Chapter Three: Second Time Lucky?
I ran down the
first hallway I could find, my heart racing through my chest, I
wasn’t sure where I thought I was running TOO, I was just
running. I spun around the corner and straight into an
unsuspecting girl. We collided in full force, I wasn’t
very big, but taken off guard she feel to the floor along with
me. I quickly sprung to my feet. Like anything could
possible get worse?
“Oh
my god, I'm so sorry” I stuttered, helping her back on her
feet
“In a
rush or something?” she smiled
“Can, you
ah, just tell me how to get out of here?” I questioned
looking around, I had no idea where I was
“How’d
it go?” a familiar voice inquired from behind me
I spun around
to see the same stranger, I had early inflicted pain on, walking
up to us.
He was a
little taller than me, not by much, but definitely taller, then
again, most people were, I wasn’t exactly blessed with my
mothers long legs.
“Uh, I,
didn’t, I mean, I” I sighed “I ran out of there”
I finished, again wishing the earth would swallow me up “Excuse
me” I whispered, easing out of the two strangers
“It’s
okay to be nervous” the man laughed “God knows I have
been before” he added with a slight chuckle
I look at him
quizzically before, desperately trying to make my retreat.
“Lemme
guess, you’re shy” he said affirmatively, as if reading
my mind
“I
suppose I cant sing to strangers” I replied, with a half
hearted grin
“Brian
Littrell, born and raised in Kentucky, currently living in
Florida” he announced extending his hand
I looked at it
oddly, unsure of my next move.
“And you
are?” he inquired, pushing the words out of me
“Riyan
Andrea Emelias, born and raised in Mexico City” I tenderly
shook his hand
“This is
Isabelle Page, born in New York, and raised in California,
currently in Florida” he introduced the curvy girl standing
behind him
“No
strangers” he added with a childlike grin
I continued to
study him strangely, waiting for the next word.
“Well
now, you can sing to us” he declared happily
I shook my
head stupidly and backed away.
“Riyan,
I'm sure you’re absolutely petrified, that’s natural,
but you got to move up and over that”
“I cant
sing to them” I sighed flinging my hand in the general
direction of the office I had run from
“What do
you imagine when you sing?”
“A crowd,
smiling at me, I don’t know” I shrugged self
consciously, no one ever knew about my arena
“Then me
and Belle will be your crowd. We’ll go with you into
the office. Wont we Belle?” he questioned looking
behind him
Belle smiled
as she nodded her head.
“They
wont take me back in” I replied, pulling at strings
“Sure
they will” Brian smiled eagerly as he wandered down the hall
I followed
behind, as he knocked on the office I had come out of. Without
waiting for a reply he strolled in, and was greeted with a chorus
of ‘Hellos’ from the stuffy executives.
My uncle
looked annoyingly across at me as I appeared in the doorway.
Brian wandered over to the guy sitting at the head of the table,
he lent down and whispered something in his ear as Belle held her
arm protectively around me.
“Don’t
worry” she whispered into my ear
“Alright
Riyan, we’ll give you another shot” the big swig with
the popping eyes and ‘wing-nut’ ears announced stiffly
Brian strolled
back over and lent down into my ear.
“Sing
what you feel, and don’t be afraid to see that crowd, I’ll
be right over there” he whispered
I didn’t
really understand why he cared about me, I don’t supposed it
made sense to me, but I thanked him all the same and him and
Belle took their place over by the window.
I breathed in
slowly, calming myself as best I could. I imagined been
home, been in my room, the soft air pushing through the wide-open
window, and the songs of the birds outside, I was home.
“I didn’t
hear you leave, I wonder how am I still here. I don’t
want to move a thing, it might change my memory” I begun
singing softly. I knew I had to sing something they would
know, or at least something in English, and I had practically
fallen in love with that song the first time I heard it. I
remember Mama telling me that everyone had a theme song, I
supposed I wished that was mine, it was so sweet and so tender, I
just wished in my youthful heart one day – I would find
that.
“”Oh
I am what I am, I’ll do what I want, but I can’t hide,
I wont go, I wont sleep and I cant breathe until your resting
here with me. I won’t leave, I can’t hide, I
cannot be, until your resting here with me” I could hear
myself loosing up, my voice becoming more free and I felt at ease
with my surroundings.
I finished the
song with perfection, or so I thought. My uncle cheered
enthusiastically as I came back down to reality, and looked
around, hoping for a good sign. Brian gave me a subtle
‘thumbs up’ and the head honcho stood.
