After Rachel had lost to Aiden in the music charts more than a year ago, a lot changed for her. After her debut single, Cyco media immediately planned to release an EP (Extended play).
She had lost to Aiden but her debut single had still worked well enough for her to get an EP.
Because of that, she had gotten busy in planning and recording her album. Cyco media was one of the top record labels and due to their influence, they were able to get the best composers, songwriters and sound engineers to work on the album.
The whole process went on for two months and it could clearly be seen that they were very optimistic about Rachel and her skills.
There were even rumors that their lead singer, Robin Swift was going to leave the label and they wanted to make Rachel stand in her place.
But things didn't go according to how they had planned.
When the EP was released, the reviews were above average at best. The songs were not bad and were catchy but the reception was pretty lukewarm.
They got a good amount of views but failed to make a large impact. The EP eventually ended up earning back the investments but it didn't cross the point Cyco media wanted.
After a few months, people even forgot she had an EP out.
Due to the disappointment of it, Rachel was mostly sidelined in the record label and there was no saying if she was even going to get another single. The only ray of light for her was that she was still getting gigs here and there and trying out modelling.
It meant that the record label hadn't given up on her but they were also not going back to her.
It was a pretty weird situation to be in.
That's why, when Rachel had seen Linda so excited, she had asked whether the company was finally giving her a new song.
All this time she was practicing hard just to make a good comeback and show everyone that she did have talent.
"It was good. I can't tell much since it's just a guide track but I liked it. Who made it?"
When Rachel asked that, Linda quickly replied.
"Aiden Silvereye."
"Aiden?"
Rachel was very surprised when she heard that name. The message that Emily had sent her flashed in her mind but she didn't show any emotions on her blank face.
"Yeah, he made that guide track and sent it to Cyco media." Linda said and started to explain. "Apparently, he is making an album and Cyco media is interested in helping him out with the distribution of physical albums. They are still negotiating a good deal but both sides would surely come to an agreement. So, in the album, he wants to collaborate with other artists on some songs and I got this sound track because of that."
"He wants to collaborate with me?"
Rachel raised an eyebrow. She and Aiden weren't really on good terms and hadn't talked with each other since over a year.
Both of them were in completely different phases of their career now.
"Not you. The director just got the guide track and was going through singers who could work on it with Aiden. All his songs are doing very well these days, so he's a massive hit as a songwriter. Anyway, I heard about it and talked with him. Aiden wants a female voice for the other part of the song and I told the director how you two have known each other since long and got the song."
When Linda finished explaining, Rachel took a few seconds to take all of it in. She glanced at the phone which was still displaying the audio track and thought of her and Aiden's last meeting.
'I acted arrogant with him.'
It was something that she wasn't proud of but because of that, she was sure that Aiden didn't think of her in a high regard.
"Linda, I don't think Aiden would want to work with me."
She said, not hiding anything from her manager.
"Why?"
"Well, last time, I acted arrogant with him. My debut single was doing very well, so, it just happened. I never was even able to say sorry to him. He's big now, so he probably won't work with me. Even if you try to contact him about it, he would surely reject it."
Linda sighed hearing that. This was really not a good situation but it was the only chance they had. The management was pushing other female singers and Rachel would surely stop getting even small gigs like this.
If they can't grab this chance, then things would be very bad for them.
"He might reject it but we still need to try. Rachel, don't forget, it's probably your last chance. If the song with Aiden worked, your name would be out in the public again and the management might give you another chance."
"That's true." Rachel lowered her head, thinking about it. She didn't want to wake up everyday to just practice with her career going nowhere. "Okay, let's try it and hope for the best."
***
New year came soon for Aiden and with that, it was finally 2017. On the New year, he didn't do anything and just gave himself a day off to spend the whole day playing video games and catching up on a few webnovels.
Surprisingly, he found a good novel about a guy playing as a monster in a VR game. He liked it a lot and spent the whole day reading it.
After that, work began earnestly for him.
The renovation of his office finally finished and his whole team was very happy about it. They could finally work without any discomfort and slowly get used to the office.
At the same time, Aiden also got the script of [Disconnected] to prepare for the audition. Reading the whole script, Aiden felt that it was way better than the synopsis.
He liked a lot of parts in it and the main character's falling into greed and power was very well displayed, making Aiden feel like he did a good job by choosing to audition for the script.
It was a script that would end up being a hit movie.
"Cyco media is trying to play a waiting game to get a better share in the distribution. They surely can't afford for us to go anywhere else as they are already talking about their singers collaborating with you, so just wait and I would get a great deal. Joseph and Jody are a huge help in it, otherwise those people are pretty good."
Wade said as they continued their discussion about the album and Cyco media.
For the record, Joseph was the legal counsel that Aiden had appointed.
They were sitting in the waiting area of Black Line Cinema office. In front of Aiden, there were a few actors who had also come to audition but they were just talking among themselves or reading the script.
"You make it sound like they are desperate to work with us? Aren't they like a top record label?"
Aiden asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, they are in a way. You are pretty hot, at least in the music scene. A capable singer/songwriter. They probably regret not getting you when you were unknown and are now trying to form a good relationship for various reasons but the main reason is just to have a capable, talented person like you, have a good opinion of them, so both you and Cyco could work together in the coming years too."
Record labels normally try to have good relationships with composers and songwriters due to how essential they are to a song. Even if the singer and the record label gets the majority share in the royalty, a song won't exist if not for the composer.
That's why famous composers and producers sometimes earn way more than singers.
"That does make sense."
Aiden said and ended the conversation to go through the script again. He didn't know what scene he would be asked to perform, so it was better to prepare as much as he could.
His script already had tons of scribblings and marks because Aiden had written down pointers while practicing for the audition.
It even looked a bit worn out by comparison of other's scripts.
'The character has a different type of atmosphere about him in different parts of the script. It really isn't easy to play a character like this.'
As Aiden was analysing a scene, the door to the waiting room opened and a guy walked in, spotting a very confident smile.
"Aiden, look there."
Wade tapped his shoulder to look at the door and when Aiden saw who had entered the room, he couldn't believe his luck for a second.
'Dustin Redford.'
He was someone who Aiden had met during the audition for [Searching for the One]. At that time, Dustin had talked a lot about his acting journey and had acted like he was going to get the role.
But in the end, he had lost out on it.
Aiden hadn't heard anything from it after that.
'Is he here to give an audition too?'
As soon as Aiden thought that, Dustin noticed him, sitting in a corner and a wide smile appeared on his face.
He quickly spoke out loud.
"Yo, Aiden, my brother."
Hearing that, Aiden couldn't help but think.
'Brother? I don't remember being something like that.'
...
