A Character's Big Pronouncements

There are a couple of instances in my manuscript in which the main character has to say something important. I struggle with these. During my writing session yesterday I reached the point where my MC confronts the A&R guy at her record label. She's going to communicate something important, and that's where I'm wavering over what she'll say.

I'd previously left off with MC being invited to an awards ceremony by her mentor, but chronologically there's other business to take care of, so she finally makes an appointment with the label's accounting office to work out an agreement to pay back her advance. (She's violated the terms of her contract and knows that payback is inevitable.) Occupying that same building, of course, is her A&R man. She'd tried setting up a time to meet with him and apologize, but he hung up on her. Still, she hasn't given up. So, she arrives for her accounting appointment two hours early, hoping to grab some time with him. Alas, his assistant states that he's attending a meeting offsite. Now she's got two hours to kill. She's too nervous to sit in the lobby, so she wanders outside...to pace. She does this for a bit before guess who drives up? At first, he is adamant that he won't speak to her, but as he's heading for the entrance he has second thoughts. He turns and gives her a brutal assessment of their professional history. In fact, he tells her to go back to her "little bar gig" so she can pretend to be a performer.

His words, or more accurately, his animus, leaves her devastated. She climbs into her car and sobs. When she finally thinks to check the time, she finds that her accounting appointment is nigh. She isn't about to blow it off, only to have to return another day. She needs to get it over with. So, red-eyed, she walks into the accounting office. Nothing ends up being settled. The accountant think it's a simple matter of writing out a check, except MC has no money. He also assumes she only owes a couple of thousand dollars, when it is, in fact, eight thousand. He tells her he'll need approval from his supervisor to set up a payment plan, but the supervisor is out for the day. So, defeated, she leaves.

Once outside, though, she can't get the A&R guy's words out of her mind. Impulsively, she heads back in and rides the elevator up to his floor, brushes past his assistant and bursts into his office. 

And this is where her "big speech" comes in. It has to be right. On the one hand, the label has abused and abased her, but the bottom line is, she voluntarily went off the grid and ignored the A&R guy's persistent phone calls. Regardless of what the label did, her actions brought about her current circumstance. So, she can't play the self-pity card. That doesn't mean she can't recount examples of things the label did to undermine her career. I think she'll limit it to two ~ one of them being the most egregious. Once her anger subsides, she'll need to acknowledge that the ultimate responsibility is hers, regardless. But she'll leave him with a final statement, which is what is tripping me up. "You said outside that I never wanted a career in music." I'm not sure what her response will be to that. It's true that she was ambiguous about signing with the label ~ the offer had come out of nowhere ~ but does she really want a career or doesn't she? It kind of makes a huge difference in the direction of the story. I honestly don't know the answer. I think she didn't want one, but she does now, now that it's too late.

Big pronouncements have impact, so choosing one is scary. Mess it up and the whole plot deflates. It's probably going to be an instinct thing. I'll have to climb inside the scene and write what comes naturally.   

It's so much easier writing the mundane parts...