Chapter 4
Kelley was lying in her bed. Her alarm had just gone off. It was a bit before 7am. It had been a busy week since the initial meeting with Hope and Carli, and Abby had been leaning heavily on Kelley for support. Kelley hadn't seen Hope since the initial meeting, but the week had been filled with long days of doing paperwork, making phone calls, and dealing with contracts and financials, as well as finalizing all of the details for Hope's upcoming tour. Kelley was familiar with all of the work involved, but she had never worked on something of this magnitude. She was exhausted and was enjoying a few more minutes of dozing in her bed when her phone rang. Dammit, she thought. One of the occupational hazards of working as an artist manager in the music industry is that you were kind of always on call. She cursed, rolled over, and grabbed her phone off the bed stand. She groaned as she looked at the number. It was a work number. Who would be calling her this early?
“Hello?” Kelley answered, trying to sound as awake as possible, despite still being half asleep.
“Kelley, this is Jill Ellis”, the voice came over the phone.
Jill Ellis was the CEO of The Firm. She had been a fixture in Hollywood for over a quarter of a century. Kelley’s eyes shot open and she bolted up in bed. “Yes, hi, Jill…uh…Ms. Ellis. What can I do for you?”
“Abby Wambach was in a car accident last night. I need you to come down to the office as soon as you can.”
“Oh my God”, Kelley said, suddenly wide awake. “Is she alright?”
“She’s alright, but she’ll be out of commission for a while. We need to talk about coverage for her clients. Let’s meet in my office in an hour. See you then.” Jill hung up without waiting for a response, and Kelley jumped out of bed. She showered quickly, put on the most presentable outfit that she could manage the quickest, made herself up as best she could in as short amount of time as possible, and then rushed out the door. She drove to the office as quickly as possible and rushed into Jill’s office.
“Good morning, Ms. Ellis. What happened to Abby?” Kelley asked, as she sat down in a chair opposite Jill’s desk. Christine Rampone, the most senior artist manager on staff, was also in attendance.
“Abby was driving home from the office late last night. A drunk driver ran a red light and hit her car”, Jill said. “She’s okay, but she’ll be out of work for about a month or so. Christine and I are trying to figure out how to divide up her workload. We will have Christine cover most of it, but we’re going to need some help. We’ve scheduled a meeting with Hope and Carli Lloyd at 10am. Abby said you have been helping her with Hope. We’d like you to sit in with us today.”
“Of course”, Kelley said. “Anything I can do to help…please let me know.”
“Great. We’ll see you in the north conference room in a couple hours.”
Kelley got up and left Jill’s office, her head spinning. Abby in an accident…her own involvement in Hope’s career in question…what's going to happen? She walked back to her cubicle, sat down in her chair and thought.
********
“Hope, I'm Jill Ellis, CEO here at The Firm. Thanks for coming in on such short notice”, Jill said. “Carli – you as well.” Everyone sat down and Jill continued. “Hope, as I told Carli when we spoke this morning, Abby was in a car accident last night.”
“Oh my God”, Hope said. “That’s terrible. Is she alright?”
“Thank you, Hope”, Jill said. “She is expected to make a full recovery, but she will be out for a while. Now, we know you have a lot in the works right now, especially with an upcoming tour, which kicks off in two weeks, so we want to talk about how we’re going to cover for Abby during her absence. I think the best course of action would be for Christine here to take over Hope’s management until Abby returns.” Jill nodded to Christine, who was sitting next to her. “Christine is our most senior manager, and you will be in good hands.” Christine smiled at the compliment, and Jill smiled reassuringly at Hope.
“That sounds good”, Carli said, and smiled reassuringly at Hope as well. “And I’m available to help with anything as well.”
“That works for me”, Hope said. Then she looked at Kelley. She appeared to be thinking for a moment, and then said, “How about we have Kelley manage me on my tour?” Kelley’s jaw dropped slightly, and she stared back at Hope. Hope looked at Jill, and then at Christine, and then at Carli, and then back at Kelley.
“Well, Hope”, Jill started, “We plan on having Kelley help Christine, but we think you should have someone more experienced guiding this tour.”
Kelley looked around the room. It was one of the hottest rock stars in the world, three Hollywood heavy hitters, and then her. You couldn’t buy an audience like this. She needed to say the right thing. “I-I-I would agree”, Kelley said. “I mean, I’m happy to help however I can, but Hope – you’re one of the biggest artists in the world. Having a senior manager like Christine on this tour is paramount to your success.” Kelley hoped she was coming off as prudent in front of the owner of the company, the most senior artist manager, a Top 10 rock star and one of the most successful PR agents in Hollywood.
Hope looked at Kelley, and then at Christine and Jill. “Well, I was just thinking…I’m sure Christine has her own clients to take care of. That’s going to be hard to do if she’s is out on the road with me on my upcoming tour.” She paused for a moment and then said, “I’m sure Kelley is capable of babysitting me for a few months?” Jill laughed politely. Hope looked at Kelley and winked, and Kelley felt her face flush.
The room was silent as everyone considered that, and then Christine said, “I guess that would be fine.” She would have never suggested that herself, but if Hope was okay with Christine not having to be out on tour for three months, then that would take a colossal weight off her shoulders. “Why don’t we do this – for now we can plan on Kelley managing you on your upcoming tour. I will accompany Kelley for the first week to make sure things start out smoothly, and then Kelley can take the lead for the rest of the tour, which I understand is around three months. Kelley and I can check in daily by phone and email.”
“I guess we can see how that goes", Carli said, a bit of concern in her voice. "And I’ll do the same. I’ll go for the first week or so, just to make sure everything’s running smoothly, and then we’ll leave you two on your own.”
