Page 57

- Chapter Eighteen -

Bach

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The line of women wasin the double-digits. There were enough people here that, if we only signed half of them, they'd replace every empty slot on our roster. Beats and Blast was finally turning around.

And it's all thanks to Amina.My beautiful wishing star... who had managed to avoid me for the last three days. Violet had helped, of course. She'd made sure I had tons of work keeping me late in the office. And in the morning, she'd pound on my door until I stumbled outside and into my car. Once, I'd glimpsed Amina as she sipped coffee in one of the gazebos on my property.

The early sun turned the strands of her black hair into spun gold. Her eyes had met mine over her cup, then darted away. My plan to woo her back to me wasn't going well. Maybe after I signed a few new musicians Violet would cut me some slack. Then I could find an excuse to be alone with Amina.

“Morning!” a voice said as I entered the audition room. There was a young man sitting with his knees spread wide in a chair at the table. He had sunglasses on and, despite that we were indoors, he didn't remove them. His blue and orange hair was gelled into tons of small spikes.

It took me a minute to recognize him. Roshio Upland washugeon social media. He was a decent singer, but mostly, he'd managed to become famous by getting in the faces of every famous person he could corner on the street. People loved how rude he was. He'd even wriggled his way into hosting a number of reality shows.

“Roshio? Why are you here?”

“I invited him,” Violet said, coming in behind me. She shut the door, then settled into a chair. “Roshio's what we call an ‘influencer’.”

“Please,” he chuckled, “I hate that term.”

Violet gave him a polite smile. “It means he has his finger on the pulse of what's popular. He knows how to recognize an ‘itgirl’, and he was kind enough to agree to work as a consultant today.”

“I don't need help recognizing talent,” I said.

Roshio slid his sunglasses up onto his forehead. His eyes were perceptive, fierce black balls. “Hey bro, from what I've heard, you need all the help you can get to keep this place afloat. But if you really want me to leave...”

He was halfway out of his chair before Violet motioned at him to sit back down. “Please, Roshio, ignore Bach. He's not a morning person.”

“Yeah,” I said, dropping heavily into the seat between the both of them. “Everytiny littlepain in my ass is exasperated when it's so early.” I shifted so I could focus on Violet. “Why are there only women outside?”

She pursed her lips. “That's a complaint I never expected from you. We had enough people wanting to apply that I split the groups. Guys will audition tomorrow.”

Another early morning? This was what I hated about being a responsible adult.

The door cracked open. Farrah leaned inside, taking us all in. “The girls are ready, Mr. Devine.”