Chapter 9
He said, not knowing what to do next, as she was unbelievably beautiful and scorching hot, “If you want me to, I can go to the nearest store and get you new bright-red high heels.”
“Oh, no,” said Maureen, “no more high heels for me.” She went around her desk once again to get her purse and when she grabbed her purse, she reached for her pocketbook inside of it. She found it with her hands, pulled it out, opened it, and handed four one-hundred dollar bills to Chris. “Get me boots, no high heels, please, just normal boots.” Luckily, she’d left her broken shoe right by Chris’s chair and now she walked crooked. “My short skirt looks a lot better with boots, don’t you think, Chris?”
Wiping his sweat off his temple and his forehead he said, “Of course. Hey, don’t you have air conditioner in here? Phew!”
“Yes, we do, but apparently the temperature is too high despite the AC,” said Maureen. “I don’t know if it’s really this hot or if it’s just the two of us,” she said, smiling coquettishly.
“No comment to that,” he replied. “Ok,” he said as he started to walk away, “I’m going to buy you those shoes and I’ll be back as soon as I can,” and then walked closer to her once again and put on her desk the money she had given him for the boots,” but you keep the money. If you want $400 boots, you’ve got them, but they’re on me.”
“Dude,” said Maureen, loosing her finesse, “you came here in a 1990 Toyota Camry. You don’t even have money to pay your rent and your utility bills. How the hell can you afford $400 boots, not for you, but for someone you just met?”
“I will buy those boots with the money that I bought these clothes and this haircut I just got. I got my debit card, that’s all I can say about that,” he said as he walked away from her and toward the elevator once again. “I will be right back.” The elevator doors opened and he went inside and pressed the button to go back to the first floor.
Breathing heavily, Maureen sat down and took off her other shoe, hoping that her feet didn’t stink at the moment. Suddenly, her phone rang. She answered it after it rang for the second time. “This is Maureen.”
“Maureen, I want to know where Chris Olivier is!"
“He was here a few minutes ago, sir.”
“Where the hell did he go?”
“I’m sorry, sir. My left high-heeled shoe broke and he decided to buy me new shoes. He said he’d be right back.”
“Oh, really….?”
“Yes, Mr. Manning. He’ll be right back. Don’t worry. Relax. Take a deep breath. It’s going to be ok.”
“I’m sorry, Maureen. I thought the jerk had stood me up.”
“He doesn’t seem like someone that would deliberately do that, unless he was sick or someone in his family just died. Give him the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Manning. This is his dream. He’s not going to throw it away by doing that to you. He knows you’re the only record producer who would sign him if he has a good voice.”
“Yes, you’re right. Besides, today I have no appointments with anybody else or anything else to do. Might as well wait for the little human loon,” said Heath and laughed.
One hour later, Christopher returned to Maureen’s desk with her boots and placed them on her desk. “I hope that these are the boots that you wanted. They’re made of leather and it was hard for me to find good red boots.”
Maureen got the boots out of the bag and opened the box. The boots were beautiful, made of leather, solid and resistant to anything. “These are the boots that I’ve always dreamed of. How much did they cost you?”
“$1,000…”
“You just spent one grand on boots for me.”
“Yes.”
Maureen leaned toward him giving him a glimpse of her beautiful breasts through her shirt that had a v-shaped chest. “How do you plan to get that money back?”
“I’m going to get him back through my royalties.”
“So, you’re sure that you’re going to be signed.”
“I am 100% sure.”
“We’ll keep talking later. Mr. Manning is anxiously waiting for you. He wants to have you in his office so badly that he yelled at me just because you came here and then you left.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to see if you’re as sensitive physically as you are emotionally,” she said. “Go on to Mr. Manning’s office. Don’t keep him waiting.”
Chris opened the door to Heath’s office and went in. Heath was smiling like someone that had just taken five energy drinks, one after the other, and who was extremely hyper. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Manning.”
“It’s ok,” said Heath, grinning like a little loon.
“I was buying…”
Heath interrupted him. “I know, I know, I know… you were buying boots for my secretary. I appreciate it, and I will reimburse that money to you later, that valuable $1,000.”
