Laz straightened out his tie. “I’m Laz Kyson.” He even extended his hand.
He assumed that in her position, most people didn’t give her the respect she deserved. As a receptionist, people probably viewed her as a nuisance, someone to get over to get to the top. Laz would treat her like an important part of this process, get people to like him from the ground up.
The woman did a slow blink that somehow annoyed Laz before she gazed down at a tablet. “Have a seat.”
“Thank you.” He started to turn but stopped. “Hold on.” He reached forward and with the tip of his middle finger, he managed to collect a small eyelash stuck on her cheek. “Got it. Nothing should take away from your flawless face.” With his finger in front of her face, he leaned forward and smiled. “Eyelash. Make a wish and blow it away.”
The receptionist wrinkled her brows as she regarded him.
“And don’t waste your wish on something like wishing someone would appreciate you.” He pointed to himself. “That’s already happened.”
At that line, she finally snickered.
Got her!
She puckered her rich, red, thin lips and blew the black, slender lash from his finger.
Laz chuckled. “Good things will come your way.” He bowed his head and started to head toward the seating area.
“Um, would you like something to drink?”
Laz kept his back to her after he stopped in his trek. He had to get himself together before he addressed her again.
He turned around. “Thank you, but I don’t want to trouble you for anything. I’m sure serving me was not the wish you just made.”
Even without direction, Laz sat down in a white leather chair in a waiting area. He made sure to face the reception area so he could watch Stone Face make and receive calls.
To occupy his time, he checked his emails and messages on his phone. He only looked up when he noticed someone standing in front of him.
Stone Face now carried a slight smile on her face and a frosty bottle of water in her hand.
As Laz reached for it, she spoke. “Don’t be so sure about me not wanting to serve you as my wish.” She winked at him after he took the bottle from her.
“Thank you. I appreciate this.” Now he had to reel back the charm. He knew well enough about leading women on and making them feel something that he didn’t.
Laz had gotten there ten minutes earlier than his appointment time. An hour later, he finally met with Sanaa Farook, the head of Section Eight Records.
A guard escorted him in the elevator and took him up to the top floor. After the guard swiped his badge, punched in a code on a keypad, and pressed his thumb against a blank screen by the pad, the doors opened.
The guard ushered Laz into the bright room. Laz didn’t want to glance around too much, but to him, it looked like Sanaa’s office encompassed the entire top floor.
The woman, the boss and owner of Section Eight, strolled across the floor. The dark-skinned, heavyset woman carried a round face framed by long, chocolate brown feathered hair.
He didn’t know if the woman had a positive attitude or if her face naturally carried a smile as her resting expression. Due to her smooth skin without one wrinkle, she looked like a teenager, not the head of one of the most successful record labels out there.
“Thank you.” She addressed her guard and gave him a simple nod to the elevator to dismiss him. Then she looked at Laz. “Have a seat.”
Her gold jewelry glowed against her onyx-colored skin. In her expensive, custom-tailored designer dress, she didn’t appear to embody her Section Eight company name. Not her size, not her beauty, and particularly not her clothing.
Before sitting down as she had instructed, Laz extended his hand to her and shook hers. Her skin revealed how Sanaa ran a successful business. Hard, calloused spots covered parts of her palm.
“I appreciate your time, Miss Farook.” Laz didn’t expect for her to apologize for keeping him waiting or to pussyfoot around in this meeting.
For her, time equaled money.
“I’ve heard your name before.” Sanaa’s fingers moved deftly over her tablet screen where she kept her attention.
“I used to work at Universe in A&R.” Laz sat up tall. “I want to not only acquire new talent, I want to manage them.”
“And you couldn’t do this for Zinner?” Sanaa glanced up from her screen long enough to study his face.
“He and I didn’t share my vision.” He smoothed his hand down his tie.
“Can you tell me about any talent you have found in the past? I’m interested in understanding what you find appealing as far as music.” Sanaa dropped her attention back to her tablet and continued typing like she had to relay nuclear codes to the president.
“I scouted and helped sign Ariah.” When he noticed Sanaa’s lack of response, he expounded on this talented singer. “She’s an indy artist who’s big in the alternative scene.”
Sanaa’s only sign of acknowledgment came with a single head nod. Laz would take it.
“I also helped sign Marcus Grace, Orli Skye, and the Butterfly Twins.” When he didn’t see a rise out of Sanaa, he decided to mention the names of artists with more of a hip-hop angle. “I was also the one who found the Sankofa Boyz.”
At the mention of that group’s name, Sanaa peered up.
Laz knew he would snag her full attention with this bit of news. “Before Chantel Evans, I mean Chantel Woodley, decided to branch out on her own, I was the one who went to bat for her to retain her at Universe.”
“But that didn’t work.” Sanaa reclined in her leather swivel chair. “Your taste in music is eclectic.” She nodded. “I do like that, although my company focuses on hip-hop and rap. We’re going to dabble in R&B and maybe some pop. If you could get me someone like Shauna Stellar who is young and hungry, then we would have something.”
Laz had to bite his cheek to keep himself from wincing when Sanaa referred to Chantel Woodley by her old stage name of Shauna Stellar. He didn’t need to insult the person who could be employing him.
“If I were able to secure talent like that, would I have a place here at Section Eight, and would my job here be as a manager?”
“You don’t mince words, do you?” She smiled. “I like that. Get talent like that, you would not only have a place here, you could talk about other development deals here with the company.”
He exhaled. “Sounds promising. I am about to travel to some open mic places to do some scouting.”
Sanaa raised her eyebrows. “On your own?” She nodded. “Great initiative.”
The compliments got Laz to sit up taller. He felt like Sanaa Farook would be making him an offer soon.
“How is your relationship with Kat?”
The mention of the starlet’s name sent an uncomfortable tickle up the back of his neck. “She’s a Universe artist. She makes the company a lot of money, and she’s extremely popular.”
No way would he be caught saying anything bad about her. It still gave him a bad taste in his mouth to have been terminated because she came on to him.
“That was a diplomatic answer.” Sanaa snickered. “If I hire you, are you able to keep it in your pants long enough to do your job.”
Laz