The next weekend, Skye's band, A New Yesterday, made a trip to Mac McClain's beach house for a meeting. David picked everyone up in his junker around ten A.M. and they drove thirty minutes to the house. When they arrived, a handsome, well-dressed man with nice hair opened the door and gave them a warm welcome.
"Hello!" he said in a fancy voice. "Come right in."
The teenagers walked in, observing the large, luxurious lounge of the beach house. They were mesmerized on what McClain could afford.
"Sit on my sofa," he requested.
The teens found a red, shiny sofa against the wall and walked over to it. They plopped down, with Skye on the left, Sean on the right, and David and Kent in the center, filling all the space. McClain sat down in a fancy chair in front of the sofa to the right.
"Nice to meet you four," he said.
"Nice to meet you, too," responded Skye.
"I'm Mac McClain."
"We know who you are."
"I know you're A New Yesterday but I don't quite know all of your names."
The quartet introduced themselves:
"I'm Skye."
"I'm David."
"Kent."
"I'm Sean and I want to make love to your house."
"Thank you," replied McClain. "So do I."
He laughed in a snobby way, allowing the others to laugh in their own ways.
"How do you guys feel?"
"Well, Sean is obviously titillated," Skye responded. "Um, we're a little nervous but we're kinda excited. This is the first time we ever spoke to anyone about a record deal."
"Well, I'm glad I caught you before anyone else could."
"Yeah, we're shaking our boots."
"Especially me," said Kent, who was vibrating his legs while keeping his feet still.
McClain chuckled. "Don't do that to my sofa."
Kent instantly stopped shaking his legs.
"Let me tell a little something about myself. I used to be a musician just every one of you. I was a singer-songwriter in the 90's. I only won one award for my work and I still have it. It's not here, it's at my regular house which is way bigger than this. After four or five years, I quit and became a songwriter and a producer. I've worked with Monica, the Verve, Seal and Joan Osbourne."
"Wow, I like three of those people," whispered Kent.
"I've worked with many artists and later focused on only groups. And eight years ago, I decided to become a manager. I don't care how much money I make because I got a lot of it. I care about the music because it's my passion and I want to change the world with it."
"Whoa, man," Skye said with wide eyes. "You're, like, a triple threat. But you've done more than three things."
"I know. I'm greatly proud of myself and I hope I can make your dreams come true if you hire me as your manager."
"Well, we can't just say no. What label do you work for?"
"Rock or Die Records. Sometimes called 'RD Records'. It's sort of independent but sort of not. The point is that it's located in California near my glorious beach house."
"So we wouldn't have to move or anything?"
"No."
"Well, our answer is definitely not no."
"So what do you say?"
"Can we have a minute to discuss?" asked David.
"Sure. I'll give you two minutes." McClain got up and walked out of the lounge.
"Guys, we can't say no," said Skye. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"This opportunity is not impossible," said David. "So it can't be once-in-a-lifetime."
"Look, all I know is that guy is sexy and I want to do whatever he does," admitted Sean.
"Listen, what if he's not a real manager? What if he's all talk?"
"His documents of legibility are right there on that coffee table," Skye pointed out.
"How can you tell?"
"Do you want me to read them?"
"No."
"Guys, it's been my dream for this band to blow up," confessed Kent. "Our parents are okay with it so why not start now?"
"I don't want to rush anything."
"We don't have to rush," said Skye. "Lil Wayne got signed when he was nine."
"You listen to Lil Wayne?"
"No, I just know that. You guys, we don't have to blow up so quickly. We'll get signed and record some stuff over the weekends, maybe during Spring Break. And when we graduate, if we still want to do this, we release our album and go on tour. How does that sound?"
"I'm with it," agreed Kent. "Are you with it, David?"
"I guess I'm... with it," David responded.
"I'm with it, too!" Sean grinned.
"Mister McClain!" Skye called.
McClain took his time to come back to the lounge. He had a smoke pipe like what Sherlock Holmes used to have in one hand and a lighter in the other. "Yes?" he said before sitting back in his chair.
"We want the deal."
"Excellent." McClain stuck the pipe in his mouth. "I'll get you started tomorrow." He turned on the lighter and lit the end of the pipe.
"People still smoke those?"
"I don't know, but I do."
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