“No, it’s…”
Heath interrupted Chris once again. “I hate being told no. When I started having my reason and thinking straight, I decided to become a control freak and control other people, and just so you know, my word is the law.”
“Ok…”
Suddenly, an angel entered Heath’s office. He came for Chris. Heath said, “Liam is going to take you to our recording studio for you to make your demo. You emailed the names of your favorite songs to me, and I made sure that those songs would be on the studio, so go on.”
Liam walked Chris out of the office, and on their way to Heath’s recording studio, they started conversing.
“So, Liam, tell me what you do.”
“I give tours of the building to Mr. Manning’s visitors, but so far, Mr. Manning hasn’t scored.”
“Meaning he hasn’t found his star yet.”
“Not yet.”
“Why do you think that is, Liam?”
“I guess people don’t see Mr. Manning’s talent as a record producer because of his past. They think that if it weren’t for his father, Mr. Manning wouldn’t have a record label.”
“I don’t know Mr. Manning very well, but I don’t think that’s true.”
“You don’t,” said Liam as they kept walking the building to the recording studio.
“No. I think Mr. Manning should be admired because he had a mental illness and he pulled through and started his record label. He made it. I think that he should be commended. I mean I don’t understand my own species. I thought that we, humans, admired people when they were going through hard times and all of a sudden they pulled through. I thought we saw those people as an example for us to follow.”
“It’s not easy to see you talking about humans like that, being human yourself.”
“Well, Liam, what can I say?” said Chris as he and Liam walked together into Heath’s recording studio. “People say I’m crazy because I think differently from other people.”
“I can tell you do. Well, here is our team, the people that are in charge of making your demo,” said Liam and walked Chris toward the recording-studio team. Chris greeted everyone one by one. “The one in the red shirt is Silas, the one in the gray shirt is Steve, the one in the red pullover is Reese, and the lovely lady over there is Kayla.”
Everyone smiled. Silas asked, “How are you doing, Chris?”
“I’m doing great! Are you guys ready to get started?” said Chris and walked out of their cabin. He walked to the stand where his favorite songs were and the music started playing. They were amazed with Chris’ attitude. Chris was behaving like he’d done this many times before, like he’d been in the music business for years.
That day, Chris recorded alternative versions of his favorite songs, like a true rocker that he was. People in the recording studio were amazed at Chris’ angelic voice. They’d never seen anything like this before, a rocker who sang like an opera singer. What a combination! They were sure that Heath would be pleased. How can a singer so wonderful be rejected?
Minutes later, the demo was ready and Liam and Chris walked back to Heath’s office, Chris with his demo in his hands. “So, how much money do you make giving people tours and helping out around the building?
“You won’t believe me when I tell you.”
“Tell me,” said Chris, smiling as they walked together.
“While what I do seems fairly simple and it seems like nothing, I make $20,000 a month doing what I do, but since Mr. Manning has no money because Mr. Manning wants to make money from his own efforts, Mr. Manning’s father pays me my salary. Every month, he hands the check to Mr. Manning and Mr. Manning gives it to me. That’s how he pays all of us. It’s uncommon, almost unheard of, but that’s the way it is.”
“Wow,” said Chris, amazed.
Minutes later, Chris and Liam walked into Heath’s office once again and Chris personally handed his demo to Heath. He didn’t say a word. He was anxious to hear Heath’s opinion. That was all that mattered to Chris.
“Very well,” said Heath and got the CD out of its case, and put it in his stereo. “Let’s see what Chris Olivier is made of.” Only fifteen minutes went by as Heath listened to the songs, all the while open-mouthed and silent. When the music was over, Heath was wishing that Chris had recorded more songs. “I can’t get enough.”
Chris smiled and started jumping up and down and clapping his hands like a little child. He thought I knew this would be my day!
“What kind of combination is this? Is it really an opera singer singing alternative music?”
“Is that what you think of me?” asked Chris, shyly.
“Yes. You’re great! However, I think you should sing ballads.”
“You think I should be a ballad singer?”
“That voice is too beautiful to be wasted on alternative or rock music!” exclaimed Heath. “Now I know why so many record labels have rejected you!”
“You think that’s the reason?” asked Chris.
