Love Will (33 page)

“Keep writing, Will,” George says.

“And tell us what inspires you,” Sabine adds. “Is it a place? Maybe you’d like to take a trip to somewhere tropical. We could make that happen.”

“Or maybe you need a better studio to work in. We could move you down here, Will, when the tour is over,” George suggests.

“Or have you ever thought that this tour is what is inspiring you?” Sabine asks. “We just told Damon and Ben, but we’ve sworn them to secrecy. Now we’ll ask the same of you–we’re planning a tour in Europe. We’d love for you to be a part of it.”

I finally decide to take George’s advice and get comfortable, loosening my tie and leaning back in the chair. “Europe? When?”

“Damon will take six months off to rest, rehearse, and do some local promotional things in support of the new album–TV and radio stuff. The tour will promote it in Europe, and then we’re adding more dates over here.”

The time off would give me time to go back to work and get started with the PhD program at NYU, but I wouldn’t be able to finish anything by the time the tour started, and I’d leave my bosses and peers hanging if I joined Damon. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to make any decisions today. We want you to know you have options,” Sabine says.

“And resources available to you,” George adds. “If you want to go to Hawaii for a week to write, call Liza. She will make that happen for you.”

“This offer sounds a little too good to be true. What am I giving in return?” I ask.

“You work for us. You
write
for us.”

“Meaning…”

“That you write your music, you hold the copyrights to every song, but when you’re done, you option it to us first and we decide which artist records it.”

“Option it, meaning…”

“If it doesn’t fit with one of our artists, you can offer it to someone else.”

“Or let Damon have it?”

“We decide what Damon puts on his albums, remember?” Sabine says.

“But not what he plays on the road, or records on the bus and releases on EPs that go viral…” I remind them all.

“Correct,” George says. “But you don’t make money that way.”

He’s not wrong. “Where do I write? Do I have to be in LA?”

“No, of course not. You can stay in New York, or like I said… you can stay with Damon, if you’d like. If you don’t wish to alter your life at all, we don’t want to mess with whatever’s working for you.”

I clear my throat after a few seconds. A man who’d been sitting in a corner stands up and pours me a glass of ice water. “A woman inspires me.”

Everyone at the table glances between one another. George finally speaks, as Liza and Sabine look away from me. “We could find one for you.”

“No,” I say, nearly choking out the water. “A
particular
woman has been my inspiration lately.
Shea
. You seemed to be asking me what’s been my inspiration. I was just telling you. I’m not looking for you to find me a hookup. God… Fuck… No…”

“That’s a relief,” Liza says with a sigh. “We just… know your reputation…”

“I apologize for making that leap,” George says.

“Can’t blame you,” I say, forgiving him quickly. “If I, uh… wanted to take a trip with
her
, would that be a possibility?”

Sabine smiles at me, and doesn’t break eye contact. “As long as you’re producing music for us, Will, we’ll comply with any reasonable request. That seems reasonable.”

“You just said ‘producing,’ and I’m not really comfortable with that word. It sounds… mechanic. Robotic. Is there a quota of songs you’d expect from me?” I ask.

“Fifteen songs in a year… starting after the tour.”

“And the ones I’ve done already that Damon can’t use…”

“We’d love to license those from you, as well, but those wouldn’t be part of this contract,” George says.

“And if I break the contract…”

“The contract offers you a lump sum plus royalties, Will. Half of the payout is given up front, the other half is given when the contract is fulfilled. It’s unheard of in the industry. Should you break the contract, you don’t get the second half, and your royalties will be reduced to half for all songs delivered. This, of course, is separate from any performer royalties.”

“What’s the lump sum?”

“Half a million.”

“So I’d get two-hundred-fifty-thousand just for
signing
?”

“No, you’d get half a million. The whole contract is worth a million plus royalties. The breakdown of the royalties is in the contract. It’s far better than you’re getting paid now. It’s better than most songwriters are getting paid.”

“Why would you give me half a million dollars for nothing but my signature?”

“Because you’ll get your standard royalties for
Horizon
, Will, and it’s our way of making sure you get fairly compensated for what we know is going to be a huge hit for Damon. It was opportunistic of Ben to record those EPs, and I’m sure you’re aware how much money you’ve lost in doing that. But don’t think we don’t stand to make a killing off of this song. What you’ve planned for orchestration on the album cut is revolutionary. And the artistry of the song is like nothing we’ve ever heard. And we’re not just saying that. We’re showing you with money.”

“I see that... And it’s possible Ariel Naseem would record one of my songs?” I add, finally seeing where this is all heading.

“If we can change the pronouns, yes. She adores
Horizon
,” Sabine tells me. My heart is pounding at this point. She’s the biggest pop star in the
world
.

“My brother and his boyfriend would absolutely… die.” It wasn’t my first choice of verbs, but I decide to be polite for the group.

“We can answer any other questions over dinner. I hope you’re hungry,” Sabine says.

“If you’d like to negotiate some concert tickets for Ariel’s show in New York, too, I’m sure that could be arranged,” George adds. “Might make a great Christmas present for… Max and Callen, right?”

“Yeah,” I say, smiling at the fact that they’ve either done a little homework or are privy to the madness that happened over the summer. It’s probably the latter, but hey. “That would be great, and, yes, I’m starving.”

