cheek, her cheek still tingling moments after she pulled away. Mia looked nervously at Harper, their faces inches from one another.
“What was that for?”
“I told you, if you behave, I’ll give you a treat.”
Mia huffed a small laugh, her heart beating a mile a minute. She couldn’t believe where she was and where she had been two days earlier in her life. Two days ago, she was picking up odd shifts in every retail job she couldn’t find or at the Indigo Lounge just to eat and pay her minuscule rent to Esme for letting her sleep in the vacant room above the Lounge. Today she was sitting with the biggest name in music representation in a private bay of a secret club whilst her finger traced circles on her thigh to the blues.
“This is the interlude music between the main performances,” said Harper. “A good time to talk before the food arrives, so tell me about yourself, Mia…Who are you? What kind of person have I just signed on to my label?”
“Well, technically I haven’t signed anything yet…”
“Oh shush, you know what I mean.”
“Well, I grew up in Spain, raised by my mother and grandmother as my grandfather died before I was born and my father isn’t talked about. I started singing when I was about six and fell in love with how it made me feel. I felt invincible. I still do when I sing…I guess that’s why I get so confident when I’m up there. If you want to know more specifics, I’m a Gemini, my favorite color is red, and I love old horror films.”
Harper laughed.
“A Gemini certainly suits you, you’re like two different people when you’re performing and when you aren’t. I haven’t quite decided which I like more yet. When you’re not performing, you have this sunniness to you that draws people in, makes them feel welcome and warm. I’ll be honest, at first I saw it as naïvety when you were first setting up, you looked too sweet to be this powerhouse Deborah had told me about…but I did like how kind you looked.”
Mia sat back, she didn’t think Harper could be so tender with her words, she hadn’t been up until now, and this softer side made her chest ache. She strikes me as a Gemini too then, if that’s her logic.
“And then you have your performing side. I don’t think I can put it into words, Mia, but you are like lightning incarnate. You’re both dazzling and terrifying, powerful and beautiful, ethereal and primordial…I’ve never seen anything like it. And your vocals are so…unique.”
Harper squeezed Mia’s arm slightly then, the urge to be closer to her made Mia push herself towards her in the bay.
