“Wayland and Ross had a meeting with me yesterday. They wanted to drop the band and sign me as a solo artist. I told them to fuck off,” I started, deciding to go with the truth as their eyes widened as they stared at me in shock, “and now I think we don’t have a label to go with, so I guess we’re unemployed.”
I sounded extremely nonchalant and I made a show of reaching for a piece of Shepherd’s pie and then taking a bite. None of the boys said a word for a good of five minutes until the fork that Carlos was holding clattered loudly against his plate. “You did what?”
Wiping my mouth, I met Carlos’ dark eyes. “I told Wayland and Ross to fuck off. We’re unemployed because of that, and oh, they also said something about owning the copyright of our music so I guess that means we can’t have any gigs, tours, or concerts or even sing any of our songs on the channel.”
Milo always said I had a knack for being so tactless and insensitive and I was aware Leo and Everett echoed the same sentiments. I didn’t see anything wrong with being direct. José slammed his fist against the glass table. “What the fuck, Julian?”
I closed my eyes and willed myself to stay calm because this was a reaction I anticipated. “Relax, guys, it’s not the end of the world.”
Dylan scoffed. “You just turned your back on our label, Julian. Hell, does Pete even know what you did?”
At the mention of our manager, I gritted my teeth. “We also don’t have a manager now because I’m firing him.”
“Will you stop calling the shots?” Carlos demanded, glaring at me. “You act so nonchalantly but you put our career on the line without even bothering to think of what we would feel, Julian!”
I let out a shaky breath and set down my fork and then brought my hands together as I regarded my bandmates. “Don’t make me the villain in this story because all I did was protect our band. Wayland and Ross wanted me to sign a solo career with them which meant dropping you guys and losing Born from Ashes.
“I put my whole heart into making sure that our band reaches height so don’t you dare tell me that I wasn’t bothered to think about the band when it was the only thing in my mind.” My voice sounded harsh and cold when the words left my mouth as I stood up and looked at the boys that made up Born from Ashes.
They seemed to sober down from their shock and anger. Dylan was the first one to fully recover. “But what now, Julian? We don’t have a label. You want to fire our manager. Where does that leave us?”
The bubbling anger within me simmered down when I heard the fear in Dylan’s question and I let out a shaky breath, flopping back down on my chair as I looked at them wearily. “I’ve been thinking of a game plan last night. I’m confident there would be other bands that are willing to sign us with them.”
I said this because I was certain that we were at the peak of our success. Even before this incident, I was aware that there had been labels contacting Pete, wanting him to breach the contract with W&R and have us sign with another company. The music industry wasn’t such a big community when you had the right connections and I knew it wouldn’t take long for word to get out.
“As for our songs, well, we can’t sing them anymore and I say that with a heavy heart,” my voice cracked as I said that. Most of our songs were ones I’d written and they were like my babies. I may have played it cool with Wayland and Ross when they told me that we didn’t have rights to it but it sincerely broke my heart.
“What then?” José asked quietly and he stared at me, waiting for me to say something that would ease our situation. All of them actually stared at me with the same hopeful eyes and I felt myself falter for a moment.
I licked my lips and looked at them with a small smile, the same way I had looked at them when I first suggested we start a YouTube channel because things weren’t going our way with labels at that time. “We make music the way we always do whether or not we have a label that’ll sign us or not.”
The doorbell echoed all over the house right after I said that and we all looked at each other until Carlos made a move to head to the door. “Babe!”
“Bonnie, now’s not really a good time,” Carlos began and I could still hear the slight edge in his voice as he tried to ask his girlfriend to leave because he wanted to be alone. Well, she didn’t really catch us at the best time.
“Babe, you see, I’m sort of not alone…” Bonnie said and her voice drowned out and another male voice came in.
“Hi. I’m Theo Coleman. By any chance, are the rest of your bandmates home? My boss would really like to meet with them.”
Curiously, I walked to where they were and hid behind a plant so they wouldn’t be able to see me. “Your boss? Look dude, I don’t know you and now’s not really a good time and even if the rest of the boys are here, I doubt they would want to meet you or your boss.”
Theo cleared his throat and pulled out a business card out of his pocket. I squinted my eyes but I didn’t have 20/20 vision so I couldn’t see. “I really hope you reconsider that thought.”
Carlos took the business card from his hand and then read it. “Finch Records?”
My heart soared when Carlos said that. I knew it. It wouldn’t take long for everyone else in the industry to know about what happened with our band and W&R. And here was one now, ready to offer us a deal.
I watched as someone seemed to walk up from behind Theo. She was wearing tall black heels yet she couldn’t even tower behind Theo and Bonnie. Her hair was tied in a high and tight ponytail and she was wearing a tailored suit and a plain black shirt tucked in her pants. Theo stepped aside so we could see her and I felt my mouth drop on the floor when I recognized her.
I could recognize those fiery brown eyes anywhere and I didn’t give a damn if she looked irresistible in that red lipstick. The sight of her still made my blood boil. “Audrey Finch of Finch Records, CEO, chairman, owner of the company. However, you want to see it, that’s me.”
Audrey Finch of Finch Records.
What. The. Fuck.
Carlos seemed to be in a daze as Audrey stood in front of him, flashing him a tight-lipped smile that barely reached her eyes. “Oh, I, umm, Carlos Alvarez and it’s an honor to meet you.”
He shook her hand and Audrey kept that fake smile plastered on her face. My eyes narrowed at the sight of her. Learning that she was the new CEO of Finch Company changed the entire thing for me. If she was to make an offer to us, there was no way she expected me to say yes knowing the relationship that we had with each other.
“Carlos,” her voice sounded rich and steady, confident because she knew exactly why she was here, “is the rest of your band home? There’s something I’d like to discuss with all of you. A business proposal.”
Carlos took a step aside and I knew that he was going to invite her in. I stepped out of my hiding place until they could see me. I noticed Theo seemed surprised when he saw me. “Sure. I’ll call everyone. You can wait for us in the living room Miss Finch-,”
I placed a hand on Carlos’ shoulder and stopped him mid-sentence. “No. She’s not coming in here, Carlos. Whatever business proposal you have, it’s a no Miss Finch. You can leave.”