Meg
Jai walks me into my new recording studio from the parking lot. I'm still in disbelief about this—that I've actually been signed with a record contract. I see the Beatles' star on the sidewalk with many others before we step up to the tall, white cylindrical building of Capitol Records. I've honestly never known much about them before but I'm incredibly interested now. There's a security guard standing outside of the door. He sees Jai and me, smiles, and opens the door for us.
"Thank you," I tell him appreciatively smiling back.
"You're welcome, Miss," he grins.
We step in and it's very clean-looking inside. I still can't believe I'm here. The floor consists of large tan tiles. The walls are white containing their silver logo with the tower included along the upper section of the wall, several different logos are just underneath that. There are three shiny metal elevators beneath the logos with a front reception desk made of a curved wood, silver metal, and white laminate, I think.
The woman behind the desk greets me kindly. "Good afternoon. How may I help you?" she says.
"I'm Megan Wright. I have an appointment," I tell her.
"Oh, yes," she smiles happily. "You're meeting with the executives. Just a moment."
She calls someone on her desk phone and speaks quietly to them. I recall that the second name sounds familiar to me but I can't place where I've heard it since I've met so many new people recently. Someone comes out and escorts us upstairs in the elevator. We're taken several floors up. I observe that there are twelve listed on the elevator with some below ground. There's one more called E but not listed as thirteen—probably because it's considered bad luck, I would think. We're heading to that level.
The elevator doors opens up to a dark hallway with the Capitol Records emblem lit up on a neon sign in red and white lettering along the wall and two red leather chairs beneath it. We're taken down the hallway in the middle of the building. I notice that the structural design incorporates that circular curved shape frequently—embracing it. It's quite lovely.
Our escort knocks on what I'm certain is an office door. We're called in and we step inside to a vast office space with a desk and chairs along with a seated area as well resembling a comfortable living room. There's a light colored motif—white walls, light grey flooring, cream and beige furniture. The seating is modern, yet comfortable looking—very boxy in appearance with pillows to soften the space. There are white framed and matted images along the wall—very colorful in appearance. The artwork resembles either book covers or that of album covers but I'm unfamiliar with them. I notice that same curved wall on the exterior side covered in windows with shades and a beautiful view of the iconic Hollywood sign. I honestly hadn't noticed that on the way in and I'm finally realizing where I actually am.
The two somewhat casually dressed executives rise and greet us both. The man approaches me first and I recognize him from the Award Ceremony after party—Rueben Hoffman. He smiles and shakes my hand.
"It's good to see you again, Megan," he says.
I reply the same making eye contact and smiling back. I'm thinking that meeting him before may have had something to do with the offer and I thank him for the opportunity.
"You're welcome," he grins.
"Hi, I'm Pauline Savelli. I'm the Studio Manager of Capital Studios. It's nice to finally meet you, Megan," she tells me.
"It's wonderful to meet you as well. I truly appreciate the opportunity," I smile.
She grins in reply.
We sit down and talk for a few minutes. The woman who walked us in—Rachel—offers us something to drink. Jai declines since he has to go soon but I accept a water. They're both so incredibly nice and laid back. They discuss what I'll be doing here, what they're here to help me with.
Pauline offers to give both of us a tour before Jai has to leave for his interviews. We thank her and she shows us around. The E level we're on is for the executives of Capitol Music Group which is owned by Universal. There's also a meeting room on this level. The twelfth level is Virgin Record's offices, so levels of the building have other companies represented but they're all part of the Universal Music Group—UMG. She shows me which levels I should use. The fourth floor is a cafeteria so I'm welcome there as well. She takes us around to some of the levels, introducing me to various people in the offices, some are busy and we don't disturb them. There's the producers, distribution, songwriters, publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual departments. I see the five I met last night here and I greet them. She takes us down to the studios. We're shown the control rooms and recording rooms. There are three—Studio A, B, and C. I'll most likely be in B or one of the isolation booths. We walk into Studio A—often used for big bands. There's a Steinway piano in there. She tells us it's called the Nat King Cole piano for obvious reasons. She shows us the Frank Mic—used by Frank Sinatra.
"Is it odd that I love how you've restored the vintage pieces and are using them regularly?" I ask her.
"Oh, we're all lovers of all things vintage here," Pauline grins.
"I also noticed you're using analog and digital," I smile.
"We are," she laughs happily. She explains how they have a maintenance team on staff for quick, quality repairs.
"You should show her your ring," Jai nudges me.
"May I?" she asks.
"Of course," I nod lifting my left hand to show her my engagement ring.
"This is lovely," she says examining it. "Vintage rose gold, probably from the 1920s?"
"It is," Jai nods. "It was my great-gran's."
Her eyes soften at that. "It really is beautiful," she tells me.
"Thank you. I think so, too," I smile.
"I should probably get going, love," Jai says.
We take him back to the ground floor entrance. He kisses me gently and tells me to let him know when I'm done and he'll come get me. He tells me when his interviews are and I nod in understanding.
"Don't worry. We'll keep her busy until then," Pauline says shaking his hand.
He smiles and thanks her. He kisses my head and hugs me once more before leaving. We wave to him as he steps out the door.
"He's pretty sweet with you," Pauline grins pressing the call button for the elevator once more.
"He is," I agree laughing lightly.
"Come on. Let's go meet a few more people, talk, and get you ready," she says stepping back into the elevator. I follow.