Ansell’s having fun with this. It’s not obvious from his stone-cold face, but he’s loving every second of Eric’s torture. I can see it in the tiny ways his face changes, in the little smiles, the squints, the angle of his tilted head. I don’t think anyone else would even notice unless they got an advanced degree in Ansell Studies like I have, but to me it’s plain as day. He’s fucking with Eric, and I’m not sure why. Maybe he just likes it.
This man holds a lot of power over Pride and it’s driving me insane that Ansell’s basically acting like a bully.
“They’re good,” Eric admits once the song is over and Ansell puts away his phone. “No doubt about it. They’re really good.”
“Why aren’t you signing them? I can recite their social media stats and tell you how many shows they’ve played, what their attendance records are, all that good stuff, but I suspect it doesn’t matter. I want to know why.”
Eric leans back. “I told you—”
“Cut the bullshit,” Ansell says sharply. “We’ve known each other for years. I like you, Eric.” I snort. He could’ve fooled me. Ansell glances in my direction and continues. “But you’re lying to me, and I don’t like it when people feed me dirt and expect me not to dig.”
Eric leans back in his chair, looking uncomfortable. “Don’t push this. The answer is no and that’s enough. I don’t owe you more.”
“How many hits have I brought you? How much money have you made off my calls? Tell me why, Eric.”
He sighs and rubs his face. “This is extremely awkward, okay?” He glances in my direction. “I really don’t want to say right now, not in this situation.”
“It’s because of me.” My eyes go wide and I sit up straight. Eric grimaces and lowers his gaze back down to the desk. “Oh my god, I’m right. It’s because of me.”
He nods once. “Yeah, it’s because of you and your situation with the Crawfords. I’m sorry.” He looks at Ansell, face hardening. “Did you really need me to do that? I didn’t want to embarrass the poor girl. She’s been through enough already.”
“Yes, I did,” Ansell says, not looking at me, but I’m sitting here stunned like a grenade just went off in my lap.
Pride’s missing out on a huge deal because I’m their manager. Universal won’t touch them because the Crawfords hate me, and if Universal is too afraid of that family to step up then who’s going to? No indie labels, no other major labels, they all know about my situation. If a group as powerful as Universal won’t go against the Crawfords then Pride has no hope anywhere else. They’ll get crushed under the weight of my mistakes.
“I know this is uncomfortable and I’m not happy about it, but word from higher up says we can’t touch this deal. Ms. Pearce and her relationship to the Crawford family is too volatile at the moment, and the Crawfords own a substantial number of theaters all across the United States. If they decided to refuse our acts entry—”
“You fucking coward,” Ansell snaps. “Don’t blames this on the theaters.”
But if that’s true, Pride is screwed. All the other labels will cite the same thing to keep me far away from them.
Eric sighs. “Like I said, it wasn’t my call, but I agree with it. I’m sorry, Ms. Pearce. I really am.”
I sit there staring at my hands. “What if I stepped back?”
The room goes silent. I feel both men looking at me. Shame burns my cheeks and I want to cry but I force myself to hold it together. I’m a professional and this is my job. Pride needs me to be strong right now, and if I truly want to be their manager then I need to be able to make the hard decisions.
Even if this hard decision is like cutting off a limb.
“Well, I can’t guarantee anything, but that would be a good start,” Eric says, speaking very slowly and looking at Ansell. He’s very purposefully not glancing in my direction. “My bosses would definitely consider Pride a viable possibility if Ms. Pearce were to step back.”
Ansell nods and glances at me. “Are you sure, Pearce? You really want this? After all your hard work?”
“I was their manager for, like, a week,” I say, looking at my hands. I can’t meet their eyes right now. I’m mortified and hate myself for getting emotional in front of Eric right now, but this was so important to me and it’s all getting peeled away, all because of William. “But I’m sure.”
“Then she’s off Pride.” Ansell steps forward and jabs a finger down onto Eric’s desk. “Tell your bosses. We’ll assign someone else. I play it straight. They know me. If I say Marie Pearce is off Pride and the band is being managed by someone else, it’s the truth. No games.”