“We thought about having pizza, but I thought that might be an insult to you, being a New Yorker and all. I’m not sure we could do it right. We decided on a Spanish restaurant. Is that okay?”

“Sounds amazing.”

“You have no idea what you’re in for,” Liza says. “Trust me.”

George and Sabine walk me into the hotel lobby at the end of the night.

“Just think about the offer. Take your time. We’ve told Ben he can’t release any more EPs with your new songs on the road… he’s not too happy about it. He’s got a lot of enthusiasm, and he’s doing great with your merchandise sales.”

“Yeah, he’s done a good job.”

“I heard you two got off to a rocky start.”

“We’re fine.”

“Happy to hear it,” Sabine says. “If you ever need anything, you have our cards. Call us with any questions or concerns. Have your brother’s lawyer look over the contract, if that’s what you need to do.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“It’s our pleasure. Have a good night, and enjoy the surprise we’ve sent up to your room.”

“Honestly, you guys have done too much already. Thank you. You’re great at the wooing,” I tell them, shaking their hands. “Good night.”

Chapter 15

Carrying my guitar and suitcase, I go up to the check-in desk and give them my name. I’d passed on dessert at the restaurant, and wonder if Liza had been in charge of covertly ordering something sweet from room service while I wasn’t paying attention. The one thing I learned tonight is that these people don’t take no for an answer.

“Everything is taken care of, and your guest is already here, Mr. Rosser.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no. There’s been a mistake. This reservation should only be for one.”

“No, sir, we have the suite booked for you and Miss Shea Livingston? Is that not correct?”

“Shea Livingston?”

“Yes, Mr. Rosser.”

“She’s
here
?”

“I checked her in personally about thirty minutes ago.”

“Gorgeous woman… distinctive ears…” I get my phone out of my pocket and pull up a picture of her. “
This
woman?”

“She’s very pretty, yes, sir. That’s her.”

I greedily take the key from the hostess and walk quickly to the elevator. “Thank you!” I yell back to her on my way.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Rosser!” she hollers, waving at me with an eager smile.

I debate whether or not I should use the key when I get up to my floor, not wanting to startle her. Deciding to knock, I do my best to straighten my tie and hair before I do.

She’s grinning from ear to ear when she opens the door. “Did they not give you a key?”

After setting my things just inside the room, I close the door and pick her up, covering her face with soft, gentle kisses. “This is a prime example of when wall sex is appropriate,” I whisper to her before sucking on her earlobe. She laughs, kicking her legs playfully as a signal for me to put her down. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Damon thought it would be good for both of us, so I flew back with him.”

“I am… I am… I am so happy to see you right now. How are you? Come sit down.” I take her hand and pull her to the couch, finally taking the opportunity to look around the suite. “This place is crazy.”

“There’s a record player. They have the
Thriller
album.”

“Shut up…”

“Want me to put it on?”

“Well, yeah,” I state to her what should be completely obvious. She laughs at my response and walks across the room, carefully setting the needle down on the vinyl. I close my eyes at the beginning to
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
. When she gets back to me, she pulls me off the couch and starts dancing. I mean, I can’t help but join her. No one can sit still to this song.

“Shit! You know how to dance!” she says, surprised.

“Don’t you
dare
tell anyone.”

“If you tell me you know the
Thriller
dance, I’m posting it online.”

“If you tell me you
don’t
know it, I’m kicking you out of this room… I’d be scouring YouTube right now for some lessons,” I warn her playfully.

She stops dancing for a second and looks at me seductively. “Do you think we’re
actually
gonna make it to track four?”

“Can I tell you how much I love it that you know
Thriller
is the fourth track on this record?” I kiss her before we start dancing again.

My hands on her hips, I hold her close to me at the end of the song, feeling her move quickly to the beat. We sing the words together between laughter because it’s admittedly kind of silly. My cheeks hurt by the time the song is over.

Shea slides the jacket off my shoulders and sets it on the edge of the sofa. “You never sent me a picture, but you are
fine
in a suit, Will.”

“You like that?” I ask her.

“Yeah.”

“Well, you look stunning in your dress. Is this what you were wearing at your open house?”

“Yes.” She twirls around for me on colorful shoes that look like ballet flats.

“It’d be a shame to waste these nice clothes in this room, don’t you think? There’s a cool bar downstairs. Let me buy you some wine. We can celebrate a start of something new in your life.”

“Okay,” she says with no hesitation. I slip my coat back on.

“Wait, did the label people know you were here?”

“They bought the ticket.”

I grin and nod my head. “Just checking. They said there was a surprise in the room… just wanted to make sure there wasn’t something else.”

“I’m not enough?” she asks, lifting that damn brow. I move in to press my lips to her dimple.

“When I get the striptease later, it’ll be enough.” I get a playful slap on the cheek for that.

In the elevator, I nuzzle up to her and kiss her temple. “You’re the best thing that could happen to me tonight, Shea, and let me tell you… a lot of pretty fucking awesome things happened to me before I got here.”

In the bar, I order a bottle of wine that Shea picks out and a pitcher of water to quench my thirst. We sit in a circular, corner booth that’s not very well lit, which adds to the old speak-easy vibe that the bar puts off. It’s a very cool place.