I don’t wait for a response. What can he say to that? I hate incompetence. I haven’t had trouble out of Morris before, but this is strike one. I use Sarah’s phone to call Elle so she won’t see me coming.
“Sarah, hey,” Elle answers after the third ring, sounding bored and distracted. “If you’re calling about that outrageous rider, I’ll tell you what I told Morris. Take what you get. The show is tonight, and we don’t have time to get all the equipment they’re asking for. They’ll be fine with what we have.”
“Not Sarah, Elle. It’s Bristol.”
“Bristol, hey.” I can practically hear her sit up and take notice. “Well, you heard what I was just saying then.”
“Oh, I heard you. Now you hear me.”
I lean forward, planting my fist on my desk to support my weight. “There’s a contract between you and me, lady. One you signed.
Not fulfilling those terms places you in breach.” I pause before resuming. “Is that clear?”
“I can’t possibly find those mics they want in a day, Bristol.”
“I didn’t expect you to, which is why you’ve had the rider for months. You assured us that was more than ample time to secure the guys’ equipment preferences.”
“Well, I was wrong.”
“Did you even try?”
I know she won’t admit that she didn’t try, but she needs to know that I don’t believe she did.
“Elle, I don’t give excuses, and I don’t accept them. Make it happen or you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”
“This is ridiculous!” she screeches from the other end.
“What’s ridiculous is that this conversation even needs to happen.” I smack my lips together in disbelief. “You actually think I’ll fall for that? Waiting until the last minute and then shrugging all c’est la vie when you don’t have time to fulfill the terms?”
“No, I—”
“You will find that equipment,” I cut in. “I don’t care if you find it up your ass. Just clean it before you give it to my band.”
I end the call before I threaten to come out there myself. Then I’d have to actually follow through, and after being in hell all week, the last place I want to be is Denver. I got enough snow living in New York most of my life.
“Thanks.” I hand Sarah’s phone back to her.
“You’re so badass,” she whispers with her hand pressed to her stomach.
“Only when I have to be.”
She barely lifts a knowing brow.
“Okay, yeah. Kind of all the time, but you know people make me, right?”
Sarah lets out a low groan and squeezes her eyelids closed.
“What is it?” I walk around the desk and press the back of my hand to her forehead. “You don’t have a fever.”
“No, I have a period,” she responds listlessly.
“Ohhhhhh.” I sit on the edge of the desk, studying her pretty face, which is twisting with discomfort. “Bad month?”
“Do the words ‘red wedding’ mean anything to you?”
I grin at her Game of Thrones reference, and she slits one eye open and offers an anemic smile.
“Go home.” I gesture at the daunting pile of papers that seem to be metastasizing on the desk behind me. “Believe me. I can attest to the fact that the work isn’t going anywhere. I’ve been trying to get rid of it all week with no luck.”