Missing Beat

Chapter 2: Colors of the Heart Part I

When whoever it was walked in, I immediately said, "Performers and employees only."

"Well, I'm not either of those, but I think you'll want me around anyway."

Looking more closely, I saw a tall man with red hair, a red bandanna, and a bit of stubble on his chin.

"You're..." I whispered in disbelief.

"Yup! I'm Klein, and I work for the famous record company, Nightfall Records! I saw your performance, and I think you guys have what it takes to go pro! What do you say? Willing to take the chance?"

Not even a second later, we all shouted the exact same thing:

"Hell yeah!"
——----------------
All was silent.

As we rode in Egil's friend's van to the record company, I could feel the nervousness of all of my bandmates. Yet somehow, I felt oddly... calm.

I thought about what would happen once we got to the company building. Okay, they'll probably want to make a contract with us. Good thing I studied up on that with Argo a while back. They can't pull a fast one on us!

Once we finally got to Nightfall Tower, the building for the company, we bid farewell to Egil, who had been engaging in idle conversation with Klein.

"That Egil's a nice guy!" Klein said jubilantly. "How'd you meet him?"

"He runs a bar and grill that my family goes to all the time," I said in a calm demeanor, despite the situation. "He's been a friend of the family for a long time. He was actually my dad's pen-pal before I was born, and then when I was little, he moved to Japan."

"That's pretty awesome," Klein replied. "Anyway, let's go inside."

We went through the doors of the building, walking to the elevator.

Klein turned to us and said, "My office is at the top floor. We'll talk business there."

The top floor... that's where the big-shots are!

As we rode on the elevator, we all stood there in silence. I looked over at Sachi, and I instantly knew that something was wrong.

I walked over to her quietly, discreetly asking, "What's wrong, Sachi?"

"I feel like I'm not supposed to be here..."

Apparently, Klein had been listening in, and he said, "So that's why you've been lookin' so nervous? Don't worry about it! If you're a friend of the band, you're always welcome here!"

She smiled softly.

"Thanks, man," I said, giving Klein a smile.

"No prob!" Klein said. "Hey, it looks like we're here!"

The elevator door opened, revealing a drab hallway.

"Second door on the left," Klein told us as if we were going in on our own. "For future reference."

We walked over to the door, and when Klein opened it, his office amazed us all.

The entire office, from the walls, to the desk, to the self, were all painted a deep red. Behind his desk, a window loomed, showing the nighttime lights of Tokyo in a beautiful display that took the words I was planning to say out of my mouth... momentarily.

"Pretty nice view, isn't it?" Klein queried rhetorically. "I had to work my butt off for three years to get up on the top floor with the big-shots, but it was worth it. Anyway, time to talk business."

"Right," I heard Argo say from her spot by the door.

She's getting into her business mode... watch out, Klein!