Status: In progress
My Only One
None of that ‘sir’ stuff.
~Alex~
This was it. This was what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I walked into the building, Megan right next to me and the guys following close behind. I was really nervous. I didn’t really know what to expect walking in. I had hoped this day would come but now that it has I don’t know what to think. I felt like I was going to wake up and this would all be just a dream. Not just this but my whole life seems too good to be true. Yeah, I would like to change some things but I couldn’t really ask for anything more.
“Alex?” Megan was talking to me but I was so spaced out right now I couldn’t really focus on anything. “Huh? What? Sorry.” She turned me to face her and gave me a hug. “Are you ready?” She asked me for apparently the millionth time. I nodded. “I think so.” She gave me a look. “Are you sure?” I looked at her and shook my head. “No. I’m so nervous.”
“Don’t be. You’ll be fine. They’re going to love you.” I gave her one last kiss before we entered the door that said ‘Richard Locke.’ We walked in and there was a man sitting behind the desk typing on his computer. I’m guessing this was Richard. He was kind of tall, maybe around six foot three. He didn’t look as professional as he sounded on the phone. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a red, black and white plaid shirt and suspenders. I coughed and he looked up from his computer and gave us all a big smile as he stood up to come shake our hands.
“Hi, my name is Richard Locke. Which one of you is Alex?”
I looked at him and smiled. “That would be me.” He smiled and gave me a hug. “Hi Alex. It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard some of your recorded stuff and a lot of your live stuff. You have amazing talent.” He looked at Megan. “This must be Megan.” I nodded. “And what is her association with the band?” I looked at Jack, Rian and Zack and they all nodded. “We know that we need to find a manager but until we do, she’s our manager. When we find a real manager, she’s going to be a co-manager.” Megan gave me a look like she had no idea what was going on. “Well, that’s interesting. I’ve never heard of a band with two managers before. That’s a good idea.”
“Thank you, sir.” He shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder. “Call me Richard. None of that ‘sir’ stuff.” He turned to the other guys. “You must be the rest of the band. I know all your names but I just can’t place them with your faces.” He turned to Rian. “You’re Zack right?” Rian shook his head.
“I’m Rian, the drummer.” He pointed to Jack. “That’s Jack our lead guitarist and that’s Zack,” he said pointing to Zack, “and he plays bass.” Richard shook all of their hands once again. “Nice to meet you all. If you all want to sit down so we can talk?” I nodded and we all took a seat. “So,” Richard started, “I know you’re all very anxious about getting that contract signed but I assume you’re going to be getting a lawyer before anything like that happens?”
I was about to speak before Jack interrupted me. “Yes, si…Richard. My mom is a lawyer and she’s going to go over them before we sign anything.” Richard nodded. “Jack, right? Good, that’s good.” He turned to me. “About that manager stuff that you were talking about, we have a band here that just broke up and he’s looking for a new band. He’s a real good guy and he knows what he’s doing. His name’s Matt. Matt flyzik.” He and Megan have similar last names. Weird. “Yeah, that would be nice. If it’d be alright with you we’d like to meet him first.” Richard nodded. “Yes, that’s quite all right. I figured that’s what you would want. So…here’s the contract,” he said handing me a packet of papers, “and once you get it signed, I figured we could record your album one more time in a real studio and we can talk about a tour. I like to start off all the new bands with something, not anything big, but something to let them see if they like it or not. If they don’t think they can commit to it, they can quit early. That’s how it’ll work. Does that sound alright?”
Geez that was a lot of information. I don’t even know if I caught it all. Should I just say alright? Should I ask him to repeat it? I really have no idea what he just said. “Yes, that’s fine,” Megan said for me. Thank God she was here. I don’t know what I would do without her.
“Alright then it’s settled. Can I get your lawyer to look at it and have it back to me, signed, by Saturday?” I think it was my turned to answer. “Yes, that should be no problem. Thank you so much for this opportunity.” He shook his head. “No, thank you for being so talented. All of you. So, why don’t you give me a call by Saturday and let me know and I’ll try to set another meeting up for us next weekend. You are all still in school aren’t you?” I nodded.
“Only for a week more.”
“That’s great. I think I can get you on a tour starting…” He looked at his calendar. “June 15th to July 1. You need to start off small but we want you to be known in a couple of states before we release an album. Does that sound good?” I nodded. “Yes, we’ll make sure those days work for us. May we ask who the tour is with?”
