Trust In Me

i. family matters

B

"The release date for Suga is still set for the same date. You can start promoting, countdown, all of that." I relayed to Megan from the meeting I attended for her earlier due to a music video shoot that she had scheduled already.

"You think I'm missing anything?" I asked her, flipping through my notes. She looked at Kelsey and twisted her water bottle closed, smirking. "No ma'am Giselle." She said, getting up from her seat in front of me. I rolled my eyes, not moving from where I was facing to look at her. If Kelsey wasn't present her ass wouldn't be as bold - but Kelsey was present. That is her best friend Beyonce, I said to myself.

"Megan." I warned. She waved me off, giggled, and threw the water bottle away. "Damn, I'm just playing." She replied, obviously taking my seriousness as a joke.

A blind man could see what she was working towards.

Before I could come back with something to put her ass in check, we were interrupted by my assistant barging in. "Boss, emergency meeting." I sighed, looking back. "Concerning?" She tilted her head, giving me an anxious look. I shook my head. "I'll be back. Kelsey, when I come back, I need to speak with Megan alone, please." I said, flashing her a quick, subtle smile and proceeding to leave the room.

"What's the meeting for, Ari Fletcher?" I questioned, using her full name as always. She handed me a jolly rancher. These things were like crack to me. "Ari Lennox wants to talk to you about her contract. We think her and her team are planning to go back to DreamVille." I looked up in frustration, hoping to see God showing me relaxation in the near future. Instead, I got the all too familiar glimpse of the ceiling of my six floor building.

"Come on Giselle, you haven't failed yourself yet, don't start now."

I ceased my power strut to the meeting room with glass doors and took a deep breath before walking in. I observed the scene to see what would be my best option in handling this right now.

Her whole team was here for backing like that was good for anything; I could easily deny her request to change her contact. I thought twice about doing that, but only because Ari was a test drive artist; her contract would end soon anyway and I needed her to have no reason to want to leave my label. Her last project was too good to give her up just in time for a long overdue tour.

My eyes went from her team to Ms. Lennox herself. I knew her personality a little. Enough to know that the vibe she was giving off did not match her team's.

Pull the artist sympathy card. Talk to her only. Give her some confidence to find that little bit of authority in her so she could tell her team to go fuck themselves for the day. I looked to Ari, my assistant, to close the door. She read my mind like I hired her to.

"Good afternoon everyone, why are we here today?"

I decided to give them a chance to tell me before I shut it down. "We wanted to speak with you about about Courtney's legal binding to this label. We feel that a split from Honey Records is what is best for her right now." Her manager spoke. The name Courtney caught me off guard; I forgot that was her real name. I raised my eyebrow, finding my seat close to Ms. Lennox.