The Grey- Noah Sebastian

thirty three

*Noah's POV*

My manager and I sat for a while before she arrived, wanting to go over all possible scenarios.

"Why are you doing this?" He posed, kind of laughing.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," I joked at first, but deciding to finally give it up. "Fine, she's the love of my life. We only broke up because of distance, and with COVID happening, I see this as a chance to open the door back up."

"How much do you think she's going to want out of this?" He posed, giving me a sad smile.

"I don't know. This is a shot in the dark, and me just wanting to have the chance to have her here to try again," I finally admitted. He stood up, noticing her approaching, and I followed suit. She looked gorgeous, even with her mask covering her face. Her purple hair was darker this time. I gave her a hug, and I made sure to make my smile reach my eyes, them going squinty, so that she knew that I was smiling under my mask. She shook my manager's hand before taking a seat.

"Sutton, it's lovely to meet you," he started. I swear he never goes out of business mode. "I've already seen the documents that Nicholas sent to us, but do you have anything else you want to show us?"

"Yes, and then I can show you some other flash sheet style drawings I've done for other bands, if you would like," she offered. She also switched into a professional demeanor, her voice holding a sturdiness that I usually never got from her. She brought out her iPad and rounded the table to be between us. "I drew these two this morning." She called one If I'm There, and while it's different than the others, it's perfect for our song. "I also drew this simple circle chain. I thought about it, and it can tie into The Hell I Overcame or Running in Circles and it could look great on some beanies," she offered. I looked up at her completely impressed, nodding to show that I was listening. She went on to show us some drawings that she had done for Paramore, Bring Me The Horizon, and Our Last Night, and I loved seeing her versatility.

"Those are all incredible, thank you for sharing," he mused as she went back to her seat, slipping down her mask to take a sip of water before sliding it back up. "I know that Noah would like to negotiate you moving out here so that you can be more hands-on in the merchandise process, and we are open to all requests and accommodations that you may want," he started, picking up his pen to be ready to write things down.

"So, I've thought about it a lot," she started, wringing her hands on the table. I noticed the rose quartz ring on her right hand, and my heart skipped a beat. "I have 3 cats and a dog, so I will need a place that accommodates all of them. The dog is a German Sheppard, so if I have to live in an apartment, they have to not be weird about it." He nodded, writing that down to remember it. "I want all living expenses covered, whatever that ends up being. I want to live alone, that's all that I know, unless Danielle decides to join. That will be the only exception," he kept nodding and writing it down.

"Is that Danielle Ruffilo?" He asked quickly.

"Yes," she confirmed. He smiled a little.

"We all love those Ruffilo's, don't we?" He joked, making us both chuckle. "May I strike you a numerical deal, just because I like firm numbers?"

She nervously looks between him and I, clearly not loving to talk about money. "Sure," she gestured for him to go ahead.

"Let's say $50,000 a year guaranteed, with 20% of all merchandise sales, for five designs a year." I saw the wheels turning in her head. "So think about it, Bad Omens goes on another headlining tour when we beat this pandemic, they've gotten the fan base they deserve, and they sell 10,000 shirts at $35 each, earning you an extra $70,000 on top of your $50,000."