Untitled

by Jackie Chanel

  Chapter 26

  “Aiden, man, pick a damn song. They’re all perfectly fine for a first single,” Joey grumbled. “The label won’t wait forever.”

  We’ve been in California for two weeks. Dre has been on my case about my first single for at least a week. I’m not happy with any of the choices that they’re giving me. I’ve been playing Empty Kisses for so long that I’m sick of it. Life Unexpected doesn’t feel like a single to me. I don’t know why they’re pushing for one of those songs.

  “How come we can’t go with Parachute?” I complained. “It’s the best one out of the three.”

  “Maybe for a second or third single, but not the first one. It’s not a pop song,” Mike answered.

  “I’m not a pop artist!” was my argument.

  “Then I think you better tell your label that,” Joey said. “That’s what they’re looking for.”

  “Send them whatever you want,” I grunted in frustration. “I don’t care anymore!”

  The control room door opened and Sunny stuck her head in.

  “Aiden, are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat?” she asked.

  “Yeah, get Jack in the Box,” I told her. “Get enough for everybody. We’re starving.”

  Sunny frowned. I know that look. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

  “What’s wrong, Sunny?”

  “I was thinking that we could go out to a decent restaurant,” she said. “I’m tired of fast food.”

  “Later,” I said, anxious to get back to work. “We’ll do something after we finish up for the night.”

  On the flight, I promised Sunny that we’d have a good time for the couple of weeks that she was going to be with me. So far, in two weeks, we’ve done nothing. I’ve been in the studio. I know this is boring for her, but I’m having the time of my life!

  There’s nothing like being in a state of the art recording studio and recording your own record! Everything has to be perfect. It’s really time consuming and it is the most fun I’ve ever had.

  “Don’t you have to get Erica from the airport soon?” I asked.

  “Her plane lands in two hours,” Sunny answered.

  “Can you get the food before you go then?”

  Sunny glared at me. “Fine.”

  “Thank you.” I turned back to the mixing board. Sunny slammed the door shut. Mike and the audio engineer, Curtis, started laughing.

  “Man, what’s wrong with your girlfriend?” Curtis asked. “She’s a fireball, ain’t she?”

  “Sunny is not my girlfriend,” I corrected him.

  “What?” He looked confused. “Why is she here then?”

  “When is she going back to Atlanta, is the question?” Joey asked. “I’m sure they miss her.”

  “She’ll be gone in a couple of days,” I answered.

  As much as I thought I wanted Sunny in L.A with me, needed her here, I was so wrong. She hasn’t been that bad but she can be irritating, especially when she’s the only girl around. Thank goodness she has a fashion show to do and has to go home to prepare. Things will be a little easier once she’s gone.

  Five hours later, Joey and Curtis decided that we’d done all we could do with the songs we we’ve been working on. I’m actually satisfied with them. When it comes to my songs, they can never be good enough. Three perfect songs in two weeks is pretty good timing. Tomorrow we start working on the songs with Erica. I came to L.A with at least twenty songs to choose from and we’re going to record all of them. Then we’ll decide which twelve make the album. It’s going to be a very interesting day when I turn in the master.

  “So what are we going to do on my first night in Los Angeles?” Erica asked me as we packed up our equipment.

  After Sunny had picked her up from the airport, Erica had insisted on coming straight to the studio. Sunny went back to the hotel. Erica is Sunny’s best friend, but she’s a musician first and loves being in the studio with us.

  “Nothing,” I told her. “You can come to dinner with me and Sunny but I’m going to crash. Why don’t you and Sunny go out?”

  Erica closed her saxophone case and stared at me with her hands on her hips.

  “Aiden.”

  “What?”

  “Something’s up,” she stated. “What’s going on with you and Sunny? What are y’all trying to hide from us?”

  “Nothing,” I answered. “Why would you ask that?”

  “Oh, there are a ton of reasons. First, she’s here in L.A with you when she’s supposed to be in Atlanta. Two, she’s sleeping in your hotel room. Thirdly, you guys are going on dinner dates, now? She told you, didn’t she?”

  I closed Dee-Dee’s case. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I can’t believe her,” she groaned. “When is that girl going to learn that you don’t shit where you sleep?”

  “Erica,” I snapped. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “She told you that she has feelings for you, didn’t she? I warned her not to say a word.”

  Confused, I stared at Erica. Sunny hasn’t said anything along those lines to me...ever.

  “No, she didn’t say nothing like that,” I replied. “All she asked was that we didn’t eat fast food for dinner tonight. What the hell did she say to you?”

  Erica looked guilty and burst out laughing. “Oh shit. Don’t tell her I told you. She’ll kill me. She must not want you to know yet.”

  “Not want me to know what?” I asked, just as confused as ever, and irritated. Erica’s insinuations get on my nerves.

  “Boy, you and Sunny deserve each other,” Erica shook her head. “Both of y’all are dense as hell. You mean to tell me that you don’t see what everybody else sees when it comes to you and her? You really can’t tell that she’s head over fucking heels in love with your ass? Everybody thinks you are in love with her too.”

  “Are you serious?” I’m shocked. “People actually think that I’m in love with Sunny?”

