Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 74 of 78

The label wanted Arianna at the table. Kylie ended the call with her mother and set the phone down on the kitchen counter. They were back in the manor now, the island week over. Through the tall front windows, the sun lit the polished floors. Arianna stood by the piano, her puppy asleep at her feet. "They want me at a meeting," she said. "With their executives. Alone with them, if you're stuck in a session." She said it calm, but her hands gripped the piano lid. Kylie knew what those rooms did. Executives sat you at a long table, slid papers across, and talked until you signed. She had faced them for years. Arianna had faced them never. "They'll push a bigger deal," Kylie said. "More songs. A tour. Things we already said no to. If you sit there unprepared, they'll wear you down." "Then teach me," Arianna said. "Don't handle it for me. Teach me how the room works." So Kylie did. She pulled two chairs to the long table by the windows. She played the executive. She slid a blank paper toward Arianna and used their real numbers. "We think a three-song deal fits you better," Kylie said, in the smooth voice she'd heard a hundred times. "Just initial here." Arianna reached for the pen. Kylie stopped her hand. "That's the trap. They make it feel small. One initial. Then another." She sat back. "What do you want in that room?" "One song," Arianna said. "We keep it. We pick the date. We split it even." She had memorized their four terms. "Good. Now they'll try to move you off it." Kylie leaned in. "Give me a career. Give me your voice for five years." She raised her tone, sharp. "Everyone signs. Are you difficult?" Arianna flinched. Her old fear surfaced. Just a fan. Not an equal. She looked down at the puppy. "That's the moment," Kylie said, softer now. "They'll make you feel like the fan who got lucky. Don't answer their question. Answer with your one true line." Arianna sat up. She looked Kylie in the eye. "I wrote one song with my wife. We own it. We're not signing more. That's the deal." Her voice was steady and low. Kylie felt it land. That was the voice that would hold. They ran it again. Kylie pushed harder, faster, cutting her off, sliding papers. Arianna held the line every time. She stopped reaching for the pen. By the tenth round, Kylie put the pen down for good. "You don't need me in there," she said. "You'll walk in and say no." Arianna almost smiled. "I've been saying no to guessing what you want for months. This is easier." Kylie called her mother back. "Set the meeting," she said. "Arianna's ready to go alone." She hung up and looked at Arianna. But a new worry had already started. The executives would meet the co-writer they underestimated. And underestimated people were the ones they pushed the hardest.