Page 48 of Verse Two
I smiled. I loved the way he looked at me. “I wanna celebrate. My freedom and our engagement. Let’s go get our best friends and enjoy the day in Paris. Then we can go home.”
He kissed me again. “Where is that gon’ be again?”
I smirked. “You tell me, Mr. Worldwide.”
Laughing, he shook his head. “I meant what I said last night, Doll. Home for me is wherever you are. It can be Paris, Chaney, or New York. We can run away to an island off the coast of nowhere if you want to. The world is yours. It always was.”
My heart melted at his words. How in the world had I gone from a single, independent, and miserable New Yorker to an unemployed and blissfully happy fiancée with the world at her fingertips? My life had taken such a quick and unexpected turn, but I was here for every moment of it.
“I love you.”
He kissed my forehead. “I know. I love you more.”
Seventeen
Brick
It had been exactly one month since I put that ring on Dy’s finger, and I was still buzzing off that shit. Every day since that one had been better than the last, and today was no different.
Today was a milestone. We had spent most of the last few weeks in Chaney, but today, we were in New York. We were walking into the towering building that housed Josiah Montgomery’s office. He was one hell of a producer, and he was the head of Artists and Repertoire atLimitless Records. I had worked with him a lot in the past on reference tracks for other artists.
He had been low-key pressuring me to stop writing for other people and start my own music career for years now. When I made the decision to do just that, he was the first person I thought to sit down with.
Dylan and I walked through the frosted double doors of the building. Once I gave our names to the woman at thereceptionist’s desk, she gave us instructions that I didn’t need on how to get to Siah’s office.
Hand in hand, my lady and I made our way to the elevator and rode it up to the tenth floor. Once we got to his office door, I was about to knock, but it was already open, so we stepped inside.
Siah smiled as he stood from the chair behind his desk. “Look who finally stopped bullshittin’,” he said, making his way over to us. I smirked and dapped him up.
“Aye. Better late than never,” I said, laughing.
He then turned to Dy and gave her a knowing grin. She told me that they had worked together a few times when he had produced for Maria, but they never talked about much outside of Maria’s career.
“And you. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that you finally got that weight up off ya.” I chuckled. There was no doubt that the wight he was referring to was Maria Striten. So many industry people we had come across had made similar statements about Dy’s decision to cut ties with that woman.
“I always saw a light in you that Maria put in overtime to try and snuff out. I’m glad you ain’t let her.”
I glanced at Dylan, and her eyes twinkled as she nodded gracefully. Her humble ass didn’t know how to accept praise without trying to downplay it or crying, and it looked like she was on the verge of the latter. Releasing her hand, I wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek.
“I said the same shit.”
Siah’s eyes shifted from me to Dylan a few times, and his smile grew. I was sure he wanted to comment on the fact that we looked cozy as hell, but instead, he just said, “Let’s get to it” before going back to his seat. We took the seats in front of his desk, and he dove straight in.
“So, here’s the deal,” he said, sliding a folder across the desk. I opened it and pushed it slightly to the left so that both Dylan and I could review its contents. As we did, Siah continued.
“You’re a star. I’ve seen it since day one. You’re also not new to this game. I know how you feel about industry shit, and after talking with Miss Dylan over the phone, she made it clear that you wanted freedom above all else. I met with the company execs. I think we worked out a deal that allows you to stay true to yourself while also blowing the fuck up on the mainstream charts.”
As I read over the offer, I nodded. It was a distribution deal. I would remain independent and own masters while maintaining creative control.Limitlesswould basically be the machine behind my independent operation. For a percentage of my profits, their resources would be at my disposal for production, visuals, promotion, and touring, if I got to that point.
Damn.
Dylan had been on the phone with Siah and other record labels for weeks, advocating for me, and she did her damn thing. This deal was dope as hell. I looked over at her, and she gave me a small nod and smiled. This woman was more than amazing.
“I’m in, man.”
Still grinning, Siah nodded also. “Hell yeah.” He then turned to Dylan. “The last time we talked, you said you had some ideas for his introduction to the world as a solo artist?”
“I do,” she said, clearing her throat. She reached into her big ass purse and pulled out her tablet. After tapping a few times, she propped it up so that we could all see the screen.