  “Yes, I’m serious. We’re always talking about it.”

  “Well, stop talking about it,” I told her. “Sunny is not in love with me and I damn sure ain’t in love with her. Stop gossiping.”

  “You’re in denial, honey,” Erica laughed.

  “I’m not in denial. Besides, I slept with you. If I was in love with Sunny, why would I have screwed her best friend?”

  Erica shrugged. “I guess you have a point. Even your whorish ass wouldn’t stoop that low, I hope. Either way, I don’t care. Just don’t make my first trip to L.A awkward.”

  “There’s nothing awkward going on. Sunny and I are fine.”

  “Ok,” Erica said. “Prove it. Spend the night with me.”

  I considered what she’s proposing. But this is Los Angeles. There are a million and a half hot girls here. Why would I sleep with Erica again when I can take my pick from the “land of the beautiful people”?

  “No, I told her. I’ve already had you,” I laughed. “I’m going for new chicks while I’m here. You’re old news. Besides, the last thing I need to do is piss Sunny off while she’s here. You saw how mad she got last time.”

  “Yup,” Erica nodded. “That’s exactly what I thought you were going to say.”

  ****

  “Well, kid, what do you think?” Joey looked at me, honestly expecting me to give him an answer. But no words came to mind as I listened to the play back of my very first completed studio CD.

  We’re back in Atlanta, sitting in yet another studio. After three long months of flying back and forth from Atlanta to L.A, Limited Edition, is finally done. Twelve tracks, all written by me, just finished playing in surround sound throughout the studio. I kept opening and closing my eyes to make sure that I’m not really dreaming.

  “It’s great,” I finally said. “It’s fucking awesome!”

  Joey laughed. “It’s definitely good. You worked hard on this. I haven’t heard many new artists come with such a good record the first time out. You did good boy.
I’m impressed.”

  “Thanks,” was all I could think to say. Joey doesn’t dish out a lot of compliments.

  “When do I have to turn it in to the label?” I asked.

  “You don’t know that?” Joey asked.

  I shrugged. “Sunny knows. She told me but I forgot. I want her to hear it before I turn it in and she’s in Charlotte at some fashion thing until next week.”

  “You better ask Roxy, then,” Joey said. “You shouldn’t be so helpless, boy. One day Roxy and Sunny ain’t gon be around to wipe your ass for you. You better man up and start taking care of your own career. You should never let anyone have full control over your career, not in this business.”

  “I know, but I’m not good with details,” I complained. “All I want to do is focus on the music.”

  “That’s not the point,” Joey said. “You have to be in control, especially with the label you’re signed to and the type of deal you have. If you don’t start paying attention to the details, you’re gonna go broke. There won’t be shit that Roxy or Sunny can do about it either.”

  I thought about what he was saying for a minute. He may be right. There is a chance that I can slip right off the radar at Power Music if I’m not careful. I should start paying attention to the details. Like why my single hasn’t been released yet. I gave them Life Unexpected two months ago and they haven’t done shit with it. Roxy said she would look into it. I think I will too.

  It took days of calling, texting, and emailing before I got through to anyone at Power Music. I’m pissed. This is not the way you handle business, especially not business with me. I didn’t go looking for a deal with Power. They sought me out. If they want our relationship to go anywhere, Dre needs to be more punctual about returning my calls.

  Two days later, Dre finally texted me back, saying to come by his office today. Now here we are. Me, Dre, Roxy, and Sunny. No one is happy, especially me.

  “What’s this all about?” Roxy asked.

  “Apparently, you haven’t talked to your client lately,” he answered and glanced at me.

  “Talked about what?”

  “I can’t believe we’re having a meeting over this,” I spoke up. “A reply to my email would have worked just fine.”

  Dre looked surprised to see me speak up. Usually I don’t have anything to say at these meetings but Joey’s words stuck in my head. I can’t let Sunny and Roxy do all the talking for me.

  “What email?” Roxy asked.

  “I cc’d you,” I told her. “I want to know what’s up with my single. They’ve had it for two months. What’s the hold up?”

  “He does have a point,” Sunny added. “We had a timeline and the single was supposed to be out before the album was done.”

  “We decided to wait,” Dre stated simply. “We want to get him out on the road to promote the single over the next couple of months. We didn’t want to distract him from recording the album. It was a business decision.”

  “That makes sense,” Roxy agreed. “It’ll give me some time to get him in some media training and line up some promo events.”

  “Aiden doesn’t need media training,” Sunny spoke up. “His personality is what’s been selling out shows in Atlanta. Besides, you can’t muzzle him with media training. He’s going to say whatever he wants to say anyway. Why waste valuable time and money on that?”

  “All new artists need media training,” Roxy insisted, giving Sunny a severe shut the fuck up look.

  “He’s not really a new artist,” Sunny argued. “He’s been doing this for years and has established a name for himself long before he got signed. Giving him a bunch of canned responses to memorize is not a good idea. He doesn’t have that type of personality.”

  “Um, excuse me, but he is sitting right here,” I interjected. “I don’t even know what media training is but I’m not doing it.”

