She giggled and I smiled at the sound.
I’d only been able to fly out six times throughout her tour, and although we spoke frequently and video chatted, I couldn’t wait for my wife to be back in the city. She’d only be back for two months before she was on the road again but we were taking what we could get since I’d probably end up touring off the back of my album in the next year or two as well.
“And trust me, I can’t wait to touch down,” Myome said. “Only three weeks left.”
“It’ll fly by,” I assured her.
“I hope so.” She yawned. “Are you going to make it out one more time or should I just plan to see you when I get back?”
“I can’t promise anything before I walk into these last two meetings, but I will say I’m really trying to be at the closing show.”
“Okay. Well if you can’t make it, I’m not upset about it, Drix. You’ve done a lot to support me throughout this tour. It’s okay to focus on what you need to at home.”
“I know, baby.”
“Good. Don’t stretch yourself too thin.”
I scoffed. “Trust me. I’m trying not to.” I looked at my phone when Rome’s name popped up. “Ay, Rome is calling. I’ll hit you up later.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you.” I swapped over to Rome. “What’s up?”
“Yo. I’m just making sure we’re still on for that lunch thing at four.”
“Yeah. We’re still on.”
“Alright. Cool. I’ll plan my stuff around it and see you then.”
“A’ight. Love you, man.”
“Love you.” He cut the call and I reached forward and flipped music on.
The traffic in the city was crazy, so it took longer to get to my next meeting. When I got there, my lawyer was already waiting. I shook his hand and we made our way to the receptionist. My appointment had been on the schedule for a few weeks now, so they were expecting me.
When we walked into the meeting, there were three men sitting on the far side of the boardroom table. They stood as we entered and introduced themselves. We shook hands and took seats.
I leaned back in mine and looked at my lawyer.
He broke the silence. “Where would you like me to start?”
“Well, I figured since you weren’t aware of how much money we’d put into Myome or the group, we’d start with an offer and go from there.” The man in the middle smiled and I nodded once so he could pull a piece of paper out of his pocket and slide it toward me.
I grabbed it, looked over the number, then passed it to my lawyer. He knew how much I was willing to spend but I shook my head once when he glanced at me anyway.
“Well, we actually were able to get a copy of the costs that have been appointed to Myome as well as the moneyyou’ve invested. With the half a million advance you gave her, production and touring costs, this number is still ridiculous. Not to mention most of these numbers should be split evenly between the three women. Myome wasn’t the only one in the booth and she isn’t the only one touring. Even then, the women are providing their own clothes and makeup and getting cents on the dollar when it comes to merch.” My lawyer whistled. Then he grabbed the pen clipped to his dress shirt, scribbled over the number, and wrote a new one.
He passed the paper to me. I glanced at it, nodded, and slid it down the table.
The man in the middle looked at it first then showed it to each of the men beside him. He chuckled and shook his head.
“Why would I give Myome up for that amount?”
“Besides the fact that Radiant Reverie isn’t going to survive three albums?” I asked seriously. “We’ll take a wash on the tour. You can keep her cut of the profit. I’ll pay you back her signing bonus and her third of all costs you’ve put into Radiant Reverie with a nice two mill on top. She’s going to finish this tour and still do the opening act you already had scheduled, so you won’t miss out on money there. And to make you feel better, I’ll give you twenty-five percent of her profits from the next two albums she puts out.”
“How are you going to make guarantees on her behalf?” he asked seriously.
“Don’t worry about it. Just say yes or no.”