We walked into the building and Mamma guided us through to one of the conference rooms. It was different from a lot of the conference rooms I'd seen on TV. The walls were painted an almost mustard colour with vinyl records hanging on the walls of bands with the label. There was a long wooden table against one wall with a TV above it and in the center was a large round table. Mamma directed us all to sit and pulled out her phone to text her boss's boss. Still crazy that we were meeting with someone so high up. I knew that wasn't usually who bands spoke to, usually it was the talent agents. I guess they really wanted us.
The door opened and an older blonde woman walked into the room dressed in a pair of magenta cigarette pants with a white blazer over top. She exuded style and confidence and I knew she was the one in charge. It definitely was not the stiff in a basic black suit behind her. "Hello, I'm Siobhan Doyle and this is my lawyer, Tyson Grey. It's lovely to meet all of you." We all quickly introduced ourselves and soon we were sitting around the table. She immediately turned to me with an intimidating gaze that I'm sure was supposed to frighten me. Too bad that shit never seemed to work on me. "Those videos of you singing are getting a lot of attention online but I noticed they were all covers. Do you write your own music?"
"Yes." I answered, "We were only playing covers because we were playing an impromptu show with Lenora. We've posted quite a few originals on our socials. I'm surprised you haven't seen them if you're wanting to meet with us."
I could see that she was flustered that I caught her not doing her due diligence. I gave her a smile and she looked down at the tablet in front of her. I noticed Mamma had hers out as well but I kept my eyes on Siobhan. "Do you have a demo I could listen to?" Mamma hooked her phone up to the Bluetooth in the room and soon my song was filling the room. I watched all of Siobhan's reactions but she didn't let much through. It wasn't until the song had finished that she said anything. "It's good. We might have to clean it up a bit for the mass market but it has good bones."
I tried not to roll my eyes as I leaned forward on the table. "The song stays as is. If you clean it up you're losing the essence of the song. It's about frustration with the way things work and when that frustration breeds anger. People will resonate with that song as it is. If you can't see that then maybe we need to talk to other labels."
Siobhan was silent but I could see the grin playing on Mamma's lips. I saw Siobhan's lips turn up as she looked at me. "Authenticity is what sells at the end of the day. Remember that." Her eyes carried humour to them and I realized that I had responded exactly how she wanted me to. Maybe she's not half bad. "We're proposing a four record, four tours contract. I would assume that you'd want to work with Olive as a producer but we have put in a stipulation that you can work with others. We also want Melody to appear on some other artists' songs to help get your name out. Given your family, we have reached out to Disaster's Calling as one option and Lenora Ashley has already agreed to work with you."
My eyebrows raised as she said Lenora's name. Lenora already agreed to work with me. Recording a song would mean spending a lot of time one on one with her. Fuck yes. Today was getting better by the second. Siobhan kept explaining different parts of the offers that I didn't really understand, but Uncle Andrew seemed to get it. Anise also chimed in from time to time. I didn't follow much until Uncle Andrew asked the big question. "Who owns the masters?"
This I understood, and I understood just how important it was that I retained the rights to my songs, to our songs. Siobhan seemed to understand, "We own the masters. It's industry standards."
I didn't like it. I really didn't like it. "We can't agree to that," I hopped in.
"It's going to be the same with any other label you go to. We are the ones who have the largest financial risk and we need to be able to make a profit."
I started to open my mouth to argue when Mamma jumped right in. "Oh, Siobhan. I almost forgot, but my contract seems to have expired." Everyone looked at her really unable to grasp why she thought now the time was right to say that. I sat back. If I knew my mother, it was that she had a plan.
"We can talk about that later." Siobhan said, "We have a bit more pressing matter at hand."
"Sorry, you must misunderstand me. You see, you're trying to take away my daughter's rights to own her own music. We are proposing a licensing deal and if you do not accept then both of us are off the table." I think everyone's eyes bugged out as Mamma laid down the law. I just smiled. She'd do anything for her family, including walking away from her dream job. "I should also mention that Disaster's Calling's contract is up at the end of the year and I don't think they'd want to renew the deal if they found out you were trying to mess with their niece."
Siobhan paled as she looked over at Tyson who just shrugged helplessly. We'd backed them into a corner and they knew it. "We can do a seven-year licensing deal."
"Three." Mamma countered.
Siobhan looked to Tyson who nodded. "Three years after the release date of each song."
