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"Ty," Dale said, nervously.
"No," Ty said, and he was out of patience.
"It's a deal breaker?" the lawyer for the record company asked.
"Yes," Ty replied.
The lawyer that Eric had found for them scribbled something on his legal pad and shoved it towards Ty.
"Not a good time for a bluff," the note said.
"I'm not bluffing," Ty told Tony Solomon, Solomino? Ty couldn't remember the guy's last name.
Tony slapped the desk in frustration.
"You don't know the meaning of discreet do you?" Tony said, pointing to the note.
Ty chose to ignore the question and instead stared down the record company lawyer.
"I got to talk to Oz," the lawyer said and left the room.
Ty wanted to put his head down on the desk and shut his eyes, but he figured that would look weak. Instead he stared at the ceiling.
The meeting had started well. Ty didn't have any opinions on any of the stuff related to the tour. They were doing it for the opportunity and the exposure. The record company wanted to make t-shirts, posters, etc. Fine. The problems started when they got to the music rights. Ty was fine with licensing the music so that the record company could start producing CDs. But he had balked when he realized the record company was planning on taking over the rights to his music. All of his music. Twenty years of it. Everything Ty had ever recorded. No fucking way. They had gotten the record company to agree, except when it came to the latest album. The record company really wanted the latest album. And Ty wasn't going to give it to them.
Dale leaned into Ty
"Are you sure about this, man?" he said.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Dale started to say something else, but Ty glared at him and Dale shut up. Dale slumped back into his seat and Ty returned his eyes to the ceiling. Ty was sure about it. The worst thing that could happen would be that his band would be kicked off the tour. It would all be over before it started. Ty had considered that, but it didn't concern him. Hell, if it happened he would be on the next flight out to Boston and, if it was too expensive, he'd hitch hike across the country, if that's what it took. He'd apologize to Sara and try to explain where he had been coming from and beg her to take him back. Five days ago he had been happier than he had ever been in his entire life. Now he was miserable. Ty was keeping the rights to his music. He wrote it, he created it, it belonged to him. And it was all he had left.
The lawyer from the music company came back into the room.
"Okay," he said, shaking his head. "You got it. Nothing but licensing for the CDs. Oz says to tell you you're a fucking pain in the ass."
Ty heard Dale exhale in obvious relief. Mack reached across Dale to punch Ty in the shoulder.
"Nice, man, real nice."
Mack was thinking about the money. Keeping the record company out of the loop, for the digital sales of the music, kept the money in the band. All of it. And the balance in the iTunes account was growing, fast. It was unbelievable.
"Alright, come back at..." the lawyer looked at his watch."Two? We'll get the changes done and get everything signed then. Anything else?"
"Yes," Ty said, and the lawyer groaned. Ty wanted to laugh, but he managed to keep it professional. "We're playing one gig, in LA, at the opening of Inya's club. Week from tomorrow. Oz knows about it, but I don't know if they want it in the contract."
"I'll check," the lawyer said.
The meeting started breaking up.
"Let's get some lunch," Nate said and everyone agreed.
"Hey," said Tony. "You think you can get me in, for that show? At Inya's club?"
Ty looked at him. "I guess," he said.
Ty didn't really know how the show was going to go. Andre had asked, on behalf of the club, and Inya, and Ty had said okay. He wanted to help Andre out, of course. Ty hadn't seen Inya since the video shoot. Ty didn't know how he was going to act when he saw Inya again. At least at the club the odds of her doing anything inappropriate were small, right?
Ty followed the rest of the band to a burrito restaurant, a block away from the record company offices. He realized he was starving and scanned the menu for the bigger selections. Tony said he would pay for it, "Expense account." Ty suspected the free lunch would wind up on the bill from the lawyer, but he let it go. It was a real trick, how someone could tell you they were buying you lunch, but in reality you were treating them.
Ty pulled out his phone and scanned his texts, messages and e-mails. There was a bunch, but nothing from Sara. Ty wasn't expecting anything, but he kept hoping. He had called the house, once, hoping to catch her when she was home and the kids were at school, but no one had answered. Same for her cell phone. He had been composing an e-mail to her but, after rewriting it a good five times, it still didn't seem right and he wasn't sending it until it was perfect.
Ty went back through the messages trying to prioritize. One from Andre. Did they want to do a run through of the show tomorrow? What time? Ty thought that was probably a good idea. They hadn't played together since they had recorded. Ty looked up from his phone. Everyone at the table was checking messages.
"Dale, can we rehearse tomorrow at the club?"
Dale had sent Ty a list of the stuff they had to do before the tour, and when. Ty hadn't synced it to his calendar yet. Dale muttered and started poking at his screen.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, let's see. Tomorrow's photography for CD and posters, we have to be there at eight."
"Well, what time are we done?" Ty asked.
"I have no idea, how long does that stuff take?"
Dale shook his head, shrugging, no idea. Ty looked around the table, but got blank looks from everyone. They were so in over their heads every step of the way on this.
"Well, let's say I tell Andre five, no seven?"
Everybody nodded.
"What are we playing?" Nate asked.
"Oh, good point. We should do a set list. Two long sets?"
The set list for the tour was already chosen. The record company had picked it. Ty wasn't tremendously upset about that, in fact he thought the professional experience in picking what was marketable might be a good thing. People were paying to see Covalent. Ty just had to hope they liked one of his songs, any one of his songs, enough to want to download it, once the show was over. Still the idea that they'd be playing the same set list, almost every day, for seven months, was a strange one. Sometimes in a gig they disregarded the set list entirely, and just went with what they felt like. Ty had a feeling that wasn't going to fly with the record company and he didn't feel compelled to rock the boat in that particular way. At least not yet.
The food was ready and Tony offered to get it. They ate and worked up the two set lists for the show at the club. By the time they were done, it was almost two and they headed back to the office. An hour later all the paperwork was signed, finally, and Tony shook everyone's hand.
"You need any more representation, you call me okay?"
"No problem," Ty said, wondering if Tony would expect the retainer next time. Probably.
"And the show at Inya's?"
Ty had to think to remember.
"Oh, yeah, I'll put your name on the list."
"Plus one?"
"Sure."
Tony left. The band double checked the schedule and confirmed where they were meeting the next day. Ty headed off with Dale. He had no vehicle in LA and Dale was shuttling Ty around. Ty was staying at Andre's new condo. He let himself in, but wasn't surprised to find Andre not home. The club, "Inya's" had been behind schedule, but once the decision had been made for Ty to play there, that was it. They had to open. Andre was a wreck over it.
Ty headed up to his bedroom. It wasn't really his bedroom, but Andre had moved all of the furniture, from Ty's room, to the second bedroom of the condo, so it sure felt like it. The new room was a lot bigger and had its own bathroom, shower and everything.
Ty checked his phone. A couple of texts from Inya about the second video release. She was very worried about the right date and needed Ty's input. He arbitrary chose the day before the club opening and opened up the e-mail he was working on, for Sara. He spent twenty minutes reading and rewriting it, but still wasn't satisfied. Finally he turned his phone off and lay down to get some rest.