Compromise Me (Book Two of the Kirkland Family)

Compromise Me: Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next morning, Josie hugged and kissed her family off at the airport, obtaining promises of calls and pictures, seashells and a jar of volcano glass. She wiped her eyes as she watched the airplane take off from the Memphis International Airport, heading toward Dallas for a connecting flight to California and then to Hawaii.

She wished she was with them. She loved the Islands. Not the tourist traps, but the secluded areas where locals caught the waves and pineapples grew in miles of rows and her best friend was the sea salt of the ocean. The responsibility of being a working stiff caught her in the midriff. The next few work days at Raw were packed. She had meetings with some new talent on Monday morning, the Babies’ photo shoot on Tuesday afternoon, and a fundraising event at the The Blues Foundation on Wednesday night. In between all that, she still had her usual workload, including some promo visits to local radio stations and helping Travis oversee the plans to renovate the Snob Lounge.

She won’t be going back to Hawaii -- or anywhere -- anytime soon.

The Monday meetings went smoothly. Josie didn’t have Livie’s crazy enthusiasm for getting the genius of an artist to shine through, but she had a lot of patience and empathy, and after talking down a young man on the verge of crying like a baby because his nerves were getting to him, Livie sat back and let Josie handle the rest of the potential clients after that.

Liv was also impressed with the progress she achieved with the Bossy Babies. They came into the studio that afternoon, sang three songs without fussing with each other, and Livie took the best single and sent it over to KIX 106 to debut on their late-night new talent showcase. Josie and the Babies were delirious with their success so far, and Josie took the girls out that night to celebrate.

By Tuesday’s photo shoot at the Botanical Gardens, the Bossy Babies had received raving reviews and frequent requests to play their single more on the radio. Josie was nearly in tears when she read the critics’ review that morning. And her happiness multiplied when Livie hugged her tightly and said, “I knew you could do it!” Then her exhilaration spread when Travis smiled at her and said, “Good job, Princess.”

Princess.

To think...she used to despise that name. But after speaking with Hannah Saturday night, Josie thought about it, and she figured that if she couldn’t stop him from calling her that, then she’d just have to go with it. She had embraced her Princess...and this Princess was something new, something Travis might not understand, but a Princess she was, and had always been, only now, she knew to stop fighting it, how to deal with it...how a Princess should behave.

However, it wasn’t easy. Showing up for work that week and seeing Travis for the first time after that kiss… It was weird, she’d admit that, but she kept those strange feelings to herself, and Travis did the same. They worked together, just as they did that very first day...politely. And yet, Josie couldn’t help a little of the old Josie from coming out.  She’d repressed that part of herself for too long.  She laughed more, she played around more, and she enjoyed seeing everyone else happy with her.  Even Travis seemed to be in a good mood whenever she was around, and for that alone, she was never going back to being a stick-in-the-mud.

But on Wednesday, Livie called both Josie and Travis down to her office and told them that she wouldn’t be able to make the Blues Foundation event. “I want Travis to attend with you in my stead,” she said, pressing her hands together oddly and shifting her body back and forth, and her head twitching...and Josie frowned.