We all shared a look and acknowledged that this was likely one of the best deals we were likely going to get. Andrew was the one who leaned forward, "We can agree to these terms. If you forward the finalized agreements to my office, I will look them over and we can talk about next steps."
"You drive a hard bargain but you've all impressed me." Siobhan sighed before she focused her attention on me. "I'll have the finalized versions of your contracts sent over to your manager. I have to go, but it was lovely meeting all of you. I hope you all decide to work with us in the future." She shook all of our hands and left the room with Tyson following after her.
I immediately pushed myself out of my chair and walked straight over to Mamma to give her a huge hug. "I can't believe you almost quit! What the fuck was that? You love your job!"
"I love you more." She answered. "But she'd never let us all walk away. Siobhan likes being difficult but she's good at what she does."
All my friends took turns giving her hugs and thanking her. I couldn't believe that we were getting signed. "Hey Dee, need a ride home?" Hillary asked. I quickly agreed and we all made our way out of the label with only Mamma staying behind since she actually worked there.
We all said our goodbyes in the parking lot, but it was Anise's smirk as she said her goodbye to me that stayed in my head. Who would have thought that a simple, "See you later Chickadee," would be so enticing? I think it was the fact that hardly anyone had ever called me anything but Melody or Dee. It was special when she called me Chickadee. Just like when my parents called me Monkey. It meant something.
"Um, Dee?" Hillary said which pulled me out of my thoughts. I hardly even remember getting into her sensible hatchback. We were just sitting in the parking lot without moving and she was staring at the wheel like it held the secrets of the universe. "Um, Will told me that you figured out that we were seeing each other. I just- I'm sorry we didn't tell you. I should have. Way before it ever got to this point. I should have told you the first night. My head was not in a good place back then. My parents were threatening to stop paying for school if I didn't do what they wanted. Premarital sex is not something they approve of so the fact that I lost my virginity to what I thought was just a hookup with my roommate's brother was nowhere near what they wanted. I thought that if I told you, you'd reject me just like my parents would, which I know is stupid but that's just the way my head works sometimes."
"Oh fuck Hillary." As soon as I saw those tears start to leak from her eyes, I was pulling her over the center console and hugging her close, "I'll never reject you. Ever. You're practically my sister, and fuck, if you and Will work out you'd be yet another sister. I'm sorry you felt you couldn't come to me, but as long as you don't mention anything about your sex life ever again, you can tell me anything you want."
She let out a teary laugh as she sat back up. "Would it help to know that I changed a lot of the details?"
"Halle-fucking-lujah! Best fucking news I've heard all week, and that includes the fact that we're getting signed! Jesus Christ on a cracker, we're so fucking good it's not even funny. Well, as long as you promise that you do love my brother as much as he loves you. Cause I do kinda have to protect the little sensitive bastard."
As she laughed, I could tell that her entire face lit up, "He told you he loved me?"
"Head over heels," I answered.
I don't think anything could have wiped that smile off her face as she started the car, "Good. Cause I'm pretty sure he's my soul mate." She started pulling out of the parking lot and turned to me, "I'm coming over for dinner Friday so Will and I can tell your family that we're dating. I think I'm going to ask him to move in with me after. Do you think he'll go for it? I know how much he likes being at home."
I put my head back and thought about it. I guess it makes sense that Will would be the first to move out of the nest. He was always the responsible one. "I think he'll say yes. You going to tell your parents that you're moving in with a guy before marriage?"
"Yep." She answered, "I've been talking to my therapist and I think I need to go no contact with them for a while. They've been fucking up my mental health for years and I need to be living my life for me, not them. Telling them that I'm going to quit my job to perform in a rock band with my queer best friend and moving in with my boyfriend I've been having premarital sex with is probably going to make it much easier."
I reached over and squeezed her hand. I know this was a long time coming, her parents could be fucking awful sometimes, but it was still sad to lose the people who raised you. "I'll be beside you every step of the way. Please bring Will and me with you if you're going to tell them in person. I want to be sure that you'll be safe."
She squeezed my hand, "I'm doing it over the phone."
"Well, guess you're officially a part of the Wilson family then. We've adopted you, on my authority, which means you are now obligated to attend embarrassing family dinners, parties, holidays, and whatever else my family deems important enough to invite the entire extended family too, which is literally everything." I said which made her laugh again. I was happy for my friend. She knew what she wanted in life and she was going for it. She wasn't letting anyone hold her back from who she wanted to be.
I just hoped I could do the same.