Page 4 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze

A relieved sigh escapes me when he stops two rows in front of me, then turns to the other side of the aisle and gets into a seat next to a woman who looks like she could be his mother.

He's also got the window seat.

I duck so he won’t see my grin. I'm not exactly small, and Adam is still a good bit taller than I am. Sitting in a window seat, not quite able to stretch out your legs, is going to be annoying as hell for him.

I watch as he folds himself into his seat, apologizing to the woman next to him as he bumps her repeatedly.

My eyes follow everyone else, making their way to the back of the plane, crossing my fingers in my lap for the seat next to me to remain empty. And finally, the doors are closing, and nobody is sitting next to me as the pilot announces our departure.

"Oh, thank fucking God," I whisper and immediately pull up the armrest that's been cutting into my hip. Talk about making the best out of a sucky situation.

I can live with this.

Adam

I watch her get up from her seat again from the corner of my eyes.

This must be at least the fifth time she's gotten up, just to wander up and down the aisle and come to a stand at the little space separating premium economy from economy class, while nervously picking at the hem of her blouse and leaning down a bit to look out of the window back there.

I didn't peg her as a nervous flyer. Not that I know her very well, our conversations never went beyond superficial pleasantries at industry functions.

I’m curious about her, though.

When I heard that Millie and Kayla were setting up their own label, I knew they’d kill it. I wasn’t prepared for them to grow this rapidly though, and responsible for their quick success is the woman currently picking at her nails at the end of the plane.

She became their CEO and within months, Siren’s Talent became a company even Croney, my company, needs to look out for. Instead of remaining a label, they instantly expanded and added artist management to their repertoire.

By now, their portfolio is really fucking impressive. Lily is an enigma. I can’t count the amount of times artists told us they’d already gotten an offer from Siren’s Talent before they started negotiating with us.

Of course, it sucks for Siren’s Talent when they signed our contracts instead, but that’s life.

It’s obvious that it grates at her nerves, though. It’s evident in the tightness around her eyes whenever I’ve inserted myself into conversations during charity dinners and other formal functions our likes are expected to be at.

I don't know how they did it or where they found her, but I am dying to know.

I hope the conference in Tokyo will be a good opportunity to do some networking and get to know her better, because I’m curious. She has an amazing eye for talent and business, and in all honesty, I would love to pick her brain.

Jesse, one of the very first artists she signed with Siren’s Talent, went through the roof with his debut album and I’ve been trying to work out how she found him and what magic she cast for the release to catapult a complete newbie to number one in the charts.

If the entertainment business is one thing, it’s dependent on networking and learning from each other.

You either try to coordinate and get into other companies’ good graces, or you’re doing well enough to take the cutthroat approach and do your own thing regardless of the consequences.

Cutthroat has been my way of dealing with things for the longest time. I can play nice enough at a charity dinner, but let business remain business – and it’s been working well so far. Kayla and Millie are the one exception to this rule.

Not only because Kayla got together with Asher, a famous actor and one of the few people who make annoyingly long charity dinners somewhat bearable, but also because they have been in the industry forever. As a successful pop-duo, granted, but nevertheless, I know they have a strong network.

Working against them would be me shooting myself in the foot on a professional, as well as personal, level. So when they approached me and asked for help with setting up their own company, I was happy enough to help.

My phone buzzes with a message and tears me away from my thoughts. I try to fumble the device out of my pocket without jostling my next-seat neighbor, seeing that the message is from our Walker siblings’ group chat.

Tanner: How's the flight?

I stare at the three little words for a few moments, before I start replying.

Adam: Interesting so far. I got downgraded to economy, then negotiated my way into premium economy and now we’re finally in the air. And Lily from Siren's Talent is here too.

Reed: Oh, tell her hi from me.

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