I have no idea how the music
business works I just based my
knowledge on old movies pls just
enjoy it's a fic hshs ok read
T E N
Pulling you in like you're gonna start kissing
Fooling around until you've lost all feeling
ELLA HAD TO JUMP TO GET TO THE KITCHEN. It was almost like a game of Floor is Lava since the floor was filled with presents.
All for Sunset Curve.
It's been a week since the performance and labels don't waste time.
"My clients would let you know if they decide... we have a lot of other offers! Ok... mhm... mhm... ok, bye bye..." Peyton hung up the landline before moaning in pain as she tiredly landed her head on the kitchen table, closing her eyes.
"Another label wanted to sign the guys?"
"It's the fifth time Atlantic has called in three days, don't they have something better to do that bug me?" Questioned Peyton as she draw another stick under Atlantic's name.
The sticks meant the tries the labels have done to gain the boys attention. For now, Atlantic and Columbia had the lead with fifteen sticks each, following them Sony, with thirteen sticks.
"Good morning Swan La— what's all of this?" Asked Luke as he entered the kitchen, joined by Julie, Reggie and Alex. "This looks like Ferris Bueller's house."
"Are we doing a sale "basket for date" like in Gilmore Girls and nobody let me know? I could've bring money," claimed Reggie.
"You never bring money," said Alex. "Why do you have a gift shop in your kitchen? Is it a fall season thing?"
Reggie picked one of the baskets, reading the card. ""We hope that this basket makes you think of us to be Sunset Curve's label. Best wishes, Virgin Records"!?" He read out loud, making Julie, Luke and Alex open their eyes.
"No way!" Yelled Julie, grabbing a bouquet of flowers. ""For Sunset Curve. Sincerely, Warner Music Records!" Shoot!"
"Oh please, that's nothing!" Exclaimed Ella. "Atlantic sent a prototype for your first EP. Look at this."
The guys grabbed the CD case with the art cover.
"That's us," said Luke, turning the CD case around, placing it next to his face and pointing to his picture with his index finger. "That's me!"
"Yeah, Atlantic is really intense." Luke scoffed as Alex picked the case to look at it. "But at least we know Island is out of the way, such as Universal. They called once and when I said no, they hung up. Besides, the money wasn't that good."
"Money!?" Asked Reggie in a high pitch tone and Peyton.
"Yeah! Atlantic, Sony and Columbia are offering each time more money every time they find out about the other's offer, just like Carrie said. I also booked your next gig and invited some of the labels to see you perform. They were so excited, they want to talk to you guys, try to convince you themselves. But you have to know that you can't say anything, or agree to anything. Remember, it is too soon to pick a label. Just let me and Flynn handle it." The guys nodded, scared to mess up Peyton's system.
"When is our next gig?" Asked Julie after giving the album prototype to Reggie.
"Oh, in two weeks, but I think you guys will be more excited to know where." The guys looked at each other before looking at Peyton. "After Flynn and I came with the idea of inviting the labels to watch you guys perform, we decided that it needed to be in a big place, a professional venue. So, we called the fanciest and most exciting venue we could think of... and they said no." The guys looked at her confused. "Then we called the second one we could think of... they also said no... But! We called the third one and, they said yes."
"So?"
"Ella, please, drums." Ella nodded and used the table as her drums. "You guys would be performing in two weeks at The Fonda Theatre up in Hollywood Boulevard!"
"Are you kidding me!?"
"What!?"
"Am I dreaming?" Asked Reggie before almost passing out, but Alex caught him.
"How—" Luke didn't have any words. "The Rolling Stones, Black Eyed Peas... shit Pearl Jam has performed in The Fonda Theatre... how did you do it?"
"Well, when I told the guy from the theatre how the place would be pack with people of famous labels to see you play, he took the opportunity for self promo! He wants them there so they could see if their clients would want to perform there. I also called the Orpheum and the Ford but they said no. I was really surprised when the Fonda say yes," she admitted. "Flynn also participated to convince them. But yeah, you guys are going to perform in a real venue."
"It's amazing," said Julie. "I can't wait to tell my dad."
"I can't wait to tell my mom!" Exclaimed Alex before he sprinted towards the door, Julie followed him.
"My parents are gonna freak out," whispered Reggie to himself before running towards the exit too.
Luke stared at the door, with no intentions of running towards his house.
"You don't want to tell your mom?" Ella asked him and he shook his head.
"She won't be there anyways, so what's the point..." He looked at Peyton and smiled. "You are the best manager ever. I should've asked you four years ago."
Peyton smiled as he hugged her, kissing her forehead.
She didn't want to admit how much begin she did for the band to get that gig. This was just the start for them.
Their hug was interrupted by the landline telephone ringing. As they broke apart, both noted that Ella left. Peyton chuckled nervously, grabbing the phone and placing it on her ear.
"Sunset Curve management, this is Peyton speaking." Luke laughed at how profesional she sounded even though she was in her pj's. "At this moment the band hasn't signed with any label... huh... you are invited to visit the Fonda Theatre on Friday two weeks from now where the band would be performing, I would send you the tickets... oh you have tickets already, okay... you'll have the chance to speak to the band yourself by then... have a nice day."
