Chapter 41
41
T he ride home was quiet. Mina was on her phone quite a bit in the back, texting, researching, looking. She was kind of in a zone and Gloria didn't have the heart in her to interrupt her. She vacillated between being angry and being relieved. She still had a job. She still had a way to put food on the table. At least there was that. She had wanted to cut back, but not in this way. She’d had her sights set on prime-time. That seemed further away than ever now.
But she had to admit, working at her job the way she used to was a thing of the past. As they entered the town of Blossom Springs, Mina spoke for the first time on the entire ride back.
"Dad, can we go see the Barn?"
He looked in the rearview mirror quickly and then back to the road. "Aren't you sore and tired, Mina?"
"I am, but I'd like to meet your friends and I want to see this studio that you have."
He chuckled. "Okay."
He turned to her. "How do you feel about that, Gloria?"
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She'd have to face Jami for the first time in years, but mostly for the first time since this all happened. She nodded. "I'm good with that."
He said, "You seem hesitant."
She turned her head and looked into his eyes. He had to look away to watch the road.
But his hand reached over the console and gripped hers. "Are you worried about Jami?"
She nodded. "Yes. He has every reason to be mad."
Sean took a deep breath. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. He hasn't expressed any anger to me at all. Whether he feels that privately is his business and not ours. But if you keep avoiding him, it's not going to get any better."
Gloria nodded. "You're right. You're right." She blew out a breath and stared out the window. "Okay, let's go see the Barn and the studio," she said. She swallowed the lump in her throat and prepared to see Sean's friends and whatever reaction they may have for her. She knew they'd be excited to meet Mina, and she was happy for that. But he was right. She couldn't avoid it forever. They were part of his life, and she and Mina were part of his life also. So they would no doubt spend time together. And Tony and Livia had been wonderful when they were over on Saturday. So there was that.
Sean pulled into a driveway. There was an old farmhouse on the property, and behind that farmhouse a walking path to the Barn. The driveway also veered around the farmhouse and to the Barn.
Sean said, "Jami lives in the house. He's having it refurbished. A friend of ours, Quinn Kurtz, owns a construction company in town, and he's renovating the house for Jami. It's stellar. It's going to be fantastic. Wait till you see it."
Mina turned her head and stared at the farmhouse, and then when Sean parked in front of the Barn, he chuckled, "And this is where I work, sometimes."
Mina opened her door and started to get out. Sean hurried out of his seat to help her. Gloria took another deep breath and let it out slowly before climbing out of the vehicle. After the meeting she just had, she shouldn't be this nervous.
The meeting with the network was her livelihood. But the meeting with Sean's bandmates, well, that was personal.
As they walked toward the Barn, Sean took her hand in his, and held it tightly. He leaned down slightly. "It's going to be just fine, Gloria. Just fine. Trust me."
He raised their hands together and kissed her fingers.
She looked into his eyes and smiled. "Thank you."
He opened the door for them to enter. Mina stepped in first, she entered right behind, and then Sean stepped in. It took her eyes a minute to adjust, but they were standing in a lounge-type setting, four matching sofas, situated in a square, and a group of people sat comfortably chatting.
She recognized Jami from back in the day. He looked nearly the same. His hair was a little longer. He had a little gray. And he, like her, looked older. There were fine lines around his eyes. But he was distinguished looking. She could see why the women swooned for him.
Jami walked over to her first. He held his hand out for hers. She placed her hand in his. They shook hands. And then he reached his arm around and pulled her close for a hug.
When he stepped back, he looked into her eyes. "It's nice to see you again, Gloria."
Her eyes teared up. She blinked furiously. This was not the reaction she expected. Her lips quivered when she said, "It's nice to see you again too, Jami. You look good."
He chuckled, "Eh, you know, we're all a little older." He patted his belly. "A little thicker, but hopefully..." he tapped his head with his fingers, "a little wiser."
He turned toward the rest of the band. "Come on in. We're all just sitting around talking about the songs and what our day is going to look like."
She stepped aside, and Sean introduced Jami to Mina. Livia came up to greet her. She gave her a gentle hug. "Are you still pretty sore? How are you?"
Gloria nodded, "I'm good. Not as sore as I was. And thank you so much for the lasagna the other day. It was a beautiful gesture, and it was delicious."
Livia nodded. "It's one of Tony's favorite meals, and I know Sean likes it too. I was happy to do it."
Tony greeted her, and then they each stood around waiting to be introduced to Mina.
Sean ushered them in. A sofa was vacated for them, and the three of them sat on a sofa, Sean in the middle, and conversation began.
Jami started, "Tell us what happened at the meeting."
She looked at Sean, and he nodded to her, "Well, they want a public apology from me, and they want to reduce my television time from a weekly show to a bi-monthly show."
Axel leaned forward. "That's bullshit."
Sean nodded, "That's what I said."
Jami responded, "What are you going to do?"
Mina leaned forward. "Here's what I'd like to do. And Mom." Mina glanced at her, then looked away to speak to the group at large.
"I was doing some research on my way here, and something I've been thinking about for a while now is I think we can leave the network and start a podcast." Mina glanced at her. "Mom, we can do just what we did on Friday without the drama, hopefully."
Everyone chuckled.
"We can do a podcast. Actually, I think it would be fun if you and Dad did the podcast together. You could interview music stars. You could talk about music industry news. I can produce it, and we can put it on the Internet. We can start our own channel on YouTube if we want. We can do a Patreon. There's all kinds of blog/podcast type places where we can blast it out. I think with the recent news, it will be easy to find followers. The more followers you get, the more apt you are to be picked up by someone like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and then the money starts rolling in. I think people would want to hear from you and Dad, and you both have, obviously, music industry knowledge. If Dad's on the road, we can travel with him, do the podcast from wherever."
Gloria sat quietly for a few moments, staring at her daughter. She realized her mouth had dropped open, so she closed it. She looked at Sean. He had a smile a mile wide.
Axel clapped his hands together and jumped up. "That's an excellent idea, Mina! That is an excellent idea! Let me send you some podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis. I'll be honest, I listen to music industry stuff, but just so we don't copy this same thing, check some of them out. But I know there isn't anything like that out there."
Mina laughed. "We?"
He said, "Well, we're all involved in this, right?"