Chapter 9
9
G loria closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. Letting it out in a whoosh, she turned and stepped toward the door.
Sean caught up with her, opened the door, and held it open for her to pass through and for Mina to follow. As they moved across the hallway, he said quietly to both of them, "They've witnessed some things in there, the camera and sound crew. There may be questions. How do you want to handle that?"
Gloria stopped and looked at him. "Boon has been my cameraman for years. I'll take care of speaking with him afterwards."
Sean nodded. "Okay, I'll follow your lead."
She looked up at Mina. "Are you good with that?"
Mina nodded. "Yes, I think that's a good call. Boon won't divulge any secrets. He's been with us forever."
Gloria turned the doorknob, stepped through the door to the sitting room, and made eye contact with Boon and the sound man, Dylan Ortiz.
"We've worked through our issues here, and we are ready to go ahead with the interview. Boon, let's get everything ready to go and we'll get the interview started immediately."
"Sounds good, Violet. Mina, we're all set. Just get everybody in position and we will set the lighting again and be ready to go."
Mina nodded at her, and she sat down. She practiced her slow breathing to try and calm herself. Her heart beat so fast it was hard to even take a breath. Luckily, she'd eaten lunch a while ago and didn't feel as though she'd vomit. But that thought sent her stomach quelling.
She tried not to look too emotional as she prepared herself that this was going to be tough. Staring down at her few questions, her mind almost went blank.
What was she going to talk to Sean about now? This was weird.
Sean sat down across from her. The makeup lady was immediately at his side and powdering his face and gushing over him. Gloria wanted to push her out of the way and tell her to get lost.
Her reaction shocked her. She stiffened her shoulders and sat back in the chair. She had no right to be jealous of anyone because of Sean.
Mina stepped over close to the makeup girl. “That's all right, Debbie. We need to get started with the interview."
Debbie stepped back with her puppy dog eyes. She stared at Sean one more time and then stepped back across the room. She made herself comfortable in the small chair in the corner.
Mina glanced at her and rolled her eyes. Gloria had to stifle a giggle. At least she didn't seem mad. It was hard to decipher what her mood was right now. Likely elation at finally finding the father she'd always questioned her about. The anger would come later.
Boon said, "Okay, Violet, we're ready."
He turned the camera on, and counted "Four, three, two, one." He pointed at Gloria, and she started with her interview.
"Thank you for joining us today on Chart Toppers in Music. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Sammy Fender. If you don’t recognize him, it’s because he graciously agreed to join us sans his usual hat and sunglasses. Sammy is the lead bass guitarist for the hot rock band Hart I saw her sad, hurt face all the time. Every night when I closed my eyes, every morning when I woke up, that beautiful woman who I had grown so accustomed to smiling at me, and dancing to my music, and enjoying my company..." He took a deep breath and wiped tears from his eyes. "To see her crushed because of the words I spoke to her... It never left me. So the words to, “Born to Be My Baby”, came to me in a dream. I woke up, and I wrote it. I sat in my living room, alone with my guitar, and I wrote that song. And then it was too painful for me to share with anyone. So I held on to it. I put it away in the back of a notebook, the bottom of a drawer, and I didn't look at it again for years, until two years ago, when Jami, Tony, and I were talking."
He reached forward, and with a shaking hand, he picked up his water glass. Gloria felt like her world was spinning out of control. Her mind went blank. All she could do was wait for Sean to finish his story. "And Jami's response was, 'Why the hell have you not shown me this before?'" He chuckled nervously and swallowed.
"So we brought it to our studio, the Barn, and I shared it with the band. And within a half an hour, that song came alive. The beat was there, the music was there, we sang together, and the feelings that I got when I listened to my friends sing the song that meant so much to me…I'll never forget it."
Gloria stared at Sean. She couldn't say anything. Speechless, she was stunned speechless. Not great for a television reporter. From the corner of her eye, she saw Boon look over the camera at Mina. Mina rushed forward. "Boon, stop recording."
Boon moved behind the camera and touched some buttons. He softly said to Dylan, "Cut it."
Mina blew her nose and huffed out a deep breath. "I think we need to take a break. I'm sorry guys, but can you give us fifteen minutes?"
Boon nodded. "We'll step outside."
He and Dylan exited the room, and Violet took a drink of water to give herself some time.