Finding My Perfect Rhythm

“Well, I’ll take my time and think about it and get plenty of advice for it you know, I want things to happen quickly but at the same time, I don’t want to be completely ripped off by this and be stuck with anything that negatively affects me,” I say as Ben nods and we head into the bedroom. I put on my PJs and head downstairs for a little while, just sitting on my laptop as Ben is in bed reading a book and Richard is sitting on the other couch also reading.

Sitting there playing on my laptop, I predominantly look up what is involved in a record contract because I have no idea what goes on in these meetings and what goes on in the discussions. Richard comes past me and has a look at what I’m reading about. “Nervous about tomorrow?” he asks as I nod “Yeah, I’ve got no idea what goes on in any of these meetings and I don’t know what to do really, I feel good about it happening but at least with an audition I can sing my way to impress, here I don’t know what is going on”.

Richard grabs my shoulders and looks at me “You’ll be fine Liam, talk things through with them and just get a general sense of what’s going on and then tell them you need some time to think things through, Josh is a really good expert on contracts and Ben said he was getting back this week so get him to have a look and you’ll be alright” he says as he offers to get me a cup of Tea which I decline and say good night and head to bed for an early night.

I head upstairs and Ben has already turned off and is just listening to music through his headphones as I get into bed next to him. “You alright, you were down there for longer than I thought,” he says to me as he adjusts his headphones a bit so he can hear me talk. 

 “Yeah, I just wanted to read up a bit more about contracts and what goes on at these meetings and your dad was just reassuring me everything will be fine” I explain as he cuddles into me. “Well, I told you that before in the shower remember but like if you feel in an awkward spot then I’m always just a phone call away tomorrow or anytime,” he says cuddling me as I give him a reassuring smile and we both fall asleep.

The next morning, Ben’s up early like usual and I’ve got the enthusiasm to be awake at this ungodly hour as well, we get up and have breakfast just sitting and talking before Richard comes downstairs “Morning” he says as he makes his morning cup of tea and toast before sitting down at the table.

“Looking forward to another week?” he asks as Ben shrugs his shoulders “Yeah I suppose, not much really out of the different going on for me though Mr recording artist here is going to be important,” he says nudging me as I laugh. “It’s just going to be another week you know that; I mean plenty is going on in my world but nothing major is going to happen this week and I’m just going to take the time to let everything happen and settle before deciding on it”.

The morning goes fast with everybody getting ready, Ben and Richard head out roughly at the same time with both of them wishing me good luck and reminding me everything will be ok whilst Ben reminds me that if I need to talk to him or call him then it will be ok. I head upstairs and take a long shower, just reassuring myself everything will go perfectly fine today.

“You’ve got this Liam, everything you’ve done has built up to this moment and you’ve dealt with so many big issues, this is a drop in the ocean,” I say to myself as I finish up in the shower and get dressed putting on a buttoned-up shirt and black pants. I head out the back and pick an apple off the tree and start eating it, trying to get inspiration from Rosie and that reassurance she would always give me.

I head out and head towards the city, Ben texts me good luck as does Billy the manager at the Music Store who I told about this opportunity. Finding a car park is almost impossible and costs me what feels like a small fortune to park there, I head up to the building and take a deep breath. “This is it Liam… you got this” I go into the building and head up to level 15 where the office is packed with posters and artwork of some of the stars with the label.

I walk to the desk “Hey there, I’m Liam and I’ve got a meeting at 11” I say almost expecting to get bad news but there’s no bad news. “Absolutely, they’re just running a fraction behind schedule, is there anything I can get you drinks, coffee, there’s a Muffin basket over there if you want anything,” the girl behind the desk says as I decline and just sit down.

It’s about 11:30 before Andy comes out “Liam man, it’s good to see you this afternoon, sorry I’m running late but one of our artists should’ve been releasing concert tickets this morning but they’ve wanted to change the dates” he says as we go into the office where there is him and a couple of other people.

“I wanted to introduce you to a couple of people you’d be working with if you joined us, this is our creative consultant Henry Bates, our marketing man Geoff Ryan and head of performer relations Justine Sharpe,” he says as they introduce themselves to me. I sit there feeling a bit overwhelmed by the number of people but try to take in the information they are giving me.

Andy sits there for a minute “So what we would like to do Liam, is start working with you instantly we think there is enough in your repertoire to start with an album that contains what you’ve already performed and haven’t released yet as well as maybe some covers and some songs that we’ve had written for you” he says as he talks through. I never thought about anything this big so soon, I thought it might be a small thing to write, record some songs to put them on to YouTube or onto Spotify but not start so big straight away.

He gives me a template of a contract that I look at and get overwhelmed by the details about how much they want to spend on me and things like that. I sit there surprised “This is what you want me to do?” I genuinely thought I was an ok singer but this shows that there is genuine interest in my musical ability.

