Amber Easton

Never have I ever been in a building as fancy as this.

Seriously; I don't think Kylie Jenner's headquarters could quite top the comfy luxury Interscope Records offers. Leather chairs, marble tops, glossy white tiles, floor-to-ceiling windows, the city's landscape from the 10th story, sports cars, and the huge glass table is overwhelming me in this meeting room right now.

My fingers tightly grip the metal pen with a drop of ink piling at the tip of it, ready to be smeared across the contract I'm about to sign any moment now.

"So to sum it all up..." The music manager Josie speaks up from the circular table, making about ten other pairs of eyes lift with her voice. She readjusts her large-framed glasses on her nose before grabbing a black marker.

"One LP album. 10 songs. The release would be planned in less than three months, so it's sometime in August. Since it's so soon, we've agreed for you to have 19% of the proceeds." She writes the main points onto the whiteboard in front of us.

Three months?

Three months to make a whole album.

"We can put previously released songs from her YouTube channel on the album, right?" Finneas on my right asks the team.

"About that." A publicist scratches the back of his head before opening a huge folder with many manuscripts inside and licks his index finger before flipping a page. "We were thinking about re-recording those songs and publishing them as singles. We're talking about just 3 songs - 'Heather', '1 step forward, 3 steps back' and 'enough for you'. So to correct your assumption; no, all songs must be new."

Three months.

Three months to make an entirely new album. From scratch.

For your information, general artists work for several months to a couple of years on a record, finish it, and spend about six months setting up the release, editing everything, then attending to photoshoots and interviews.

My fingers nervously dig in my pocket to pull out an orange hard candy. I toss the circular treat in my mouth and anxiously fiddle with the plastic wrapper. The packaging between my fingers creates a crunchy sound with each careful fold I make. After making exactly 10 folds, I finally create a mini airplane and fly it in Finneas' direction, only to hit him on the shoulder.

"Three months. That's crazy." I sigh and pull at the roots of my hair.

"I get it, but it can be possible. You know, Gaga has written songs in just 10 minutes. Look at Taylor Swift! It's like she's a machine! If we can do 10 songs in that kind of speed, it's no biggie." Fifi speaks up once again, her eyes having a hopeful glimmer in the irises.

"Listen. We see huge potential in you, but we gotta ride the wave while the ocean's still windy. Yes, it's going to be risky and uncomfortable, but let me tell you something about the music industry; it's all ride or die. Ride it while you're still in the fading spotlight, or die once the time runs out. If you want to do it, you gotta release it while you're the talk of the town. Because once everything's calmed down, no one's going to care about the music. Choose one of the options now, 'cause there ain't no going back." The music manager finally spills what's on his mind, and it's left absolute silence in the eerie space.

I share a questioning look with Finneas, silently asking him 'can we do this that fast?'. He seems to think it all through for a few moments until he lifts his eyes and answers my pleading look with an approving nod, but his eyebrows give away the fact he's worried as well.

Three months.

Surely, we can do that. Right?

The thought about having so much responsibility and pressure makes me want to just run for the hills, but I push out the following words out anyway, "I t-think we can manage that."

The whole room releases a breath of relief, and Fifi claps her hands together while jumping up from her chair. "Oh my god! Amazing! Let me get some champagne!"

The entire audience eagerly waits for me to lift the metal pen again. There is an impatient silence in the aura around the table, and one man keeps letting out loud coughs, of which I can't tell the purpose of with my heart racing faster than those sports cars downstairs.

Three months. 10 songs. I can do it.

My pen finally meets the glossy paper, and I make sure to take my time while drawing out careful lines of my name. If I'm honest, I feel like a kid in school attending a spelling bee. Seriously, I have to double-check if I got my name right on the contract with each letter until the scribble of the pen finally stops.

Well, there's no going back now.

I gently push the stack of papers toward the middle of the table, and Fifi's quick to bring a glass of the sparkling drink in everybody's hands. "To making history!" They all raise their champagne glasses, cheering afterward.

We continue to go over a few details and events, talking about all the specifics of many photoshoots and videos. After a while, most of the people go back to their work or persuade their assignments, leaving only me and Fifi to tie some ends.

"Amber!" She squeals and shakes my shoulders before strolling downstairs with me by her side. "You can't even imagine how many ideas I've got!"

"I'm sure I'll love them. Thank you! For everything." I hug her tightly, expressing my gratitude for her welcome.

"You know... Most people get tired of me after a week. I hope I won't get too much for you too quickly." She bitterly giggles, and I shrug off her worry because, well, I don't think I could ever get tired of her energetic sparkle.

"Are you going out to celebrate tonight? It's a big deal, after all." She jumps up, a few strands of her brunette hair slipping out of the huge flower hairpin.

"I haven't thought about it, actually. I'll probably just stay in, and get on a sugar high. I love those sweet fruity hard candies all grandmas randomly have at their house." I laugh, and she pulls her hand through my elbow in excitement.

"Me too!" Her eyes light up. "Well, anyway. It will take about 5 days to get all the paperwork done, the studio ready, and all the appointments made. I suggest you relax while you still can because the most stressful time of your life will start soon."

"Sounds fun." I deadpan and scratch the back of my neck in worry.

