Page 13 of Dark Verse

“Come in, come in,” Alice says, waving me into her office as soon as she sees me.

I step in, the view of the company garden inviting through the window behind Alice. I notice a patch of my favorite flowers, bird of paradise, now in full bloom outside. The multicolored blooms wave gently in the ocean breeze. When I left for vacation, they were only budding. The rest of the courtyard is just as vibrant. The iron rod benches look like they just got a fresh coat of white paint, and a few of the statues look like they’ve been power washed. It’s almost enough to make me consider taking my laptop out there for the day.

I take one of the chairs in front of her desk.

“How are you today, Raven? How was your trip?”

I settle into the cushioned armchair, the position familiar. I’ve been working for Alice since I moved out to California, first as a barely paid intern straight out of college to my position now as one of her top mobile venue acquisition managers.

“Thank you for asking. Everything went really well. Thanks for extending my vacation last minute.”

She waves off my comment.

“No thanks necessary. You’ve more than earned it, Ray. You could have even taken a few extra days if you wanted. Planning a wedding in three weeks is no small feat.”

“They actually eloped, so this was just the reception. That’s how it went from a few days for her graduation party to a few weeks for a wedding reception.”

“The best part, in my opinion. I suppose that’s why I keep doing it,” Alice throws her head back in laughter. Her shoulder-length salt-and-pepper dreadlocks bounce in time to her laugh.

I chuckle too, her words reminding me of something Knox said the other night. I feel my cheeks heat up at the memory of how quickly I went from saying hello to him to our bodies and mouths on each other. It was completely out of character for me.

And seriously, so messy.

Pulling myself back into the conversation with Alice, I say, “It was plenty of time to see everyone I wanted. I stayed with my parents for a few days, then with some old high school friends who live in Denver while I planned the reception.”

“And how is your family? How was being back home?”

“Great. It was fun seeing my old stomping ground and decompressing a little with my family. I even got to show off a little with how smoothly everything came together for Dove’s reception. My mom was especially impressed. But I’m happy to be back,” I add.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I forgot how hot and dry it is there. I guess I’ve gotten so used to the ocean being near.”

Alice nods, expression thoughtful.

After another silent moment, I say, “I just got in, so I haven’t had a chance to read through the details of the new Santa Monica venue. Is it as big of a mess as you thought it would be?”

“Actually, no. A lot has happened while you were on vacation. When we got the paperwork, almost all the finances were in order. We all looked at it together and decided Veronica should create a team.”

“Veronica? Really?” I question.

I don’t hide my skepticism well. I’ve always found her work output subpar at best. I find her musical tastes equally questionable.

One of the most important skills we have to have as mobile agents for the company is the ability to know not only what’s popular in general, but what kind of music will be most successful in a given area. That requires us to both have good taste in music but also be able to separate our tastes from what the locals will gravitate towards. As long as I’ve known her, I’ve never seen Veronica push herself out of her own comfort zone.

“I know you two haven’t always agreed on every aspect of the job, but you both have your strengths.”

I shrug.

“She and her team looked at the demographic area and decided to change the general type of music to attempt to attract a newer crowd. They began booking trial bands last week.”

“Sounds like everything is moving smoothly.”

Alice nods. “Which is why you won’t be handling that contract.”

I was gathering that, but hearing it aloud still hurts. I’ve been working with the owners of the Green Harp for four months to expand the number of venues under Alice’s umbrella company.

“I hope you’re not too disappointed.”