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“Are you sure this is an offer you want to make?” the butch in the gray suit asked. “We would be absolutely delighted to represent her, but is this something you really want to give up?”
“I’m certain, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever been more certain in my entire life.” Harper walked across the room, standing next to Mia and taking her hand. Mia seemed like she wanted to keep a hold of Harper’s hand but wouldn’t stop looking around the room, worried about what the onlookers might say.
“Alright then, Miss Cortés, my name is Isabel Hart, but you can call me Izz.” The butch woman—Izz—strode through the crowd, reaching to shake Mia’s free hand. “I’m one of the agents here, and Ms. Nightingale here has offered us a joint contract to represent you. Now, I won’t bore you with the details, all it means is that we’ll be taking over the lion’s share of your scheduling. With your consent, of course, you’ll finish recording your first album here and we will distribute it. Now, don’t go worrying about your income, I assure you we won’t be taking any more of a cut than Harper did. In fact,” Izz said, leaning into Mia, “Harper took a pay cut in order to get you this deal. You have a very good woman there, Mia, I suggest you keep her.”
Harper tugged on Mia’s hand, attracting her attention. “I meant what I said earlier today. If you choose to accept this contract, I won’t be representing you… most of the time anyway. I’ll still be around to organize local shows, and my team will be at your disposal if you need anything. The majority of things surrounding press and distribution of your music will be passed to Izz and her team…”
Mia’s eyes were wide. Harper grabbed her other hand, facing her, and for a second it felt like they were the only two people in the room.
“… so that, if you’ll have me, I can serve you full time as your girlfriend instead.”
Harper barely breathed. If she had misjudged the situation, she would lose Mia completely and have to rebuild her reputation from the ground up.
Mia went to speak. You could hear a pin drop in the room before she began. “Why on earth would you agree to something like this? I’m a client of yours, and you’ll lose money from the deal if I take it. Do you…”
Harper didn’t rush her. This was a lot to take in at once, she knew.
“… Will you be happy to be with me if you’re not getting a share?”
“Sweetheart, the reason things got so mixed up in the first place is because I was far, far too invested in what I thought you would want out of the contract. Parties, exclusive shows… But you told me, you said that none of that mattered. You told me that it was the music that mattered the most, and by taking this deal, you’ll be able to focus on the music and I won’t have to worry about another rogue assistant going AWOL.”
The room laughed at that, including Mia. Harper continued.
“This puts us on equal footing. I’m not your boss, I’m just your girlfriend.”
Another moment on the knife’s edge, until Mia yelled, “Just my girlfriend?! Mi corazón, do you hear yourself? Of course I would be happy with that! I can’t get you out of my mind day or night. You mean so much more to me than you’ll ever understand.”
Mia swept Harper into a bear hug, squeezing tightly. Harper laughed and buried her face in Mia’s shoulder, squeezing back. Wolf whistles and cheers rang out around them as they both realized that they could finally, finally just be together.
EPILOGUE
Six months passed. Mia’s debut album hit number three on the charts in the USA, while it hit number one in her native Spain, helped by two Spanish-language singles and a feature on a popular flamenco musician’s album one month before the release. When the album hit the charts, her family opened bottles of wine to celebrate, only to drop one of them on the kitchen floor when Mia came bounding through the front door with Harper in tow, about to get some use out of her newly-learned Spanish.
A world tour was planned, kicking off with Mia headlining the Greenpeace stage at that year’s Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK. Now, she was sitting in a dressing room running through vocal warmups with half an hour to go until her set. To tell the truth, she was terrified. Sitting in an ornate but surprisingly comfortable outfit, she ran through her scales until her voice was prepared for the stage. She had never performed for this many people before, and it would be the largest audience of the tour. Now, more than ever, she needed that mantra her grandmother had given her.
Your words are your weapon. Your words are your weapon. Your words are?—
“Hello, sweetheart, anybody home?” yelled an enthusiastic Harper through the door. Rolling her eyes, Mia stood and opened the door to let her in. Harper’s shoes were caked in mud and she was flushed from walking.
“Whose idea was it to host a music festival in a goddamned field, there’s nothing but grass and mud for miles around and my boots are in shit. We’ve only been here for two days!” Harper shed her windbreaker and left it in the corner of the room.
“Baby, they don’t exactly have deserts to hold festivals like in the US,” Mia said as Harper snaked her arms around her waist. “You’ve come to England and not expected mud, that’s like going to the Arctic and not expecting ice. Are you even listening to me?”
Harper was not listening, that was clear. She was taking in the details of Mia’s costume, checking her out in a way that felt more than thorough. A hungry smile played on her lips.
“You know I love it when you call me baby,” Harper crooned, pulling Mia close and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“There’s so many people out there, the energy is incredible,” Mia said, smiling as Harper held her.
“It is. You’re gonna kill it out there, I know you are.”
“Thank you, baby.”
Harper hummed contently at that before swooping down to kiss Mia on the lips. Mia felt like the luckiest woman in the world. Here she was, about to perform the biggest show of her life, and the only problem she had was her handsy girlfriend yelling about mud. Life was good.
The kiss deepened, and Harper walked forward, walking Mia back towards a makeup mirror with a counter. Mia sat up on the counter while Harper slotted herself between Mia’s legs, taking the opportunity to grab Mia’s waist. Mia groaned into her mouth, Harper’s body flush to hers in a way that turned her on terribly. After months of having very little alone time, who could really blame them for being this eager?
She wrapped her legs around Harper’s waist, making desperate, quiet noises against her. Harper laughed cruelly, taking Mia’s chin in one of her hands.
