Chapter 3: Getting To Know You (Part 1)
“Awesome. That’s all I can say about it. I don’t think I have ever been to a better concert.” She answered taking a sip out of her drink.
“Really? Are you just saying that?”
Arlet shook her head. She swallowed her drink before she answered. “No, I’m serious. I thought it was amazing. You guys did an amazing job with interaction with fans. I’m not just saying that cause you spent the whole time looking at me, but all of you did such a good job with everyone in the arena. That was actually the 3rd BSB show I’ve been too.”
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it. That’s my job. Making you, the fans, happy.” He said, while taking a bite out of his burger.
“And you do a good job at it at that.”
“So, tell me. What do you do for a living?” Nick asked curiously.
“Well, you heard of Schmarts’ Inc.?”
“That record label that’s also a management company or something?” Arlet nodded. “Yeah I know about that. We wanted to switch to that label.”
“Yeah well, I own it. I’m the founder and President. Also the CEO.” Nick’s mouth dropped. “Uh...Nick, could you uh...close your mouth?”
“Oh I’m sorry. You’re the owner of Schmarts’ Incorporated?! No way!”
“Way!” She said doing a Wayne Campbell impersonation.
“And how old are you?”
“I’ll be 22-years-old in February. Why you ask?”
“You’re only 22 and you already own a record label? I can’t believe it.” He said shaking his head in disbelief.
“Yeah well you better believe it. I’ve been wanting to start my own record label and manage bands since I was fourteen. It was a dream I had. I was dream driven. Nothing could have stopped me.”
Nick continued to shake his head with a smile. “Wow. You’re so young and you already own one of the most famous record companies with the all the musicians. I swear, everyone wants to sign with you guys.”
“I know. I’ve turned down a lot of them cause I didn’t like them. For example, Willa Ford. I didn’t even have to think about it. It was a natural reaction. I just said ‘no’ as soon as she came up to me. Another one would be ‘N Sync. Their excuse was that they’re better than everyone else in this business and that we have to sign them or they’ll sue. Naturally, I said ‘no’ again. Way too many stupid musicians out there.” She said crumpling up her burger wrapper and throwing it down on the tray.
“So, what are the odds that we, the Backstreet Boys, could get signed on to your label?” Nick asked following her lead.
“What’s the reason why you want to be with Schmarts’ Inc. Mr. Carter?” She asked crossing her arms on the table and leaning forward.
“We just want another label. You know how some musicians have more than one label they’re signed on too? Well, we want another label too. Also, Jive is kind of ripping our fans off. They keep making our fans pay for everything, like to join our fan club. I feel bad cause some of our fans don’t have the money to be in our fan club. I would see all these other fan clubs that would be free. It makes me mad knowing that a lot of our fans who really want to join something have to pay.” He stopped and looked at Arlet. She had a smile on her face and was nodding. Nick continued. “We read stuff about your label and we really liked it. We’ve been wanting to get in touch with some people but we have to talk with our label. You know, for contract reasons. So, I mean, we haven’t had anytime to talk to anyone about it. But if the opportunity comes up, we’ll take in a heartbeat.”
Arlet smiled again and sat back in her chair. “Well, Mr. Carter, I’ll see what I can do for you and your group. I’ll make some important phone calls and talk with your label and try to make a deal out of it. And if you guys still want, I’ll sign you with the Schmarts’ Family.”
“Would you really do that?”
“Why not? You guys seem smarter than most of the other ‘artists’ out there in the music business. And besides, I always wanted to work with you guys in the studio.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, not only am I a manager and Founder, President and CEO of a record label, I produce. If you look on let’s say, Sum 41’s latest album, you’ll see me as a producer on there as well. So maybe, if you guys get signed and record your first album with us, maybe I could help you produce it.”
“You helped produce Sum 41’s latest album? I love that CD. Man, you can do everything, I swear.”
“Not everything.” Arlet said, slightly blushing. “Hey, what time is it?”
“Oh shit! It’s almost 2:30. We need to head back to the hotel.” He said getting up from his chair. He signaled to a big, well built man at a table that he was leaving. The huge guy nodded and followed them out to the dark van. He got into the drivers seat and drove back to the hotel.
“Hey, do you want to come up for a little bit?” Nick asked when they arrived at the hotel.
“Sure, why not?” Arlet answered, following Nick into the nice hotel.
Stepping into Nick’s room was like stepping into a teenage boy's room with loads of video games and clothes lying everywhere.
“Sorry about the mess.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s uh, not that bad.” Arlet said trying to be polite. She bit her lip.
Chapter 2: The Concert (Part 3)
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