Between Songs

by N. Kognytao

  Therefore, when Leah and her band got out of two back-to-back interviews at the RM Building only to have Alex shuffle them to a company van to take them to the Jackson Club, they only had to remind themselves of the huge show coming up and their energy surged once more.

  “Do we need to start teasing how many new songs we have prepared?” Leah asked, walking through the halls of the building toward the front lot. “Will that help hype us up?”

  “It is a delicate balancing act between mystery and intrigue and getting them excited for what is actually coming out,” Alex explained. “Let’s see how this first club appearance goes and we can decide. After all, you will only get two to three songs at the Outdoor Show.”

  “Then we should probably take note of what ones everyone responds best to,” Yasmine said with a strong nod.

  “I’m all for Overdrive being the track we play—”

  Carson was cut off by everyone coming to a stop in the lobby, confronted with four men. Three were the members of Glaring Nights while the tall, thin, older man beside them, Leah could only assume was their manager.

  “Oh, it’s you,” Hayden said, looking at Leah. “Where are you off to?”

  “Rehearsal,” Leah answered. “What about you?”

  “We’re heading in to record a few bonus tracks.”

  “I thought you were on tour.”

  “We’re heading to the east coast in two weeks for the continuation,” Blake, the guitarist, answered.

  “You must be Leah,” the older man said, stepping forward and extending his hand. “Thomas White, Glaring Nights Manager.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Leah greeted, wondering why she had never seen the manager during the rehearsals for Glaring Night’s concert.

  “And Alex,” Thomas said, surprised. “I thought you were retired.”

  “I’m out of retirement for a little while,” the other manager said. “I did not realize that Jessica was no longer managing Glaring Nights.”

  “Well, she went off to start a family, so she and her husband went up north and she’s got two kids now.”

  “Good for her,” Alex said. “We’re just on our way out.”

  “Oh, Leah,” Hayden said, calling her attention back as the larger group tried to pass. The singer turned around. “I heard that you’ve got a decent line of club performances set up.”

  “I do.”

  “Well, just be aware that that’s nothing compared to what will be going on at the Outdoor Show,” the leader of Glaring Nights warned. “Clubs are easy. Concerts are not.”

  “I thought we did a pretty good job at your concert,” Aaron said sharply, though he was smiling.

  “Just some friendly advice from someone who’s been performing longer,” Hayden said, a cold bite to his voice.

  “We appreciate the advice, but we don’t need it, clearly, considering the way we riled up the crowd at your concert,” Yasmine bit back.

  “Hey,” Alex said, fixing her with a stern glare.

  “You should take our advice,” Chris, the keyboardist for Glaring Nights, added. “After all, all eyes are going to be on you. We’re still not sure how a new performer could land a spot at the Outdoor Show when she hasn’t even been tested in front of her own audience, yet.”

  “I have a feeling it has a lot more to do with other influences,” the manager for Glaring Nights said, looking at Alex. “Seems like Mr. Gracie is pooling a lot of people that he used to work with in 4Ever.”

  “Are you implying something, Thomas?” Alex asked bluntly.

  “Just that, I don’t see how Mr. Gracie, who is a notorious perfectionist, could put such faith in an untested talent that he would put Jay and you with that person. Perhaps there are more scandals that we have yet to learn of.”

  “I think the only scandal you need to worry about is what happens if we decide to kick your teeth in,” Yasmine growled.

  “It’s just posturing,” Leah said, holding her arm out to stop Yasmine from stepping forward. “They’re just afraid that we’re going to upstage them. They’re trying to upset us.”

  “You’ve got a long way to go until you can upstage me,” Hayden growled, stepping forward and causing everyone around Leah to tense. The other singer flinched, but managed to keep herself from retreating. Alex immediately went to Leah’s side and held an arm in front of her, but dared not touch Hayden or push him back.

  Thomas and the other two band members stayed where they were, smiling cockily at the other musicians.

  “Just remember, we are the top musicians in RM,” Hayden said darkly. “And nothing is going to change that.”

  “I think you’re forgetting 4U,” Leah said.

  “Do not make this harder than it has to be,” Hayden hissed, his voice turning dark. “If you even think about trying to humiliate us, or trying to make Mr. Gracie shift his focus from us to you, be assured, you will regret it.”

  Leah wisely chose not to respond.

  When Hayden smiled, pleased that Leah did not have a retort, Alex placed a hand on her shoulder, gently, but insistently guiding her backward.

  “You have recordings to do,” he said, glaring at the manager for Glaring Nights for not keeping Hayden under control. “We have our own schedules to maintain.”

  Hayden threw one last, cocky look around the other group and then nodded, turning and going further into the building, laughing as though he had gained some victory.

  Yasmine growled darkly.

  “I can’t stand that arrogant dick!” she snapped.

  “Try not to let him get under your skin,” Carson murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her around.

  “Yeah, they’re just a bunch of assholes,” Keith agreed. “We better get to rehearsals so we can show them up at the Outdoor Show.”

