Page 20 of My Five Daddies

Dustin peersat me through his shaggy, dirty blond hair, a scowl on his face. He’s leaning back in his chair like he owns my office, his tight t-shirt advertising some band I’ve never heard of, his tight black pants ripped at both knees. The kid looks like he just crawled out of bed this morning and spent hours trying to look thatway.

“So, Dustin, I hope you’re comfortable with all that,” I say to him, finishing up my speech. “We’re going to take good care of you, but we’re going to need a lot of hard work from here onout.”

He shrugs a little bit. “Yeah, sure. That’sfine.”

“Good. We want to get you in the studio as soon aspossible.”

“Great.” He reaches into his pocket and takes out his phone. “Loveit.”

I want to get up and punch his spoiled face. Little pricks like Justin drive me fucking crazy, all entitled because they got a little damn fame on YouTube, but whatever. I can deal with him. I’ve dealt with plenty of kids just like him in the past. Besides, he’s going to make me a lot of fuckingmoney.

I wasn’t the one that discovered Dustin. That was actually Ethan. We found the kid online, just like everyone else, just as he was starting to gain some fame. He’s been posting videos of himself singing along to pop songs, doing little dances, and playing his guitar. The production quality of his videos are shit but teenage girls go crazy for him and his baby face, blue eyes, and multitude of leatherbracelets.

I can’t deny that he’s talented. For all his shit, the kid can sing and dance, and he has a presence that very few people have. He commands a room. We did a short little tour of cover songs, just a few intimate venues to get a sense of what the kid can do, and he killed every time. On stage he’s charming, engaging, exciting. He played his guitar and sang with this boyish intensity that made even the older women get excited. It was actually pretty hard to believe, but I was there, and I felt ittoo.

The kid’s going to be a star. There are just a bunch of rough edges that need to be sanded downfirst.

“Great,” I say. “But how about you put that phone down until our meeting isdone?”

He peers up at me. “Huh?”

I sigh and lean toward him. “Your phone, Dustin. When you’re in a meeting with people, and this goes for everyone, not just me. When you’re in a meeting, keep your phone in yourpocket.”

He hesitates but makes a face. “Okay sure, whatever. No need to get allpissy.”

I clench my jaw. “Thank you,” I say as he slips his phone back into his pocket. “Now look, Ethan is going to take good care of you, okay? And my friend over at Newtronic is going to handle your PR for a while. How’s thatsound?”

“Newtronic?” He makes a face. “Never heard ofthem.”

“You should have. They’re the biggest ad agency on thiscoast.”

“Sure. Whatever. I trustyou.”

I sigh. “Good. Are your parents coming today, by theway?”

He shakes his head. “Nah. Dad’s busy. Mom’s…somewhere.”

I nod and let it go. Dustin’s parents are notorious flakey. I don’t think they give a shit about him, actually. Turns out, the kid’s from central Pennsylvania, this little shit-stain town with like two hundred inhabitants, all living in these rusted out trailers. His parents are both drunks and losers, and how Dustin managed to get so damn talented despite growing up in that toxic waste dump boggles mymind.

With a little coaching this kid might take over the whole damn world. He just needs to lose the attitude first. And maybe his parents will start playing ball. Because he’s under eighteen, it’s a real pain in the ass that his parents are never around. We’ve forged their signatures too many times for my liking, and sooner or later I’m going to have to pay those fucksoff.

I finish up the meeting with Dustin and hustle him out. I drop him off with a few of my agent girls who take him on a tour of the building while I duck back into my office and callWill.

“This kid’s gonna be the death of me,” I say tohim.

“Yeah, well. He was youridea.”

“Ethan found him,” Igrunt.

“Doesn’t matter, you signed him.” Will sighs. “Don’t worry man. We’re going to make this shit worthit.”

“I know we are.” I pause for a second, glancing out the window. “By the way. Last night. You know we all made out with thatgirl?”

Will laughs. “Yeah, I know. Surprised that’s all wedid.”

“I think we’re all too afraid of the people at Promise to push ourluck.”

“Maybe, but she’s done therenow.”

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