The Contract

1: Management

Harper Pov

•December 9th 2018•
-10AM-

   "Time to go Harper!" My mum shouted to me from downstairs. Quickly, I applied the finishing touches to my makeup and walked down the creaky stairs.

"Ready?" she asked. I nodded and followed my mother to the car. Getting in, I reached for the seatbelt and buckled myself in, waiting for my mum to do the same. She started the car then drove down the street.

"Why does Dennis want to see me?" I wondered to my mum. Dennis Skilders is my manager's (Mark) manager. He's in charge of me and a band and he also works close with Simon Cowell. If you get called to see him, it's usually not good.

"I don't know hunny. But I guess we'll find out because we're here!"

I jumped out of the car and looked in front of me. There it stood, Dennis Skilders' five story mansion. We stepped up to the door and my mum pressed the doorbell, causing a chiming sound to echo in the air.

"Hello there Harper, Jamie Wyaat. Come in." Dennis held the door open and welcomed us inside. Nervously, I stepped inside and breathed in the air; it smelt of mints and tea. We followed Dennis to his office on the second floor, sitting down on chairs in front of his desk. He sat facing us.

My name is Harper Wyaat and I am 19 years old. I am a singer and I have over 60 million followers on Instagram. My songs and albums always chart high and I have toured the world, selling out almost all my shows. I am extremely successful and using this, I can support my mum, Jamie, and little sister, Penelope. However, recently I haven't been doing that well as I've been really sick and haven't been able to make music. Then my father died and ever since then things have been going downhill for us.

"Alright, Harper. Here's the thing." Dennis looked at me seriously, tapping a pen on the desk.

"I know that we were originally going to have you go on another world tour next year, but we've had a slight change of plan."

"Okay? What is it? I was really looking forward to going on tour."

"Yes I know you were. But don't worry, you'll still be going on tour." I looked at him, furrowing my eyebrows.

"As you know, I am also the manager of the band Why Don't We. They are going on tour next year and I'd like you to open their show."

What?

"Why can't I just go on tour by myself?" I asked. Dennis shook his head.

"We need to make Why Don't We more popular. With you going on tour with them, it will make more people find out about them and they will get more recognition." He pauses for breath then carried on, not letting me even attempt to speak. "I figured you wouldn't exactly be jumping at this proposition so that's why I have an offer." An offer? What does that mean?

"What is it?" I was curious.

"We are offering you $10,000,000 which will be given to you bit by bit after the first show. All being well, you and your family can live a carefree life and that will be the end of it." I glanced at my mum. She was looking at me eagerly, telling me to do it. We really do need the money – especially after my father died. And boy, that's a lot of money.

"So, you have until the end of the week to think about it. Please make the right decision," he told me. I nodded.

"But before you leave, there is one more thing..."

"Yes?" I waited in my seat, watching his eyes scan a piece of paper in front of him.

"In order to give Why Don't We more recognition, having you to date one of them would be a huge help. This choice is completely up to you but people will feel more obliged to become fans of them if you're dating one. We aren't allowed to force you to do anything when it comes to dating but we can suggest and tell you to pretend – which we won't do right now but maybe in the future. We need to make them bigger, so please consider that."

"I- okay..." Date them? I haven't even met them yet! "Wait, do the boys know about this proposition?"

"No. And nobody finds out." I nodded slowly at his sharp statement. "To everyone else, you're only here to support the boys. No one will know about the money. No one will know we told you to date them – if you chose to." I looked down at my hands, trying to process everything Dennis had said.

"Remember, you have a week. Then I'd like an answer."

"No need to wait. I accept." My mum looked at me with a shocked, yet proud look. Dennis also looked happy.

"That's great news! All you need to do is sign this contract right here." He shoved a piece of paper in front of me and pointed to a dotted line. I took a pen off his desk and hesitantly signed it. He took the contract, looked over at it, and smiled.

   "Lovely. We will be taking you to meet Why Don't We next week. I will contact you to give the details later today. Thank you so much Harper."

"You're welcome Dennis." I didn't want to do this. All I wanted was to go on tour by myself, but I guess I can't do that anymore. The good thing is I'll get to meet five new people who I can (hopefully) share the fun tour experience with, so it can't be that bad. Also, we need the money and I need to help my family. I have to do this.

•December 17th 2018•
-8AM-

The last week has been madness for me. I had to record so much as I'd been held back after being sick. Luckily the world was on my side because everything turned out well.

   I woke up and switched my alarm off. Today is the day that I'm meeting Why Don't We and I don't really know how to feel about it. I know a lot about them already as we have the same management. They seem nice and funny on their interviews, but I'm still quite nervous.

I had a quick shower then changed into some black ripped jeans and an oversized hoodie with some Adidas shoes. I straightened my hair and applied some light makeup. After checking the time to see it was 9:15 I walked out of my bedroom.

I stepped into the kitchen. Grabbing a banana, I rushed outside into my car. I got my text message from Mark up and looked at the address. I drove to their house, arriving at 9:30 on the dot.

Brushing myself down, I wandered over to the door. After checking it was the correct house, I tapped lightly and waited for it to open.