Syncopated Rhythm (17 page)

I whispered,  “What a skank.”  Not even that coaxed a smile from her.

I didn't know what to say.  Leanne is the definition of the word bitch.  Before I could come up with anything, Evan and his entourage entered the room with Leanne in tow.

Ky was on autopilot as she pulled up some sort of word processor for note taking and some sort of audio recording application.

Evan looked at me then at Kylee.  He laid down some news articles and magazines with various headlines like “Who is Babette Stevenson”  and “Amber LaLanie and Babette Stevenson Caught in Love Nest”.  Kylee wouldn't look up at him.

Then he turned to me after glancing back at Leanne.  “Ms. LaLanie, it is not for us to judge, but when we assigned Ms. Nelson to you we didn't mean... we don't run
THAT
kind of business.  After today, we will be assigning you a new personal assistant.”  He paused and turned slightly to the blonde bitch queen.  “Leanne.  She will attend to your professional schedule for the remainder of the shoot.”

I don't think Kylee was even breathing now.  What the fuck did they think they were doing.  I opened my mouth but a quick pleading glance from Ky made me snap it shut again.

Leanne was reaching over the conference table to shake my hand.  I ignored it and hissed at Evan. “Let's just get this over with.”

Leanne looked hurt that I was ignoring her. 
Tough, bitch.
  Then Evan handed out storyboards and pulled them up on the conference room monitors.  I noticed that not a single person was taking notes except Kylee, as their team tweaked the parameters of the shoot a bit.  They were professional enough but I saw their weak links.

When they walked through the concept.  Kylee looked down again.  I could tell she wanted to offer some input.  I thought it was OK, but as Ky said about the other shoot, it was 'safe'.  Didn't we want these videos to pack a punch?

Then Evan opened the floor to questions or comments.  When nobody said anything I saw Ky shaking her head.  Evan caught it.  “You have something to add Ms. Nelson?”  He was deliberately not using her first name.

She looked up nervously.  “Well, it is an ok arrangement.  But it doesn't really fit the person.  I mean, the video should fit her personality, play to her strengths.  With a few minor tweaks, it could resonate the fun that she embodies and make it memorable.  If we just...”

Evan cut her off.  “We'll go with what we have.  Ms. LaLanie will do just fine.  Our plan is solid.” He was just dismissing her out of hand.  I wanted to hear more from her.

But then Kylee's head snapped up.  I saw something in her eyes.  A strength that I hadn't seen her show here at her job before.  She said in strong unwavering voice,  “No.  I'm done being ignored here.  You want to settle for safe and mediocre music videos?  If you individualize each of these videos and play to the strengths and personalities of the artists, they would be ten times more successful!  Not just Amber's, but all of them.”

Evan stood.  His voice was forceful now.  “Ms. Nelson.  Your services are no longer required at Art in Motion!  Turn in your badge at the front desk and vacate the premises!”

She stood, tears welling up in her eyes and ran out the door, leaving her iPad behind.  I stood and yelled at Even,  “What the fuck have you done?  Are you mental?  Are you that insecure that you can't listen to valid ideas or arguments?”  I grabbed Kylee's iPad and left the room in search of her.  Leanne was following me.  Was that a smug look on her face?

I spun on her.  “Get the fuck away from me!”  She looked confused as I walked off.

I took the elevator to the lobby and didn't see Ky anywhere.  I went up to the security desk.  “Did Kylee Nelson come this way?”

The tall muscular guy nodded and held up Kylee's badge.  “She just turned this in.  She was crying but wouldn't say what was wrong.  I hope she is ok.” 
Me too.

I thanked the man and exited into the parking structure.  I got down to where she parks but her car was gone.  “
SHIT!
”  I yelled to nobody in particular.

I went back in to the security desk.  “Excuse me...”  I looked at his badge.  “Lemar, could you please arrange for a cab for me.  I need to get back to the Seattle Royal.”

The man smiled sympathetically and shook his head.  “I can just call for a car from our motor pool. That would be faster and a little more... ummm... discreet.”

