21. Myome #2
“Okay. You’re heard.” I nodded. “Now, let me make something clear. You can feel how you feel, but shading me or my man is going to get you beat the fuck up. Be jealous. Claim I’m stealing the spotlight or that I want to make you and Charm background singers or dancers or whatever, but watch your mouth about my man and my marriage.
There won’t be another warning. I’m just going to swing on you next time.
Know that.” I shifted my purse from one shoulder to the other.
“But you can have the middle seat if you want. Lead the interviews, Retta. I don’t give a fuck. ”
“Fine. I will.”
“Great.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
“Great.”
“Alright.” Allison clapped her hands. “I’m glad we all got that out. Are y’all ready to work?”
“We’re ready to work,” Retta said.
Allison looked around our small group and each of us nodded once.
“Then, let’s go.” She nudged her head in the direction of the conference room.
Once we got inside we sat in the same places we’d sat in for our last meeting. I was actually shocked when I saw there were only two people from the label present.
“Congratulations on your first album release ladies,” Spencer, the man at the head of the table, said.
“Thank you,” we all muttered.
“Your numbers are looking good so far and the tour is scheduled to leave on time in a month. We originally agreed on a two-month long sort of thing but we called you in today to ask if you would be willing to be on the road a little bit longer.”
“You want to extend our tour?” Allison asked.
“That’s right. We’ve had a few contracts cross our table with new cities and another of our groups is interested in having you ladies open for them for a little, so you’d do three months on the road traveling stateside then two months opening for another act.”
“That’s amazing.” Allison giggled and clapped her hands excitedly.
I blinked several times while stuck in place. I thought this meeting was going to be about everything I’d been doing wrong in the media but it was actually something positive. I couldn’t believe this. Our album had been out less than twelve hours and we were getting offers to play at more places.
“Look, I’m going to be honest. We put a lot of money up on the music side of this album and it’s doing well but not well enough to be fully reimbursed just yet.
So the travel accommodations may not be the best but they’ll get the job done and they’re sustainable for a smaller tour.
We have a tour bus and musicians to back your vocals as well as play your live music.
We’ve booked hotels near your venues that we’ll cover, but for the most part, you ladies are on your own for food and makeup.
We can cover half of the cost of costumes if you want new things, but if you want to use some of the clothes we’ve already purchased, we’re not going to complain.
” He forced a little laugh. “And if this tour and album does well, we can renegotiate more for the next one.”
“Ladies?” Allison looked over at us. “Are you okay with extending the tour with those conditions?”
“Hell yeah.” Retta nodded immediately. “We’re getting more tour dates. This is the whole point of all of this, sharing our music with as many people as possible.”
“And getting paid for it,” Charm added.
“Right.”
“Alright. Well we were thinking of ten more dates over the course of a month then a quick, two-month break and back on the road for opening. Do we think you ladies can manage that?”
“We’ll be ready,” Allison said confidently.
“Good. Then, I have the venues that have offered space right here.” He flipped his binder open and listed them.
We listened while he told us where we would be going and what the venue sizes would be. Afterwards, he sat back in his seat and clasped his hands.
“We’re proud of you ladies and I’m excited to see where else you can go.”
“Thank you, Spencer,” we all said quickly.
“If any of you need anything for tour that isn’t listed, please feel free to reach out to Allison. Although we have financial limitations, we do want you ladies to be successful and we’ll do our best to set you up for that success, okay?”
“Okay.” We all nodded.
“Alright. We’ll see you in a few days to finalize schedules and Allison will put you in touch with the new choreographer we’ve locked in to help with your time as an opener. Thank you for your time, ladies.”
Allison nodded once then nudged her head toward the door and the three of us climbed up and headed out.
Charm grabbed my arm before I walked out and I paused.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Just making sure.” She gave me a small smile. “I know how social media and the press can be and Retta wasn’t exactly going easy on you earlier.”
“Yeah, but I’m good. I’m excited about tour and the album and nothing is going to fuck that up for me.”
“Good.” She gave me a one-armed hug. “If you need anything, let me know though. For real.”
“You want to get lunch?”
“Right now?”
“If you’re up for it. We can talk about the tour and the outfits we were thinking about.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Alright.” I clapped my hands. “Let’s do it.”
We climbed into our cars and I followed Charm to a cute little Italian restaurant where we got a table outside in the back.
We looked at a few different outfits, hairstyles, and potential makeup looks for tour while waiting for our food and shared the ideas in the group chat with Retta and Allison to make sure we were all on the same page.
We were halfway through our meal when my phone started ringing and Berlin’s name popped up on the screen.
I picked up immediately. “Hello?”
“How’d your meeting go?”
“Good. We’re extending our tour and apparently a bigger artist wants us to tour with them as an opener.”
“Shit.” He whistled. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, baby.”
“You busy now or can you talk?”
“I’m getting food with Charm but I can talk. What’s up?”
“Don’t scream in those people’s establishment, Twin,” he warned.
“Why would I be screaming?”
“Because you have the best husband in the world.”
“I mean, yeah, I do, but why are you saying it?”
“Jameer heard the placeholder vocals we slapped on that track I set up for him and he doesn’t want them to be placeholder.”
“What?” I sat up taller in my seat. “Don’t play with me.”
“I’m not playing with you. He wants you on the track. I gave him Allison’s email address.”
“No fucking way!” My voice rose. “You’re serious?”
“I’m serious. I wouldn’t even play with your feelings like that.”
I resisted the urge to scream and took a deep breath. I couldn’t believe this. Radiant Reverie’s album was doing well. We were extending our upcoming tour. Jameer wanted me on his album.
Even with the bullshit Monica had pulled, life was good.