chasing the dream, catching you

Chapter Two

I woke up at 6AM on Monday morning with my stomach in knots. My meeting was at 9AM. I swear I could have thrown up because I was so anxious. I really wanted to call Carter, but what was the point? I knew she was still in bed from the night before at work, so I just talked myself through it. I must have actually been crazy to think that I could actually do this, but I was here now, so I might as well have given it a shot. I mean, I technically already bad the job, this meeting was just getting used to it I guess.

At 8:20, I got in my car with my guitar and my journal and pulled out of the driveway. I didn't know how to get to the label building, so I put the address on Google maps and then put my ipod on shuffle. I sang my favorite songs the whole way there, and before I knew it, I was in a parking space in front of the building. I grabbed my bag and my guitar then walked in. When I walked in, I went to a woman at the front desk.

"Hi, My name is Callan Grey. I'm-". The lady cut me off.

"Our new songwriter!" She chirps. "Oh, Maddie is so excited to meet you. She's giving you the tour. One second". She got on the phone for about two seconds and then hung up. "My name is Rachel Jett. My husband owns the company. I hope you enjoy it here".

"Thank you. I hope so too" I say. I heard a door open behind us. I turn around and wanted to throw up again.

"Hi! I'm Maddie. It's so nice to meet you" Maddie says. I knew exactly who she was. Maddie Marlow from Maddie & Tae. Carter LOVED them.

"I'm Callan. It's nice to meet you too" I say.

"Well, I think Tae wanted to join us too if you don't mind. She's in the back" She says.

"That's totally fine" I say.

"Great. Let's go" She says. I follow her down a long hallway that had pictures of all the recording artists for the company. At the end of the hallways were a few doors. We went in the first one. "Tae, there's someone I want you to meet". Tae stood up and shook my hand.

"Hey, you're Callan? We're so excited you're here!" She says.

"I-I'm really happy too" I say. Everyone was completely different than from what I imagined. I was scared for nothing.

"Before we start the tour, you can leave all your stuff in here. And, I think there's a few more people that want to meet you" Maddie says. I put my guitar and bag on the floor.

"The RJ girls do" Tae says.

"Are they writing?" Maddie asks.

"No. Goofing off. They came in today just to meet Callan" Tae answered. Hearing that someone came into the studio just to meet me was crazy.

"Well, let's go" Maddie says. She and Tae walk out. I followed them. As we walked, they explained things to me. We got to a set of stairs and went up to the next level. When we went inside, three girls sat around a table.

"Our favorite Runaways!" Maddie says.

"There's someone we want you to meet" Tae says. All three of them stood up to shake my hands. I knew who they were. Runaway June. One of their songs was something Carter played for me to get over an ex. I admired them a lot. And Maddie & Tae too.

"Welcome to the team" The brunette says. "I'm Naomi. We're happy to have you with us".

"I'm Hannah. We're so excited to work with you!" She says.

"And I'm Jennifer. I think you'll enjoy it here a lot" She says.

"It's so nice to meet you all. My sister is going to die when I tell her" I say. They all laugh.

"Invite her down here one day, we'll all hang" Naomi says. Everyone was so funny and incredibly nice. I felt comfortable right away.

"Oh, she'll die when I tell her that too" I say. They all burst out laughing again.

"Well, Callan, I think there's only one more person here for you to meet until your meeting with James Jett" Maddie says.

"Alright" I say. All the girls in Runaway June sah goodbye to me before we left.  We walked into another room. Two guys sat at a table. When I realized who it was, My heart dropped.

"Hey, Boys. This is-". Maddie was cut off.

"Callan?" One of the boys asks. I stood there frozen in time. What are you supposed to do when then boy who broke your heart is miraculously sitting in front of you.

"Morgan?" I say. Morgan Wallen. He was my high school sweetheart. Things didnt end well with us. I hadn't seen him since I was eighteen.

"You two know each other?" Maddie asks. I look at her. I knew that tears were forming in my eyes.

"Excuse me" I half whisper before leaving. I found the bathroom and walked in. I took a deep breath and leaned against the sink. What on earth was happening? This was just my luck. I found a job with people that seemed awesome and now Morgan was there and I would have to leave. I couldn't be around him. I hated him. I wanted to just go home. Home meaning back to Sneedville.

The bathroom door opened up. Maddie and Tae both walked in.

"Hey, what happened?" Maddie asks.

"What was that all about?" Tae adds.

"I-I didn't know Morgan Wallen was signed here" I say.

"You know him?" Tae asks.

"It's...a long story" I say.

"We have some time" Maddie says. I sigh.

"Morgan and I...we grew up in the same town...Sneedville. He and I were high school sweethearts. We were together from fourteen to eighteen. He left me to go out to California. I haven't spoken to him or seen him since" I explain.  "He broke my heart". The two girls just looked at each other. "I can't believe he's here".

"You didn't know he was at this label?" Tae asks. I shake my head.

"If I did, there's no way I would have accepted the job" I say.

"Callan, there's something you should know about Morgan" Maddie says. Tae looks over at her.

"What?" I ask.

"He...He's dating Hannah" Maddie stammers. "They've been together about a year and a half. She helped him get signed here". Talk about my heart breaking again.

"I-I don't even know what to say" I said running my fingers through my hair.

"We're sorry" Tae says.

"No. No, don't be. Uh, just promise me one thing" I say.

"Anything" Maddie says.

"Please don't tell Hannah" I say. They nod. I didn't want her to feel weird about it.

"We won't" Tae says.

"We promise" Maddie adds. I nod. It was quiet, but that changed when there was a knock at the door. A few seconds later, I was taken back to being sixteen when I saw two baby blue eyes looking at me.

"Uh, can I come in?" Morgan asks. Maddie and Tae look at me. I nod and they leave the room.  Morgan walked closer to me. "All those years I was chasing you only to have you and I end up the same place". 

"You can't say things like that to me. There is no chase. I'm going home. This isn't the life I should be living". I push past him and walk out the door. This could not have been happening.