I nodded.  “Thanks Lemar.  You are a good man.”

He smiled and got on the phone.  A couple minutes later he looked at me.  “Miss LaLanie, the car is just right outside the door in the parking structure there.  The driver will take you wherever you need to go.”

I thanked him and rushed through the door.  The driver rushed me to the hotel and I made my way up to our suites as fast as I could.  I entered my room then knocked on the connecting door.  “Ky... are you there?”  There was no answer.  The sense of urgency was tying my stomach in knots.  I opened the door and looked around.  I had missed her, everything was gone.  I was crying now.  It was hard to breath.  The silence was crashing in all around me.  I felt like I was being choked.

I straightened in resolve.  I wouldn't fuck up her life like this!  I wiped my eyes and made my way back to the parking structure.  I had the driver bring me back to Art in Motion.  Inside I spoke with the main office.  They wouldn't give me Kylee's address.  It was 'privileged' information, even for 'ex' employees.

I went back o the hotel, I was alone...  I turned on the radio full blast to keep the silence at bay. Then I grabbed the phone directory and looked her up.  She hadn't even lived here a year so she wasn't listed in it.  I called information and paid the damn three dollars for the listing only to find that she was unlisted.  I stared at my cell phone.  We had never exchanged numbers. 
Shit.  How do I find her?  Think Amber Lee.

I suddenly grabbed my cell again as I shut the radio off.  I was dialing the most level headed person I knew.  “Hi Kim?  Yeah it's me... Amber.  Umm... the fricking studio fired Kylee.  They implied improprieties then when she argued to make our videos better, the asshat fired her!  Yes... yes... I know!  Ok, I don't know how to locate her.  I thought maybe you'd... oh.  Frank Davenport!  Yes, why didn't I think of that.  Thanks Kim, I'll call him, you are a life saver.  Bye.”

I nodded.  Level heads win the day.  I took a moment to calm down.  I took a deep breath then called my lawyer.  Mandy has always said he had a knack for finding people.  After laying it all out for him.  He promised he'd have something for me by the morning.  I thanked him then sat on the bed. Something hit my leg and I looked down.  It was her iPad.

I stared at her iPad for the longest time.  I didn't even realize I didn't have the radio on.  I shook my head and put the tablet on the nightstand then retrieved my netbook from my luggage.  I powered it up and tethered it to the personal hotspot on my iPhone.  I figured I didn't have the resources that Frank Davenport had, but I could do some investigation of my own.

I searched for “Kylee Nelson.” How many could there possibly be?  Apparently the answer to that was “a ton”.  I went through the first few pages of results.  Most tied into Babette Stevenson stories.  But others to social media pages for Kylee Nelsons of all ages, shapes, and sizes. 
Did I really expect it to be easy?

Then I added “film” to the search.  Bingo!  Holy crap!  Apparently Ky is the queen of Indie short films. She won five separate awards in consecutive years at the Indie Film Festival in her last five years of college.

There was a link to the first one, “Take Me As I Am”.  It was a retrospective spotlighting some kids growing up and the challenges, bigotry, and hate they faced when they came out as gay or bisexual to their friends and families.

You really connected with the characters and the pacing of the film kept you engaged and invested in their lives as they struggled their way though to find their path in life.  A lot of it resonated with me.  The score was inspired and helped evoke the raw emotions being portrayed on the screen.  I found myself crying for one character, Paulina, when she decided taking her own life would be less painful than living with the disgust of her parents and the bullying at school.

The film dedication came up before the credits ran.  “Dedicated to my best friend, Geri, who took her own life in the ninth grade.  Bullying and hate must end.”

I quickly looked up the other four.  They weren't available online.  But I found three of them in the Indie Film section of iTunes and quickly bought them and downloaded them.

