Sway

Surreal

Allisons office was on the same floor that Benny and I were on when we produced that track.

Her office was one of the completely glass ones, like the ones you see in the movies. It was also spotless. The large white and silver desk sat on the far end of the room, it had a single picture frame and a desktop computer. Behind the desk were two white bookshelves that were filled with records rather than books. Each record featuring hit artists that were streamed millions of times and went on international tours.

It was an understatement to say that as I sat in a black leather chair across from Allison, I was fucking nervous. My palms were damp from freckles of sweat, I kept crossing and uncrossing my legs. Fidgeting like an addict going through withdrawal. My mind kept pulling up Phineous's speech from the taxi, trying to somehow ease this influx of anxiety.

Allison was dressed in a white button up with skinny grey chino pants that matched her eyes. Her long hair was pulled up in a ponytail and every couple of seconds she'd brush it off of her shoulder. Her eyes were glued to the screen of her iMac, apparently she needed to pull of some information about the position. I just wished that she could pull it up a tinsy bit faster, because the sweat on my palms was beginning to form a little puddle.

"Okay, sorry about that," she swiveled her chair away from the computer and back towards me.

"It's no problem," I lied.

Her red stained lips formed a small smile, "I'm so happy that you're considering giving us a chance Talia, we've got a nice group of kids for you."

I returned the smile, "Well thank you for giving me the opportunity."

She leaned back a little, "Trust me, we'd love to give you much more of an opportunity. But we'll take what we can hopefully get."

Hearing her say stuff like that never got old. It was surreal and all I knew how to do in response was smile gratefully.

"Here at JDRecords, we want the best. The best management, the best producers, and the best artists," she opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a packet, "You, are one of the best Talia."

"I don't know about that -" she cut me off before I could continue my objection.

"Oh please, I've been working in this industry for over a decade. It took me all but a few minutes to know that you've got more talent than over half of our producers." Her voice didn't quiver, which meant that she was being honest.

Again, I had no idea how to respond. If someone would've told me earlier that this meeting was just going to consist of Allison giving me compliments, well, then maybe my palms wouldn't have been sweating buckets.

"Here," she continued to speak when I didn't respond, "this packet is our offer to you. I want you to take it home and review it. If there's anything in there that you don't agree with, please call me and I'll work with you."

I took the packet from her desk, "When do you need an answer by?"

"Preferably by Friday. Classes are going to start that Monday."

I nodded, "Is there like a syllabus, or something?"

She smiled again, "Nope. It's however you want to teach. We'll give you and all of your students the equipment you need. Classes are typically two hours long, but sometimes students will sign up for individual lessons. We're asking that you teach on at least three days a week, since each class is relatively short. But, all of the information is in that packet, including salary and start dates."