Ravensong by ML Hamilton Page B

smile at the men around the table. Elliot
returned the smile two-fold and Joshua glared at him. Elliot
shrugged his shoulders in question, but Joshua merely shook his
head in disgust and returned to scribbling.
    “ The concept I wanted to
portray for this album was simplicity...” she began.
    “ Just show it to us,”
snapped Julian. “For Christ sake, we don’t have all
day.”
    Joshua studied Julian with contempt,
then glanced at Elena. She was so nervous she didn’t respond for a
moment, her eyes falling on Joshua’s scribbling.
    “ Take the cover off it,”
drawled Julian.
    “ All right,” muttered David
under his breath, but Elena quickly revealed her rendition with a
shaken hand.
    Immediately Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s it.”
    “ Well,” said Elena quickly,
“I wanted to make it understated...”
    “ Understated, my ass.
That’s a whole lot of nothing, sweetheart.”
    Joshua could see Elena’s confidence
crumbling. He looked at David, willing the man to say something -
anything. David glanced between Joshua and the cover, his look
obviously uncertain.
    “ It is a bit
understated...”
    Before Joshua could think better of
it, he was on his feet and coming to Elena’s rescue. “That’s the
idea,” he said, pointing to the cover and winking encouragement at
Elena. “Some of the hottest albums sold had nearly bare covers. I
think the white background, the black lettering, the slant to the
title, along with the simplicity of the picture is provocative. It
says that we’re confident in our ability. We don’t have to jump out
at the public with a glaring cover, our music speaks for
itself.”
    David considered his words carefully,
but Julian sat back in his chair and laughed. “Really, I don’t
believe...”
    “ Wait a moment,” said
David, rising to his feet and crossing around the table. He studied
Elena’s brain-child more closely. “It does attract attention just
by its simplicity.”
    “ I think we’ve been in the
business long enough to do away with gimmicks,” said Robert,
staring at the cover with a tilted head. “I like it.”
    “ So do I,” ventured Michael
timidly.
    Joshua smiled at the drummer,
surprised he’d extended himself on Elena’s behalf. Usually Michael
was so quiet and shy, no one knew he was in the room. Ralph
continued to chew on his gum and nodded his head. Elliot’s eyes
danced between Elena and Joshua.
    “ It’s unique, David,” he
said. “How many covers do you see that don’t have some ridiculous
gimmick? That cover is in your face. Here we are, take us or leave
us.”
    Elena’s eyes were huge, searching
David’s face intently.
    David looked up at her and smiled. “I
like it too,” he said and Elena released her pent up breath in a
sigh.
    “ All right,” said Elliot,
giving Ralph a high five. Both Michael and Robert seemed
pleased.
    Elena’s eyes shifted to Joshua’s face.
Joshua smiled despite his earlier anger toward her. “Thank you,”
she mouthed and he nodded, returning to his chair and his idle
scribbling.
    * * *
    Elena hurried down the hall, the
bundle of loose papers and folders in her arms. Struggling to clasp
them in one hand, she pushed open the door of Ravensong’s office
and smiled at his secretary. The woman was middle aged with light
brown hair cut short about her round face. She blinked
questioningly at Elena with her brown eyes.
    “ Is he in?” Elena asked,
nodding toward the inner door, which was also closed.
    The secretary nodded. “I’ll buzz him.”
She pushed the intercom button and spoke close to it. “You have a
visitor, Chief.”
    “ Tell whoever it is to make
it brief ‘cause I’m outta here in five. My daughter’s waiting on
me,” he snarled.
    The secretary flashed a patient smile
at Elena. “He’s been in one hell of a mood today,” she said,
releasing the button. Elena grimaced, knowing the reason for his
mood. The secretary compressed the intercom again. “It’s the new
Assistant Manager,