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I’d wait for her, as long as it takes. She was worth waiting for.
The small vibration caught my attention, but Jacob’s name made my stomach twist. Yes, he and I had been talking more since he came to my show, but there was still the lingering “he’s my brother, what does he want” feeling. I opened the message, sighing when it was a simple:You’ll kill them, call me after! Break a leg.
At least he was supporting menow.
I took a deep breath, responding with a quick:We got this, thanks Jake,before shoving my phone in my back pocket and opening the door to the label, the air conditioning hitting my skin immediately.
“Did you tell her?” Bennett quietly asked once I reached them.
I gave him a quick nod. “Yeah, and just like I thought she would, she hung up the phone.”
“Hey . . . that’s not bad. You said so last night that you just needed to tell her.”
“She has something to tell me, she hasn’t yet.”
“You don’t think you freaked her out, did you?”
I shook my head. “No, she’s in this just as much as I am. She just hasn’t been pining for seven months.”
“Well, you’ll find out on Wednesday, right?” he asked, his tone trying to add excitement. “Come on, we gotta get checked in. You ready for this?”
“Bring it on.”
We checked in and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited, for what seemed like forever until a familiar face emerged from the glass door. It was Liam, the same agent we had seen at the Piano Bar. He opened his arms wide before bringing his hands together in a loud clap. His dark hair was neatly styled and his suit was pressed to the nines. I did a quick look at the group. I was wearing a black button up, jeans and converse, and the other guys were wearing their signature styles (t-shirts and jeans . . . Chase looked like he didn’t even brush his hair). We probably could have taken more effort to present ourselves better, but this was who we were.
“Savaged Whittakers!” Liam exclaimed. “You have no idea how excited I am that you guys are here, that you were able to make it on such short notice. I take it the show in Utah went well?”
“Hey, Liam, was it?” I asked, even though I knew his name. I grasped his hand, giving it a good, firm handshake. “Utah was great, thank you, and we are probably more excited than you.”
Liam shook his head. “I think I told you, but I’ve been following you guys on YouTube for a while, and I've been talking you up to my boss for about a year now. I made the move to come out and see you in Portland, and thank God the big man loved you as much as I do.” He rubbed his hand together and looked at Bennett. “Are you guys ready to hear the plan?”
I looked at my friends behind me. “Bring it on.”
Liam chuckled at my comment, leading into a laugh. I could see Jameson roll his eyes from the corner of my eye, which made me only want to say even more ridiculous comments.
“Ha!” Liam said, turning his body towards the glass door, waving at us to follow me. “Now I’m sure you guys understand this, but we will need all cell phones to be turned off while in the studio. First we’re meeting with Carson, showing him a few videos of your sound, going over what we would expect from you etcetera, etcetera. Then after everything logistical is out of the way we head into the studio and record the three tracks, I’m assuming you picked your tracks right?”
“Yes, sir,” Bennett answered for me. “Picked our best ones, plus a new one.”
“That’s fantastic, I love new stuff. I’m sure Carson will too. Those tracks will be recorded and then it goes to our audience.”
“What happens after the audience?” Jameson asked, his voice void of emotion as always.
“We’ll talk about that after. I just want to make sure you’re prepared to spend the day here. Lunch will be provided, of course, and we do have other bands we’re hearing today . . . you’ll meet them later.” Liam glanced at us over his shoulder. “Just keep in mind how much I’m rooting for you. I’d love to represent you guysand I’ll try my hardest to get you signed. But, first . . . let’s meet Carson. Phones off please. This is where magic happens.”
We all stopped, and pulled out our phones. I had a text, which I would have ignored if it wasn’t from Jamie.
I stared at the words on the screen, my breath being to pick up as I read them over and over again before I switched my phone completely off.
Jamie:You’re absolutely amazing, Elliot, I can’t stop thinking about you. I miss you – it’s not just a three week fling. I’ll see you on Wednesday and I’ll tell you everything then. Knock’em dead – they are going to love you…just like I do.
“Now,”—Carson leaned back into his seat, raising his thumb and finger to his chin—“Liam won’t stop talking about you guys, hell, even I’m excited, but let’s talk about what you want here.”
I looked at Bennett who sat across the table from me. He and I had been doing the majority of the talking, with Chase and Jameson mainly nodding—following along with the plan.
“Well,” I started, “having a label represent us has been something we’ve always dreamed of. Records, tours, a bigger way to get our music to the world without having to rely on Instagram or YouTube. This is something we’ve worked towards for a long time. I mean, we’ve been together for five years.”
“You’ve put in the work.”