“Of course it is, Chris. I mean what other reason could they possibly have to reject you the way they did? It’s like trying to publish a science-fiction novel with a romance-novel publisher. Come on now!”
“Oh,” said Chris.
“Listen to me. I know you want to sing rock music. However, I think you are the way I was a few years ago. You’re not thinking straight. You don’t know what you want. You don’t know where you are. You don’t know who you are. However, we’re going to take care of that right now,” Heath explained and then Liam injected Heath’s blood in Chris’ jugular in a split second, and Chris didn’t feel a thing! Chris didn’t even know what happened.
The next thing Chris knew, he felt so sleepy that Liam had to walk him to a guest chair that sat in front of Heath’s desk. However, he hadn’t been sired. He had just been turned into a human being with the physical strength and the supernatural powers of a non-heavenly angel. Aliens knew how to enhance a human being’s DNA without turning them into aliens physically. They would only turn a human being 100% alien if the body of the human being were completely and irreversibly damaged, or his or her brain for that matter. However, if certain body parts of a human being had to be enhanced, he or she would just be turned into a supernatural human. Chris fell asleep on his chair.
“He’s uncomfortable, and I don’t like that. Take him to the hotel right by this building and have him take a long, deep nap. This man is not going home yet. He’s going to have to rerecord those songs in ballad form.”
“Yes, Mr. Manning,” said Liam, took Chris and carried him on his shoulder. Then he walked out of the office.
“From now on, everything’s going to match,” said Heath. “The blue clothes are going to go into the blue room, and the red clothes are going to go into the red room, and so on and so for. No red over blue or blue over red.”
Hours later, Chris woke up in a luxurious five-star hotel room. He was naked, only wearing his underwear. His clothes had been washed and dried and they were at the foot of his bed. There were also new clothes for him to wear, a blue suit, with a white long-sleeved shirt for him to wear underneath it, a blue tie, white socks and blue shoes, sending him the message that, like Heath said, everything had to be one color in order to match; that red went with red and blue went with blue. There was a note at the foot of the bed. Chris opened it and read it silently.
DEAR CHRIS OLIVIERI,
I WANT YOU TO RETURN TO MY OFFICE WEARING THOSE BLUE AND WHITE CLOTHES THAT I HAD THE HOTEL-ROOM LADY PLACE AT THE FOOT OF YOUR BED. TAKE A SHOWER OR A RELAXING BATH, PUT ON THOSE CLOTHES, COME BACK TO MY OFFICE, AND RERECORD THE DEMO, THE SONGS YOU JUST DID, IN BALLAD FORM. WHEN YOU DO THAT AND I LISTEN TO THE DEMO TO SEE IF THAT MUSIC GENRE GOES PERFECTLY WITH YOUR VOICE, YOU ARE GOING TO BE SIGNED, AND RIGHT AWAY, YOU’RE GOING TO START RECORDING YOUR DEBUT ALBUM. YOUR FIRST SINGLE WILL BE RELEASED RIGHT AFTER YOU RECORD IT. YOU’RE MY FIRST AND ONLY STAR, AND I WANT TO GET MY RECORD LABEL GOING AND START GENERATING SOME GOOD MONEY, WHICH YOU ARE TOO.
SINCERELY,
HEATH L. MANNING
MANNING RECORDS
Chris put the note down and got up off the bed. He walked and walked until he got into the bathroom inside that room, thinking, He didn’t like the way my voice sounded with the rock genre, but what was I thinking when I recorded rock songs? My voice doesn’t go with rock! It goes well with anything but rock music! He wants me to rerecord the songs in ballad form, well I’m hoping that works out because if it doesn’t, he thought as he walked into the bathtub and took his underwear off as he sat in the bathtub, I don’t know what in the world I’m going to do. Amazingly, the bathtub was filled with warm water and bubbles that had an intoxicating and wonderful scent. Heath had given exact instructions to the room lady to prepare a bubble bath for Chris. Suddenly, Chris’ cell phone rang, but he couldn’t get out answering it because if he did, he would slip, falling, and get seriously hurt, so he let it ring. It rang like twenty times and finally, his worried mother left him a message.
