Page 37 of Indescribable Love
“And at the same time, you don’t want to share the specifics. It’s a tough spot to be in, and only you know who and when you want to share them. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks, Noah. I know you need to go…”
“I do, and again, I’m sorry. Call me tonight and let me know how it goes, okay? Stand firm, bro. I believe in you.”
That made him smile. “Thanks. And I’ll talk to you later.”
Hanging up, he tossed the phone down on his bed and let out a long breath. It would be so easy to shut the door and stay in here and pout. But was that who he wanted to be? Would he be able to even look at himself in the mirror? Worse, with the way things had been progressing with Juliette, how would she look at him if he hid in his room? And would their personal relationship end before it ever had a chance to begin?
There was no way he could let that happen. With a fortifying breath, Simon stormed out of his room. In the living room, he took a moment to figure out where Juliette and Nikki were. Voices were coming from the lower level, and a quick glance at his watch showed he had five minutes before their call was supposed to start. Jogging down the stairs, he came to a stop at the bottom and almost laughed at the wide-eyed shock both women were staring at him with.
“I never would have come this far in my career if I took the easy way out,” he said, feeling more confident than he had just minutes ago. Looking at Juliette, he smiled. “I’m going to let you do your thing, but only after I do mine.” Then he looked at Nikki. “Thank you for always wanting to take care of me. Sometimes I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
Nikki was instantly on her feet and hugging him. “Let’s do this.”
Nodding, he kissed the top of her head, and wished he could hug and kiss Juliette right now too.
Later. Once all of this nonsense was done, he was going to convince Nikki to spend the evening with her family, and he was going to see about possibly taking Juliette out on a date.
Feeling good about all his decisions right now, he walked over and grabbed himself a bottle of water after noticing the girls already had ones, and then got comfortable on the sofa. They each also had a laptop of their own and he looked around for his.
“Just share with Jules,” Nikki said. “If we weren’t going to have to be sitting practically in each other’s laps, I’d say we should just use one, but…if you put the computer on the coffee table, you guys should be fine.”
He looked at Juliette who still looked a little stiff to him, but he’d worry about that later.
Soon, Mick’s face appeared on the screen, followed by producers Jacob Ward and Max Yearsley. Simon put a smile on his face and did his best to look confident. That’s when he felt Juliette’s hand cover his—out of the camera’s view—and it was only then that he knew everything was going to be alright.
“Mick, Jacob, Max, it’s good to see you,” Juliette said, sounding like the consummate professional. “We’re glad you wanted to chat today, but Simon’s on a writing streak and we don’t want to take up too much of his time.”
Nodding, he said, “I’m looking forward to possibly having the film crew in the studio with me next month. Maybe having exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the next album or even premiering a new video at the end of the documentary could be a big selling point,” he said, remembering some of Juliette’s suggestions from last week.
The next few minutes were a bit of stroking everyone’s egos, and then it was time to get down to business.
“We want a hometown visit,” Max stated. “We think footage of you back at your old high school and walking the streets where you grew up are exactly what we need. We’ll need your mother to give us some old photographs so we can make a digital scrapbook that will go with the piece.”
“And we want footage of you with your family,” Jacob added. “A family dinner while you’re back in town where we can ask them some questions and get a more well-rounded picture of where Simon Bennett came from.”
Simon was about to respond, but Juliette beat him to it.
“Gentlemen, that’s not going to happen,” she said, her tone almost icy. “Besides the fact that both of his brothers lead very busy lives and neither still live anywhere near their hometown, I believe Simon’s repeatedly mentioned how that’s not something he’s willing to do, and if you continue to push this agenda, we’ll pull from the project.”
“Now wait a minute,” Max said, his face going red with anger. “You can’t do a documentary without going through where the subject came from and how he became the person he is! It’s unreasonable!”
Again, he was going to speak and it looked like Mick was too, but Juliette was faster.
“No, what’s unreasonable is that this project was pitched as a tour film,” she snapped. “I’ve read the proposal, gentlemen. You came to Simon and his team for a concert film with some—and I repeat, some—behind-the-scenes footage of his personal life. That can be accomplished with backstage interviews or including a slice-of-life segment of his life now. He’s been upfront with everyone about what aspects of his life are off-limits. If you can’t work around that, then that’s on you and we can all just shake hands and walk away. The choice is yours. My client is more than willing to give you access to his personal life now. That was the agreement. You changing the terms puts you in breach of contract. Do we understand each other?”
Simon actually held his breath. He looked at Mick, whose lips were twitching, and then at Jacob and Max, who didn’t look pleased, but also looked like they knew this discussion was over.
“I believe we all meet up in Seattle in two weeks?” Juliette asked, and everyone nodded. “We’re looking forward to Simon playing the new music for you, and we’re working on the possibility of his brother, Jax Wylder, agreeing to be a part of the film.”
His brother was an attention-hound, so there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he would do a segment.
Mick cleared his throat. “Jacob, Max, let’s get together before the tour starts in Seattle and go over a few more of our requests.” Then he smiled at the camera. “Simon, I love that you’re making music, and I can’t wait to hear it. Nikki, tell Celia and Alex I said hello.”
“Will do, Mick!” she said.
“And Jules? Can you stay on the line after Max and Jacob are done?”