𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗
' 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟑, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟑 '
Death Row Records ━━━━
𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑
Los Angeles, California .ᐟ
❛ HI, I'M YOUR MANAGER. ❜
In the blink of an eye, Toni's life changed from her watching time go on as she spent hours with books between her eyes and classes that taught everything a person wanted to know to become a nurse and her parents disapproving of her actions for her to be sitting right now in a highly important meeting regarding her career.
So far 85% percent of the album was completed which was crazy because she just started. They just had to finish record a couple of songs and other than that they were soon to be finished. When you have a team that drives you to do better you can accomplish anything within a second.
Coi who managed to find a Versace male suit from the archives revamped it into something Toni might like and in the end, she did. It was a honey brown color that complimented her skin greatly plus her bone straight ombré highlight brown and honey hair extensions made the look complete.
The meeting was just about her brand and what she wanted as an artist. Toni was adamant about what she wanted and wanted to create music that came from her, music that spoke to her, and music that would speak to her future fans. She didn't want to be portrayed as something she's not and will be damned if the media tries to make her that way.
As she left the meeting, she was in fairly good spirits (despite being tired from spending her early mornings and nights in the studio) and managed to crack a smile now and then but what she wanted to do was at least get two hours of sleep.
A car was already waiting for her but when she entered it she wasn't expecting an unlikely person to follow behind her.
"Hi Toni, I'm Megan Martinez from earlier." A woman with bright blue eyes and blonde hair entered the car with a bright smile. The all-dark attire only made her eyes pop as she sat across from the woman. Occasionally she would tuck a couple strands that refused to stay in her updo bun.
Toni smiled back at her "It's nice to meet you again Megan." She decided to get herself a manager since it was the smartest thing because she honestly needed someone to look over and handle all the things she couldn't do due to being so busy. After looking through various resumes, some looking sketchy while others looking questionable she finally stopped at Megan's and found her credentials to be very impressive.
"As your manager, I'll make sure that you're being prioritized. If there's anything that'll make you uncomfortable in any sort of way, just let me know and I'll stop everything."
"So." Megan went straight to business pulling out a large planner. Putting on her glasses, she proceeds to flip through various pages before stopping at one. Running a finger down, she tapped on one before looking up "Okay so for the next couple of months you're going to be busy." She made sure to put a great emphasis on the word busy "First things first the album, the album has to be finished before the 20th because I'm sure you've heard during the meeting that it's the deadline and after that, you'll have the photoshoots, then you're going to be performing at the New Years Eve celebration at the Hanger in a couple of weeks so there's gonna be a lot of celebrities and people of interest there. Maybe also filming a music video because the goal is for your first single to be out when January comes. You also have to record a song for the upcoming movie Above The Rim that's set to come out next year in New York. Throughout February and March, there's gonna be interviews and performances and you're also gonna have the chance to have an interview with Abbie Kearse for MTV News. Then in April there's gonna be the first annual Source Awards, and I've managed to get a slot for you to perform since it'll bring great exposure. It's not until May you're gonna have a little bit of a breather and then it's back to work."
Megan then flipped the page as she continued to look over her notes "There's also fittings for what you're gonna wear and meetings with the designers for the music video we are trying to plan."
Megan gave Toni a few minutes to process all that she just said since it could be overwhelming to some. Toni simply sat back as her mind took all that she said in "Wow it's...a lot...but I can handle it."
Things didn't come easy, you either have to work hard for it to get what you want or take the easy way, the dangerous way.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to become too overwhelmed?" Megan let out a sigh, a manicured finger reaching up to push back her glasses "I'm doing all I can to ensure that you are secured and I will do whatever it takes even if it might cost me my job."
"No, no, no it's good. I'm just glad that I could somebody who I feel can help my career." Toni assures with a smile.
One thing about Megan is that she was serious about her business, very serious, and would go to lengthy reasons to ensure the artist she's working for safety is in the right place "We also need to get you a lawyer to go over your contract, just in case everything's in order and I'm going to check and see the contract regarding your masters... soon."
She knew how the business was, she had seen how artists' careers came and went. She's seen how they'd lose millions just by fighting to get their masters back and simply their rights.
"My masters?" Toni repeated. She hadn't thought of that during the signing process. The only thing on her mind was making music.
"Yes, your masters. It's better to own them yourself instead of fighting for it—but not to worry I'll have it all situated." She assures her boss making sure that she wouldn't stress over anything.
"Okay, that's good." As they neared Toni's place, they continued to discuss terms regarding her career and creative control. Toni was a person who liked control and as much as she took the advice of her peers her, she wanted to create her noise and own sound.
Once the car stopped at the entrance of her penthouse, Toni soon exits the car "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, later Megan."
Closing the door behind her, her lips bared a bright smile before it slowly dimmed once her eyes landed on the person who sat on her steps "M-Michel'le? Oh my god who did this to you."
Rushing over to the older woman, she cupped her face only to gasp when noticing the small cuts and slight bruising around her lip area. From a distance the bruising didn't look bad but up close she could tell that the blue and purple pigment around the bruised skin was hurting. Michel'le however remained silent which told her everything she needed to know.
"How did you get here?"
"I-I walked...plus I asked around. You're just the only person I knew that wouldn't judge me."
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Helping her off the steps, she brought her into her place. Toni could hear her quietly wincing in pain and made sure to be a gentle as possible. Unlocking the front door, she closed it behind her and made her way to the bathroom.
Sitting her down on the toilet, Toni looked at her "I-I'll be back in a minute." Taking a left turn she heads into the kitchen and grabs an ice pack from the freezer.
Her mind immediately raced with various questions the main one being who did this to her? And why would they do it.
Heading back into the kitchen, she finds Michel'le staring into space. Breaking her train of thought by handing her the ice pack, she immediately places it on her side.
"Does Dre know that you're here." She questioned, gently. She didn't say anything yet only shrugging "N-no he doesn't...and Marcel's with my mom's so you don't have to worry about him."
Nodding, Toni simply sat across from her eye level and proceeded to grab a warm rag and clean her wounds. It was silent between the two and neither know what to say, only the frequent sound of water droplets and quiet wincing from pain.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Michel'le couldn't help but break the silence of the room and ask the one question she has been pondering ever since she first arrived there.
"What do you mean?" Toni stopped her movements, allowing herself to look at Michel'le directly in her eyes.
"I treated you like shit from the moment we met and judged you without even knowing you and yet here you are cleaning my wounds." Her voice cracked at the end, her eyes averting it's gaze to the wall.
With sad eyes, Toni stared at her, unable to imagine the hardships Michel'le was experiencing, but before she could even dare jump to conclusions, she simply showed her some empathy and compassion until she decided to open up to me "Michelle, I know that we might have not seen eye to eye in the beginning, but there's always room for change and you deserve it."
Perhaps it was just a simple gesture of kindness, but that unknowingly led to the establishment of a long-lasting friendship that will last for many years.
authors note
Another chapter here. So I'm
sure most of you guys know about
Dre's history of being abusive to women
specifically the women's he's had
relationships with especially Michel'le
whom I feel isn't talked much about.
No matter how good of a producer/writer he is Dre's still ain't shit of a man and it's time people hold him accountable for his actions.