  “They’re just scared,” Aaron seconded.

  “Alex?” Leah asked, noticing her manager had stopped and was pulling out his phone.

  “I need to take this call. Go ahead and get into the van. I’ll be right there,” he said, waving the younger people away. They obeyed without question, all complaining about the attitude of Glaring Nights.

  Alex hit the call button on the phone and lifted it to his ear, hearing it ring twice before a voice answered.

  “Mr. Stuart,” Mr. Gracie greeted. “How is the hectic schedule going? Have you run them into the ground, yet?”

  “It’s been two days, of course not,” Alex groaned. “Actually, we might have a bit of a problem.”

  “Okay, let’s hear it.”

  “There are security cameras in the lobby, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I need you to watch them.”

  “What happened?”

  “Seems that Hayden and his group are not too pleased with the attention that Leah is receiving. At the moment, it seems he and Thomas think there is some scandal you are trying to cover up, but it could get very ugly very quickly, particularly if Leah starts getting some serious attention from the public.”

  “I’ll watch them. Please keep an eye on Leah. Let me handle Glaring Nights.”

  Alex nodded, even though Mr. Gracie could not see him, and hung up the phone, quickly heading to the van to get his band to rehearsal.

  * * *

  The rehearsal at the club only lasted two hours before the building had to open for patrons. Once the band had a feel for the layout of the stage and the venue where they would be performing, they were hauled back to RM Entertainment. But rather than going to the studio or being sent home for the night, Alex dragged them upstairs to one of the mock stage studios and had them practice for another three hours.

  All five of them were drained when they went to sleep that night.

  Just before Leah went to sleep, just as she did every night, she managed to type a text to Braydon.

  Hope you had a good day. Sleep well.

  That night, she only managed to type: Hpe you had good dya. Niht.

  She wondered if spelling mistakes in tex
t messages irritated the author.

  The next day was no easier for the band. They spent a few hours in the studio with Jay working on the new songs, then were hauled back to the mock stage for another three hours of rehearsal before Leah and Aaron were called in for an interview as the three younger members had to go prepare for a test for their general education class through the RM trainee program.

  The following day, the exhaustion was starting to set in. They got very little accomplished in the studio and Leah was struggling with words on the radio show they appeared on for a fifteen-minute talk segment about being new to RM Entertainment.

  When the next harrowing day came around, Jay threw his hands into the air after arguing with Leah and turned to Alex.

  “What is their schedule for the rest of the day?!” he snapped.

  “Brief interview with Beat Entertainment Weekly at four.”

  “Fine,” he growled. “They’re all pissy. After that, send them home for some sleep. Her vocals are shit today.”

  “Screw you,” Leah groaned.

  “Can they afford the time off?” Alex asked, raising his eyebrows at the producer. “These songs sound like they need a lot of work.”

  “Don’t tell me how to do my job,” Jay warned, also irritable. “They go home. They get some decent rest and get over this shitty attitude. Or, they stay here, screw around, and we get nothing accomplished. Or, better yet, they screw up enough that we end up having more work for ourselves.”

  Alex sighed and nodded.

  “Alright, fine. Let’s take these kids to lunch.”

  “We’re not all kids,” Aaron groaned, also grumpy from lack of sleep.

  “And I have other artists I need to work with,” Jay said. “You get some decent food in them, and send them home after the interview.”

  Alex nodded, standing and looking at the exhausted faces around him.

  “Alright, let’s go for an early lunch.”

  Jay tapped Leah’s arm, catching her attention.

  “Hey,” he said, “in all seriousness, take care of yourself. It’s no good if you run yourself and your team into the ground right out of the gate.”

  Leah and everyone else did feel better after a full meal at the RM cafeteria. They had been moving around so much the previous days there had barely been time to get a quick bite to eat between practices, new songs, and interviews.

  As they were sitting around, finally quiet, before their interview, Leah pulled out her phone.

  Could really use a break. Can I come over tonight? I’m done around 5.

  There was still no answer from Braydon by the time they went into the interview.

  Alex knew that he was pushing the young musicians hard, but he was purposely overbooking them, seeing where their energy ran thin, seeing where the tensions arose and which members had more difficulty keeping up than others. He was testing the dynamics and boundaries of the group. He had to know exactly where their limits were so he could watch out for them in the future.

  He had kicked himself a million times for not seeing the issues with 4Ever in the years before they disbanded. And when he began managing 4U, he had been so caught up in the frenzy of 4U’s immediate success that he had not seen when he had almost run the singer into the ground.

  Alex still had nightmares about the night that 4U disappeared after a concert only to be found on the roof of the hotel, holding his knees into his chest with silent tears in his eyes. Terrified for the singer, Alex had asked Tim what to do, and the CEO of RM sat with his former bandmate until 4U fell asleep at which point, Tim told the manager to watch out for over exhaustion, because that was what hurt true artists the most.

