Drix laughed. “Bye, man.”
“Bye.” I hung up and shook my head.
I took another bite of food and realized three sets of eyes were focused on me.
“What was that?” Allison lifted an eyebrow.
“I apparently have to go to family dinner,” I offered. “And Drix said our verses better be right when we get back in the studio.”
“Tell him we’re going to be ready,” Retta said.
“I went over my verse at least ten times yesterday,” Charm said. “I’m feeling confident.”
“I’m not going to lie. I’m not, but I’m also not super stressed about it because I know Drix isn’t going to let us put out something that sounds like bullshit.”
“True.” Charm pointed at me and snickered.
“So, how is everything looking with this performance?” I asked as I took another bite of food.
“Good.” Allison locked her phone and looked at us. “Ticket sales have gone up, and if we sell the show out, we get a nice bonus from the venue.”
“We as in us, the performers, or we as in the company?” Retta asked.
“We as in the company,” Allison said. “But look, if you keep selling out, eventually the money will come to y’all. Right now it’s covering promo, choreographers, producers, and everything we need to make sure this album is a success. It’s you guys’ first studio album and the money we’re pouring in isn’t guaranteed to be made back. We have to get cash flow any way we can, especially after the cash we poured into Drix’s production.” She shrugged. “That’s just the name of the game sometimes.”
None of us responded and Allison sighed.
“Look ladies, when we make the money, you’ll get the money. We just have to even out first.”
“Alright.” Charm nodded first. “I get it.”
“Thank you, Charm.”
“I get it too,” Retta said. “I just don’t like it.”
“Which is understandable but this is the name of the game.”
“Doesn’t mean we have to like it,” Retta reiterated. “But now that things are picking up, we should be seeing some better cash flow for us anyway.”
“That’s right. The better each song goes, the more we can afford to give you.”
“I like the sound of that.” Charm clapped.
Allison smiled. “Good. Well, I just dropped by to give y’all the update and make sure you were eating. I have another meeting in…” She looked at her wrist. “An hour so I’m going to head out. If you need me, call me.”
“Alright.” We all nodded and acknowledged her before watching as she grabbed her things and headed out of the building.
“Want to run it again?” I asked.
“Yep.” Retta didn’t hesitate, just jumped to her feet.
I took another bite of my food then climbed up myself. The three of us moved our things to one of the tables then ran through our performance two more times before deciding we felt comfortable and confident. Afterwards, we sat around and finished eating before splitting up.
I went straight to an upscale liquor store and picked up a bottle of whiskey then to a florist I frequented to get a nice vase of flowers before heading home to shower.
My body was slightly sore from rehearsal but nothing too bad. I collapsed across my couch after moisturizing and getting dressed, easily falling asleep after my busy day and the fact thatI hadn’t gotten the best sleep the night before when I was at the studio with Drix.
My phone ringing jerked out of my sleep, panicked. I saw it was Drix and answered with a yawn.