  “It’s not something that we usually push,” Dre answered. “But it might be a good idea. You’re probably going to get a lot more media coverage than a rapper. You’re a pop artist.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not doing it.”

  “Aiden, can you excuse us, please,” Roxy asked me. “I’d like to speak with Dre.”

  I gave Roxy my best ‘don’t you fuck this up for me’ look but left the room. Sunny followed.

  We stood in the stark white hallway staring at the platinum plaques on the walls. There are three R&B singers and two rap artists signed to Power Music and all of them have gone gold or platinum. I can be next. I can feel it. Roxy better not screw this up!

  “What are you thinking about?” Sunny asked softly.

  I turned around. “What if she’s in there pissing him off and he decides not to release the single? What if all this work I’ve been doing doesn’t amount to anything?”

  “How can you even say something like that?” Sunny asked. “Don’t worry. No one is going to ruin this for you.”

  I am worried. It’s like no one is listening to me anymore. First with the single selection, and now this. Roxy doesn’t like this label. There’s a good chance that she’s in there screwing everything up. If she pisses Dre off, he might not even release my album. I’ve heard about that happening to artists before.

  “We’re going to promote the hell out of your album,” Sunny continued. “There’s a reason you sell out shows. You’re incredibly talented. Just be patient. You’ll feel better once you get on the road and start performing again.”

  I want to believe Sunny, but this is more than putting out an album. This is my only chance to get back on my parents’ good side. This may be my only opportunity to become someone my father can be proud of. No one knows how much is riding on this.

  I have to show my dad that I can be successful. Apparently, what I’ve been doing so far isn’t enough. He’s not impressed because nothing is official. I’m not on television. They’re not playing my videos on MTV. I’m still broke. According to him, I’m still living in a fantasy world.

  That is why I worked so hard on this album, why every single track had to be perfect. This isn’t about impressing Joey or Power Music. This is about impressing my parents by having a number one album.

  I love my family more than anything. It’s not just about my sisters though. My mother and father are just as important to me. They are the “something” that’s missing in my life. I have to get them back.

  I have to.

  ****

  I stared at the telephone in my hand, glancing periodically at the lime green Post-It that Delilah had written their home phone number on.

  Should I call?

  Can I?

  I want to hear happiness in my mother’s voice and pride in my dad’s when I tell them that my first single is going to be released in one week. I want them to be ecstatic when I tell them that I’m coming to Chicago and Mt. Vernon as part of my promo tour. I want them to be proud of me.

  What if they aren’t?

  Get a grip, Aiden, I scolded myself.

  Without giving it another conscious thought, I dialed the phone number and listened to the ring. I swallowed a lump as large as the Hope Diamond when I heard my dad’s voice.

  “Hello.”

  “Um...um...hey, Dad, it’s Aiden,” I stammered.

  “Delilah’s not here,” he replied.

  “I called to talk to you.”

  My dad took a deep breath. “What do you want, Aiden?” he asked without a hint of emotion.

  “I...I...” Damn it! I was so nervous I could barely talk.

  “I just wanted to tell you that I’m going to be in Chicago, then Mt. Vernon next week,” I finally managed to say.

  “For what?”

  “My first single comes out next week-”

  Click. Dial tone.

  My chest heaved as ragged breaths tried to escape my lungs. I was losing the battle against threatening tears. I understand his anger but he could have at least listened to what I was going to say.

  I’m his only son. He’s my onl
y father.

  I will be successful. He will be proud of me. I’ll make sure of that. I don’t care what it takes.

  Chapter 27

  Aiden, how are you dealing with your overnight success?

  What’s it feel like to have a number one record?

  You’re so young, how are you managing to cope with your instant success?

  What’s it like being the only pop artist on your label?

  Always the same questions over and over. I try to think of better answers for every interview but generally my answers always are the same. I mean, how many ways can you say “It’s fucking awesome!”?

  No one expected Life Unexpected to take off the way it did. Even I hadn’t expected my first single to shoot to the top of the charts...and stay there.

  Life Unexpected has been number one on the Billboard charts for eight weeks. It seems like no one is going to be able to knock me out of the top spot which makes life even more crazy and exciting.

  This is too fast. Eight weeks ago, I was playing at a bar in Macon, Georgia. Today I have the number one pop single in the country. This is unreal. This is the greatest feeling in the world. Whenever I hear the song on the radio, I feel dizzy, like I just smoked a joint.

  It seems like everything is happening at the speed of light. Radio shows, interviews, television appearances, performances...it’s crazy. I just wake up when my alarm goes off and let Roxy and Sunny lead the way.

  Everywhere I go there are people with cameras snapping pictures. There are thousands of screaming girls. Just the other day, as I was driving up Interstate 75 in Atlanta to my apartment, I saw the Power Music billboard. All six of their artists are on it, with me in the middle holding my guitar and the name of my album underneath. It’s incredible.

  Finally, the day I’ve been dreaming about since my first guitar lesson has come.

  Album release day!

  I’m trying to remain cool, calm, and collected, but it’s hard, especially with Delilah and Sara in town for the release party. They’ve got me running all over Atlanta, shopping with them to get ready for the release party tonight.