by N. Kognytao
While her band was rearranging and setting up near the back of the stage, Leah stood with Mr. Gracie and a few of the other directors of the Outdoor Show.
“Okay, Ms. Dillon,” Mr. Gracie started. “We’re going to outfit you with a wardrobe to imitate 4U and we’ll probably be using a lot of his presets as far as the videos and lights are concerned. Is that alright with you?”
“Sounds good.”
“Do we have all that here tonight?” the CEO asked, turning to a man next to him.
“We had it brought in for tonight, yes. Eddie should have it.”
“Is there a song from 4U you would like to perform? I know you sang in the same key for the audition, but we can always change the cord if we need to,” Mr. Gracie asked, turning back to Leah.
“Actually, sir,” one woman interjected quickly, “everyone in marketing discussed this and we think it would be better if she were to sing a song from 4Ever instead of one of 4U’s solo songs.”
“But she’ll be on stage by herself,” Mr. Gracie said, as if reminding them. “4Ever consisted of four people.”
“Yes, and we’ll have her band with her, perhaps we’ll even move them forward, but focus on Leah because that is the point of this parody performance.”
“Why not just have her do a solo song?”
“We are concerned that it will look too much like we’re replacing 4U rather than celebrating him and teasing him, particularly since he’s not here for this concert. If he was here, then it would be different, but it creates an unfavorable image.”
Mr. Gracie slowly lowered his eyes and nodded slowly, thinking.
“I can see how that would be a problem,” he agreed. “If you are going to do a 4Ever song,” he turned to Leah, “you better parody the hell out of it.”
“You want me to make fun of it?”
“Relentlessly,” Mr. Gracie said strongly, grinning. “The songs are dated, and if we can make fun of the most notorious disbandment in RM history, we need to do so.”
“Then do I sing all parts, even if you or the other two sang verses?”
“Yes, we can modify the key,” Mr. Gracie said. “Actually, I think there was a remix a few years ago of Blinded, right?” He turned to the marketing manager who lifted her hands peacefully.
“No idea.”
Mr. Gracie lifted his microphone. “Edward?” he called. When he caught sight of the sound director, he spoke again. “Is there a remix of Blinded?”
He lifted his thumbs and went to the computers, searching for the remix as Mr. Gracie turned back to Leah. “Blinded?”
“I love that song.”
“You get to pick another. I guess you’re selecting from the really old songs,” the CEO chuckled.
“What about Night Drive?” Leah asked, smiling. “Night Drive has that slow taper at the end, maybe we can overlay the tracks and just keep going right into Blinded.”
“Those are two fast songs. Can you go one right into the other?” Mr. Gracie asked, raising his eyebrows. “You might need a moment to breathe.”
“Can I try it? If it doesn’t work and I can’t keep my breath we can try something else.”
“Alright,” Mr. Gracie agreed, backing away and lifting the microphone. “Let’s run Night Drive first with just the backtrack. Ms. Dillon, just…see how you feel, get a feel for the song on this stage. Try and impersonate as many 4U moves as you can and we’ll fine tune it. And play up how weird he is. When he sees the video, he’ll like that.”
Mr. Gracie did not stray far from the stage, watching the lights flash in the pre-programmed pattern for the song as Leah tried to imitate the famous singer. Mr. Gracie had to try and keep from bobbing his head, but his foot tapped to the familiar song without him noticing.
After a few pointers, Mr. Gracie stood further back and watched Leah direct her own practice. She would start a verse and then ask them to stop the song, motioning that she wanted to start on a different part of the stage, trying to emulate the singer who had inspired her. With each little change and fine-tune, everyone could see Leah’s energy come forward more, matching the size of the stage and rivaling the rumbling bass of the song.
The rehearsal drew on for Leah, but a lot of the artists had stuck around and were watching her with more and more interest as she continued to tweak the performance, bringing smiles to everyone when she exaggerated some of 4U’s strange-yet-somehow-natural dance moves. Tim would make comments, but as she watched Leah figure out her own weaknesses, the CEO began watching those observing the rehearsal, instead.
Most of the others were clearly impressed, leaning forward in their seats, their eyes locked on her even when she stopped the song and practiced without the back track.
However, when Tim’s eyes fell on Hayden and the others of Glaring Nights, he felt his own smile fall.
Tim recognized the look on Hayden’s face. There was a part of him that believed he was hypersensitive to the look of jealousy due to his own past, but he could not deny that he could have avoided a lot of pain if he had paid attention to the look earlier.
Hayden was glaring at Leah the same way the two other members of 4Ever, Sam and Jake, had glared at 4U when 4Ever was at the peak of their popularity. There were times where Tim had also been jealous of the amount of favoritism the vocalist had received when they were a group, but Tim was one of the producers and composers behind all of 4Ever’s songs, so he had a different sort of investment in the band. Jake and Sam had felt as though they were outcasts in the group—“just there for decoration,” as Sam had said during a particularly ugly fight when the band began arguing on a daily basis.
Whenever Tim thought back to that horrible year of 4Ever’s disbandment, he felt physically ill. As with all conflicts in his life, he had handled the situation calmly and logically, but that was only how he appeared to anyone he worked with. Braydon, Emma, and even 4U were the only ones who saw the horrible toll it took on the then-twenty-eight-year-old keyboardist.