“Thank
you Ms. Emelias, if you don’t mind, we need to discuss this
amongst ourselves”
I smiled
thankfully, unsure if that was a good thing or not. Wrapping
his arm around my shoulders, my uncle led me out of the room.
“She was
wonderful don’t you think?” Brian announced, smitten
with her amazing voice
“She can
sing” one replied apathetically and he rubbed his beard
“She was
really good” Belle piped in. She wasn’t to
familiar with the whole ‘business’ involved in music,
but she could spot a voice when she heard it.
“I just
don’t think she’s what we’re looking for” the
younger, black haired one spoke up
“What do
you mean?” Brian questioned, his brow furrowing in confusion
“Look
around you Brian, the market isn’t very wide for her type”
the head honcho announced stiffly
“You mean
cause she’s not a big breasted blond, who can’t
actually sing?” Brian retaliated, he hated how the record
executives minds worked
“I hardly
think this is your decision anyway” he snapped back,
offended by the truth in what Brian had said.
“Look, if
you let this girl go, your letting go of someone with real
talent, you’ll crush her”
“That’s
not our problem”
“It never
is” Brian yelled storming out of the room, Belle
uncomfortably following him.
I wondered for
a minute what was wrong when Brian and Belle came walking out of
the office like they did. I assumed the worse.
It was only a
matter of seconds before they bought me back in, I was seated in
the same seat, with the same feeling of anxiety, but I pretty
much already knew what they were going to say, it was written all
over their faces.
“Damn,
that’s is so typical” Brian hissed as he slammed his
body down into one of the chairs.
He knew Riyan
had the talent, sure she was shy, and seemed uncomfortable in
front of people, but with help, she’d get through that, she’d
grow to be something amazing, he could feel it.
“It’s
out of our hands Brian” Belle sighed, wrapping her arm
sympathetically around his shoulders
“There
has to be something we can do, cause they are gonna squash that
poor girl in there” Brian sighed, trying to conjure up a
plan.
“I got an
idea” he smiled, as one burst into his mind
He stood up
and raced down the hall, pulling his cell phone as he went.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
“I'm
sorry Riyan, you just don’t have exactly what we’re
looking for” the head guy said bluntly
I knew it was
coming, so I wasn’t particularly shocked, but it hurt
nevertheless. My uncle showed his disappointment, but
silently took the news, as most of my family did.
“I can
assure you if things change, we’ll let you know” the
head guy continued, I suppose trying to make me feel better, he
obviously thought I was stupid to take his false sympathy.
~ BACK AT THE
HOTEL ~
I sat quietly
on the bed, starring at the TV in front of me, but hardly paying
attention. Uncle was on the phone, the way he was stammering off
in Spanish I assumed he was talking to my father, but I was too
low to really care. It was like in one sentence my world
had come crashing down around me, I tried to be strong, I tried
to be tough, but the reality of it was, I never assumed for one
moment, that perhaps all these years my grandmother had humored
me in saying I could sing, that this was all some joke, and the
truth of the matter was I was too stupid to actually see I had no
talent, and I never would.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
“So why
the meeting Rok?” AJ inquired, studding his watch closely,
they were in New York only one more day, and he had places to be
“I have
someone” Brian announced excitedly
“Huh?”
Nick laughed “Dude, your divorce isn’t even final”
he added, a touch of grimace forming on his face, he knew that
was a touchy subject and perhaps he shouldn’t have bought it
up
Brian
purposely ignored his comment, his relationship with Leigh Anne
destined NOT to be the topic of conversation tonight.
“I mean a
singer, to sign onto our label” he corrected
“Hold up”
Kevin said “the label isn’t even finalized”
“But it
will be” Brian sighed
“Who?”