One, “Survival”, was just as soul wrenching.  It focused on a young boy beside a house, idly kicking a ball against the garage.  The music was somber and understated.  He kept glancing back at the door of the house.  His clothes were faded and worn out and the house was in disrepair.  The other kids in the neighborhood were playing kickball in the cul de sac, but he never looked at them, his attention was on the front door.  One of his friends stopped on the sidewalk and looked at him pleadingly, but the first boy turned away, kicking his ball against the garage.  The second boy dropped his head and joined the other kids in their game.

Finally the front door opened and an overweight, greasy looking man, came out zipping up his pants and tucking in his shirt. A woman who had a haunted look on her face, like she had given up on life, stood in the doorway and the man threw some cash at her and walked off to his car.  The woman crouched and picked the money up off the ground with shame in her eyes.  Then she spoke the first words in the film.  I almost jumped at the sound.  I hadn't even realized that nobody had spoken throughout the film until that moment.  “You can come back inside now Donny.”  The boy grabbed his ball and murmured, “Yes momma.”  As it faded to black into that deafening silence.

I hadn't realized I was crying until I wiped my eyes on my sleeve.  The dedication was more of a plea for people not to judge what someone may do to survive in this world.

I was almost afraid to look at the third one.  The last two had twisted me up inside.  I don't know why but I had expected her films to be geeky with scif-and-wizardy elements and the like.  But she was harnessing raw emotion.  It was so dark.  I thought of continuing my search but I couldn't stop looking at the last two short films, mocking me on the screen.  I clicked...

This one was titled, “Redemption”.  A teenaged girl, Angela, was shunned by the other kids in school, called a bookworm and a geek.  One sickly looking girl, Rae, kept encouraging her though.  Angela kept her nose in the books and her studies.

Then a time lapse collage sequence began.  To my surprise, with one of my more inspirational songs, Aspire, playing.  I swallowed hard. 
She had used one of my songs.
  My heart sped up.

The scenes went back and forth between the two girls as they grew up.  The sequences with Angela followed her through school and graduation, then into med school.  While Rae's scenes showed her getting progressively sicker.  Angela would go visit Rae from time to time as the years ticked by in the film.

We see Angela become a successful surgeon.  And Rae is eventually admitted to the hospital.  I was expecting to see her on her death bed, but instead she is informed that they are ready to repair her congenital heart defect.  She is wheeled in for surgery.

After the surgery, the surgeon takes off her mask and we see that it is Angela with a tear running down her cheek.

As the credits rolled, including the licensing information on my song, we see the time lapse continue as Angela and Rae become more than friends.  The scene ends in a retirement home with both women well into their seventies.  They are holding hands, their wedding bands touching.  It fades to black with them kissing.  A simple message is displayed on the black screen before it too fades.  “Never underestimate the power of friendship.”

Dammit!  Now I'm crying for a different reason!
  How can Ky capture and share these emotions so easily?

Now I was hungry for the final film.  I eagerly clicked.  This one was titled “Work in Progress”.  This one was a documentary about Kylee herself.  Following her through her college years in her quest to live her dream of becoming a filmmaker.  I kept forgetting it was her while I was watching as she overcame hurdles in her way, no obstacle seemed to stop her for long.  It was so fun and interesting I kept rooting for her.  It was punctuated with her quirky personality and her geek princess ways.  This was a very upbeat film and the instrumental was inspired.   It suddenly hit me.  This was electric violin music by Sarah Kreitz-Qualls!

It ended with Ky looking directly into the camera with her dimpled smile.  She was excited.  “OK, now I just need to edit this together and submit it as my final.  Wish me luck everyone, my adventure is just beginning!  I'll let you all know when I have made it!  That's me, Kylee Nelson, a work in progress.”  She comically tilted her head and opened her mouth with her tongue hanging out the side.  I found myself grinning as the credits rolled.  This was a fun Auto-Biographical piece and she shared the excitement of her dreams with the audience.

I reflected on the films then just shook my head.  She has even more depth and layers that I had already discovered.  I was left wondering about what the fifth film was about.  But my happiness was suddenly dampened as I remembered the current situation. Her dream is crumbling because of me.