Zenith's Promise (The Zenith Series Book 7) Read online

  His gaze wandered without giving her the common courtesy of looking at her when she spoke, until his eyes landed on her face. His eyebrows rose. Yeah, finally, she got a damn reaction from him. “You can’t do that.”

  “You should read what you signed. I did. Causing difficulty, and/or hindering our attempts to work with you, are legal cause to end our contract with you. We refuse to waste our time with you if you don’t value it. Showing up to an appointment excessively late is a direct indication of that. As an adult, your behavior is strictly your own, and you will be treated in kind. So please acknowledge I am not your middle school teacher; and I will not put up with your sloppy attitude or bullshit. Zero tolerance in that regard. Nor will I chase after you like your mom and demand that you behave, show up and care. You are one of hundreds of applicants I could be working with. If you won’t cooperate, I’ll replace you with someone who will. Understand one thing, I have no vested interest in you. I don’t care who we help place for the next job. I am just as happy to meet the next musician. So, let this be the warning. The first and last one. If you failed to hear me or you don’t believe me, you better understand that. It’s nothing to me if you go home tomorrow, next week, six weeks from now or in a year.”

  “You can’t make me leave here.”

  “Of course, I can’t make you leave this city. But I can remove you from our property, our program and our funding. You will get a return ticket home. From there, it’s on you.”

  He gave her a long stare and she waited, keeping her expression neutral. She realized that Rob would be pissed since Ross seemed to be the drummer he wanted to meet. He’d been especially interested lately in good drummers but never really articulated the reason why. For months, Rob harped about finding an outstanding drummer. Ross was the pinnacle of his picks… unfortunately. But Jody refused to chase this guy down. He wasn’t any golden goose and if he never met Rob, then Rob would never know if Ross the drummer was really what he wanted.

  “Okay. Message received.”

  She had no idea what that meant. Would he turn around and pull a stunt to shoot his own foot off or not? It was no skin off her nose either way, and she waited to see what the man intended to do.

  “Sit. I have a few forms for you to sign. Liability clauses and the like. Please read all of them. I want you to have all the information so you’re not as clueless as you appear so far.” Why sugar-coat it? Somewhere during their interactions, she lost interest in him. He wasn’t a curious person with lots of questions or interesting things to share. She found him quite dull, honestly, in his mask of apathy, so whatever.

  He finally slouched into a chair, predictably proclaiming he didn’t care, with his body language. He shunned her work ethic and her advice to be thorough, on-time, and industrious.

  He was simply an entitled asshole.

  Jody considered him the worst she’d dealt with in the capacity of Zenith’s Promise. She had however, encountered many of his type in the vein of real estate, which she managed for her dad. Some of the men she dealt with disdained her for being Nick Lassiter’s daughter. People often assumed she was a token of family favoritism.

  Fine.

  There was nothing she could do to dispel that assumption.

  Jody worked hard simply because that was her nature. She did not feel the need to prove herself to anyone. She shrugged off their narrow-minded prejudice. What did she care? Let people think she got the job with zero qualifications, even if she were the smartest one in the room. Whatever reason they gave for not taking her was irrelevant; it was actually because she was their equal. She knew that, which was why she simply did her job, stayed in her lane and didn’t try to convince anyone to see her fairly if they refused to open their eyes. As for the Ross Karahans of the world? Nothing new. Not the first or last jerk to slap a label on her.

  “Rob is anxious to hear you play. He has a studio at his house with a first-class drum set. Would tomorrow at nine work for you?”

  “That’s too early.”

  She breathed in several times. Calm. He didn’t matter. “That’s your time. Either nine or nothing.”

  “I don’t do mornings.”

  And I don’t like you. The first thought in her head nearly leaked out of her mouth. Instead, she nodded. “You may leave now. Your return airfare will be delivered to you. We’re done here.”

  She flipped her gaze back to her computer, yanked out her keyboard, awoke her computer and started working on a spreadsheet.