Howie questioned as he slipped his cell into his bag
“She’s
from Mexico, and boy can she sing”
“How’d
you meet this chick?” AJ inquired, his eyes lightening up
when he heard the word “She”
“At the
record company today, she was auditioning”
“Then if
she was auditioning for them, why would we sign her?” Kevin
questioned, his eyes focusing on Brian
“Because
they said she wasn’t what they were looking for, just
because she wasn’t blond and big chested”
“Oh Damn”
Nick laughed, copping a quick playful slap from Belle
“You
better be satisfied with what you got” she smiled as she
stood up
“Guys, I
was there, this girl is young, but she can sing, she needs
someone to nurture the talent out of her, but Brian’s really
onto something here, I think it’s a good idea” Belle
smiled softly
“How
young is young?” Kevin raised an eyebrow
Brian
shrugged, he’d never asked her that,
“16
probably” he replied nonchalantly
“That’s
pretty young” Howie mused
“Nick was
like 14” Brian retorted
“He’s
got a point” Nick added, just to be kept in the conversation
“Alright,
we’re I town one more day, get her to meet us here, around
lunchtime, we’ll hear what she has then make a decision”
Kevin organized
~ AN HOUR
LATER ~
“Your
plane leaves tomorrow around three in the afternoon” Ricardo
announced, rubbing his temple softly
“My
plane?” I asked quizzically “You’re not coming?”
“I'm
gonna stay in New York for a while Riyan” he offered no
explanation
I looked down
at the ground, I knew Papa had gone off at him, I suppose Ricardo
half blamed himself.
“It’s
my fault uncle, not yours, Papa will see that” I spoke
softly
“You’re
a smart kid Riyan” he smiled before closing the door to his
room
I hated this
place, I hated the rain, that hadn’t stopped since we
arrived, I hated the people that ran around like little ants in
their dark suits and long jackets, but most of all I hated the
false idea of hope it held out for people like me, I wasn’t
totally thick, I knew what the executives were looking for, I was
too young, too innocence and too smart to fit into that category.
I hugged the
pillow tightly as a soft tear slid from my eyes. No matter
how much I hated it, I longed to be accepted into it.
There was a
quick knock on the door behind me. I pulled myself upright
and walked over to it. Opening the door I saw a familiar face
smiling across at me.
“Hey”
Belle said sweetly as she whipped her straight dark hair behind
her ears. She had hair I longed for, thick and straight.
“Oh hi”
I sighed
“I have
some good news for you” she announced
I highly
doubted anything could lift my mood.
“What?”
I muttered
“Brian’s
set up a meeting with some record label guys” she announced,
her eyes grinning in the hall light
“I'm not
meeting with them again” I replied stiffly
What did
they want to do? Laugh harder?
“Oh it’s
not with the guys you saw before, no these guys are actually in
the business, they’re young, and smart and know you have
talent, just show them what you have”
“I don’t
think so” I replied, I just wanted to go home, once was
enough.
“When?”
Ricardo questioned form behind me, I didn’t know how long he’d
been standing there, but it was probably a while
“Tomorrow,
lunchtime” Belle smiled over my shoulder
“Riyan”
he spoke turning me around “Doors will open for you through
life, but you have to try the handle first”
That was how
most of my family spoke, in illustrations, I suppose because they
always believed a person had to make up their own mind, there
weren’t rules for ever situation, and you had to read into
it what you saw.
I turned back
around to face Belle.
“Where?”
I sighed disheartened
“I’ll
pick you up from here at 12” she announced
~ 12:00 THE
NEXT DAY ~
Exactly on
time, a limo pulled up along the sidewalk, the window wound down
to reveal Belle’s smiling face.
“Hop in”
she winked
It was a short
and pretty much silent trip, on my part anyway. Belle was
talking about something, or someone, I didn’t really notice,
it wasn’t that I was ignoring her, I just suppose I had
other things on my mind.
We wandered
down one of the halls in a plush Hotel, even more bigger and
brighter than the one we’d come from. The elevator
ride had been quick and the elevator itself seemed to be the size
of my room back home.
I was more
nervous this time then before, I wondered to myself what it would
be like to be rejected twice in as many days, I knew deep down
this was it, this was do or die, I knew one more rejection from
these people and I truly believed I would never sing again.
Belle opened
the door, and Ricardo and I followed her in. The room
itself was huge, with soft white carpet, thick hanging drapes in
a crimson color and furniture, I was sure was worth a small
fortune.
“Hey”
Brian welcomed as he gestured for me to sit down
There were 4
other people in the room I’d never met before. A short
one, with long dark hair paced around in the corner, talking away
into his cell phone, he reminded me of a cousin I had, I chuckled
softly to myself, the cousin I was referring to had been sent to
Jail on drug trafficking. Belle headed towards a tall blond
who embraced her softly, pecking the side of her face with doting
affection, he was obviously the “American” of the lot,
with his perfectly formed hair to his big blue eyes, he was the
type you imagined when you heard the word “America”.
