Chapter 9: Work
Phul was at Kuroi Entertainment early that day. She was somewhat excited too, since the song she wrote would be edited and polished for the Gemini boys, but most of all, she would get paid. What fun!
As soon as she entered, she was greeted by the producer of Kuroi Entertainment, who used to come only when there was a song to be created. He was a heavily built man in around his thirties, but had rosy cheeks and a baby face. "I heard the demo and the lyrics, it's a great base, good job Phul." he said.
Phul liked being praised, she smiled widely and said, "Thank you, I can't wait to hear the final draft you create!"
"Well I'll try to do it justice." He said, and lifted his hat, and went inside the music room, where the CEO and the Gemini boys seemed to be already seated.
"We need to do our best for this comeback. Jay and Michal deserve their big breakthrough." she thought to herself and got seated in one of the rooms. She had her work cut out for her today. She was to make adjustments to the lyrics based on everyone's opinion, Jay and Michal's preferences and the producer's notes he had kept in the office where she was seated.
So she sat, and scribbled on and on, one version after the other. When she would get stuck she would refer to the notes, or listen to a few songs for inspiration, or go talk with the producer and the boys as they worked on the music too. She worked for the whole day, only getting up to eat lunch with the others, where there too they talked about the new song and concepts. Everyone was thinking the same as full. they needed to do their best for that comeback. Jay and Michal deserve their big breakthrough. No, they needed that breakthrough, not just Gemini, but the company too. It wasn't sure how long the funds of the company would last. They really needed Gemini to be popular, to generate revenue.
The boys knew that too, that was the reason they were working so hard. During lunch, as they were eating, Phul looked at Jay and Michal, and they looked frail, very tired. She was worried, but didn't say anything. That was their job, she knew that. She knew she went through the same thing when she was training for Golden Meteor Entertainment. She knew being artists involved a lot of sacrifices. So even though she felt sorry for them, she didn't say anything. Everyone went straight back to their works after lunch was over.
After about 7 revisions, when at last Phul showed everyone the latest lyrics, everyone seemed to be satisfied. Phul finally let out a sigh of relief
The CEO said, "Good job Phul, I think your work is done for this one. You never cease to amaze me, the lyrics you wrote for the previous album were great, but the one you came up with for this single, it's really amazing. We needed that. Thank you."
Phul was somewhat shy, "Ah no, boss, thank you, for always calling me back. I don't know what i'd be doing if it weren't for you. Kuroi Entertainment has given me a place where I can be close to my dreams."
He laughed a bit, "Of course I'd call you back." He looked straight at her eyes, and with a resolute tone said, "You have exceptional talent."
Phul was somewhat taken aback by the sincere comment, so she couldn't say anything as she was very flustered. It was just them at that time, everyone else was working.
The CEO leaned in, and again very seriously said, "I always always have hoped that you'd someday be in the spotlight and not in the backgrounds." Phul was somewhat nervous at that moment, she went a bit backwards, trying to put some distance between them.
"W-what do you mean, boss?" She said.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, Phul. I really see that you have star potential, I believe in you, and I would love to invest on you. I've hoped for a long time, that someday you would debut from our company as a talent, and not just stay as a staff, temporary at that. But sad as it is, we do not have the funds to manage another artist right now, and as much as i believe in you, I would be betraying Gemini if I didn't do everything for them until it's absolutely sure they've hit rock bottom."
Phul was left speechless.
"So I want to you to think about it. You have an amazing singing voice, and you've been in an idol group before, although i've never heard you sing live or in person. But when the time comes, I hope you'll be ready, because I will be giving you an offer. That's why I need Gemini to make it big, because if they don't, it'll be the end for this company. I know that if you'll be representing our company along with them, we could actually reach the stars. I am sure of it."
Phul didn't really know how to respond to that. She had absolutely no idea that the CEO had plans like that. She had no idea what she was feeling either. Was she happy, that the CEO saw something special in her, something that her past proved that she lacked? Or was she sad, because the CEO only had those thoughts because he didn't know about Phul's condition? She had this weird feeling that somehow she was deceiving him, that she wasn't actually someone who could help his company reach the stars.
She realized the CEO was expecting a response. She hurriedly tried thinking of something to say, but didn't manage to spill out anything except, "Thank you, I'm flattered."
The CEO noticed her uneasiness, he was very observant. "Alright, that's what I wanted to say. Now for the main thing, your payment. I'll write you your check."
"Ah, thank you." She said and bowed, regaining her composure.
She used to be paid every time she finished her part for the song, and also got revenue from the profits. On days when she didn't have work in Kuroi Entertainment, she'd find a part-time job nearby to help pay her bills. It would be the same this time too. Phul had worked many part time jobs in the past, and she was thinking of looking for one starting tomorrow too.
But today she was getting paid, she was happy as she'd be able to pay for her living expenses for awhile, and also get something nice for Zax, as he took her out often, she was excited to pay him back by taking him somewhere nice in return too.
She took the cheque, cashed it and went back to her apartment. It was already late in the evening. As soon as she got home, she took a shower, had her packed dinner she brought from the convenience store, and just crashed into her bed. She was very tired today, and felt asleep without even checking her phone.
So she missed the text from Zax that said, "I have something very important to tell you, when will you be home?"
Zax was fidgeting back at his place. He was trying to focus on his work, but kept checking his phone to see if Phul had replied. He had made up his mind to tell her about his job at Golder Meteor Entertainment as soon as he could, maybe today if possible, tomorrow he'd have to go to the company for work anyway. So he kept seeing if Phul was back home, but seeing that she hadn't replied, correctly guessed that she probably returned late and was so tired that she fell asleep.
He sighed, and tried to get back to his job. Well, he shouldn't disturb her if she was tired, it was his fault that he didn't tell her sooner anyway. So he gave up on trying to tell her today, and tried focusing on his work. His headache had gone away by now, so he was working efficiently. So he soon forgot about that, and worked diligently. What would one day delay possibly wreck, when he hadn't told her about it all this while and nothing was wrong, right?
Very, very wrong.
If only he knew how much damage that one day delay would cause.
At Golden Meteor Entertainment, the legal affairs team had just wrapped up their work too. There on their desk was Phul's profile, all nicely printed out. Zax was right, TARA did actually have legal matters to take care of. Tomorrow the legal team would be meeting up with Phul, as they had sent an email to her that evening, which she didn't see either. They would talk with her about the terms and conditions of her past association with the newly debuting group TARA, and would also offer compensation and contract to stop Phul from interfering or causing any problems or scandals.
How would Phul feel, and react? How will Zax react? How will Vega react? Only time will tell...
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