But that was because even others in the company had not heard the full extent of the scandals that threatened to undermine the entire company.
Instead of letting everyone know how horrible things had become, he discreetly prosecuted the former CEO of RM Entertainment, Ronald McCollum—quietly, he won the case against his own father and had him thrown in prison.
Therefore, whenever he saw the jealous look on Hayden’s face, he was reminded of the jealousy in 4Ever that led Sam and Jake to perpetuate and aid the near-downfall of RM Entertainment. Tim wanted to believe that Hayden would not take the petty jealousy as far as his former bandmates, but there was a worry deep in his bones that he was witnessing the unfolding of the next big scandal.
As he always did when overwhelmed, Tim threw himself entirely into work. He put on mental blinders and forced himself to have tunnel vision when it came to his job.
Therefore, he was able to spot little discrepancies in the rehearsal with Leah.
For the umpteenth time, Tim lifted the microphone to his mouth.
“Greggory, can you restart the video? The syncing is off.”
A tap on his shoulder caused him to turn around quickly, his eyes falling on the short, blonde woman behind him with a huge smile on her face. His concentration broke immediately.
“What are you doing here?” he gasped, quickly leaning forward to peck a kiss on her lips. Her smile broadened when they parted.
“Figured you would be working late, as always,” she teased, lifting a small cooler. “Brought you some dinner.” She laughed and jerked her thumb behind her. “But I have to tell you, getting through the barricade is ridiculously difficult.”
“That’s just to keep everyone from spying on rehearsals since we’re out in the open here,” he chuckled, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders.
“Well, can you call your police force and tell them to let the caterers through?” she asked, resting her chin on his arm and looking up at him innocently.
He looked between the c
ooler in her hand and her face, confused.
“I had a late dinner brought for everyone,” she said. “You can’t work everyone so hard on an empty stomach.” She lifted the cooler. “But I made this just for us.”
He pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head, ignoring the rehearsal going on in front of him as he rubbed her shoulder affectionately.
“You’re the best.”
He lifted the microphone once more.
“Edward, can you cut it for a moment? Kelly? Please call those at the perimeter barricade and tell them to let the catering vans through. Everyone, my incredible wife has brought a late dinner for everyone, so once the food is ready we’re going to take a short break.”
A thrilled shout sounded from stage as Leah jumped up, excited about dinner, causing her band members to smile as well.
“Who’s that?” Emma asked, nodding to the singer.
Tim heaved a sigh, raising his eyebrows. “That’s her…”
Emma quickly turned to Tim, her eyes wide.
“What?” She looked between Tim’s serious expression and the bouncing Leah who was making up a silly song about eating dinner while Alex tried to focus her and the band once more to continue the rehearsal while the food was brought in. “You’re kidding.”
“I am not.”
“She’s a bit young, isn’t she?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Okay, she’s not that young but…she seems a bit high-energy for Braydon.”
“That’s what I thought,” Tim agreed. He sighed once more, shaking his head. “But…there is definitely something special about her. I think that her energy is very high, but it’s not overpowering when she’s not on stage.”
“Braydon is serious about this girl?” Emma said, glancing over the performer as he started mimicking 4U’s moves, singing along with the backtrack for Blinded. “How long has he known her?”
“Couple months.”
“So, he hasn’t told her…”
“No, of course not,” Tim said, shaking his head. “And I already tried to warn her about Braydon’s behavior, but she seemed not to care. But…she also didn’t treat it like a challenge to find out, so that is admirable. She’s actually letting him take things at his pace, which is something no one has had the patience for.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Emma said, breaking from their hug, stepping in front of her husband and looking at him seriously. “You’re okay with this?”
“With what?”
“Braydon and this girl?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Emma let out a bark of laughter. “Because I don’t know of anyone more protective of Braydon than you,” she said. “Half the time I wondered if you had scared off the other girls he’s been with.”
Tim decided to laugh at her claim even though he was irritated by the statement. There were things about his protective nature of Braydon that even Emma did not know, so he could not fault her when she accidentally stepped on a nerve.
“Well, I’ll have you know, I do not get involved in Braydon’s love life,” he said with a grin.
“Oh, bullshit,” Emma giggled.
“Alright, fine. I don’t involve myself in the love lives of my artists.” He nodded to Leah who was asking if she could practice one part of the song a few times so she could be sure to get the dance move right to mimic her idol.
“Fair enough,” she conceded. “But…this is mixing business with family. I thought—”
She stopped herself immediately, realizing what she had just said. She turned away, pursing her lips together. Tim took a deep breath, calming himself down and trying not to be angered at Emma’s inadvertent attempt to bring up one of the major scandals that broke apart 4Ever.
“It’s alright,” he assured. “I know you didn’t mean it like that.”
She walked forward and hugged him again.
“I guess this is kind of a strange situation for all of us in the family, isn’t it?”
“And if Leah stays with Braydon…or I should say, if Braydon gets attached to Ms. Dillon and she gets more attached to him, it’s only going to get more complicated,” Tim agreed, rubbing her shoulder. “Particularly because I think that Ms. Dillon is the next big star of RM Entertainment.”
