Page 82 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

Aiden raised an eyebrow at her. “Uh…why?”

She bounced a little in her seat. “I had fun last time, and the weather’s pretty nice today, so…” She looked at me.

I shrugged. It didn’t matter to me. I’d fucking follow her around like a god damned puppy wherever she went.

Aiden sighed. “I’ll go if Carly agrees to come with me. I need a distraction when you two are together. It’s still fucking weird for me to watch. I don’t know how it’s possible to want to thank someone and fucking hurt them at the same time, but you make me feel that way.”

Mia’s mouth dropped open. “Aiden!”

“What? I’m just being honest. I’m happy he makes you happy, but I don’t like anyone touching you – especially someone I’ve always known to be a manwhore.”

I took it on the chin. He was right. On all accounts.

Aiden pulled out his phone and quickly sent a text off to Carly. Ten seconds later it was all arranged. Apparently we were going to the beach.

***

It was just after seven when Rich walked in the door. Mr. Thomas and the rest of us had already had a private meeting, making sure we were all on the same page and wanted the same thing. If Leighton’s offer was reasonable, we were going to sign.

Rich greeted us all with a hand shake and took a seat. He looked quite pleased with himself, so I hoped that meant good news.

He inhaled deeply and looked around a

t us. “Leighton’s have made an offer, and I have to say I think it’s a pretty damned good one for a new band starting out. They’ve agreed to keep the tour contract in place in lieu of an advance, meaning they will still pay the agreed amount for the tour as well as travel expenses for the duration of the tour. This is a way better opportunity than most musicians get because it means you aren’t starting out in debt with the label from day one, but you’re still getting an income.”

I nodded, liking the sound of that. A lot.

“The recording contract they’re offering is a two album deal over two years, with a five year lock out. They’re happy with the material you had last night, and if you can manage to lay them all down this week, they’ve agreed to a fifty-fifty split on net profits on the sale of any CD’s during the tour.”

“What’s a lock out?” Matt asked. I looked to Rich, wanting to know myself, but it was Mr. Thomas who answered.

“It’s the duration that the label has control over the songs you record with them for. It means you won’t be able to re-record those songs with anyone else until after the lock out period has ended.”

Rich nodded. “Then, after the tour’s done, your contract terms will revert to more conventional terms. You’ll be charged for more things like marketing, advertising and promoting, and the royalty rate will go down to twenty percent to be more in line with their other artists. They may also want you to tour again as headliners if they think it’s worthwhile.”

Dean and Matt grinned. They loved the idea of touring. So did I until Mia dropped her towel in front of me.

Rich sat forward a bit more, his face serious. “All in all, I don’t think you’re going to get any better than that from a big label. You might get better from an indie label, but your name won’t get pushed anywhere near as much. My advice is to get a lawyer, make sure you understand exactly what it is and how much it is, and if you want to do it, sign. But it needs to be done by Monday morning. After that, they’ll take it off the table because they won’t have enough time to press and package before the tour.”

I looked around the room, only half understanding what the fuck Rich had said. I could see the same look on the other guy’s faces, except for maybe Dean. He had more of an understanding of that shit from talking with his dad about it. I glanced over to see Mr. Thomas rubbing his chin in thought.

“I like that they’re offering to keep the tour contract in place,” he said. “I agree that it’d be much better for the boys to have that than an advance. The fifty-fifty split is generous too.” He sat back and sighed. “I’m not sure about the rest. I’ll have to have a look at the details. I’ll call their lawyer and see if I can catch him tomorrow.”

We had a lawyer? Huh, how about that.

Rich rubbed his hands on his jeans and nodded. “Good. Let me know what you decide. I’m not going to tell you which way to go. Ultimately it’s your decision, but I have to tell you. It’s a pretty good deal compared to what’s out there.”

Mr. Thomas nodded and stood with Rich, shaking his hand. “Yeah, and if it does end up not being so great, I like that they’re only tied in for two years. The five year lock out is pretty reasonable too…”

“Exactly.” Turning to glance at us, he gave us each a curt nod. “I’ll talk to you guys soon.”

I watched Mr. Thomas walk Rich out, my head swimming with too much information. Was that a good deal? Were we going to sign or not? I looked at Dean and saw him grinning. I took that as a yes. We were going to have a fucking label. Fuck yeah.

Chapter 37

Mia

I felt a little out of place as I drove to school on my own Monday morning. I wasn’t used to not having Aiden with me. It was weird. The fact that it would be the same for the rest of the week didn’t sit well with me either. I only had until the end of May before they would be off touring. I didn’t want to give up any of my time.

---