Aftershock Read Free

following her high school graduation evolved into a part-time job while she attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, she jumped at it. Janine, sarcastic as usual, belittled it as a waste of time in a profession for useless people.
     “I want to do this,” Sydney had insisted.
      “Fine, but not under my roof.”
    She took the woman at her word.
    Since she hoarded and pinched pennies, she had the money to rent a not-so-tiptop apartment with three other girls and had never looked back. Not a penthouse apartment, by any means, it still couldn’t have been better. Her new place put her outside Janine’s sphere of influence. Every day, like today, the conversation replayed in her mind. Was she scared? Damn straight. But determined to be a success and nothing would stop her.
    The head of the agency, Linc Forrester, gave her a full-time job as a college graduation present. Grunt work, she knew, but a chance to work up to a position as a recognized agent. And, thus, The Plan took shape. It consumed her every day, even as she tried hard to shut out Janine’s words. Words with a permanent place in her head.
      “You won’t amount to anything. Not in the business you’ve chosen. You’re too soft. The men will eat you alive. If that’s the only goal you have, then you might as well settle for marriage like your mother did. You won’t be good for much else.”
    Now, eight years later, on her own and away from Janine’s hateful attitude, she’d actually moved ahead with The Plan. She had her first independent assignment with Full Moon.
    Sort of.
    She’d have to coordinate with whoever handled the promo for Deep Blue River, but Lightnin’ belonged to her.
    And she had big, big, big ideas for them. And herself.
    The little girl who tried her best to please the angry, bitter woman still hidden in a dark corner of Sydney’s psyche. Maybe she’d never disappear. Her presence created a constant fear of failure. If Sydney wanted to succeed, she needed to get past the scared little girl to the woman she’d become. And she had. Almost. Still, she wondered what it would take to make that frightened child vanish forever.
    And prove herself to Janine, a woman she barely spoke to any more.
    Enough! You have business to take care of. Forget about Janine.
    And forget about Rick Trajean, in any manner except a professional one.
    But, oh lordy. Something fiery and emotional had blazed between them. What did she do with that?
    You ignore it.
    Yeah, right.
    Determined to ignore the effect the man had on her, she took a sip of her mocha, savoring the rich flavor.
    Then she opened her briefcase and took out the Lightnin’ folder. Even though she knew its contents by heart, she went over the information one more time. The next couple of weeks she’d hit the pavement to promote them, tempting reporters, bloggers, columnists, everyone out there with any connection to the music industry. Put Lightnin’ through their paces for their debut party, so to speak. To make it work, the band members—especially Rick—must acknowledge her authority and let her guide them. Forget about their groupies and starstruck, sappy females. Sydney held one position with them, businesswoman, and right now they were her business.
    She studied the outline in front of her and chomped at the bit to put the pieces of the plan in place. The media releases were set to go. Linc had given her plenty of information to create them. She’d already arranged the event to introduce the band. A week in advance she’d fax and e-mail them, follow some of the contacts up with personal phone calls. Many were familiar from her prior role as assistant to the senior agents. She hoped that relationship and Full Moon’s name would be enough to assure a good turnout. But you could never be sure, so follow up was important.
    Okay, so maybe her unannounced walk-in today had been a mistake. She knew other agents did it, but probably after they were already established with the