On the road with Ryder Crawford (Haylor Fanfic)

XVIII - Lethal Blues

Sat down on a long table where Scoot is at the head, Ryder was to his left and me opposite him everyone was silent.

Scoot typing on his Mac book and Ryder scrolling on his iPhone then there's me anxiously fiddling my thumbs waiting for the others to join us like Scoot said when Ryder and I walked in.

"Where in the hell are they" Ryder shrugged "I haven't got all day" clearly irritated as his jaws clench.

Scoot raises his eyebrow and his eyes from the screen of his laptop and looks at Ryder.

"I don't know Ryder maybe working on the release of your previous opening acts" Scoot trails to which Ryder simply rolls his eyes.

Then as if on cue the door swings open and a slender and stunning girl walk in holding crisp white folders on her arms.

"We're sorry for the delay. We've finalized the agreement you submitted with boss, my partner's handling Carissa Whitman and now we're good to go." She said as she shuffles and takes the seat next to Ryder.

He doesn't even turn to face her, still preoccupied with mindlessly scrolling through his phone.

"So are there any revisions?" Scoot asked with his face held by his hand propped up against the surface of the dark oak table.

"A few. Forgive me, I'm Elise executive assistant of Mr. S" She says shifting her gaze to me stoically and then almost immediately back to Scoot before I could even acknowledge her.

"The boss wants surety." Elise says in a complete business tone her eyes briefly shifting to Ryder who's still focused on his phone.

Scoot shifts in his seat and nods.

"We don't want to deal with rummaging for an opening act days before a show. So the boss added provisions."  Elise stated sternly.

I'm planted on my seat watching their exchange having no clue as to what in the world these provisions might be.

"Get it over with we all have somewhere to be, show's in three days" Ryder says in a sing sung mocking voice.

Elise pierces her eyes to him but her face remained blank.

"For the duration of the Southern USA leg of the legacy tour Ms. Jones shall perform on all shows. Any performances necessary outside the legacy tour will be compensated separately, having said this you will get a tremendous amount of promo in just being associated with this tour, a lot of artists would pay to be on the show if not for Ryder's aversion to signing them on, we would've so this fact was factored in by the boss in determining our offer" She said directing to me.

Ryder shakes his head as he rolls his eyes.

"A base fee of $350 per show. That's $9,800 over the course of twenty eight shows we'll sign you on. Does this sound fair to you?" Elise asked her eyes on the papers in her folder.

Nine grand is a lot of money a lot more than I'd ever be making playing night in and out in half a year and it's true to even be near Ryder Crawford's name will give me a huge boost in being on the map.

I shift my eyes from Scoot who's looking at me intently then to Ryder who's lazily lounged in his seat but his emerald eyes looking up towards me.

"Yes I have no problem with the pay." I said throatily and immediately cleared my throat.

She nods and scribbles something down on her tablet.

"Rip off" Ryder mumbles under his breath and Scoot stifles a laugh.