Peyton hung up, grabbing the marker and giving another stick to Warner Music Records before turning around to look at Luke.
"How does it feel to be wanted?"
"I feel like Kurt Cobain," he let her know as she sat down next to him on the kitchen table. "You sounded so professional. I've never heard you talk like that."
"I always had it in me," she said with a smile, hitting him slowly on the shoulder with hers. "God, this week went flying so quickly. Between school and being Sunset Curve's management team, I've had no time for myself." Luke chuckled. "I should hire an assistant."
"Your own Anne Hathaway," he said.
"Would I be Meryl Streep then?" Luke nodded. "Yes!" She exclaimed, making him laugh out loud.
"You want to know the positive side?" He asked her and she nodded. "With that pink landline phone and your unicorn pj's you look like you just got out from an 80s rom-com."
"How comforting," she mumbled under her breath. "I should take a shower, probably get ready to get to work."
"Yeah. I can help you with this. I'll pick up the phone if it rings."
"Just say "Sunset Curve's management, this is the lead guitarist Luke, how can I help you?" then they will say from which label they are from, you draw a stick, very important." He nodded as he listened to her. "Then they will tell you how much they want the band, blah, blah, blah, you invite them to the concert on two weeks saying you will send them two tickets and then you say "have a nice day" and hang up. Don't let them get you into conversation, don't let them propose things or gifts to you, ok?"
"Got it, boss." She smiled at him before running upstairs.
Luke exhaled, staring at the landline phone. Did he put too much pressure on Peyton by telling her to be their manager? He didn't mean to do that. She seemed to have everything under control, though. Very organized office in her kitchen.
Office... that's it! That's what he should do to thank her. Give her an office.
Now where would he put an office? Couldn't be in her room because it's good to separate her resting place and her working place.
Maybe it could be Julie's garage, which were now using to rehearse. There's an extra room there upstairs in the loft. They could put walls and sound proof it so that she doesn't get interrupted by the music. Or better not, so she can hear how good her clients sound.
The phone rang and he panicked. He slowly picked it up, breathing deeply and gaining confidence.
"Sunset Curve's management. This is the lead guitarist Luke speaking, how can I help you?"
"This is Fallon, from Columbia Records." Luke held the phone between his should and ear as he draw a stick under Columbia's name. "We've met, last week, I gave you my card."
"Oh yeah, I remember. What can I help you with, ma'am?"
"Just heard about the money offer Atlantic made," she said and he nodded.
"Wait a sec..." he asked her as he looked around Peyton's post it's, grabbing the one that said money offer and reading it.
He almost fell from the kitchen table. How much!? He couldn't believe someone would pay that much for their music.
"Uh... yeah, huh... I have it right here, wait, the number underneath means what percent of our profits we get to keep, right?" he asked as he grabbed the phone.
"Yeah, and I would want to increase it on five percent." Luke opened his eyes.
"F-Five..." He said in a high pitched voice, "wait a second." He placed the phone again between his shoulder and ear and started putting the numbers on the calculator. Oh, shit. "That's a lot of money. I could fix my truck!" Then he realized. "I could buy a new truck... okay..."
"I have the impression you aren't supposed to be the one picking up the phone," she interrupted him with a smile.
"No, I..." he chuckled. "That's my friend Peyton... I mean my manager," he corrected himself quickly.
"Yeah, I know I've talked to her. Nice girl."
"I know, right? And you haven't met her in person, she has this smile that can make someone's heart stop beating... wait, uhm the offer, right." He could hear the woman chuckling on the other side of the line. "Right, uhm... ok, thanks for calling, we will considerate it, definitely we will, yeah. Uhm, do you have tickets for the gig... I mean, performance... performance in two weeks?"
"Yeah, I do, and I hope we can chat that day. You could tell me more about Peyton's mortal threatening smile, I could tell you about the plans I have for Sunset Curve in the future."
"Plans?" He held tightly the phone. "What plans?"
"Well, studios, demos, publicity, tours... hell, even your own perfume!"
"My own— My own perfume?" He couldn't believe it. "Oh my God, I've always said that if I had my own fragrance it would be called Luke: Walking the Sky since my name is Luke, and I love Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. It would smell like a mix of vanilla and chocolate frosting..." He wouldn't say but that's how Peyton smelled, and he loved it, "but it would have a galaxy color palette because... Star Wars. And Mark Hamill would appear next to me on the comercial, like shaking hands. We would be in the oval office but in space and then I would press the red button and send a misil to the Death Star. It would be awesome."
"That sounds... creative, and thoughtful, I think," said the Columbia Records woman and Luke smiled. "So, would you take my offer?"
"Oh, I'm not allowed to take any offer, but I'll see you in two weeks and I'll give you my ideas on the Luke Patterson Fender guitar. Spoiler alert! Picture Shawn Mendes' Fender guitar, and then forget all of it because it's nothing like that. Bye bye."
And with that, he hung up the landline phone, looking at the amount of money the woman just offered.
