“Ben, Blake,” he continued, “I want you to meet your agent, Lionel Bradley.” He looked at me hesitantly, knowing I still hated when any part of my life was decided for me and not discussed with me.
I was stunned to know our agent already. Not by face, mind you, but by notoriety. He already represented quite a few renowned bands and singers in the music industry. He was known as the agent with the Midas touch. Everyone he represented became ‘gold’.
I pasted on a smile for now, knowing now was not the time and the place to discuss this. Plus, it didn’t help that this had been the guys’ dream for years now and if I were to cause a scene right now, it would more than likely hinder them. If I wanted to say something or leave the band I should have left weeks ago.
I had noticed our growing notoriety. I knew the guys had become almost famous overnight. Playing football had made them popular, but our music had made them famous. We had a following of local public high schools and private schools from a lot of the surrounding cities now coming to see us almost every week. This was the natural progression of the road we had been on.
“It’s great meeting you guys,” Lionel shook our hands. “Will sent me some of your videos and I checked out your YouTube videos and Facebook. I’m really excited to represent you, if you’ll have me,” he looked at me pointedly.
All I coul
d do was shrug and nod. “Thanks, it’s nice meeting you too.”
It was too late. I was already on the ride. We were strapped in and there was no going back. Was this what I had wanted to do with my life? I guess I had no choice now.
“We have a lot to discuss on Monday, but for now I would like to help you get this photoshoot done, create an image for now. Tomorrow, I’ll be in the studio with you guys and helping you decide what tracks should be made and we can discuss the nitty gritty parts on Monday.” Lionel said excitedly. I could tell he had energy that would rival Jemmy’s and that was an impressive feat.
“What kind of contract will they be getting, what is your cut?” Taylor’s mom, Adrienne, asked.
Adrienne was a high-powered attorney that lived in New York City. I liked her, even if she came across as overbearing and a bit intrusive at times. Taylor was her only child and despite her love for her career, there was no doubt she loved her son.
Lionel gave her an indulgent smile. “We can discuss this on Monday, but technically at eighteen, Taylor is legally able to make these decisions.”
“He’s still in high school and as his mother and lawyer, I will be there,” Adrienne said bitingly.
“My lawyer will be there as well,” Dwight, Ben’s dad, stated. He owned quite a few McDonald’s in the surrounding area.
“I would like to be there,” Mike’s mom, Hillary, said. She was an investment broker and had sent her son to Knightstown for convenience when he was five. His father had been gifted and suggested this school to his mother before he passed and to this day she had no clue her son was gifted. He was only a four, but he was still gifted.
“Me too,” Shasta, Rick’s mom, insisted. Her and her husband were renowned surgeons (healers), and it was clear who wore the ‘pants’ in the family. Kirk, Rick’s dad, was seated on one of the couches, blissfully unaware of his surroundings, eating some of the appetizers and playing on his phone. After years of being married to Shasta, he let her do all the talking and decision making. Shasta was clearly the “Alpha” as Rick laughingly called her.
It was clear that Lionel was used to parents like this as he said, “Lawyers and parents are more than welcome at the meeting. Eight o’clock Monday morning at my office,” he handed them business cards and Dwight, Hillary, and Shasta quickly took them.
I trusted Will, so I knew he wouldn’t have hired anyone for us that he didn’t feel would represent us the best. It was funny how their parents had no interest in their music before, but now that they knew how good we were, they wanted to become involved. They all told me how their parents had lectured them or acted like music had been a passing whim for them before. Now we heard from one of their parents almost every day this past week.
They wanted to make suggestions on their clothing, on their hair, on everything. They even went so far as to try to tell me how I should dress and look. The moms, mostly, felt the need to ‘help’ me because I was the poor orphan girl.
“Where have you been?” Jemmy came running out of one of the rooms and dragged me towards it. “We need to get you in hair and makeup,” she pushed me towards the room she had just come out of. The room that was hers, here at Remy’s.
I gave the group a halfhearted ‘see you later’, thankful to escape that craziness. Lionel must have a lot of patience, because I couldn’t imagine handling overbearing parents. From his portfolio, I knew he represented a few minors. Even though I was technically the only minor in our band.
I stopped in wonder when I entered the room. Garment racks on wheels were now lining the wall, filled with clothing. Shoes in assorted styles and colors were stacked on the bed. Temporary dressing room vanities had been erected. Three women were buzzing around a roller case full of makeup, a roller cart of hair products, and the garment racks. It looked like a department store had thrown up in here!
“Yay, you’re here. I’m Gerry,” a petite, extremely fragile looking girl lifted her head from the hair stylist cart.
“Here,” the tall, slightly rounded woman near the garment racks came towards me with a silk robe extended from her hand. “I’m Bee,” she introduced herself. “I need you to take a quick shower and put this on.”
“I’m Mel,” the girl with flawless makeup stated. “Can you make sure you remove all your makeup too?”
“Go now,” Rachel barked at me from the bed, where she was busily trying on the shoes, and taking pictures with her phone.
I blinked slowly in shock and went to do their bidding. It was going to be a long day.
I finally exited the room after the girls had completed the finishing touches on my ‘look’. With the help of Lionel, they finally decided on the three outfits I was going to wear for the photoshoot. Since my hair and makeup took longer, the guys had already started doing some of their individual photos.
The whole time I had been getting dolled up, I knew better than to argue with anyone. Heck, Rachel and Jemmy had a bigger say than I had. They had stayed in the room with me the whole time and took pics of me throughout the process to post to the band’s Instagram and Facebook pages later. When had my loner, blending in, existence, turned into this? I kind of missed my old life. Well, other than my feeling of safety, eating (I liked eating when and how much I wanted to), and I really cared for my boys. Jemmy was okay. So was Rachel. Okay, maybe I liked this new life. I just wished for solitude every now and then.
My makeup was ‘smoky’ and applied heavier than normal so it could appear better on camera. Mel had even applied fake eyelashes on me.