| Chapter 26: Personal Mixing with Business “So, the driver has absolutely no clue who we are, but yet he’s playing our CD in his car,” Laura giggles. “You’re kidding! So he didn’t recognize you at all?” asked Bianca. “Nope, then he says in his broken English, ‘You like this song? Beautiful ladies, I tell you.’ Then I tell him ‘yes they are beautiful.’ Kevin is practically turning blue from holding it in.” The girls were laughing full tilt by this point. Laura is trying to regain her composure as she takes a deep breath. “So Kevin says, ‘A lot of people say that my wife looks like one of them.’ Then the driver turns, looks at me and shakes his head. ‘No, you no look like that.’ You should’ve seen the look on Kevin’s face!” The girls were gathered at Laura’s house for Laura’s post-honeymoon recap. Kevin and Laura arrived the night before as Kevin was at Jive with the guys for a meeting. The press had caught the wedding 2 days after, while Laura and Kevin were safely tucked away at a private villa in Milan, Italy. The publicists had made the statement after the press had gotten the story, as to Kevin and Laura’s instructions. The Orlando Sentinel called it the “Elegant Wedding tucked away in the Backstreets,” as well as other television and newspapers. Carson Daly even mentioned it after he arrived back in New York City on TRL. He claimed that it was a hard secret to keep, but he did. “But, it was magical. No one recognized us, well, when we actually left the villa. But it was the best time I’ve ever had.” Elizabeth nodded. “At least you had a private wedding at all. Others had helicopters over the area.” “True, but now we gotta deal with it all, especially when we start promotion for Victory.” The girls were waiting for this moment for a while. They were going to shoot the video for “Boyfriend” with Lil’ Kim in two weeks. Victory was going to be released in six weeks. Magazines had called it the most anticipated album of the year, the return of Elegance. “It’ll be OK,” Lauralee smiled. “Everything will work out.” “Speaking of OK,” Laura cocked her head to the side. “Bianca and Elizabeth said you were sick this week.” Lauralee looked at them. “Uh yeah.” “I hope it wasn’t the food or anything. Brian said Howie was sick too.” “Well, whatever it is, I’m better now,” Lauralee forced a smile. Bianca stood up. “OK, well, we’re going to head out. Elizabeth’s going to help me finish the move.” “How is it?” Laura asked. “He is such a packrat. It takes me half an hour of convincing him that we don’t need 5 chairs in the living room.” Lauralee sighed. “Men.” “Tell me about it,” Elizabeth smiled. “Catch y’all later.” Bianca and Elizabeth left as Lauralee took a sip of her iced tea. “So, how was the villa? It must have been…” “What’s really going on?” Laura interrupted. “What?” “You don’t fool me Lau, I’ve known you too long. That story could fool some people, but you’re talking to Laura Tramcoli-Richardson now.” Lauralee gave her a long look, as the tears couldn’t stop welling up in her eyes. She blinked them back quickly. “Nothing, it’s…” Lauralee felt the tears flow from her eyes. Laura quickly went to her side and held her. “Lau, tell me. I haven’t been this worried about you since Veronica. Ever since the club opened and your mother… wait,” Laura let go and looked at her. “It is your mother, isn’t it?” Lauralee nodded and began to tell her the story. “And I haven’t heard from my mother since.” “Oh God Lau, why didn’t you call me and tell me you were so upset?” Lauralee sniffled. “And ruin your honeymoon? You need to spend time with Kevin now. We only have about six weeks until we start working again. I didn’t want you to be bogged down with my problems.” “Lau, I may be married now, but you are one of my best friends. I want to be there for you. Whatever you’re going through, I want to help you make it through. Don’t even think that I won’t be there for you, or anyone else.” “We’re a family. You, the girls, the guys and me. There’s nothing we can’t get through as long as we stick together. You remember when you were all there for us when V died? We all got through it. We’ll help you.” “So you’re not mad at me?” “Nothing you could do could make me mad at the point where I wouldn’t speak to you, or any of us. Although the way you went about it was a little crazy, you did it out of love for your mom.” “Howie knows, and Alex, but I couldn’t bring my problems onto everyone else.” “Lau, you think you would know by now…” Lauralee smiled. “I know, but, hey, it’s me you’re talkin’ to.” Laura smiled back. “Very true. Don’t worry, your Mom will talk to you again, we have a great album and a tour, and everything will be back as it was.” “Think so?” “Have I ever said anything that I couldn’t swear by?” Laura hugged her again. ~*~ 1 week later Lauralee and the girls sat at the conference room of Sony Music in New York City. They were going over any last minute details with Riley and Tommy Mottola, the president of Sony. Promotions seemed to be in high gear. They knew that they were going to do a lot of press for Victory: photo shoots, interviews, radio, and television, plus get ready for