Page 134 of Talk Nerdy To Me
To be fair, we wrecked our pride when we acted like fools.
“I’m sorry about your daughter’s door,” Sticks says in the lamest possible way he can.
“If that’s all the damage you do once you’re on my dime, then you’ll be a damn cheap date,” Vince chirps, pulling up a pair of reading glasses and putting them on.
“I’m old school, so all this gets put on paper and on digital. This is just a small piece of the paperwork to come, but you need to pack your shit and be ready to ride out tomorrow. This is just to get things rolling so you can go on the mediocre section of the payroll,” he continues.
“Britt asked you to mentor us?” I cut in, my eyes meeting his again.
“Yes. And as your mentor, I’m trying to tell you what you’ll need to do to start building your career. My platform only gets you so far. You need to start building your own to stack on top of mine, and you’ll be gone for three months to jumpstart things.”
“This…this is who we’re opening for?” Sticks asks as his mouth opens and closes a few times. “W-why?”
“Because they complement your sound, but they’re too flashy for you to steal the show from. It’s a good way to build some good ties with them, and to learn from them, and to prepare for the next headliner you’ll tour with and open for. It’s not the ground floor, and it’s still a long way from the top, but it’s a damn good spot to have,” Vince says like this is tedious to him.
Randy’s breathing gets a little disconcerting just before he collapses to the ground like a fainting goat.
“Up his practice time. He’s not on the same level as the rest of you,” Vince points out, barely batting an eye at him.
I’m sure he’s seen many grown men faint before. He’s a legend. Great, now I’m a fucking fab boy too.
“Why would Britt tell you to mentor us?” I ask him.
He plucks a flower from the vase my mother must have assembled when she brought out tea, and he hands it to me. Even though I’m confused as hell, I take it.
“Lesson number one: I will never involve myself in your personal relationships. I’ll give you a fucking flower to pull petals from and ask questions such as ‘Does she love me? Does she not?’ if you ask for relationship advice.”
He gives me a dry look, and I drop the flower back to table, getting the point. I already feel stupid, and now I feel like he thinks I was asking for relationship advice.
Defeated, I drop back, content to shut up and just listen. It gets quiet for a few seconds.
“I need your head right for this,” Vince tells me as he stares at me very deliberately and rolls his eyes. “Britt Sterling is shadowing a powerful businesswoman because she wants to one day be a powerful businesswoman,” he states flatly, like he’s throwing me this one bone.
He gestures between us.
“It’s only natural that she’d suggest the same for you, because she’s already moved beyond the basic fundamentals of how to conduct smart business,” he concludes before gesturing at the blanks we need to sign or initial after we finish reading. “And she’s also smart enough to know that what you’re currently shooting for is a one-in-a-million opportunity that also requires a hell of a lot of unpredictable luck to go along with your talent.”
I nod slowly, letting that settle in, remembering hearing her talk about how lucky she was that Harley came to Sterling Shore just as she was looking into internships.
Sticks takes over asking questions about what venues we’re going to, and all the important shit I need to be paying attention to.
My mind stays mostly on Britt. How she panicked.
She started trying to tell me what the issues were, and couldn’t get it worded the way she wanted. She was trying to fix my problems instead of engaging in the conflict, doing all she could to deflect, and I talked over her.
“If I’m not even her friend, then it wouldn’t matter if I was pissed or not,” I say more to myself than anyone else.
Either no one hears it or no one cares, and I scrub a hand over my face, forcing myself to focus as I grab the pen and start signing.
“You really should read shit before signing it,” Vince gripes.
I start to argue, but instead, I lift the damn paper and begin reading it word for word.
“Well, maybe this won’t be quite so unbearable,” Vince chirps like he’s amused.
“We have one problem,” Sticks says as I continue reading. “Someone jacked one of our new songs, and now I don’t think we can use it. It’s one of our—”
“Oh, I know. We’re going to use that to start laying your foundation. Hence the reason we’re starting now,” Vince interrupts. “I wanted to make you sweat it out a little longer, but opportunity is knocking.”