“Sounds great” Hope said, and smiled at Kelley.
“Christine - I would like you available, though, to jump in at a moment’s notice, should Kelley need help at any point along the way”, Carli said.
“Of course, Carli”, Christine said and smiled at her.
“Well then, it sounds like we have a plan. Very good”, Jill said. “Hope – thanks so much for your time. Carli – you as well. We’ll be in touch soon.”
Hope and Carli stood up, smiled and walked out of the conference room. Kelley showed them out to the front reception area and hit the button for the elevator. It dinged, and Hope and Carli got in.
"Bye, manager", Hope said in her smooth voice and winked at Kelley.
"Bye, Hope. Bye Carli", Kelley said, trying to keep her voice as professional as possible.
"Talk soon", Hope said, and gave a little wave as the elevator door shut.
Kelley smiled at Hope as the doors closed and then walked back to her desk. Managing Hope…by herself…for three months…on tour. Wow. Welcome to the big time, Kelley said to herself. Just don’t screw it up.
********
“Hope, are you sure you want Kelley to be your manager on this upcoming tour?” Carli asked. They were in Carli’s office in West Hollywood. Hope was sipping a cup of coffee. Hope liked coffee. Coffee and ice cream. Most rock stars Carli knew liked booze and drugs, but not Hope. Hope might be the first rock star to end up in rehab for an addiction to coffee and ice cream, Carli mused.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Why?”
“Well, she’s a junior manager, and you’re one of the hottest rock stars in the world. And you have been, for like ten years. I mean, Kelley broke Blackheart into the Top 40, but the level you are on is a whole other ballgame.” Carli looked at Hope and then said, “Frankly, she doesn’t have the experience.”
“I know”, Hope said, “but I want to give her a chance. I mean, why not?”
“Hope - this is a big tour, and there’s a lot riding on it. This tour needs to be successful for you to keep momentum. And we need you to keep momentum right now. You know what they say in Hollywood: here today-"
“Gone later today”, Hope said and rolled her eyes. That was one of Carli’s favorite sayings, and she knew it was true, but still, Hope hated hearing it. It sounded so…shallow. “I know, I know. But, I want someone who, you know...is, like, a cool person.” Carli didn’t say anything, so Hope continued on. “It was like…when we met at the store, she treated me like, well, a person. Like, she wanted me to be able to just shop like a regular person. It was just like…you know…two normal girls, meeting each other. Like, she didn’t make a big deal out of the fact that I’m famous, or whatever. And that’s what I want the most. Sometimes I feel like so many people around me are around me just because I’m famous. It’s nice to feel like…I don’t know…a normal person again. I know I keep saying that, but it really is true. Like, as if people like me for who I really am, just me: Hope Solo, from Smalltown, Washington.” She looked at Carli, who was still staring at her, and said, “Plus, there’s backups in place. Christine said she could jump in if need be.” Hope smiled at Carli. “And you’ll be there to back me up, too. As always.”
Carli smiled. “Of course. Look, it’s great you feel that Kelley may not care that you’re a rock star and might even like you because you’re you, but that still doesn’t necessarily mean that you should choose her to be your manager.”
“I want someone who will care about me, especially after the shit I went through with the last management company”, Hope said, her tone taking on a slight edge. “If we’re going to be spending that much time together, I want someone who will see me as more than just a dollar making machine.”
“Hope, Kelley’s a manager. That’s pretty much what managing is – making sure your artist makes as much money as possible. All managers are like that”, Carli said, not in a mean way, but just in a matter-of-fact way.
“You’re not like that”, Hope said, and Carli smiled. Hope was adorably clueless sometimes, Carli thought. Even after all these years, she was sometimes still so naive on the business end of things, but that was actually one of the things that endeared her to Carli. “And if there’s one person in the industry that isn’t like that, then there can be others.” Hope smiled. “I don’t think Kelley is like that, either”, she continued. “She seems like a caring person. Like you. I can tell. Plus, her company trusts her. Isn’t that a good vote of confidence?”
“Well, I still think you should have a more experienced manager out there with you, but it’s up to you”, Carli said. “I guess we can just see how things play out when Christine and I leave after the first week of the tour. Again, I will be there for you, should you need help.”
“Thanks, Car”, Hope said, and sipped her coffee.
********
“Hey, Abby”, Kelley said, as she walked over to the hospital bed.
“Kelley”, Abby whispered.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore”, Abby croaked out. She paused for a moment and then said, “I spoke with Christine”. Even though she was laid up a hospital bed, Abby was all business. “I heard you will be taking Hope out on the road.”
“Yeah”, Kelley said and smiled. “I’ll be her manager for her three month tour. I mean, Christine will be watching over me.“
“Still, it's a great opportunity”, Abby said. “Your first Top 10 artist. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks, Abby. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
Abby smiled for a moment but then turned serious. She grabbed Kelley’s wrist. “Just remember something, Kelley. Let me be real clear here. Hope is not your friend. She is your client. She is not your friend, and she’s definitely not someone you want to start any kind of personal relationship with.” She paused and then said, “Nothing will destroy your management career faster than a failed relationship with an artist. And believe me”, Abby said, looking straight into Kelley’s eyes, “if you try, it will fail. It always does. Hollywood is laden with tales of failed romantic relationships in the music business, and more often then not those failed relationships have wreaked havoc.” Abby paused for a moment and then said, “Kelley, you are one of the brightest young managers in this town. You have your whole career ahead of you. Don’t throw it away by doing something dumb.”
Kelley swallowed at the stern advice, and then said, “Thank you, Abby.” She looked at her boss for another moment and then said, "I hope you feel better soon.” Abby smiled weakly, and then Kelley turned around and walked out of the room.