Grayson nodded. “Okay.”
“If he doesn’t impress me, he’s leaving here without a contract. You’ll find me someone better when I tell you that you can, and we’ll have Zach Evans perform with the girls. He can draw a crowd.”
This upset Grayson. First of all, the show was his brainchild. He didn’t want Zach Evans apart of this all-ages friendly show. Besides, he told The Pretty Committee that they wouldn’t have to work with him. Secondly, Grayson wanted to sign Elijah. Elijah was going to be his artist.
Regardless of these things, he nodded his head. “Alright. He won’t disappoint.”
Harvey responded with a satisfied smile before walking off. Elijah was still standing and nodded to him as he stormed by, but he didn’t get much of a greeting in return. He’d only spoke to the receptionist.
Once Harvey disappeared into the room, Grayson let out a long breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“Fuck.”
Elijah rubbed at his tattoo. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Grayson shook his head as he walked over to him. If he could’ve done this behind his father’s back as a surprise, he wouldn’t be nearly as stressed as he was right now. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting like that.”
Elijah was staring at his lips as he waved him off. “Don’t worry about it.”
They both felt eyes on them and turned to look at the receptionist. She quickly turned her head away, looking down at her computer.
Grayson rolled his eyes.
“I hope you don’t mind that I told the lady you’ll be my manager,” Elijah said just loud enough for Grayson to hear. “I’m telling you right now I’m not working with anyone else.”
Grayson stared at him. “Just to be clear, at some point, you’re going to have to be a big boy and do some of this work without me.”
Elijah smiled. “I want to kiss you when you get like this.”
“And,” Grayson continued, trying to ignore the way Elijah moved closer. “You need to go into that room and blow everyone away. It’s only a few people from the label. Well, my dad, of course, but also the promotions people, artist development, a photographer, and at least one other A&R. Oh, and our lawyers.”
There was a flash of doubt that Grayson could see behind Elijah’s eyes. He didn’t like it one bit, especially because this guy could captivate an audience in his sleep.
“Elijah.”
He licked his lips. “What if I let you down?”
“You won’t,” Grayson told him. “But if you do, I’m not doing that thing with my tongue that I did before leaving last night.”
“Oh my fucking goodness.”
“Exactly,” Grayson smiled, backing away. “We’ll call you in soon, and you’ll be amazing. I know it.”
“Wait,” Elijah said. He took a deep breath and picked up his guitar case, opening it. “When I do get this, and I have to record a single, we’re writing it together. Deal?”
Grayson couldn’t hold back the smile. He nodded softly before backing away. “We’ll talk about this when you’re officially my artist.”
Elijah licked his lips and nodded. “See you in there, Little Paul.”
“Yeah.” Grayson turned away and walked into the conference room.
Elijah took out his guitar and made sure it was properly tuned.
The receptionist watched him quietly from her desk, and as Elijah paced back and forth in what looked like a silent meditation, she wished him the best of luck.
He looked up at her and smiled. “I appreciate that.”
∞
The cameraman stood behind the tripod, testing out his zoom feature.
Grayson sat at the table beside his father and pulled the chair in tight. Everyone in the room seemed to be distracted and in their own conversations – Isa was looking down at her phone, Andrew Collins from marketing was chatting Derrick’s ear off about something or another. His father was barking orders on the cell phone to one of his underlings.
Grayson’s palms were sweating.
He looked around the spacious room and tried to calm himself down. If he was this freaked out, he could only imagine what Elijah was feeling, only Elijah seemed to handle himself a lot better under pressure. Elijah had always been Mr. Cool, Calm, and Collected. Grayson hoped that was the case right now.
Derrick glanced over at him and smiled, but Grayson could barely return the sentiment. He took a deep breath and nodded his head, ignoring Derrick’s questioning look.
“Are you alright?” his father asked.
Grayson wiped his palms on his pants and nodded. “I’m great. Excited.”
Harvey gave him a strange look in response, but after a second or two, he looked over to his assistant. “We’re ready for him.”
Everyone in the room quieted down, ending all side conversation and sitting back in their seats. Harvey’s assistant was only gone for a minute before returning with Elijah behind her; the man slowly walking in with his guitar. He looked around the room for a moment before finding a spot to stand in the center.
The gentleman with the Mohawk who was filming focused the camera on him and then leant against the wall.
There was absolute silence. Grayson couldn’t look anywhere but at him.
Elijah licked his lips. They were slightly chapped. He looked around from person to person and forced a smile on his face.
Say something, Grayson thought.
His boyfriend cleared his throat, gripping the bridge of his guitar so hard his fingers were white.
“Good afternoon. My name is Elijah Dawson. I’m from Long Island, NY. I’m currently 22 – excuse me, I just turned 23.” He mentally slapped himself and took another breath before continuing. “I’ll be singing a song I wrote when I was a sophomore in college and I hope that you all like it.” His voice cracked a bit on the last part, and he swallowed hard, looking at Grayson for a while before beginning.
Grayson nodded to him. It made Elijah feel a little bit better, even if his heart was pounding against his chest.