  “Once an artist loses sight of their passion for their art, that’s when you have the most danger of losing them.”

  Alex swore when he agreed to watch over Leah—who was like 4U in many ways—he would not let himself be blinded to the limits of the artist.

  So, he decided to push him while they had the time. Because he knew, once Leah performed at the Outdoor Show, her popularity would skyrocket.

  At the end of the interview, when everyone was very thankful to be heading home early, Leah had still not heard back from Braydon.

  However, rather than try and text or call, she took a chance and went to see him.

  When he opened the door to his loft, he was only slightly surprised to see her. He let her in all the same.

  “You look exhausted.”

  “Alex, our manager, has been running us ragged.”

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked. “A drink? Coffee?”

  “No, no, I just want to sleep,” she groaned. “I just…I really need a break from RM and my really boring dorm room.” She tried to smile, but she was too tired to do more than make the corners of her mouth move slightly upward. She glanced over Braydon, seeing exhaustion creasing his face as well. “You look a bit worn out yourself.”

  “Lot of all-nighters,” he said, nodding.

  “Even I don’t do all-nighters.”

  He walked into the kitchen, pouring out what was left in his coffee mug and pouring a new one. He turned around and leaned against the counter.

  “So? You have a manager, now. And you’re busy.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “And…I missed you.”

  He smiled gently and walked to her, placing a hand on her face.

  “Sorry I haven’t been in contact.”

  “I figured you were working,” she said, shrugging as she linked her hands behind his neck, rolling onto her toes to kiss his lips. “Working a lot, apparently, since you’re pulling all-nighters.”

  “Edits,” he groaned, nodding to his desk in the living room as he walked over and sat in his chair, leaving Leah to slowly meander over to him. “May not seem like I’m working very hard, since I’m just sitting here, but I assure you, this is the hardest part.”

  “I can’t even imagine,” Leah chuckled. She sat down heavily, rubbing her hands over her face and leaned back against the couch, finding it more comfortable than she ever had before—she supposed she really was exhausted. “This new manager, Alex, he used to manage both 4Ever and 4U.”

  “I may have met him once or twice,” Braydon said, leafing through the papers stacked next to his computer.

  “He’s great, I guess. He’s been getting us a lot of interviews, and we’re going to be playing at seven different club houses before we perform at the RM Entertainment Outdoor Show, which is…I mean, it’s huge. But now I’m not sure I can do it because we’re running around all the time and I can’t sleep because I’m too busy worrying about what we’re doing the following day and the progress of the songs, and the stages we have to put on in the clubs, and everything else.”

  Braydon did not say anything, glancing over the papers, his chair half-turned away from her.

  “I mean, I’m not sure Alex realizes that we’re not 4Ever. We’re not seasoned pros. We’re not used to this kind of schedule. We actually only got out early today because Jay, our producer, said that we were too tired and we kept making mistakes in the studio. I guess I’m going to have to stand up to Alex and tell him that we can’t be working that hard. We’re going to be too tired for the show.”

  Even though the author still did not respond, Leah kept talking.

  “And then there’s this new drama with Glaring Nights. They hate us for doing so well at their concert and they’re trying to blackmail us by saying that there’s ulterior motives for Mr. Gracie spending so much time on our promotion. Now, I feel like I actually have to show him up again on stage because it’s the only way to clear all of us of that stupid suspicion.

  “But honestly, I can’t even think about composing great songs while I’m being dragged all over the place and falling asleep in the van,” she continued. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep up with this schedule. I need time to actually produce the songs we’ll be playing. I can’t just snap my fingers and have them appear in front of me. It’s like, they say th
ey respect the art of creating music, but they don’t really mean it. And you should hear some of the questions I get asked. They’re asking me what kind of product I use in my hair and what my skin care routine is. Really? What does that have to do with my music?

  “But they want to know,” she pressed on. She was very aware that Braydon was only half-listening, but she wanted to tell him about the little annoyances. She could not complain entirely to anyone in the group or Jay or Alex because they were all a part of that world. “I’ve never really put any thought into labels or types of shoes or anything like that. The stylists have been working me over the past few days trying to find the right image for me. And while they’re fussing, I can’t think of any lyrics or do what I’m supposed to do for my job.

  “It’s just so frustrating because, I want to write music. I want to sing. But all this extra stuff? It feels like it’s hindering me, actually,” she said. “And I never thought that would be a problem before.”

  “You shouldn’t complain.”

  “I can complain,” she protested. “I just can’t wallow.”

  He turned around in his chair, looking at her seriously. “You knew this is what you were signing up for. Yeah, your manager is running you hard, but until you’re established, you need to work three times harder than any of the other known artists. If you want to be a singer. If you want your music to touch the lives of thousands of people, this is what you have to put up with. Not everyone gets this opportunity.”

  “I’m not saying I’m not grateful,” she corrected quickly, straightening. “And I’m no stranger to working hard. I’ve held down two jobs busting my ass as a damn cashier to help my family through my sister’s treatment.”