“Is that a problem Liam?” Andy asks me as I look at him and shake my head “Just surprised that’s all, I’ve never really thought of myself as that big of a deal when it comes to singing and all that sort of stuff” I say as Andy shakes his head. “I heard the demo tape you sent in and then hearing you sing at the club the other night, I knew there was something special in your voice and had to market it”.

I smile but remember I need time to think about things just to go over them “I’m going to need some time to go over things and talk them out with my fiancé and see what he thinks and get his advice on the matter”. Andy nods and understands the point “That is totally fine Liam, but we don’t have a long time because we want to get a single out pretty quickly” he says to me as I nod and finish up the meeting about an hour later.

Walking out, I read through the documents and look at the eye-watering amount of money that they want to spend on me over the next 12 months and how it won’t cost me a cent to do all this. I grab my phone out to text Ben “Hey, I’ve got some stuff that I need you to read, got time to catch up for lunch?”.

It’s only a matter of seconds later when he replies “Sup L, I’ve only got about 15 minutes so if you want to come over to the office and bring me a Spicy Salmon Roll and a 3 pack of Prawn Gyoza then we can catch up here”. I roll my eyes and laugh as I grab what he wants from the Japanese takeaway place not too far from his office and walk up to his office.

Carrying the bag to his office, it’s strange because I’ve never really been here before and we’ve never had lunch dates in the office before, I walk up to the reception desk “Lunch delivery order, just leave it here and I’ll make sure it gets to who ordered it” the woman behind the desk says with a sneering attitude like it’s a crime to have lunch ordered into the office. “Actually no, I’m here to see Ben, he’s expecting me,” I say as she just huffs “He’s at lunch and has a full schedule of Zoom meetings so I very much doubt that he’s expecting you”. The attitude is something shocking as I get my phone out and ring Ben.

“Hey, I’m here outside but I can’t get through because you’re at lunch and apparently I can’t see you for one reason or another” I hear him sigh down the phone “I’ll be right there,” he says hanging up and less than 30 seconds later he comes out. “Hey L, come on through,” he says to me as we both glare at the receptionist.

“Does she get paid extra to be a bitch of that level?” I ask as Ben laughs “Nah, she just does it for free as he takes me to his office which is surprisingly bigger than I expected but nothing more than a walled cubicle. I give him his lunch and sit down across from him as I get mine out “How did it go this morning?” he asks as I just take the paperwork and show it to him as his eyes open widely.

“Holy fuck, that’s what their offer was?” he says as I just nod, his surprise matches my level of surprise when I was in the meeting myself, “Andy said that they had been following me big time and he thinks that my material is good enough to use to release at least a single pretty quickly and then an album not long after that”. Ben’s expression is one of surprise “Did you know about any of this?” he says as I shake my head “Hell no, I mean that I thought I would still have to prove myself but for this amount of money and from a guy like Andy Alexander is a big bloody deal… literally”.

Ben has a look through it, “Did you say that you needed time to think about it?” he asks as I nod “Yep, I told him that I needed a few days to think about it and reflect things through and even though it’s not his particular area of expertise I thought Josh could read through it when he’s back because he talks contracts” I say as Ben agrees with the idea.

Sitting in his office having lunch with him is nice as I remember a few faces from the other night and get introduced to a couple more which is nice because Ben feels much more comfortable being open with them which makes me happy. “This is a nice little space, how did you manage to get an office straight away and so many out there only have desks,” I ask as Ben shrugs “Not sure really, came on the first day and they showed me to the office but then I suppose when your junior director of Marketing and Personal Relations, they give you this nice sort of office,” he says as I laugh and peek around his desk noticing the pictures, he has on his desk which includes me.

“So, this is where you put the picture?” I say as I pick up the picture of us in Madrid when we went on a trip not long after Ben graduated. “Yeah, of course, I was going to put the picture of you there because I’ve got them of everybody special,” I say looking at pictures of him with his parents, the picture of me and then a picture of Ben with the Everton captain. “Really? you put this here?” I say picking up the photo as he shrugs “I said everyone special and you should know how special that is for me” he says as I laugh.

Eventually, our lunch date which went for a bit longer than it should’ve comes to an end when Ben has to take a phone call, I give him a kiss which is noticed by a few people with mixed looks, especially from those Ben isn’t close with but neither of us really cares. I wander back out to the car and sit there for a few minutes assessing everything before heading home.

The rest of the afternoon flies by as I just text Josh to let him know that I’ve got some stuff for him to read over for me when he gets back which is Wednesday morning. I head upstairs and message Aunt Sophie to confirm somewhere to meet which we agree will be at a restaurant in Leicester because it’s about halfway for both of us to travel. I organise a time that we will meet which is about 2 pm and I sit there thinking about this and what could happen.

Putting the distractions aside, I just play PS4 for a few hours before Richard gets home “It’s just me Liam” he says coming upstairs as I’m lying on the bed playing 2k22. “How did it go today?” he asks as he startles me because I didn’t hear him coming in having had my headphones on. “Oh, hey Richard, didn’t think you were coming home?” I say because he said that he was going straight from work to out for dinner with some of his friends.