  He didn’t move and she didn’t look at him. No blushing or anxiety on her part. A calm sense of peace settled over her. She wasn’t dancing to his tune any longer. His whole attitude was a strategy to gain control of her. Never. He would never gain her respect either. His absence of manners and proper courtesy could not affect her schedule, her mood or her comfort level.

  He scooted around the seat and finally replied, “I guess I can do nine.”

  She kept typing. She only stopped when she finished her column of numbers. Glancing at him briefly, she nodded. “This is the last chance I’m giving you. I am not your keeper and I will not tolerate the likes of you rebelling continually as if I’m your least favorite fucking babysitter. Grow up, Ross. You play the drums, huh? What the fuck do you think you’ll ever do with that? Hmm? How many small garage bands will you try? How many clubs will you play backup for? Please, tell me. Be my guest. This chance is for those with a work ethic to accompany their talent. The ones with gratitude and appreciation for the facilities here and the connections and spotlight we can provide for them. Our connections are nothing to sniff at. Rob Fucking Williams wants you at his house tomorrow at nine o’clock. You are being offered a chance to audition your drumming talent to him and you say you don’t do mornings? That tells me everything I need to know about you. You are not someone who takes a lifechanging opportunity seriously and you will never succeed. You are purposely making my work harder and making me uncomfortable. Are you a sexist? Or just an asshole? I don’t know and I don’t care. But fucking stop it. Go away now. You have one chance, don’t blow it. Be. Here. Right here at eight o’clock. If not, I will call Rob and tell him we aren’t coming, and book you a ticket home. You will be forcibly removed from these premises if you are not here on time. Are we clear on that?”

  He straightened his posture in the chair after her long, sharp chastising before he replied, “Yes.”

  “Fine. We’ll see. You have a lot to prove. I highly doubt you can.”

  He shifted to his feet, and she didn’t look up. Pretty looks couldn’t compensate for an ugly personality. “I’m not, by the way.”’

  “Not what?” She stared forward, not at him. The spreadsheet captured all of her attention. It wasn’t fake. He just lost any further interest or concern from her. The golden ticket was literally set into his hands and instead of accepting the ticket without any obligation or comment, he just had to take it, but this ingrate fisted his hand and knocked it back at her. Who does that? Someone hell bent on failure? Maybe it was owing to a long, tragic history that made him think he could never succeed, but Jody didn’t care. Not in the least. If he felt the urge to shoot off his own foot, let him, but not on her time.

  “Sexist.”

  That caught her attention finally. She peeked up at him, and a scowl dominated her face. “So what? What are you saying?”

  “I just wanted to make it clear. I might be, you know, a bit difficult, but it isn’t because you’re a woman.”

  She leaned back and said, “Oh? It’s just the way you are? A totally careless asshole in general?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  Puzzled when he didn’t react to her unprofessional description but owned it, she asked, “Why?”

  “Why…?”

  “Why are you such an asshole?”

  “That’s a big question that would take a long time to answer.”

  “Right. I don’t actually even care about the answer. Unless it affects my work, my schedule and my time. And from
here forward it does not. Are we clear?”

  “Crystal clear.”

  She didn’t glance up so she didn’t know if there was sarcasm or respect in his eyes. His tone was cool and neutral so she couldn’t identify his intent either. She didn’t care. Not after this. As long as he didn’t treat her like shit or mess with her. Spinning her wheels around an asshole’s inappropriate behavior wasn’t at the top of her to-do list.

  God, how she loved her quiet, reserved, shy and unsure mother. Joelle spent years being twisted around by her uncle, Rob Williams. Lacking self esteem, Joelle didn’t protest or even try to set a limit.

  With her dad, Joelle found her voice. Outside of their family, however, she still appeared quiet and unsure.