“Oh no, no. That’s for another day. I have a meeting in a half an hour so make sure you call me by Saturday. Bye, All time low.” He practically dragged us out of the door and we said our goodbyes. “Wow,” Zack said. “Yeah,” Jack responded. “It was like…” Rian said. “Overwhelming?” I finished for him. He nodded. “That sounds about right. I don’t think Zack said one word the whole time though. What the hell, Zack? Speak up!” Zack shook his head. “You four did all the talking for me. I was pretty satisfied just listening and nodding my head.” We all laughed.
Megan looked up at me and gave me a kiss. I kissed her back but not for very long because we were standing in the middle of a very crowded parking lot. “Co-manager? That’s amazing. When did you decide this?” I smiled at her and wrapped her in my arms. “The day Richard called me. You’ve been so supportive and you knew exactly how to help us when we were going through our rough patches so it just seemed right, you know?” She smiled. “Thank you.” She whispered in my ear. “I really have got to get out of this place. Now that I have people I know I’ll be friends with forever, I don’t think I’d really mind the traveling.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Alex, can we go pick up the rest of my stuff from my house today?” I completely forgot that she still had stuff at her house. “Of course, baby. That’s fine. But I don’t want you coming with. You’re going to stay at Rian’s and Jack and I will go, okay? I don’t want to risk her getting you.”
She nodded, not wanting to get into an argument with me because we all know that I would win. I would never risk losing her. “I think I’m going to call my sister’s again today, can I use your phone?” She looked at me with pleading eyes. “Sure, sweetie.” I handed her my phone.
We dropped Megan, Rian and Zack off at the house and Jack and I drove to Megan’s house. We got in and out with no problems. When we got back though, no one was there.
~Megan~
~Right before Alex and Jack left~
“Hello?”
“Angela, it’s Megan. Can you do something for me?”
“Yes.”
“Have mommy take you two to the park alright? I want to see you. Don’t tell her I told you to ask her though okay? And tell her to hurry up and take you now. It’s really important. When you get there I want you to go to the top of the big, big hill.”
“Ok, bye.”
“Bye, Angela.”
This was it. This was what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I walked into the building, Megan right next to me and the guys following close behind. I was really nervous. I didn’t really know what to expect walking in. I had hoped this day would come but now that it has I don’t know what to think. I felt like I was going to wake up and this would all be just a dream. Not just this but my whole life seems too good to be true. Yeah, I would like to change some things but I couldn’t really ask for anything more.
“Alex?” Megan was talking to me but I was so spaced out right now I couldn’t really focus on anything. “Huh? What? Sorry.” She turned me to face her and gave me a hug. “Are you ready?” She asked me for apparently the millionth time. I nodded. “I think so.” She gave me a look. “Are you sure?” I looked at her and shook my head. “No. I’m so nervous.”
“Don’t be. You’ll be fine. They’re going to love you.” I gave her one last kiss before we entered the door that said ‘Richard Locke.’ We walked in and there was a man sitting behind the desk typing on his computer. I’m guessing this was Richard. He was kind of tall, maybe around six foot three. He didn’t look as professional as he sounded on the phone. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a red, black and white plaid shirt and suspenders. I coughed and he looked up from his computer and gave us all a big smile as he stood up to come shake our hands.
“Hi, my name is Richard Locke. Which one of you is Alex?”
I looked at him and smiled. “That would be me.” He smiled and gave me a hug. “Hi Alex. It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard some of your recorded stuff and a lot of your live stuff. You have amazing talent.” He looked at Megan. “This must be Megan.” I nodded. “And what is her association with the band?” I looked at Jack, Rian and Zack and they all nodded. “We know that we need to find a manager but until we do, she’s our manager. When we find a real manager, she’s going to be a co-manager.” Megan gave me a look like she had no idea what was going on. “Well, that’s interesting. I’ve never heard of a band with two managers before. That’s a good idea.”
“Thank you, sir.” He shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder. “Call me Richard. None of that ‘sir’ stuff.” He turned to the other guys. “You must be the rest of the band. I know all your names but I just can’t place them with your faces.” He turned to Rian. “You’re Zack right?” Rian shook his head.
