Viridescent Flares

52 // Part 2

"Sometimes, everything's just hard to take in," Lauren said, her right thigh resting above my left one as she spoke. "I mean, I don't think I'll ever be used to people screaming for me when I'm on the stage, or people wanting for my attention and such. How do you not find it overwhelming?"

I chuckled, playing with her hair with the hand that was draped over her shoulder. "When we were in high school, I'm the basketball team captain. At first, I found it overwhelming because there is this, like, group of girls from different grades who tend to search for me around the school and every time I see them, they would start squealing and they'd ask for my picture and autograph and, you know, such things like that." I shrugged, resting the side of my head against Lauren's that was resting on my shoulder.

"But eventually, it became flattering because of people wanting to interact with you and for me it was actually a simple thing to communicate, right? But the people who adored me—at least that's what I think—found it important to be able to talk to me, and every smile they get from me was momentous. And what honor was it to feel like your existence really matter to others, and it made me feel like I was special that people are craving for a brief time with me.

"I guess that prepared me for this huge fame thing we're in now. The only difference was, you're handling a larger amount of people. Not to mention that sometimes, they become a little aggressive than the ones I got accustomed with. It all takes time, and I know how you loved having your privacy but with this environment, it's difficult to get hold of that that's why maybe you're finding it hard to adjust to it."

"It's not even a year," she said, her fingers playing on my leg. She suddenly lifted her head up to meet my eyes with a questioning look. "Babe, you said before that you wouldn't have to deal with Halsey once your contract is done. But she's your manager, isn't she? Then, that means she's your handler and she's someone constant in your band and she'll be the one who will sign for you. You can't just get rid of her?"

"That's part of our contract," I said, smiling at her. "Our band doesn't have a permanent manager and the ending of contract wasn't only for the company that supplies our music but also for Halsey. Actually, we could go on by ourselves and make agreements with music managements. We just needed Halsey for a guide since we only started but now that we know how this whole thing works, we could assign any of our parents to be our manager and explain them the mechanics."

"So, if I wanted to be our manager, I could be?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know if it needs certain requirements or if a member of the band could be the manager of her own band," I said, completely unaware if that transaction was possible. "But we could set anyone to be a manager that meets the qualifications of it."

"Why'd you set it that way?" Lauren asked. "I mean, why didn't you want to have a permanent manager? That would be hard, right? Trusting people and then letting go of them when the contract ends and then finding another one to put your trust on?"

"That's a problem, but see, the pros that comes with it is that we don't have to deal with them if we don't like their attitude," I said, reaching for for the empty glass of water before playing with the moist.

"But you could just fire them."

"Not all the time," I said and I felt a gaze lingering on us. I looked around the diner, searching for a pair of eyes on us but saw nothing. "We can't just simply fire a manager during tours, on the making of albums, and such moments where a manager is exclusively needed."