The A-Listers

6- Tommy's band

We finally agreed on monthly pay and a bonus, which I get when selling over 7k per day. Yeah, Tommy told me that 6900 was a record, but I was going to hustle and exceed the last one. Although the pay wasn't much more than my rent, I didn't need to drive a car to work, and that meant saving lots of gas money and... It saved me from buying a freaking car! Tommy didn't seem as broke, but indeed was as cheap as me, so we made a pact to pack our lunch from home. Half of the days I, and half him. He was as awful as I was at cooking so our food triangle was roughly dominated by mac and 'sometimes' cheese. But it also saved a ton. I saved so much, that most of the months I managed to send small amounts to my grandparents. 

Working with and for Tommy, has been a dream. In few months, we have gotten so close, that I forget that there even was a time when we weren't friends. He spent most of the time in the back of this shop, slowly building a recording studio, while I was behind a counter, finding perfect instruments for our clients. We still bumped into each other a lot and those parts of the day were always filled with Tommy's absolutely amazing sense of humor and interesting topics like music, movies, or books... Okay, books? No. Tommy wasn't much of a reader, but I was, and he always listened. 

,,Lexy, are you busy? Come here!'' I hear Tommy shout at the back. 

,,Coming!'' I stop prepping the cords and rush towards Tommy's voice. 

,,Here!'' He yells when I rush past. 

,,Oh sorr- Wow!'' I blabber in awe. In front of me was now finished studio, clean and polished. And it was quite a big and fancy one, with its freshly painted burgundy walls and two new black leather sofas, a glass vocal booth that could fit a whole band in it, many instruments, and lots and lots of tech stuff that I don't know anything about. 

,,Pretty nice huh?'' He fishes for more compliments, clearly proud. 

,,This is amazing Tommy! Absolutely fabulous! But how did you manage to buy all of this?'' I gesture at the equipment. 

,,I've been building it since I was 19... I opened that shop because I needed stuff for the studio anyway.'' 

,,So it took about a year?'' I mock. 

,,Ha-ha! It took 7 years, Lexy!'' He laughs. 

,,It's funny though. I never knew that you wanted it mainly to be a studio. So do you want to be a producer?'' 

,,Funny story... I don't know how to use all this. Not as well as needed anyway. But I've been in a band since high school. I've had several, but I've now found a group that I'm really confident in. That's why having a studio was that important.'' He weaves passionately. 

,,Isn't finding a 'real' record label or studio way less work?''

,,Easier? No. We tried, but most of them rejected us. You know, they all said there are so much better bands out there. But they just haven't seen the last of us. So when the idea to start building my own studio came, the pros overweighted the cons. Think about it... I don't have to pay the fees to record. I can rent this studio out to others and collect the fees and last but not least, when somehow we'd become rich and famous, the only ones getting paid is ourselves.''

,,You are totally right! And another bonus, you never have to do what the record label orders. Do one pop album, another one rock, and the third a jazz one, no one could say no.'' I add to his thread.

,,Exactly!'' He gives me a fist pump, clearly satisfied to find me in the same boat. 

,,So when do I get to meet that band of yours?'' I throw him a cheeky smile. 

,,Practice some more, and maybe you can even play with us.'' He jokes.

,,Excuse me, but I play well. Maybe your band will practice some, and I'll choose to participate.'' I joke back. ,,But honestly. I don't think I want to perform on stage, I tend to get a fright. But meeting your band, on the other hand, I'd love to.''