Leaving All I've Ever Known (Camren)

7. Contract

"So that's the disclosure agreement dealt with. I assume you've all looked at the expressed and implied terms? Various partnerships with the producers, associates, lawyers are all included in form 1b. Please all sign this confidentiality agreement on the dotted line."

I look at Roger who curtly nods at me to sign the agreement the judge gave to us. I do so along with the 4 other girls sitting around the conference table.

"The last document left to sign is the full contract. Any breach in the contract will have the following consequences listed in form 6a. Managers and agents will receive similar penalties for breaches. So if we've all come to a collective agreement on the conditions in the contract, you're free to sign it."

It turns out all 5 of us said yes to performing together again and are now sorting out the legal work in this fancy executive office in LA before we go to our hotel and rest for our first day of rehearsals tomorrow.
Around us sit our lawyers, managers and a judge who's in the process of finalising our contracts - Ohh, and Clara too. Lauren doesn't have a manager and she didn't want a lawyer. I think her mothers here more for moral support.

"If you have any concerns or misrepresentations you're concerned with, I advise you to bring them to light. We will take all points into consideration."

I look around the circular desk, having already signed my contract that Roger, my lawyer and I previously discussed, to see the other girls double checking the paperwork - I'm sure they're being extra mindful to not get screwed over like we were last time.

Even if it's expected since we're performing in the Grammy's, performances like these involve a lot more time, organisation and legal documents. It's not your average set of circumstances, especially with us.

"Umm, I have one issue."

All eyes in the room dart to Lauren.

"Form 3e, 'All holders having previously been managed solely 2 years prior to the partition, qualify for the extra compensation derived from the calculated sum the holder has lost. In a state where to total cannot be calculated, instead, the holder is awarded twofold in benefits'."

She may as well have spoke in Latin, because I didn't understand a word of what Lauren read out. By the looks of it, the 3 other girls are just as confused as I am.

Dinah nervously chuckles and shakes her head. "You're gonna have to start explaining, I didn't get a damn thing you just said."

"This contract states Camila will be getting double what they're paying us."

The judge, lawyers, managers, basically everyone in the room flips to the page Lauren read from. I see the old men in suits, rubbing their chins, just as astounded as anyone would be that they couldn't find the mistake a 22 year old college student found.

I'm shocked by something else. I never anticipated nor expected to receive double the money the girls were getting. How could this mistake slip by?

"You never told me I'd be getting extra money because I left the group earlier!" I whisper my words, but make sure that Roger knows I'm not exactly happy that signing the contract would stab my friends behind their backs, without actually knowing I'd be doing so.

"That detail went unnoticed by me Camila."

The reason I wanted him as my full-time manager in the first place was because he usually made no mistakes. But I guess this one really did get overlooked by him and every other lawyer and manager in the room.

"That basically translates to special treatment, correct?" Lauren's question is meant for the judge, but she instead stares at Roger. I notice it. When will she let the unjustified beef between them go?