  Joelle drilled Jody not to let anyone do that to her. Jody was bright, intelligent, fiery, and interesting. She was also stubborn, annoying, unwilling to admit when she was wrong, and often too rigid in judging others. Joelle Lassiter taught her to embrace herself. She told her to decide how she wanted to interact in the world, since no one else had control over her or the right to dictate anything. Personally and professionally speaking.

  The younger Jody might have been considered promiscuous by some, but Jody never saw herself as that. She embraced her sexuality, desire, curiosity and interest in sex as her prerogative. She always practiced safe sex. She made it clear to her partners. When she engaged in one-night stands in her youth, she did so unashamedly. She attended the University of London for her bachelor’s degree and thoroughly enjoyed all facets of being in an entirely different country.

  No one could tell Jody she was slutty or whorish or immoral. God, no. She was well aware of herself. Her values were never defined or associated with sex. How could an act determine the essence of anyone? It was healthy to enjoy sex without harming herself or others and she never stressed over it. What did she care beyond that?

  Of course, her parents struggled with her undying curiosity from early on. She’d gotten into trouble occasionally at the private high school she’d attended. Her indiscretions were nothing big and she had not been rebelling because her rich family only gave her their attention when she was being a troublemaker. Her sibling, a special needs child, didn’t make her feel neglected either. Nope, her problem was simple curiosity. She was not spoiled but she liked to experiment, and she took her punishments when merited, apologizing when appropriate. Jody figured out whom she was and what she wanted to be early in life. Warning her not to do something didn’t really teach her, so she had to experience, process and decide not to do it on her own.

  Now, as an adult, she couldn’t be manipulated or bullied. Given her small stature and obvious youth, she surprised many of the people in the industries she chose to work in.

  Jody possessed extraordinary intelligence. She should have skipped a few grades but she declined and chose to devour all the books and information that caught her interest outside of her usual course of study. She finished high school with a plethora of college credits from online courses that she took to supplement her too-easy high school curriculum.

  Jody’s resume was packed with legitimate degrees as one might expect from someone for whom the costs of higher education did not factor. The large aptitude of her brain was never flaunted by her, although she could have.

  All the partying she did at school didn’t affect her perfect grades. Doing her own research almost as a hobby taught her more than any class she was enrolled in.

  Curiosity about all subjects could have been a curse but not to her. Meeting someone like Ross, so uninterested in everything, was very unusual for Jody. She found it hard to be patient with someone so bent on stabbing himself in the foot for no reason. It seemed perfectly obvious… don’t do that.

  Whatever. It was on him now. Rob? She wondered how Rob would handle Ross. Perhaps she’d never see Ross again. At this point, she didn’t care either way.

  Chapter 4

  JODY LASSITER WAS A barracuda. Ross gave her a grudging respect as he wandered around aimlessly, killing the day. Standing on a staircase that went from the street level down a steep incline that would take him to the water level street, he caught glimpses of water, road, and buildings slivered between the skyscrapers. He didn’t expect her to be so tough. Like, taking no prisoners. All or nothing. No more chances. No pleading or cajoling. Do this or that. Done. He never met a person who was so clear-cut so quickly. He usually managed to play his stupid, apathetic games and arouse the anger of others, but they still tried to work around him, or with him, or over him. Most just pleaded with him to care about the improvement of his own lot in life. Imagine all the teachers who advised him he could do better. He had so much potential, why waste it? The fear tactics, the cajoling, and the entreaties. Some pussyfooted around him. Others tried the more heavy-handed attempts like standing on his jugular vein, metaphorically speaking, of course.

  But damn, Jody never missed a beat. Starting with his physical appearance, which, come on, she obviously noticed that. He wasn’t blind to her reaction. But in her office, something flipped and whatever she saw initially had zero affect on her then. She truly went back to typing and concentrating on her work while he was standing right there. He could see her giant screen and sure as shit, she was deliberately ignoring him.

  His esteem toward her rose a notch.