rehearsals for the tour which would start about a month after the album release. Elizabeth ran her fingers over the curtains of the window. “Wow, every time I’m in this room I remember when we were in here signing the album deal.” “Yeah, it seems like yesterday,” Bianca nodded. “For a lot of things,” Laura smiled. She looked at Lauralee and winked. Lauralee winked back, feeling a little nervous. Not about the album, but about being back in New York. Her home, where she grew up, where her mother was about 5 city blocks away working at her PR firm. She stood up and looked out the window, peering in the direction of her mother’s office. Was she thinking of her at this moment? Did she look at Lauralee’s picture on her desk and think about her? She didn’t know if her mother knew she was in New York or not. She must have, because she had dinner with her grandmother and aunt the night before. She just wishes she would call her. Riley and Tommy walked in and greeted the girls. “How was the honeymoon?” Tommy asked Laura. “Private and romantic. That’s all the details I’ll give ya,” Laura smiled. Tommy laughed. “Well, when you need that trip to Aruba, let me know. Have a seat everyone.” Everyone took a seat around the table. “First off, I want to congratulate you all on a great album. Riley and I listened to the final cut and it looks like it has platinum written all over it.” “Plus Grammy Awards will be standing by your side,” winked Riley. “Thanks,” Bianca smiled. Tommy folded his hands. “We have a lot to cover. This is your first studio album in over 2 years, and a lot has changed: Laura’s marriage, the new sounds, new collaborations, and so on.” Riley continued. “Also, people will be asking how you dealt with Veronica. It may not be the most comfortable subject in the world, but how you deal with that is completely up to you.” Lauralee nodded. “No problem. We’ve already discussed it.” “Good,” Tommy smiled. They spent the next few hours going over contracts, schedules, and itineraries for the next few weeks. They had already consulted their lawyers, and everything was negotiated. All they had to do was sign off on the dotted lines and go over any oversights. “You’ll have a hour on the Ananda Lewis Show, and they want to do a segment with you and your parents,” Riley looked at one of the contracts. Lauralee’s head shot up. “Our parents?” “Oh, just one parent. They want to ask them about certain things about you as kids and stuff. It’ll be fun.” Laura looked at Lauralee then Riley. “Riley, I don’t know…” “Why not?” “Oh you know, I think my parents would be to scared to go on TV…” Lauralee noticed that one of Sony’s executives came into the conference room and whispered something in Tommy’s ear. He looked at Lauralee as the private conversation was being held. Lauralee felt a shiver run up her back as Tommy had a distressing look in his face. “… And you know how my mother is,” Laura finished. “That’s negotiable. Just clear it and we’ll see how it goes,” Riley smiled. Tommy whispered something in the executive’s ear and she quickly left. His smile returned and clapped his hands together. “That seems to be it. I’ll see you guys in Orlando in a week for the video shoot. Hype Williams says it’ll probably be his best work yet.” He hugged the girls goodbye and hugged Lauralee last. “I need to talk to you,” he whispered in her ear. Lauralee nodded slightly. What is this about, she wondered as the girls left, leaving Laura with a questioning look on her face as he talked with Riley. “What’s going on?” Lauralee demanded as Riley and Tommy looked at her. “We have a… situation,” Tommy said seriously. “What situation?” Riley and Tommy looked at each other. “Damnit, will someone tell me what the hell is going on!” “Lau, it’s about your family,” Riley said. “What about them?” “Have you been having any problems with them?” Lauralee stood firm. “That’s personal.” Tommy leaned on the table. “Lau, that was the chief publicist. Apparently the tabloids are going to print and the cover story is you.” “What!” Tommy waited as the publicist brought in a stack of papers, picked one up, and read aloud. “Lauralee Deverson is no longer living the elegant life she was. Sources close to the Deverson family say that Lauralee and her mother, Sandra Deverson, have not been speaking since the wedding of fellow group member Laura Tramcoli to Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson. Apparently it is due to the new man in her mother’s life, Jerry Robbins, a lawyer in New York City.” “The source says that ‘Lauralee does not want her mother to marry a new man. She claimed that it was either she or her boyfriend, but she chose the boyfriend.’” Lauralee felt as if she was going to faint. She fell into a chair and covered her mouth. “Oh my God.” “Lau, you OK?” Riley knelt down to her. “No I’m not,” Lauralee felt the tears burn her eyes. “OK, we just have to deal with this,” Tommy said. “We’ll get the publicists on this right away.” “Who could’ve told? The only people who knew were Alex, Laura, Howie, my aunt, grandmother, mother, and… THAT SON OF A BITCH!” Lauralee growled. Chapter 27 Contents Chapter 25 |