Harvey glanced at his son, curious to what the look the two shared was all about, but when Elijah began to sing, it completely drew his attention away.
The room seemed captivated after the first two lines. Grayson could barely look away himself – not only was Elijah a great talent, but him holding a guitar and making those faces as he belted out the lyrics was the single best thing on earth. It was sexy, and Grayson could remember him making a face similar to that last night as he was crying out in ecstasy. He had to force himself to look away, shaking his head to clear the image in his mind and scanning the audience for reactions to Elijah’s performance.
Isa and Derrick seemed to be seriously into it. Isa was practically head over heels. She looked even more gaga-eyed in person than she did watching him on video. And Derrick’s jaw needed to be picked up from the table.
Andrew Collins was nodding his head and tapping his foot. That was a good sign from the stuffy older man.
Even the lawyers were lost in this performance.
Best of all, Harvey Paul was silent. Not many people could get his old man to be that quiet and focused on one thing at one time. Yet here was Elijah, singing a song about wanting someone he couldn’t have, and making Harvey Paul of Millennium Records give him dreamy eyes. Or at least dollar-sign eyes.
Grayson smiled.
Elijah strummed the guitar and increased his volume. He could tell that this was going well. If it wasn’t the fact that everyone seemed to be focused primarily on the words leaving his lips, it was the fact that Grayson seemed so relieved with that proud smile he was wearing. Elijah did try to look around the room and gage everyone into his performance, but his eyes always ended up finding their way back to Grayson. As he began the second verse, he focused on his green eyes and sang the song directly to him.
After sharing a look with Isa, Harvey turned his attention between Elijah and Grayson. The two of them seemed to be very much into one another, and while he knew the two we
re friends, he wasn’t sure what else they were. He assumed Grayson knew better than to be involved with someone he was trying to sign to a record deal, but just in case he didn’t, they were going to discuss this.
The song ended, and everyone in the room applauded without hesitation. Everyone but Harvey Paul, Elijah noticed. He smiled nonetheless, taking a quick bow and adjusting the guitar around his back.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Harvey answered.
Grayson was smiling. Grayson looked elated. Elijah smiled back.
“That was very good. If you don’t mind giving us a moment?” Harvey added.
Elijah nodded. “Sure.” He looked at his boyfriend, smiled, and then walked over to the door to exit the room.
Grayson stood up after the door was closed and looked at everyone present. “So? What do you guys think? He’s amazing, right?”
“Incredible,” one woman answered. “The perfect fit for the show you’ve planned.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Isa replied. “I’m sure Harvey feels the same way.”
Harvey was quiet. Everyone looked at him expectantly, especially Grayson, but he simply pushed his chair out a bit and stood to his feet.
“Thank you everyone for your time. The only people I need to stay in this room are our lawyers, his management, and myself.”
Everyone smiled as they stood up to leave. Many congratulated Grayson in passing, and he tried to be as cool as he could as he thanked them. Inside, he was jumping double-dutch.
The lawyer moved closer to Harvey’s seat with the paperwork. Harvey looked around, curious to find Elijah’s manager, only to see his son still standing there.
“Really, Sonny?”
Grayson looked up at him. “Really. What are you going to tell me, dad? That I don’t know what I’m doing? After that?”
“I’m going to tell you that if you and him have something going on, he will not be signed to Millennium.”
Grayson tensed. “Dad –”
“I don’t have to tell you that we don’t mix business with pleasure. You know better than that, don’t you?”
His son nodded. “Of course I know that, dad.”
Harvey nodded. “Yeah. Of course you do.” He put a hand on Grayson’s shoulder in a way that was more patronizing than it was loving. “Call him in here and let’s get this taken care of.”
Grayson took a moment to move, but as soon as he did, his father spoke again.
“Don’t make me regret this. I don’t have to offer him the extension beyond Friday if you fuck it up, Sonny.”
His words played in Grayson’s head on repeat as he left the room. He looked around the lobby area for Elijah, but saw nothing but his guitar case on the seat he occupied earlier. The receptionist, Jackie, who was probably the single nosiest person in the entire building, immediately spoke up on Elijah’s behalf.
“He went to the restroom!”
Grayson walked farther out into the open and nodded his thanks to her. “Okay. I’ll go check on him.”
“I bet you will,” she said softly.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
He glared at her for a moment before turning down the hall and heading to the men’s room.
Elijah was splashing water on his face when Grayson walked in. He didn’t even bother looking away from the mirror as he spoke.
“I’m almost certain your father hates me.”
Grayson smiled, leaning against the dark tiled wall. “What gives you that impression?”
“Well,” Elijah turned to face him. “He looks at me like I’m an old lady purse snatcher or something. Everyone else seemed sweet.”
Grayson nodded. That sounded pretty accurate. He didn’t think that his father knew what was happening on his face when he was making faces, but he was the king at the bitch glare, believe it or not. “He’s probably looking at you like he thinks you’re doing his son.”
Elijah smirked. “Oh.”
“But to be clear, you aren’t. In fact, we’re really good friends. I found you playing at a restaurant and thought you’d be a great fit for this label. We’re just friends.”
