“Okay. If you insist.”
Slowly, Camille shuffled down the hallway a few steps. Then she stopped, just like she’d planned, and made a U-turn back to Sheryl’s office. “Sheryl, I almost forgot. Can I get my check?”
“Well, you know we’re not supposed to give them out before eleven. But in this case, I’ll make an exception.” Sheryl turned the tiny key and opened the door to the upper-right drawer containing the precious paychecks. “Here you go.”
Almost too quickly, Camille grabbed the check. She reduced her speed by a notch as she placed the envelope in her purse.
“How’s Fluffy?”
Fluffy? “Who?”
“Your cat.”
My cat? My cat! “Oh, she’s fine. Dialysis makes her weak, you know.”
“How long have you had her?”
Camille shook her head. “Not long. Not long at all.”
“Let me know if you need any help with her,” Sheryl volunteered. “I’ll be glad to cat-sit if you need to get out over the weekend.”
Sheryl was taking this too far. “We’ll be fine, thank you.”
First, she stopped at the check-cashing venue nearest her job. A seedy operation at best. If she ever paid back the money she owed JPMorgan Chase for insufficient fund fees, she wouldn’t have to fork over seven dollars every time she got paid. Money orders took up another four bucks. That extra thirty-something dollars a month could have paid for her cell phone. Ridiculous how much she had to pay to participate in the good ole American way. Not to mention the fact that her credit was shot after a defaulted student loan a few years earlier.
Maybe if she’d been a car manufacturer, someone might bail her out?
“One, two, three hundred. Twelve, and seventy-five,” the cashier counted the money behind reinforced glass.
Camille scooped the cash from the silver dish between them. “I need three money orders.” She’d already figured out whose turn it was to get paid this month. Electricity and cell phone. The others would have to wait until their envelopes turned pink.
Sporting a stone-cold face, Camille finished her business at the window while the line behind her grew. She kept every patron in her peripheral vision. Though Camille had spent several years riding high, she had come of age in the Singing Oaks community of Dallas. Not the roughest neighborhood in the city, but by the same token, not the kind of area to leave your car door unlocked. She knew better than to give the impression she was preoccupied, creating the perfect opportunity for someone to catch her slipping.
The cashier placed the notes in the tray. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
The woman looked past Camille. “Next in line, please.”
Money orders printed, Camille stuffed everything deep inside her purse, pulled her strap onto her shoulder, and clamped her arm down on the bag. She marched back to her car and sped out of the parking lot, wise enough to realize it’s not a good idea to hang around strangers when they know you’ve got hundreds of dollars in cash on you—poor neighborhood or not.
Next stop, the post office. Camille mailed her payments to respective creditors. Not exactly on time, but well within the thirty-day window before being reported to credit bureaus.
Final stop, the beauty-supply house for a front lace wig that screamed superstar. She bought her stocking cap and, with an assistant’s help, selected an eighteen-inch bone-straight honey blond style that took at least five years off her face.
“Very pretty. I like long for you,” the woman, whose own black hair touched her behind, remarked.
“I’ll take this one.”
Camille returned to her apartment to engage in the most important makeover of her life. Starting with her hair, ending at her feet, she curled and painted, filed and blended until the woman standing in front of the full-length mirror looked almost as good as the girl sitting next to Beyoncé online. Except Camille weighed more. And she was older; one could always tell by the eyes. Still, she looked way better than that Susan lady. Sounded better, too. She had this.
John David’s office boasted more credits than Camille had been able to dig up on the Web. Replicas of gold albums lined the walls, and pictures of John David with some of top leaders in music gave him credibility that might have excluded him from her list if she’d known better. He was more like an A-minus agent. Sitting in the waiting area, Camille suddenly felt lucky to have landed an appointment with him.
“Miss Robertson, John David will see you now,” his assistant, a Hollywood-thin woman with long, old-Cher-like hair, rose to escort Camille through the uptown suite. Even more accolades covered the corridor leading to John David’s office.
The secretary rapped on the door, opening the way for Camille to lay her eyes on the man who could change her life forever. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, surveying Camille’s overall appearance.
She did the same, taking note of the cowlicks and a long, sloping nose that hinted at Jewish heritage. Slick brown hair and an ample midsection gave him that used-car-salesman feel. Under any other circumstances, Camille might have steered clear of his type, but he was exactly what she needed now because, as far as the music world went, she was a used car.
“Timber, this is Camille. She’s the one who lied to you.”
Camille’s mouth dropped.
Timber tilted her head to one side, her eyes scraping up and down Camille. “Humph. Nice move.”
“Sorry about that,” was all Camille could say.
Timber left without accepting the apology.
Camille returned her attention to John David, wondering why he’d ratted her out like that.
As if he’d read her mind, he said, “Wanted to clear the air. Timber doesn’t like being lied to.”
Timber better get over it. “I understand.”
John David motioned, and Camille sat in the guest’s chair. “Oh, here’s the material you asked for.” She gave him the CD and an envelope containing one of the photos she’d taken five years earlier when Bobby Junior said he could get her booked at a few nightclubs.
Sunlight poured in through opened blinds, which also afforded an enviable view of the city. To her left, a bookcase filled with white binders and books so thick they had to be stuffed with legalese and other reference guides. This all made sense, of course, because online research showed John David had once been an entertainment attorney.
To her right, shelves containing more photographs. Most interestingly, John David was married with a daughter.
John David’s desk itself was a work of art. Heavily lacquered wood, gold accents, the stuff old lawyers’ offices are made of.
Before Camille could properly savor the moment, John David started. “Let’s cut to the chase. I found some of your old videos on YouTube. Was your voice digitally enhanced?”
“No.”
“Great. You’ve got a strong, pure sound, and your face is attractive. You might want to do a little nipping and tucking, file down some rough edges. But overall, your look is hot.”
Alrighty, then.
John David detoured to his Apple laptop screen. His fingers danced across the keyboard, then he waited, presumably for a Web page to upload. “So, yesterday, after we talked, I started thinking. Brainstorming.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve got a plan.”
Camille sat on the edge of her seat.
“You