was not lurking somewhere. Sossity admonished her to call to the police if he harassed her in any way. And
she reminded Leah that she needed to go to the police and file a complaint.
“Don’t be a facilitator,” she warned.
Sossity drove back to her hotel. She was thoroughly drunk when Tonya arrived.
Tonya Aldair had been her manager from her struggling days. She was short, thin, with red hair, pale
skin and watery eyes. She at once saw Sossity’s drunken state and began to admonish her, as Sossity had
known she would.
“Your liver is going to be a brick by the time you’re forty.”
“Lay off, Tonya, I don’t feel like hearing it.”
“You need to hear it and you need to get sobered up. I’ll send down for some coffee.”
“Make sure it’s Starbucks.”
Tonya ordered the coffee.
“What was hat little episode on television and the internet all about?” she asked.
“I rescued someone.”
“Not a good idea.”
“No? I guess if you’re a celebrity you can’t keep someone from getting slapped around by her boyfriend,
hmmm?”
“It was good, in a way. People are saying you’re courageous and caring. But you need to watch out.
Why wasn’t Jason with you?”
“I can’t have him tagging along all the time.”
“You might be wise to have him tag along.”
Silence fell. Tonya seemed to feel a twinge of conscience at being overly negative.
“Looks like Labyrinth is going platinum,” she said.
“Good. I need a little success right now.”
“Written any new songs?”
“Hell no. I’m too drunk to do that.”
“We need to have something in the next couple of months.”
“I thought our remake of Travelling Band was doing well.”
“It’s number three in CD sales and number one in iTunes.”
“Then why in the goddamned hell do I need to worry about my next album? Sounds like my stuff is
doing fine. I’ll be ready to start working on something new in a few months.”
“It takes longer than that to do an album, Sos. People forget quickly. You’ve got to keep coming out
with new material.” She paused. “Remember you’re going on tour next week.”
“I remember.”
“Are you up to it?”
“I’m up to it. Even if I’m not, it’s too late to cancel now. I’ll get through the tour.”
The room got quiet again.
“Anything I can do to help?” Tonya asked after a moment.
“Get my kids back for me,” she said grimly.
She thought of the pain she had experienced these last weeks. She was glad she still had a few days off