“I’m Rian, the drummer.” He pointed to Jack. “That’s Jack our lead guitarist and that’s Zack,” he said pointing to Zack, “and he plays bass.” Richard shook all of their hands once again. “Nice to meet you all. If you all want to sit down so we can talk?” I nodded and we all took a seat. “So,” Richard started, “I know you’re all very anxious about getting that contract signed but I assume you’re going to be getting a lawyer before anything like that happens?”
I was about to speak before Jack interrupted me. “Yes, si…Richard. My mom is a lawyer and she’s going to go over them before we sign anything.” Richard nodded. “Jack, right? Good, that’s good.” He turned to me. “About that manager stuff that you were talking about, we have a band here that just broke up and he’s looking for a new band. He’s a real good guy and he knows what he’s doing. His name’s Matt. Matt flyzik.” He and Megan have similar last names. Weird. “Yeah, that would be nice. If it’d be alright with you we’d like to meet him first.” Richard nodded. “Yes, that’s quite all right. I figured that’s what you would want. So…here’s the contract,” he said handing me a packet of papers, “and once you get it signed, I figured we could record your album one more time in a real studio and we can talk about a tour. I like to start off all the new bands with something, not anything big, but something to let them see if they like it or not. If they don’t think they can commit to it, they can quit early. That’s how it’ll work. Does that sound alright?”
Geez that was a lot of information. I don’t even know if I caught it all. Should I just say alright? Should I ask him to repeat it? I really have no idea what he just said. “Yes, that’s fine,” Megan said for me. Thank God she was here. I don’t know what I would do without her.
“Alright then it’s settled. Can I get your lawyer to look at it and have it back to me, signed, by Saturday?” I think it was my turned to answer. “Yes, that should be no problem. Thank you so much for this opportunity.” He shook his head. “No, thank you for being so talented. All of you. So, why don’t you give me a call by Saturday and let me know and I’ll try to set another meeting up for us next weekend. You are all still in school aren’t you?” I nodded.
“Only for a week more.”
“That’s great. I think I can get you on a tour starting…” He looked at his calendar. “June 15th to July 1. You need to start off small but we want you to be known in a couple of states before we release an album. Does that sound good?” I nodded. “Yes, we’ll make sure those days work for us. May we ask who the tour is with?”
“Oh no, no. That’s for another day. I have a meeting in a half an hour so make sure you call me by Saturday. Bye, All time low.” He practically dragged us out of the door and we said our goodbyes. “Wow,” Zack said. “Yeah,” Jack responded. “It was like…” Rian said. “Overwhelming?” I finished for him. He nodded. “That sounds about right. I don’t think Zack said one word the whole time though. What the hell, Zack? Speak up!” Zack shook his head. “You four did all the talking for me. I was pretty satisfied just listening and nodding my head.” We all laughed.
Megan looked up at me and gave me a kiss. I kissed her back but not for very long because we were standing in the middle of a very crowded parking lot. “Co-manager? That’s amazing. When did you decide this?” I smiled at her and wrapped her in my arms. “The day Richard called me. You’ve been so supportive and you knew exactly how to help us when we were going through our rough patches so it just seemed right, you know?” She smiled. “Thank you.” She whispered in my ear. “I really have got to get out of this place. Now that I have people I know I’ll be friends with forever, I don’t think I’d really mind the traveling.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Alex, can we go pick up the rest of my stuff from my house today?” I completely forgot that she still had stuff at her house. “Of course, baby. That’s fine. But I don’t want you coming with. You’re going to stay at Rian’s and Jack and I will go, okay? I don’t want to risk her getting you.”
She nodded, not wanting to get into an argument with me because we all know that I would win. I would never risk losing her. “I think I’m going to call my sister’s again today, can I use your phone?” She looked at me with pleading eyes. “Sure, sweetie.” I handed her my phone.
We dropped Megan, Rian and Zack off at the house and Jack and I drove to Megan’s house. We got in and out with no problems. When we got back though, no one was there.
~Megan~
~Right before Alex and Jack left~
“Hello?”
“Angela, it’s Megan. Can you do something for me?”
“Yes.”
“Have mommy take you two to the park alright? I want to see you. Don’t tell her I told you to ask her though okay? And tell her to hurry up and take you now. It’s really important. When you get there I want you to go to the top of the big, big hill.”
“Ok, bye.”
“Bye, Angela.”