Sitting on the couch engrossed in a car magazine was a thin
almost wire like, his hair was short and black, his top, black
and tight fitting, showing off an array of art tattooed across
his arms. Behind Brian stood another tall character, his
face seemed kind enough, he carried a similar chiseled jaw as
Brian, his set off with a scruff on his chin and layered dark
hair.
“These
are the guys, Nick” Brian smiled, first pointing to the
blond “AJ” the tattooed one “Kevin” the tall
dark one “and Howie” the drug dealer “Guys this is
Riyan” he announced, almost proudly
I smiled
self-consciously as the one in the corner hung up his phone and
smiled cheerfully at me. As yesterday all eyes were on me.
“Don’t
be scared, their friends of mine and the wont bite” Brian
smiled
“Unless
you ask” Nick grinned, gathering a few laughs
“Just
sing exactly like you did yesterday” Brian informed me, as
all eyes turned to face me
“But they
hated me yesterday” I pouted
“Trust
me, do exactly what you did then” Brian reassured
I took a deep
breath, I definitely felt more at ease here then I did in that
office yesterday. I swallowed hard and begun to sing,
exactly like I did yesterday – though doubting myself the
whole way through.
It seemed like
hours that it was just me, the center of attention, the one
everyone focused around in the otherwise completely silent room.
I finished on the perfect note and waited for the approval.
I never expected, but received a round of full on applause.
“I don’t
think we need to hear anything else” Kevin smiled, walking
up to me. The others nodded in agreement, as if they were
all thinking the same thing.
“We’d
be honored if we could sign you to our label”
I practically
feel over in shock, someone like me, someone wanted me.
They explained
as best they could the details of the label itself. It was
still in the working out faze, and until its completion due in a
few months, they would sign me to a “working label”
they had going, I wasn’t too sure what that exactly meant,
except that it was a spin off of the label they were on, but they
had control over what happened, the transition from that label to
the new one would occur as soon as it was stable. Next came
the best bit, they were to be promoting a new album, due out in a
few weeks, and they’re opening act had pulled out on them a
few days ago, leaving them looking for someone to fill that
space, enter me. If I accepted the deal I would fly with
them around North and South America, where the main leg of the
tour was (If they went overseas, usually a local band would open
for them, but that was, according to Kevin “Subject to
change”). The tour would start in 5 weeks, which meant
I had that amount of time to get ready. It seemed almost
beyond belief that I could pull that off, but the guys were
optimistic. I had a few songs written, but nothing I’d
ever shown to anyone before. They promised to get the best
song writers working on something I could use now while I worked
directly on training, IE: dancing. I wasn’t sure if
all this would be possible, but I had been dancing since I was
younger and thanks to them, I was sure I could sing. I was
been dumped in the deep end, I had to learn to swim very fast.
“Just for
the contact’s sake, how old are you? 16?” Howie
inquired
I looked at my
uncle, perhaps he had an answer for what I should say. He
looked at me strangely, as if I should agree, but they had all
been too nice to me to lie to them.
“I'm 14”
I replied softly “My 15th birthday is in two days”
They looked at
each other, before AJ spoke up.
“It’s
all good, you got the talent we’re looking for” he
winked
Next came the
details of me been a minor – the deal was, someone had to
accompany me around on the tour, I had to be assigned a guardian.
I knew Papa or Mama, would be no good, Papa worked and couldn’t
afford the time off, and Mama needed to stay at home to help my
Grandmother and my younger brother. Then there was Uncle,
but he had a high paying job he wouldn’t even consider
leaving, that left not a lot of options, except one – the
one person who didn’t have anything tying them down, and was
over 21, my cousin – Alleah, my uncles oldest daughter,
Alleah Karen. She was the walking devil in my eyes, she
hated me, and I her. I wasn’t really sure why this
whole thing came by, all I know is Alleah didn’t like a lot
of people. She was 21, just, and had a head of long,
beautifully straight hair. Her eyes were huge and deep
brown, her skin a perfect olive color. Despite loathing
her, I had to admit she was a stunner, and it was obvious she
knew it. Alleah always got her own way, and for once I
needed to ask her help on something, I swallowed hard, this was
way beyond my worse nightmare, but I was left with no other
choice.
I was to fly back to Mexico that day as planed, the contract would be finalized and faxed to me to sign, before then I had to secure a guardian and my parents permission. Then I would fly to Florida, where they were situated and start training. Goodness knows where sleeping or eating was supposed to fit into this plan.
Chapter 4