“I just needed to change so how did things go this morning at the meeting?” he asks as I pause the game for a minute. “Have a look at the paperwork”, I say pointing to it sitting on the dresser as Richard picks it up and his eyes go wide “That is how much they want to sign you for?” he says as I just nod as his surprise is like everybody else. “I’m getting Josh to have a look over it on Thursday so he can see if it’s too good to be true but at this stage that’s what they’re offering overall,” I say as Richard has a read through.

“Seems alright but then I don’t deal with any contracts that big when I have to deal with them which isn’t very often,” he says as he heads into the bathroom and then gets changed. I go back to playing the PS4 for a while, Ben isn’t going to be home until late tonight because he is doing extra work to make up for not being there tomorrow.

My nerves are starting to take the better of me as I keep thinking about tomorrow and what I’m going to say to Aunt Sophie about my life and everything like that because she has asked about how Mum is doing and I didn’t tell her anything about having not spoken to Mum in years because I don’t know what to say. Ben gets home at about 9ish, exhausted by everything “Hey sexy” I say kissing him as he moans heading upstairs tired from the extra hours he put in at the office.

“Do you want anything for dinner because I doubt you ate anything?” I say as Ben waves me off “I’m alright, I ate the leftovers for dinner and really I just want to get into bed” he says as he heads upstairs and has a quick shower before getting into bed and falling asleep almost instantly. I sit downstairs for a while watching a movie trying not to disturb Ben for a while before heading upstairs not long before Richard gets home.

I don’t sleep that well just tossing and turning thinking about things about the contract, meeting with Aunt Sophie and just life in general at the moment. I finally get a few hours of sleep until Ben wakes me wanting to go for a run with him.

Not having the energy, I try and do what I can to get out of it but in the end, he nags me too much so I get ready to go running “No race today alright?” I say as he just gives me a cheeky grin and promises not to have a race that I know will end up happening. We run for a few miles down the road as he turns back and looks at me “First one home” he says taking off as I know that I can’t keep up with him so just start walking listening to music letting Ben run ahead because he was going to win anyway.

After a few minutes, I chase after Ben not really making any inroads but the fact that I make the effort makes him happy and I see him slowing down ahead of me trying to let me catch up which is nice but I know it’s a trick so I slow down so that I’m always behind him. Eventually, we get to the house at about the same time and Ben wants to claim it as he got through the gate first but I shake my head “It was a tie or you won’t be getting any action for a very long time” I say as he shrugs and eventually relents.

Heading back inside Richard is at the dining table laughing “Thought you said that you learnt your lesson Liam” as yet again I struggle to walk around the room and grab a drink of water. Ben is looking fresh as a daisy which annoys the crap out of me because either that wasn’t that big of an effort for him or he was waiting so long for me that the final dash wasn’t really that hard for him.

I head upstairs and take a shower, letting my muscles relax and get almost all the pain draining away out of my body. I finish up and dry off before getting dressed putting on my black boxers and a pair of jeans before putting on a white t-shirt with a black and white checked shirt over the top.

As Ben heads to work I have a haircut booked at 9 and decide to dye my hair blonde without telling Ben which takes longer than expected but still once it is done I think it looks good but whether Ben thinks it’ll look good is another story. I head back home and meet him there as he comes in a few minutes after I get back.

“Hey…. Woah I knew you were getting a haircut but that was not the look I was expecting when I got home” he says as he is trying to keep himself from smiling as he runs his hands through my hair “Got to say I’ve never imagined you blonde but it does look good” he says changing his clothes before we get ready to go.

Sitting in the car I don’t say too much as we drive North, as my nerves are overcoming me as Ben keeps patting me on the leg and trying to have a conversation with me although my mind is elsewhere at the moment. “Liam… you on planet earth or the blonde hair seeping into your head,” he says to me as I shake my head and come back to reality.

“Oh yeah I’m still here, sorry was just thinking about what’s going to happen this afternoon because I don’t know what else is going to happen this afternoon,” I say as we keep driving and eventually get to the town and park the car. Going for a walk with Ben is nice for a little while before we head to the restaurant about half an hour early.

“Hi, I’ve got a booking for Liam at 2 pm and I was wondering if we could get our table early?” I ask the waiter nods and takes us to a table that sits us near the front of the restaurant. Sitting there, Ben and I both order Coffee to start with before we sit there waiting. He sits across from me as we have our first lot of Coffee as Ben still struggles to look at me with the newly blonde hair.

“I know I’ve seen you blonde before but this is something really different,” he says as he rubs my hand making me calm down a bit. Sitting there Ben’s phone rings and he looks at the caller ID “Sorry babe, I’ve gotta take this” I look at my watch and it says 1:58 meaning that Aunt Sophie could be here at any moment.