Emily tried to mediate. "Awful for you to sing?"
"No, it was awful, period. Why did I even hire you?"
"You must have heard something you liked," Emily said.
"Well, I did like the drum work," Juan said.
Keith just sighed in disapproval. No one put down Wildfire, at least with Sly
at the helm.
Sly was incensed. No one made fun of his baby. "You're going to have to
work with us. I suggest you drop the attitude, or trust me, I will not make
this a pleasant working environment," he seethed.
Emily was surprised. The shy young man she knew was replaced by this new, slightly cocky, Sly; she looked at Juan. "Please, just calm down. I thought they were great." Sly smiled slightly. Maybe Emily could convince Juan to work with them.
Jon spoke up. "Look, Sly, just give him a tape of our stuff. Juan, you listen to it and think it over. Then we could try again in a few days."
Sly seemed to look right through Juan. "Fine." Sly tossed a cassette at Juan. "Let's go."
The band packed up their equipment and was loading the van when Emily cornered Sly.
"I thought you were great. Let me get through to my hard-headed boyfriend."
"If anyone can do it, it's you, Em." He started to walk away when Emily stopped him.
"You don't think you're getting away that easily, do you?" Sly smiled at her. "Let's get together tomorrow. Do you want to meet for dinner?"
"Sure. When's good for you?"
"How about Kelly's? About 8:30 would be great."
Sly grimaced slightly but tried to hide his reaction from Emily. "Alright, let's do it." He picked up the two acoustic guitars. "I'll be there. It was great seeing you again."
"You too, Sly."
Emily watched Sly leave. Juan suddenly came up behind her. Emily jumped. "You
scared me!" she said.
Juan laughed. "Sorry. How do you know Sly?"
"He's an old friend who I lost touch with. He's Lucky's cousin."
"Oh." He grew quieter. "Well, I gotta get back to Taggert's. I'll talk to you tonight?" Juan asked.
"Yeah, see you later." Emily leaned over and kissed Juan. "Listen to that tape!" she called after him.
Juan saluted. "Yes, ma'am." He smiled and left.
Emily sighed. What a day: she was confused about the band, but she was definitely glad to see Sly again. She just hoped Juan and Sly wouldn't clash too much.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Ned and Alexis were in Ned's office at L&B discussing some legal matters for the label.
"So, you never told me who that young man you knew was," Alexis said.
Ned sighed. He never liked discussing too much of his past. "He's Sly Eckert, the nephew of my ex-wife, Jenny Hornsby."
"Wait. Hornsby? Why does that sound familiar?" Alexis asked.
"Paul Hornsby is a lawyer in town. He's also the father of my half brother, Dillon."
"So that's where I remember the name. I have conferred with him on a few local cases. He was married to Tracy?"
"Yeah, it's a long and complicated story."
"And Jenny was your…" Alexis paused, thinking.
Ned grimaced. "My second wife."
"That's right, number two. I couldn't remember." She stopped herself. "I'm sorry. That sounded insensitive."
Ned waved his hand. "No, it's the truth."
"So, why did you split up, if you don't mind me asking."
Ned sighed. "She told a very big lie, one that I couldn't forgive."
"And her nephew is hostile with you for what reason?"
"It could be a lot of things. The way Jenny and I got divorced, the fact that my mother took Dillon away from Paul, or any number of other various Quartermaine offenses."
"Well, let's just hope that doesn't carry over into his work on Juan's tape."
"Speaking of that, I think we better go see if there's any progress." Ned got up off his big, black leather chair and put his arm around Alexis' waist. They both walked into the neon lit room to see Emily standing by herself.
"Did the party break up?" Alexis asked.
Emily laughed. "Party? I wish. No, everybody took some time to cool off. They just left."
"So I assume things didn't go too well?" Ned asked.
"Nope. Not that Sly's band is bad or anything. I think it's terrific. Juan and Sly are clashing over musical styles," Emily sighed.
"I knew I shouldn't have given him such control over this."
"Ned, I know you took a big gamble letting Juan create his own demo, to even let him do it at all. He's worked so hard. Please don't take it away from him now," Emily pleaded.
"If I hear too much arguing going on, I stop production. L&B can't afford to waste any money," Ned stated.
"I'll get them to get along, I promise." Emily looked at her watch. "Oh, I'm going to be late for dinner. You know how Cook gets when she's kept waiting."
"Go, go. Don't worry too much about this. This is supposed to be Juan's responsibility," Ned said.
Emily walked out of the door into the warm summer evening. "Bye, Ned.
Bye, Alexis." She turned to go to her car. I'll make this work, she
thought, if it's the last thing I do.