"That's a lot... I would have to split it with the guys though, and pay Peyton... this doesn't look like a lot of money anymore." He left the post it next to the Atlantic offer one and waited for Peyton quietly, waiting for the phone to ring again.
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Alex and Luke stood up after being sitting on the floor for an hour assembling Peyton's new desk for the loft in Julie's garage. Both admired their work, even though it wasn't the best.
"It's really great guys," said Julie holding one of Peyton drawings that Luke stole from her room, which she framed. "Now how are you going to get it upstairs?"
Alex and Luke glanced at each other before looking at the desk again. What do they do now?
"We have to dissemble it, don't we?" Luke asked him and Alex nodded, both sitting down again and dissembling the parts, carrying each one upstairs. "The positive side of it is that this office is starting to look incredible."
Reggie went upstairs and placed on one of the shelves he put a picture frame before going downstairs again. Luke glanced at it, recognizing the picture.
It the two of them, him and Peyton, in her seventeenth birthday. He was holding her princess style while she held the sign that said "Happy Birthday" that Julie made her. He remember performing with the guys that day one of their new songs.
A song he indirectly wrote about how he felt when he was around her.
He smiled to himself before proceeding to look for more parts of the now dissembled desk, getting them upstairs.
After half hour, the office was ready. Julie put some lights around the exposed wood beams and framed some of Peyton's drawings that Luke took from her room.
Reggie added the shelves on the wall were they put picture frames, the band's rehearsal schedule, a pretty calendar with an unicorn on it, some old VHS of black and white movies Luke had, and Captain Will Jeans, which was Peyton's old stuffed bunny she couldn't let go as a kid. Luke also stole that.
Alex and Luke assembled the desk which had view of where the band rehearsed and hang out. On there desk was a new set of pencils and pens, her pink landline phone, a stack of new post it's, an agenda and some new notebooks, pencil holders, highlighters and another picture frame, with the phot of her and the band outside the coffee shop, the day they asked her to be her manager.
"Don't open your eyes," Luke said to her ear as he guided her to the stairs.
"Where are we?"
"You know where we are I covered your eyes on the driveway," told Luke.
"I know, I'm just trying to make this more exciting." She touched the ladder to the loft. "Why am I climbing to the loft?"
"Just do it," he said as she started to climb up, till she reach the loft and stood there, Luke behind her. "Are you going to tell me what are we doing in Julie's garage?"
"Wait a sec..."
Luke proceeded to slowly remove Julie's scarf from Peyton's eyes.
"Ta-da!" He exclaimed as she opened her eyes, looking around. "Your own office! That way you won't leave your kitchen a mess and you'll have your personal space next to us. What do you think?"
"I'm just... did you steal Captain Will Jeans from my room?" She asked him and he nodded. "Why would you do that?"
"Just sit down in your new chair and tell me what you think."
"This is not a new chair, this is my desk chair from my room that you also stole. The desk is new, though," she said, "and the markers. And the shelves... aw, look at this picture, oh God," she said, grabbing the same picture he was looking at just half hour ago. "This is beautiful, Luke, I love it. I can't wait to get to work."
"Did she like it!?" Reggie yelled from the inferior floor. Luke and Peyton leaned over to look at the rest of the band staring at them. "Did you see the shelves!?"
"You don't have to yell, Reggie, we aren't that far away you," said Peyton. "And yes I saw the shelves and I love them. I love all the office. How did you manage to get this desk up here?"
"We assembled it up there." Peyton nodded to Alex's response. "Really smart, huh? We thought about it in the first try."
"To who are you lying to?" Julie asked him and Alex turned around to look at her.
"I'm really glad you liked it," said Luke to Peyton, "this is going to be your personal space. That way, you are now truly part of the band. Even though if it is as our manager."
"Thank you, Luke. It's beautiful." She hugged him tight. "Never steal from my room again."
"Ok, boss."
POP CULTURE REFERENCES GUIDE
chapter ten
"This looks like Ferris Bueller's house"
As mentioned before, Ferris Bueller is a character from the 80s movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. When Bueller's classmates and members of his town find out he is "sick" they start sending baskets and gifts to his house. By the end of the movie, it looks like a gift shop.
"Are we doing a sale "basket for date" like in Gilmore Girls?"
In the show Gilmore Girls there's an episode where the characters participate in a town even where men would participate in a sale over baskets that the women made. The highest offer gets the basket and a date with the woman who made it.
"I feel like Kurt Cobain."
Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of the rock band Nirvana. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in the history of alternative rock. He's included in several lists for being one of the best songwriters of all time.
"Your own Anne Hathaway" "Would I be Meryl Streep?"
Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep starred on a movie together in 2006 titled The Devil Wears Prada where Hathaway's character was the assistant of Meryl Streep's character, who was the director of a fashion magazine with a very strict personality.
"And I love Luke Skywalker from Star Wars" "And Mark Hamill would appear next to me on the comercial"
Luke Skywalker is the main character of the first trilogy of Star Wars. The character is portrayed by the actor Mark Hamill.