"Alright. I gotta get to work." She lets go of my elbow. "And for future reference... If it ever gets too much, call me up. We'll go have a relaxing spa day, and do whatever's right for you. We're a team, don't forget that."

I laugh at her cheesiness, but still hold her words close to my heart. She quickly bops my nose with her finger and scurries off to wherever the day takes her.

I push through the glass-panelled exit door and pull my phone out from my purse with my hands still shaking.

Freaking crazy.

I quickly dial the first person I see, wanting to get the exciting news out of my nerves as quickly as possible.

Sarah's name flashes on my screen, and she answers my call after the second beep.

"If you're NOT calling me to say you've finally signed the contract, I'll respectfully hang up." Sarah's voice makes my smile spread even bigger. I told her about the label yesterday, and she was bugging me all day about it.

"I did it." I push the three words past my lips, and there's echoey silence for multiple seconds until multiple gasps erupt from the device.

"Don't play with me, Easton!" She screams into the phone, so I have to distance the phone away from my ear a bit. "Are you for real? How are you feeling?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I'm all stressed out right now because the release of an album's supposed to be in three months. Three months, Sarah! How am I supposed to manage that?"

For some amount of time which feels like a minute, absolute silence is heard through her end, until she speaks up. "Y-Yeah, I'll call you right back. Just wait."

Oh?

She immediately hangs up, and I'm left standing there and wondering if I said something to upset her. She said she'd call me back, so I shouldn't worry, right?

I take in a breath of the fresh air and walk to the nearest cafe around this block. Turns out, 'Beachwood' is the one. I push a strand of hair out of my eyes and set off toward the entrance, walking deeper into the same old space.

The familiar smell of freshly-baked buns and coffee floats through the air. My mouth twists into a smile when I realize Landon hasn't thrown out the candles I used to light when working here.

"Well... Well... Well... If it isn't the infamous Amber gal. I was worried you'd forgotten about me," Landon calls out from behind the glass vitrine with all the sweets inside. He wipes his hands against his apron and walks around the cash register to get to my side.

"Well... Well... Well... If it isn't the same old crusty Landon pal!" I laugh, taking three steps toward him, then engaging in a dear hug.

"Starting from yesterday, you can call me the official owner of this cafe!" He pulls out of the hug, and his sentence has me in an overload of shock.

"No. Fucking. Way. Holy shit! Are you serious?" I start freaking out while taking a seat on the barstool.

"Yeah. Did you know people have found out you used to work here just by the YouTube videos you posted? They come here more often now." He gets behind the cash register once again.

I spin around to overlook the familiar place. He's right; the cafe used to be so empty even on weekends, but now almost all of the tables are taken.

I didn't think people would dig so deep to the point they could find out where I'd worked. I mean, if they could find out those small facts, then how deep can everyone search?

"Excuse me." Somebody taps me on the shoulder, so I twist to see two teenage girls standing together. One of them holds out her phone. "We don't want to bother, but is there a chance we could get a picture?"

"Of course." I smile, taking the girl's phone and lifting it up, ready to take a portrait picture of just them both in the frame. "Are you two ready?"

They both exchange a few confused looks, and a huge smile appears on the face of the girl with red cheeks. "Wait," she laughs a bit, "we wanted to take a selfie with you, Amber! It's not every day you run into one of your favorite musicians!"

I freeze.

I have the urge to ask them if they haven't confused me with anyone else, but I'm pretty sure they mentioned my name. I have to examine their glimmering eyes to make sure this is actually happening. What the hell?

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." I laugh, flipping the camera to selfie mode. I try to pretend like this isn't the first time someone's asked for a selfie with me under these circumstances, but my foolish look gives it away.

They stand on both sides of me, and make the biggest smile they could muster, so my confused expression reflects their grins. I finally push the white button, before giving the phone back to the girl with the most beautiful ocean eyes.

"I can't tell you how many times we've both been bawling our eyes out to your songs. It's just captivating." I notice the shorter one have tears come up to her eyes, so I immediately reach in for a hug, being so overwhelmed with all the different feelings in my stomach.

There's no way this isn't a fever dream.

"Oh my god. You're both so amazing! What're your names?"

"I'm Ruby," the girl with the prettiest red cheeks smiles, "and she's Crystal. I guess that kind of makes us the gem trio or something." She refers to our names all being stone titles.

"Yeah, I guess it does." My smile is bigger than ever. "Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to my songs. Seriously, it absolutely blows my mind."

I want to rip my hair out.

"We've literally listened to your songs even before you released 'Lovely'. I mean, you have no idea how much this means to us." Crystal speaks up again.

We continue to talk for a few more minutes, and suddenly all the doubts about my upcoming album disappear. This is definitely what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I thank them for their support and hug them both before saying goodbye. I turn back to Landon, who's staring at me with an amused expression.

"Oh my god." He pridefully grins.

"Oh shuddup." I take a sip out of the chamomile tea he made me, still trying to digest everything that just happened.

"So, tell me more abo-" I start a sentence but my phone rings in my pocket, displaying Sarah's name again.

I nervously tap the green button, putting the device to my ear. "Are you okay?" I ask, earning a heavy laugh from her.

"It's decided. Pack your bags, Easton! We're going to Italy!"

***