Orchids (Corey Taylor)

Chapter 3

"Are you alright?" He asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah, I'm all good. I guess I was just a little too focused." I say while trying to laugh it off.  

"I hate to keep bugging you, but I have another question for you."

"That's fine, it's what I'm here for."

"Are there any other unsigned musicians in this area that you happen to know of?"

"Quiet a few actually, there are surprisingly a lot of starving artists in Hollywood." I say only mildly joking. 

"Alright, well recently I've been going this club that has these ladies perform as cabaret singers. Have you ever heard of it?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I think I know where you're talking about. What about it?"

"Do you know if any of those ladies are signed to a record label yet?" He asked causing both Aalayah and I to stop dead in our tracks.

"I'm not exactly sure on that." I say slowly.

He nods, now clearly in deep though before saying, "Okay, thank you for your help Maddie."

He left right after that and Aalayah jetted over to me, gripping her hands into my arms, her words coming out in a rush as she spoke, "Maddie, what if the person he is wanting to get signed is you?"

Even though it seemed farfetched, the idea still made my heart start racing. "I-I don't know, what do you think I should do if it is?"

"Say yes obviously! It's time for you to get out of that godforsaken place, you've been there longer than anyone else."

"You know why I had to." I point out in a quiet tone. 

She gave me a sad smile, "I know, but that's all in the past now. The agreement was that you would stay until you found something better for you. News flash, this is that better thing."

I couldn't resist grinning at that. "I hope you're right about this."

"So do I."  

*** 

Later that night at Heat I was filled with nervous energy and I was actually looking forward to seeing Mr. Taylor in the audience. As I got ready for my performance Aalayah kept sending me side glances and sneaky little smiles, it was plain to see that she was giddy about this as well. Aalayah even went out of her way to spend extra time on my makeup instead of focusing on giving herself her usually highly detailed look that nearly made her look like a doll. 

On my way to the stage Mr. Walsh seemed to notice the difference. 

"Carmen dear, you look absolutely stunning. What's the occasion?" He questioned as he brushed the back of his hand against the silky fabric of my red dress. 

I did my best to remain casual as I shrugged, "I just decided to change it up a bit and see what comes of it."

That made him give me a wolfish grin and made me want to be sick as he remarked, "It's good to see that you're always trying to improve your business here. That's why I love having you around darling."

"And next to the stage is our fan favorite! Give it up for Carmen!" The announcer bellows over the speakers, thankfully queuing me to leave. 

I followed the claps and cheers into the backstage area and gracefully made my way onto the stage, quickly spotting Mr. Taylor among the faces. I sang my best to the song that was provided to me and the crowd was loving it. My whole performance I mentally prayed that this would solidify his decision to ask me to sign to the label he was assisting. Once the song was over several people stood to their feet as they clapped vigorously, one of those people being Mr. Taylor. 

When I left the stage I was surprised by how satisfied I felt with my performance. I felt so confident in it that I was nearly dancing around, but I quickly halted when Mr. Walsh came back into sight. 

"Wonderful sweetheart! Absolutely stunning as per usual!" He exclaims as he wraps his arm around my shoulders before lowering his voice to tell me, "In case you haven't noticed yet, Mr. Taylor is here yet again and I want you to know that if he doesn't stay for the later portion of our show, you don't have to worry about it."  

That instantly shocked me, since when was he alright with losing the money of someone of Mr. Taylor's status? I let my befuddlement be visible on my face as I asked, "Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you telling me this?"

"It's becoming clear to me that he's only here for half of what we provide in this establishment and I don't think you deserve to be punished for his poor choices."

I only nod in false understanding, knowing that couldn't possibly be his reasoning. There must be more to it than what he's telling me. Despite my suspicions, I made my way back to the dressing room as soon as Mr. Walsh turned away from me. The other girls were now noticing my out of character behavior, I was never this eager about the auction. 

"Is something going on?" Khloe asked as she slid on her barely there sheer black dress. 

"Madelyn has a date with destiny." Aalayah jokes as she sprits herself with some more perfume. 

Tiffany turned away from the mirror questioning, "Is Corey back?"

Crystal piped up, "Yeah, I finally saw him tonight. He's absolutely gorgeous."

The rest of the girls nodded in a agreement and I remained still, they didn't need to know what I thought of him anyway. 

"We're pretty sure that he's here to ask Maddie to sign on for the record label he's helping." Aalayah states smugly. 

That caused the entire room to burst with loud chatter, some of the girls were excitedly congratulating me and the others were asking if I could put in a good word for them too. There was a loud knock on the door, telling us all that it was almost time for the auction.

"Hurry up and get over here." Aalayah waves me over to sit beside her. 

While I let her do some tweaking to my appearance, I watched the focused expression on her face and the steady movements of her hand. That was the reason she had come out to California, to be a makeup artist for movies. Aalayah certainly had the skill, but she didn't have the connections this town seems to require. The need for money to live became greater than her dreams and she wound up sitting here in front of me because of it. 

I changed into a midnight blue dress as the names began to be called and Aalayah remained by the door for me to tag along with her. Even though she would never admit it, I knew that this part always scared her on the inside. We filed on stage as soon as soon as our alias' were announced. I nearly let the stunned emotion I felt show on my face as I saw Mr. Taylor in the crowd. Had Aalayah and I been wrong? 

I glanced in her direction to see that she had momentarily let her own confusion be visible. None the less the biding started and I saw that he didn't move an inch as the other men fought to win the girls in front of them. When I was the last person standing only Mr. Taylor and two other men remained. I was still so puzzled, why was he even sitting out there?

"Alright gentlemen, as some of you may know this is Carmen. She's twenty three years old..."

Lie, I'm twenty seven.

"About 5'3"..."

And I'm 5'5". Mr. Walsh was almost too talented in his lying. 

"So, shall we start the bidding? Do I hear $1,000?"

Hands instant shot up and soon one of the men dropped out, storming out of the club. Now only  Mr. Taylor and one other person remained. He still hadn't raised his hand once and now that it was down to two I waited with baited breath to see what he would do. 

"Are you two ready to continue?" Mr. Walsh questioned and when the bidding resumed I knew I shouldn't have been surprised to see Mr. Taylor finally lift his hand. 

I was so let down by the sight that I zoned out for the rest of the auction. That is until I heard, "Sold!"

And there beside me stood Mr. Taylor.