  He wasn’t kidding about his reaction to her not being because he found a woman in her role. Never mind, a young woman. He just did that. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. All authority figures were game to him. He didn’t set out to disobey or challenge them, but he couldn’t stop himself from testing them. He tried to throw off any people with “good intentions” because he couldn’t believe people truly had good intentions. Not from his experience. He wasn’t a criminal, just apathetic. He pushed people’s buttons as long and as far as he could. But he stopped short of doing totally blatant actions of outright destruction.

  But damn. Jody didn’t stand for any of it.

  Fine. He consented to cooperate. He wanted to meet Rob Williams. If nothing else, it would make a great-assed story when he went back to bartending in the little, podunk town of Chaliss, Indiana. He’d be back there soon enough. And he could pull this experience out of his damn pocket.

  Truth be told, Ross never traveled often. Never across the country. Never to a big city like this. He stared up and something new and strange moved through him… Admiration? Was he feeling just a little bit impressed?

  Huh. Fine. He decided to take a look around this city he knew so little of. It rained often. It threatened to rain right now. Drops spilled from the leaden sky that climbed all over the building tops. Oddly, no one hauled out umbrellas. Their hoods came up, and people walked a little faster. But hardly anyone carried a damn umbrella.

  There were coffee shops. Lots of them. A salty smell near Elliot Bay. There were people lounging along the street, all homeless. Some had their belongings set up all around them, a woman was walking in circles, flailing her arms, and talking to herself. He wondered, What happened? Drugs? Mental illness? Having no answer, the mystery tugged at his conscious mind. But like most everyone else, he turned away and kept walking.

  A man cold as stone was passed out in the middle of the sidewalk. Was it drugs or alcohol or illness? Ross had no idea. But he lay right there as all the pedestrians avoided his body, veering to the right or left as they passed by.

  Humanity was strange. Weird. Scared of anything unlike themselves. Their own biases and limited experiences create the fear. Some would sneer with disdain and might even spit on the man. Others might call the cops to remove him so they didn’t have to deal with someone who didn’t fit in with the classy condos and sorely obstructed the lovely bay views. Some people would approach him to assist him, seeing a fellow human in need of help. Some would try to encourage him to find his own way, and face the consequences, while others would excuse him and exclaim it was not his fault, and he should receive anything he needs no matter the cost.

 
Ross had no idea what was right. Living in a small, rural town north of Indianapolis, he didn’t have much experience to judge from. Seattle was like another planet to his senses. There was so much to see. So many people to watch. So many things going on. His senses were overwhelmed and he didn’t enjoy a single second of it.

  He didn’t know what to do. He’d never show his ignorance, much less admit it, but he was totally overwhelmed by this city. The people, crap. People were everywhere. It shocked his senses to find out he didn’t like so much humanity condensed into one city. So many strangers, all living on top of each other. A loner by default, he couldn’t warm up to the incessant bustling.

  The tall buildings obscured his views and cars and bikes and pedestrians occupied every space he could see. Everywhere he looked was humming with life.

  Fine. He felt out of place and very uncomfortable. Unsure. Literally clutching his wallet in his hands, he jammed it into his coat pocket. He was scared and unsure. The one person he knew in this city, Jody Lassiter, must have recognized it. Resentment at being here, but wanting to be here and feeling unsure about how the fuck to act. And she appeared so comfortable in this environment. She was spectacular as she obviously thrived here. She navigated the city like a bus driver, doing her job, saying her words, and firing quick thoughts at him with the ease of a machine gun. He reacted by stabbing himself in the foot. But he was loath to explain why he was so scared. Fearful of the setting and the atmosphere that she so clearly thrived in and loved. This downtown mecca was her home and his nightmare.

  Struggling to get his equilibrium was a new feeling for him. Ross was raised in a half abandoned, small town with miles of space around it and many dirt roads, so this was a huge jolt to him. There was no way he felt like he could belong here.

  But damn. She handled herself and him like a pro.

  His raw nerves made his stomach hurt.

  Playing the drums for Rob Williams.