Chapter Seventeen
RM Entertainment ran like a well-oiled machine when it came time for the Outdoor Show. Makeup artists, hair stylists, and costume directors were working in the tents backstage with the artists, making sure everyone looked their absolute best. Even though there was an excited tension among all those performing, there was also a sense of calm. No one was rushing, no one felt pressured, everyone was just drinking in the feeling before the concert as the audience filed in.
Leah, however, was very nervous.
Peering around the construction of the stage and seeing the sheer number of people filing into the area caused her to nearly panic. Aaron yanked her away from her spot and forced her to do some vocal warmups and breathing exercises to calm down and center herself for the big concert.
“You’ve already performed a lot, you’ve opened for a bigger band, and you’ve gained enough attention to win the fan poll,” the guitarist said, squeezing her shoulders. “You’ve got this.”
At precisely nine o’clock, the concert started and the screams of the audience filled the air with excited energy. After the first artist performed, Leah could not bring herself to look at the audience, too nervous to think about confronting the enormous number of people.
As if they had rehearsed for months, everyone ran through their stages, the biggest names finishing their first sets and then running back to the tents for costume change for their second sets. Leah knew that she had plenty of time to go through her own costume change from her stage to her parody of 4U, but her anxious mind continued to think up ways it could go wrong and she could ruin the Outdoor Show.
When Glaring Nights went on stage, Leah knew that she only had four songs to calm her nerves before her own performance.
She stared at the dark wall behind the stage, breathing slowly and thinking about her audition, her performances in the clubs, the way she was already gaining some popularity, as well as the reason she had gotten into music, holding tightly onto the thoughts of her family.
Leah felt she had calmed enough to perform, but there was still a tremor through her body.
Glaring Nights left the stage grinning triumphantly at the enthusiastic screaming from the concert-goers. As the Anthony twins stepped on stage, performing their two song before Leah, Aaron, Carson, Yasmine, and Keith gathered around the vocalist and huddled together.
“Let’s kill it out there,” Yasmine said strongly.
“Always do,” Keith agreed with a wink.
“We managed to get to this stage for a reason, so let’s prove to everyone, and to ourselves, that we belong there,” Aaron agreed.
“…is this the part where we do a chant or something?” Leah teased.
“Try to make up a chant, and I’ll punch you,” Yasmine warned.
“Just for that, I’m going to make one up that we’ll have to do before every performance,” Leah laughed.
They adjusted their in-ears, made sure they were prepared and, as soon as the lights fell on the Anthony twins’ performance, they hurried off stage and Leah and the others hurried on. Stage hands helped them to their marks just as the back tracks started to play and they picked up their positions. Leah took her microphone and stood in her spot, closing her eyes to keep herself from looking at the massive crowd before her.
However, when the excited cheers sounded around the music playing in her in-ears, and the lights illuminated the stage, all nerves vanished and Leah fell into her performance as naturally as the seasoned performers.
She was exhilarated to be under the hot stage lights, to be singing her heart out to songs she had written, and seeing the broad smiles beyond the stage, and eyes alight with happiness. She darted around the stage, being sure to engage the
audience as much as possible, singing by memory, her entire being invested in the performance.
Soon, the cameras flying around on crane arms to broadcast the RM Outdoor Show and the bright screens and lights, as well as the weight of the battery pack on her waistband faded away. Leah was so wrapped up in her own performance, she forgot it was a performance. She felt the energy of the audience, smiled at the musicians behind her, felt her blood racing and her own smile turning her face numb.
It was everything she wanted for her life. She wanted to ride that same high and never come down. She wanted to always see the smiles in front of her, the way their heads moved to her music, the elation at seeing the way her performance could bring such joy to the audience.
She had finally achieved what she always wanted to do.
When the first song ended, Leah greeted everyone and told them that she was honored to be there and that she wanted to share a new song with them that no one had ever heard. When the statement was greeted with thunderous cheering, she felt himself soaring even higher on adrenaline.
The new song was a fun-loving, upbeat song, and when she stopped after the bridge, telling everyone to clap their hands, each resounding clap caused her smile to grow. Everyone loved the song, and their expressions were all the proof she needed that she was exactly where she belonged.
Her three songs ended far too quickly, and even though she exited the stage out from memory of the rehearsals, she still felt as though she was on stage, riding the high as she leapt on her bandmates and hugged them tightly. It was clear from their own celebrations that they were feeling the same euphoria.
The stage hands tried to hurry Leah back to the tent for her costume change, but she was too excited from the successful stage to stay still. Her worries were long gone, even when she saw the dark look from Hayden, she could not be bothered to worry.
* * *
There was both a sense of respect and annoyance at how involved Mr. Gracie was in the big productions of the company. He always tried to go to one rehearsal of new tours for his artists, or go to different fashion weeks where a majority of the models were working, or go to movie premiers for the actors under the entertainment company. Some people believe it to be micromanaging, or even a bit overbearing on the artists themselves, but there was also a sense of respect that Mr. Gracie was truly involved rather than profiting from his employees without care.