Elijah continued to smirk. “Are you trying to tell me that Daddy doesn’t want me spanking that?”
Grayson dropped his head in laughter.
“Because if that’s the case…”
“He just,” Grayson paused for a moment, shaking his head. What could he even say? “I guess he has the label’s best interest in mind, as well as yours.”
Elijah rolled his eyes. “Bullshit.”
“The terms are: in public, we’re work partners. In private, I’m yours and you’re mine. True boyfriendship.”
Elijah didn’t know if he liked these terms too much. He dried his face with a few hand towels and then walked over to Grayson near the bathroom’s entrance. “If this is true boyfriendship, I’d be able to take your hand and walk out of here with you as proud as ever.”
Grayson reckoned that was true. He shrugged a bit, placing a quick kiss on the corner of his lips as Elijah smiled into it. “His reasoning makes sense,” Grayson said. “He doesn’t want our relationship to go sour and then mess with business. But, this isn’t even what I came looking for you for, Mr. Dawson.”
Elijah didn’t even want to think about the one good thing he had going sour. For one, his friendship with Fallon had always been something that kept him stable, yet now it was on the rocks. He didn’t want to think about one day losing this, even though it had just begun. Grayson had a knack for making him feel good, worth something, and special. He had no plans on letting it go sour.
“Are you okay?” Grayson asked.
Elijah smiled, placing a hand on his waist. “I’m fine. What did you want to tell me?”
Grayson looked around and smirked to himself. The action made Elijah smile curiously.
“I wanted to say ‘Welcome to Millennium’ and invite you to sign your contract, but I don’t know if I want the 19th floor men’s restroom to be the place that I officially congratulate my first recording artist. This isn’t how it happened in my dreams.”
Elijah pulled him in close, trying to stop the wide smile from covering even more ground on his face. He wrapped him in a hug and squeezed him tightly.
Grayson laughed, tightening his arms around Elijah’s shoulders. “I didn’t imagine this either, but this is nice, too. A nice, friendly hug.”
Elijah laughed.
“Thank you for doing this and for believing in me,” Grayson continued. He pulled back and looked into the brown eyes he was crazy about. “I promise to be an amazing manager. We’ll be partners, okay? You won’t have to worry about anything.”
Elijah nodded. “I’m not even worried about that. I trust you.”
Grayson smiled. “You better trust me.”
“You better stop smiling at me like that before I do you right here.”
Grayson rolled his eyes and turned around. “Let’s go sign that contract, idiot.”
His boyfriend/client laughed, following him out of the bathroom.
∞
“I should probably call my folks,” Elijah said.
They were walking towards one of the studios on the 10th floor. It had been a crazy afternoon so far, and the day wasn’t near being over. At least the stressful part was over, though. Elijah patiently listened to Harvey Paul go on for a few minutes on what he expected in terms of a professional before becoming a part of the label; the photographer snapping away as he did so. The deed was done, and they had to get to work right away on a single.
Grayson pulled out his keys and approached the door. He tried not to smile as Elijah moved in close, sliding his hands across his back and down to the sides of his waist.
“We can’t do any of that here,” Grayson reminded him. He slid the key into the slot and rolled his eyes when his boyfriend moved closer. “I told my dad there was nothing going on and I need him to believe that for a while.”
> Elijah moved his hands away and looked down the very empty hallway. “There’s literally no one here. And so what if we’re together. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Grayson pushed the door open and turned around to look at him. “Uh, let’s see. We could have a terribly messy break up. You could decide you don’t want to work with me, or vice versa. You’d be stuck in a contract and not making any money because of conflict.”
“Or,” Elijah began, pushing Grayson inside the room and smiling as he turned on the lights. “You’ll fall hopelessly in love with me and we’ll make beautiful, chart-topping music together.”
Grayson turned around and looked throughout the studio. This was Studio B – the same one X-Phile treated him like dirt in. “You know you’re going to fall in love with me first, Mr. Rule Book. Don’t be crazy.”
Elijah smirked, quietly closing the door behind them. “Whatever. So I suppose we have to get to work, huh, Little Paul?”
“You’d be correct.” Grayson went over to the studio equipment and powered everything up. “The producer and engineer I called will be here within the hour. If you don’t mind, we’ll have to get this done tonight. Tomorrow you have rehearsal for the show with the girls and then Thursday is the big party. They’re on their way to a video shoot right now. I don’t want to have to rush things even more than I already am.”
Elijah remembered that he was supposed to find some time to hang out with Fallon eventually. “You got it, boss.” He pulled out his cell phone and sent Mark a quick text. “So, can you come over here and congratulate me until the producer gets here?”
Grayson undid his tie with a smile. “I can congratulate you tonight…”
That was much too far away. Elijah took a seat on the sofa and looked around the lavish recording studio. He wasn’t at all surprised by the gold records mounted on the wall, or the expensive instruments and technology that Millennium used to make their music. He’d be making real music in here in a matter of hours. Life had changed so much in the past week.
“Did you call your parents?”
Elijah shook his head no. “They’ll probably see the photos from today soon enough and they’ll give me a call.”
Something Real Page 28
