Page 31 of Strike A Chord

I wanted to whoop and holler and I’m sure Jason felt the same. He was the only one who cold called the various places and built those relationships and that was a hell of a lot of work. Playtime was what we needed along with a steady income. Everyone in Chaotic but me had day jobs and to leave those would be a financial strain.

“Rhone, since you and Ely will be on the road with the bands, I’d like to ask you to partner up with Nigel. Embrace has been with us for a couple of years now and you know the ropes.”

“Absolutely, Sal. I look forward to working with them.”

“Good, good. Thank you. Chaotic, in between shows we’ll book studio time. I have a copy of your CD and while it’s good, it’s not great. Nothing against the songs or any of your parts in it but you’ll see a notable difference regarding the mixing once the new CD is produced. I’d like you to have twelve to fifteen songs ready to go. They can mirror what you already have or be a mix of old and new or all new. Your call, but the songs must be polished.”

Now for this, I was stoked. The guys and I busted through several of the songs I’d written but we hadn’t played them yet. This was insane. Had I finally paid Karma in full and now it was my time to shine? If so, I was gonna be one sparkly ass mother fucker. We all were. Jason, Marley, and Nigel took a big chance when they hired me and risked being shunned as I had. I owed these guys my life and I’d rather die than allow us to fail.

“Understood,” Jason replied for the band.

“Ryder, Derek, Jaxson, and Shadow. You are on this call today because you’re a big part of the family and we need to operate as such. Look at this as a new venture and an opportunity to help your brothers succeed. If possible, when Chaotic is in your town, we’d appreciate it if you could hype up the local scene, get the fans out to see them and Embrace, and do the same if your schedules allow. I know you’ve been working closely with Embrace as Social will be doing for Chaotic. Of course, River will be hot on the social media scene and Jason has given him access to all of Chaotic’s socials so he’s updating those as we speak.”

Jesus, Sal didn’t miss a thing. Masterson was an A-to-Z management company. This was like every musician’s dream come true. Handling socials, websites, drumming up business, while all that was necessary it took time away from what we were meant to do—write songs and play music.

“While on this call, River has texted everyone here the phone numbers for each member of Chaotic and Chaotic, you’ve received all the numbers you need. Part of the NDA is you do not under any circumstances share that privileged information. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” we replied in unison. The guys from Maiden were billionaires, they’d been on the scene longer than Social and they were already millionaires. Giving away that kind of info could seriously fuck someone and get you blackballed. Again.

“Jason has provided us with your band logo. We’ll be working behind the scenes on merchandise to sell at the shows. Jeremiah has set up radio station interviews and will continue to do so locally throughout the tour. As soon as the ink dries on your contracts, your lives will become hectic and overwhelming, but I promise it will be more than worth it.

“Nigel, I understand you have a daughter?” My head darted so fast in Nigel’s direction it nearly spun off.

“Yes, sir. Joint custody.”

“Will you need assistance with making arrangements for her while you’re on the road?” Wow, Sal was even willing to help us out on a personal level.

“I shouldn’t but if I do, I’ll let you know.”

“I was lucky in that aspect,” Derek chimed in. “Having a great relationship with my ex helped out, though my son is an adult now.”

“Damn, dude, you’re old.” Jaxson, always the jokester, though that got him into trouble in the beginning with his now partner. Talk about a shittastic mistake of epic proportions.

Derek flipped him off and everyone laughed. “All right, boys, simmer down.” Sal’s words held no contempt, not with the smile on his face. “Within this family you’ll learn we’ve all run into our share of things, both good and bad. Have a problem? Reach out. I can promise any one of these men would be willing to help out, but do not take advantage of that. They have big hearts and in Jaxson’s case, a wallet bigger than his brain.”

The entire room roared with laughter. Back to that how he fucked up with his partner in the beginning. Every bag of shit reminded me of him. Not that I’ve seen many but…yeah. It was a gross story that left you thinking, what the actual fuck, Jaxson.

“Oh my God!” Sharon hollered as she burst through the office door. “They’re pregnant. We’re gonna be grandparents!” Sal jumped up and swung her around while the room erupted in cheers.

“Who’s pregnant?” Jason asked me.

“No clue. But I guess it’s a good thing?”

“So sorry, gentlemen. It looks like the surrogate for Diamond and Easton is pregnant. This is a joyous day.”

“Um, might want to check your texts, Sal.” Stoli held his phone up. Sal grabbed his off the desk. His eyes widened as he glanced up at his wife.

“With twins.” Sharon squealed and danced around. How perfect would it have been to be born into such a loving, warm family? If only every child had that chance.

Holy hell, the sound in the room reached deafening levels. You’d have thought we were onstage. At least now we understood why Diamond wasn’t part of the mentoring program.

“Poor Easton,” Mickey shook his head. “You know there’s no way one of those kids won’t mirror D.”

“Or both.” A communal groan rang out at Joey’s comment. I’d heard stories of Diamond’s antics, and inability to remain fully clothed around others. Their kids would likely turn out to be streaking hellions.

Poor Easton was right. Note to self, don’t randomly show up at their house or you may get more than you bargained for.

“Time to get our own place, babe.” Jeremiah nodded as he readily agreed with Seltzer.

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