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“Aurora Williams,” I tell him, and there’s a slight raise in his eyebrows, even though he tries to hide his surprise. Why is he surprised? It’s not like I told him I chose Elias. That would be surprising. To the both of us.
“Okay, I’m not judging.” He moves the pen across the page in his immaculate handwriting. I scrunch my face, shaking my head a bit. “Try your best to find a second person soon. You have a month. I still need to arrange everything with them, Ican’t do that last minute.” His voice is warning, reminding me of my deadline. One month. I need to find another winner in one month. Who the hell am I supposed to take? I literally know no one else in the school.
However, I do not tell Oliver that, he doesn’t need to hear about my stress. “I will, don’t worry,” is what I say instead. He closes the folder, moving it to the bottom of the thin pile. He opens the second one, looking down at it for a while before speaking again.
“Okay, second. We need to discuss your schedule.” Okay, this is something I can answer without hesitation, and without Oliver’s rude insulting comments.
“I’m working on all of it, like you want me to. School isn’t interfering with my career, just like I promised,” I tell him, head high and proud. At least I’m still on schedule with this career. The last thing I need is to be behind.
I can tolerate staying up as long as I have four hours sleep, at the least. A lot of my work gets done at night because of that, since both Ellie and Mom are asleep and there isn’t much noise to distract me. So, school doesn’t really affect anything except the time I’m waking up, so I’m fine.
“Yes, I saw, and I’m impressed.” Pride fills me. However, it doesn’t take long for him to wash it away, “However, many celebrities are getting ahead, fast. I know you are young, but the industry commands from you just as they do everyone else. So, you need to bring it up a notch,” he states. Wow. Very motivating. He’s successfully managed to downgrade the one compliment he’s given me today. My smile fades from my face, and I cross my arms and rest them on the desk.
“You mean up my technology? Or do I have to hold more concerts?” I ask. I spin in my chair once, listening to his explanation.
“You need to make more songs. People want new content, and faster. Also, more social interactions. Concerts are one way, but events and meet-ups are also something that can gain interest.” Oh, wow. The music industry evolves fast. I thought I was fine a week ago.
“Did this happen overnight?” I ask, raising my eyebrows as I steady the chair to face him. He shakes his head, looking back up at me,
“No, but the industry and media have been growing quite quickly nowadays. It’s hard to keep up with the requests others are asking for when they transition every other day,” he explains. I figured. Fans can be quite demanding at times. Not a surprise. “Look, I know this is stressful for you, but I’m trying to keep up just as much as you are. I get that you’re busy, especially with this competition and school, but you know how demanding they are,” he continues.
Yep. I know.
I let out a deep breath, rolling closer to the table. “You said it yourself; I have the event to plan, which is enough on its own. I also can’t suddenly just add in other things, I need time to catch up. I’m one person, and I’m also younger, they can’t expect me to be like everyone else,” I point out. He shakes his head once.
“No, you being young makes them expect more from you. You have the ability to expand early in their opinion. They’re expectations are rising fast, so we need to rise with them, even with this competition. Start slow and start adding as you go on. I will make sure to take off as much as possible when it comes to production and scheduling, you worry about songs, and see what we can do about social interactions,” he advises me.
“Okay. I’ll try doing as much as I can. Just send me what you want,” I agree reluctantly. He nods, writing something on the paper inside the file. Okay. Just add content and interactions. That doesn’t seem too hard. If I sleep an hour later and skipsome classes at school, I think I can deal with all this. As long as Oliver doesn’t pile up the upcoming work, I’ll be fine. He tries his best, I know that. He’s also the only person who agreed to manage my career, considering my age, and he’s been a great help.
The stress is partly my fault, as I refuse to have more people help out. I only have Oliver, and an assistant that helps with social media. Other than them, it’s production and different companies, but they aren’t really involved with the organization of my career. I don’t trust that many people with me and my information, and it’s horrible I know. I mean, why would I choose to be such a public person if I don’t accept the danger it comes with? Well, I ask myself that every day. But I’d rather have control over my career, and life. Otherwise, I’ll just overwhelm myself, and I risk important things going out to the wrong people.
People under eighteen do get famous, but mostly from acting and such. Singing isn’t something young people do much yet, so it was hard to find a manager who understood my goals. Oliver did, so really, I’m grateful for anything he does. I wouldn’t be here without him. Especially since he has to deal with someone like me, out of all the seventeen-year-olds in the world.
“Okay, that’s all for today. I’ll send you the details by tonight, and you keep me updated,” he tells me. Great. Now, until I get more information, I get to go home and rest.
Chapter 27 – Cinquantotto
Val
I get to school, early as usual, and am welcomed by Lorenzo at the entrance. He, unlike Elias, is wearing his usual sweater. This time, it’s sage green, and has the letters V and L in the corner. He has a whole clothes line with our initials, I already know it.
“Love how inspired you are by me,” I point out to him, and he turns his head to look at me. A grin appears on his face.
“Very. Incorporate it on all my designs in some way,” he brags. I walk closer and nudge him, making him laugh.
“So, what, you guys have a schedule of who gets to stand at the entrance, and when?” I joke as we begin strolling the halls. He nods his head.
“Pretty much. So, how are you?” he asks.
“Good. I’m going over to Aurora’s, and had a meeting with Oliver yesterday,” I tell him. He nods his head repeatedly, looking at me with a mocking stare.
“Very productive, I suspect,” he taunts, making me roll my eyes. I open the door to the staircase and we make our way up and to the second floor.
“So, any updates on Roland?” I ask, opening the door to enter the hall. We turn left and continue walking. I haven’t heard anything new, but I hope Roland’s come to his senses and has decided he’s being extremely dumb. And dramatic. He’s doing all this over nothing. Lorenzo’s face tenses, and a sigh leaves his lips.
“Nope. It’s useless talking to him, he’s stuck, like concrete. Gives more reason to your mom being right.”
“Roland is being dumb. Either way, he’s being both arrogant and dramatic. Plus, it’s hypocritical. I’m not middle-class—not that it should matter—and my name isn’t Violet. If he’d just wait until the end of the year, he’d notice he’s being stupid,” I rant.
