In my peripheral view, I could see the shock spread across Carlos’ face when I blatantly rejected Audrey Finch. “Julian…”
But my gaze remained fixed on Audrey, waiting for her to move and leave. Instead, she let out a scoff and then fixed me with a glare. “I think you know why I’m here, Julian, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to ask me to leave.”
“I think it’s the best idea I’ve had all day.”
Just as Audrey was about to retaliate, José and Dylan appeared. “What’s going on here?”
Audrey fixed her attention on the two of them and introduced herself. “Hello, I’m Audrey Finch from Finch Records. I’m here to discuss a proposition for your band.”
“Dude, when you said that there would be companies lining up for us, I didn’t expect it to happen so soon!” Dylan’s excitement was palpable and whatever he felt earlier seemed to have disappeared in an instant.
I pursed my lips as Audrey smiled triumphantly. “There would be other companies wanting to make an offer with us. We can reject this one.”
Dylan looked confused but José looked like he was trying to figure out who Audrey was. He turned to me and then back at Audrey. “I think I want to hear what she wants from us.”
There was no denying that José figured out who she was but she had allowed herself to come inside by stepping forward and Dylan pulling me along with them despite my protests. Audrey grinned triumphantly and walked inside, the guy following closely behind her while Bonnie disappeared somewhere in the house.
Audrey stopped in the living room and then held out her hand as the guy handed her some documents and a pen. “I heard about what happened between you and W&R and I’m here to be your band’s saving grace. W&R only wanted to sign Julian with them but here I am, wanting to sign your band as a whole.”
She said it so simply, without any conditions or preambles and she looked at us, expecting us to take the pen and sign the papers that easily. “Did you honestly think that you could just come in here and tell us that and expect us to sign with you in a heartbeat?”
“Julian,” Carlos said my name with a harsh warning but I didn’t heed it.
Audrey scoffed and crossed her arms. “Are you honestly letting an opportunity pass you by? I’m already here, Mr. Hudson, and offering you a deal that your previous label did not. Did it not even occur to you that the other labels might do the same thing as your previous one did?”
I cocked my head to the side, crossing my arms against my chest too. “Won’t you?”
She moved her head to the side and rolled her eyes. “Our company clearly stated that we wanted your band, Born from Ashes. We want your band as a whole and we can even sign an agreement that we will never ask to have Julian Hudson signed with us as a solo artist if that’s enough to keep you guys at peace.”
My eyes narrowed as I stared at Audrey. Granted, she was in the music industry and word could travel fast but it hadn’t even been 24 hours yet. She came in here with a contract already done, expecting that she could sign us in a heartbeat without even having many discussions.
There was simply something that wasn’t right about this whole situation because it was too good to be true.
Before I could ask her what her agenda was, my phone began to ring and the ringtone echoed throughout the living room, the number was unknown and I held up a finger and excused myself from everyone.
“Hello?”
“Julian Hudson?” The voice sounded muffled and I had to step out to hear them better.
“Yes, this is he.”
“Mr. Hudson, this is Olivia Harvey from Little Lights Entertainment. We were hoping to schedule a meeting with you to discuss a proposition we wanted to make with your band.”
I swear I could hear the angels rejoicing as I listened in to what Olivia had to say and I gave her my email address so she could properly send me an email regarding this meeting her company wanted to make with us. The self-satisfactory smirk made its way on my lips as I sauntered back inside, even more confident to turn down Audrey Finch and her company.
All eyes were on me when I came back in and it was only then that I realized I left three members with Audrey to discuss with. My eyes narrowed slightly but I continued to walk with confidence. In the end, my decision was what mattered.
“Little Lights Entertainment called,” I said, my voice oozing with silky confidence as I watched Audrey falter ever so slightly at the name of the record label, “and said they wanted to meet with us. I think they’re going to make their own proposal for Born from Ashes.”
I turned to look at my bandmates, grinning. “I told you guys that it wouldn’t be too hard for us. I’m fairly certain that if we don’t sign with anyone just yet, there would be more labels lining up for us and all we get to do is choose who we sign with.”
I expected the three guys to cheer with me but instead, they glanced at each other wearily and pulled me aside, away from hearing distance with Audrey. Carlos cleared his throat. “We were wondering if you would want to reconsider Finch Records.”
“What?” I whispered, staring at them in disbelief. “Did that girl get into your heads? Jesus, guys, they’re not the only company who offered-,”
“But they were the first,” Dylan interjected, looking at me with slightly pleading eyes. “Look, it’s still your call, Julian. We want to make music and we want to make music as a band with or without signing with a record label.”
There was more to Dylan’s words and I waited for it. José was the one who piped in. “I hope you took note of ‘as a band’.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “Guys, I rejected W&R because they wanted to sign me solo. You know I will never leave you guys.”
Carlos nodded in agreement. “We do but that doesn’t mean that other labels won’t make the same offer.”
“And what makes you think that Audrey won’t?”
“She hates you,” José answered simply and glanced aback at Audrey, “and for now, her offer is the best bet we have on producing music professionally. You don’t have to decide now. We can decide when we have more options-,”
“Please just sign with us,” Audrey’s voice sliced through our conversation, we turned to face her. She had listened in on our conversation and I was surprised to see the pleading in her eyes, “I’ll do anything you want to make you guys consider us more than the other labels.”
I regarded Audrey carefully and took note of the slight desperation in her tone that she had tried to hide. The guy moved behind her, like a shadow as she took a cautious step back as I approached. “You hate me. You’d rather dig my grave for me than stand in the same room and breathe the same air and yet you’re here with your offer and seemingly desperate to have us sign. Why?”
Stopping right in front of her, I could see the agitation on her face and I knew I was pressing at the right buttons. The confidence she had when she walked in earlier was gone now. “What do you want, Julian?”
Maybe old habits die hard or maybe there was a part of me that sought for revenge for how she easily threw me out of the hospital that time. My eyes flickered to the guy behind her and I smirked. “An assistant. I want an assistant for a month and then maybe I’ll reconsider that proposal you had. And I want it to be you. If you’re capable of pulling it off for a month, then we’ll sign with you.”