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"So, you got our email, right? I saw it on Maryam's contact page for business inquiries." Drew started the discussion. It was meant to be brief and straight to the point.
"Yes, we did," Carmen answered with a nod. "I think I understood it as you people wanting to meet us to discuss specifics before making any final decision. Am I correct?"
"Yes, exactly. Maryam is a prime candidate, honestly speaking, to be the next face of our record label." Drew, as we planned, spearheaded the conversation from our side while I observed them.
Maryam looked surprised to hear she might be getting signed. How did she think hiring processes for artists happened? She just thought a lot of artists would audition until the record label picked one? Of course not.
“Okay, that's great.” Maryam looked happy. Even if she knew this wouldn’t be an audition, it was plausible that this information still came to her as a surprise. Seeing her looking vibrant, I couldn't help but smile a bit. I stifled it eventually before she noticed. Maryam looked so pure, and in this business, that was a rare sight.
She hadn’t looked at my side since we talked. Wait, why did I even care?
“I know we are here for the paperwork. So, I just wanted to say how much we appreciate this opportunity for my client.” Carmen tried to kiss our asses, but I didn't care about all that. I was already in a bad mood and needed to get to the main thing.
“Yeah, yeah. I know,” I waved my hand. “I want to get to the meat of things.” My eyes were fixated on Maryam.
“What do you mean?” Maryam asked. She seemed a bit wary of me as if I had a scary face or something. Looking at her, I got annoyed by how beautiful she looked. Everything about this lady seemed to be in the right place. Those blue eyes that looked like the sky staring back at me. Her wonderful pink lips. The way she squinted a bit whenever she smiled with passion. Her pitch-black hair was tied into a bun, with flocks falling on both sides of her head. Her smooth skin had a beauty spot right under her eye and was free of pimples and other blemishes.
I noticed everything, and it frustrated me to no end that I noticed it all. The need to convince myself I didn't like her grew because this would never work if I didn’t.
“I need to know what made you start singing.” I leaned forward with my eyebrows crumpled.
Drew seemed a bit surprised, but he leaned back, letting me take the lead. Usually, I barely said a word during these kinds of meetings, letting him handle everything unless the people involved in the transaction or negotiation wanted to speak to me. On the outside, it was different talking to the press because Drew did not have that specialty. So, I use my charisma and communication skills to get out of even the most difficult situations. I even had a press conference later today after Frank went on another tirade, accusing us of ridiculous things like stealing his money and not fulfilling the contract. I'm sure he said that while being high.
“Well,” Mary coughed to clear her throat before telling her story. “My story is a simple one. I was born in New York.” I raised my eyebrows, clearly surprised. She had the vibe of a small-town girl.
“I stayed there until I was five. My dad retired and left the rowdiness of the city. We moved to Colorado after he finished our family home there.”
“Usually, people just buy houses,” I remarked.
“Yeah, I know, not the typical American way, I guess.” She smiled nervously. “My father is very particular, so he built it to his specifications with my mom. Of course, we all know in a situation like this, the wife is the one that designs the house,” she joked, and the others laughed.
I stifled my laugh and could tell she got a bit disappointed that I didn't join Drew and Carmen in laughing. That made me think Maryam was a people pleaser.
“Are you a people pleaser?” I blurted out without even thinking. The moment I said that I kind of regretted it. Not like I insulted her or anything, but I felt kind of weird asking her that. This wasn't the place or time. She looked shocked. Besides, if she wanted this deal, answering the question should be no big deal.
“Well, I honestly don't know how to answer that,” she said. “I just don't like conflict and if that makes me a people pleaser, I guess I am one. I like being happy and I'm happy when the people around me are happy, so I like to make them happy. Kind of why I started singing in the first place.” That intrigued me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, probing further.
At this point, it almost felt like only she and I were talking while wrapped in our bubble, our world. As we discussed, I found myself getting more drawn to her and noticing things I didn’t before like the way she gestured with her hands when she spoke.
“I think there's too much sadness in the world. Because of that, I just want to add a little happiness and peace. And singing makes me feel good. I came from Colorado because I wanted to make it big. I'm not sure I should even be saying this, but I started to question myself at some point about what I was doing and if I wanted to do this, but when I perform, I’m able to connect with people and make them happy with my music. I make them cry with my music…and I make them reminisce with my music. To me, that is the point of music. Isn't it to make you feel something? Something so important that it grinds you down to your most instincts.”
Fuck. She's good.
“Wow,” Drew exclaimed, taking me out of the moment she and I shared, unknowingly. “Couldn't have said it better myself. No wonder you're a lyricist,” he joked, and they laughed. I didn't because I got more fixated on what she said.
From the way she looked at me, I could tell she might not be very fond of me. That was fine. I became more concerned about getting rid of these feelings–this intrigue–that I had for her. Hopefully, she would do something wrong to make me not as attached anymore, but so far, she had said all the right things. Why did that annoy me? Why was it so important that I not get attached to this girl? Well, I knew the answer.
Drew and Carmen talked a little about contracts and the sound engineers. Not in detail because we hadn't made our decision, but it looked likely that we’d sign her … unless I had something else to say about it. This left Maryam and I in an awkward position. She avoided looking at me because I probably seemed intimidating to her… or she didn’t like me.
I also tried not to look too much at her, so it wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable.
“Alright! I'm done on my end. How about you, Ronald? Anything else you'd like to say or ask?” Drew inquired.
“Yes.” Immediately after I replied, she tensed up.
“You think you're good enough to work for this company?” Carmen squinted her eyes. I guessed she didn’t like the question. Why? Sounded normal to me.