“Chris,” she said, crying, “Please pick up. I am worried about you. You went to record that stupid demo against my wishes, and it’s been ten damned hours since you went out and you haven’t come back! Please call me back! I’m worried sick and thinking the worst!” She hung up and continued crying.
Suddenly, Liam went into the room with special permission from the hotel manager when the hotel manager knew and it was proven to him that Heath Manning had sent him. In the last twelve hours, two new hopefuls entered Heath Manning’s office, daydreaming that they would have their big break. One was an aspiring nineteen-year-old, innocent pop star hopeful and the other one was a true alternative singer, which had the voice to scream and strain, quality that fit alternative music perfectly. He had the rocker look with his punk-like hair, the make up and the craziness of a true alternative-music artist, and best of all, he could scream while performing his songs and not lose his voice, making the music more like metal. Those hopefuls recorded their demos and less than one hour later, they got signed. Manning Records was not only desperate to get singers, but great singers, and luckily, the first three people to audition got in and Manning Records had to look no further. Chris was signed. He just didn’t know it yet. All he had to do was sign the papers, papers that Liam brought for him. In the last minute, Heath decided that Chris didn’t have to make another demo because he had already done it, when he was twenty. It was when he became literally-mentally ill that he looked toward a career of alternative music, but before that, in his early twenties, Chris had written and recorded over 4,000 ballads, all of his own, thus at that age, he would write four or five new songs every day.
Chris’ twenty-five-year-old brother, Cherub sent all those recorded and composed songs to Heath Manning when he found out that today was the day that Chris would audition. He knew that Chris was a soft-music artist and he wanted to get him back to that road. Ten years ago, Chris’s career was promising, until he met a young woman named Delia. Delia was a young Puerto Rican girl with great ambitions. She had had nearly twenty boyfriends before Chris, and she was really promiscuous. Of course she fell in love with Chris when she noticed his incredible looks, and she enjoyed him in her bed for six months. Chris had been signed by another record label, and just when he was recording his debut album, he found Delia in bed with another man, a man that she’d just met. It turned out that Delia only wanted Chris for his body and his money, but she didn’t love him. Even so, she hoped to marry him and start a family, until he surprised her in bed with that stranger. The day after Chris discovered Delia’s true colors; he literally lost his mind and became schizophrenic, bipolar and paranoid. Heath was right however, in thinking that Chris’ biological mother didn’t love him, and she totally ignored him because Chris was the product of rape. Her husband, Javier Olivier, he married Chris’ mother, Theresa, and adopted Chris legally and gave him his last name. He became Chris’ legal and biological father. Then, he had two more children with her, Charlene and Cherub. Charlene was thirty-two years old, married, and she had three children, Little Christopher, Charles, and Cole. Cherub was engaged to be married, and he didn’t have children yet. Cherub’s fiancée, Sheena, she adored Christopher. Christopher and Charlene were the brother and the sister that she could never have because Sheena’s mother, Sylvia had problems in her reproductive system that caused her serious health complications, and she had to get a hysterectomy after having Sheena. Sheena was twenty-three years old, she graduated high school at age sixteen, and now, she was a psychologist, making great money. Cherub was a pharmacist. Cherub and Sheena were living the good life, but they weren’t living together. Cherub lived in his own house, which would soon be Sheena’s house also, and Sheena lived in her own two-bedroom apartment, an apartment that she was planning to sell after marrying Cherub. Cherub and Sheena were abstaining from sex, and they were waiting to get married three days from now, in a civil matrimony. Sheena had had two failed relationships, and after getting to know Jesus Christ, she decided to remain celibate, and she had been celibate for three years. Sheena would read the Holy Bible everyday, even in her office, at the few moments that she wasn’t meeting with patients.
Liam waited patiently for Chris to finish his bath and come out. Chris’ cell phone rang again. Chris’ previous mental condition made him like a ten-year-old child that his mother constantly had to worry about. Time had passed and not in vain; Theresa loved her child now. She knew that her lack of love toward her son was partly the reason why her son was the way he was, and that his heartbreak with Delia was just what made him snap and totally lose it. Chris was under Javier and Theresa’s care, and while Javier tried to sleep, Theresa was calling Chris from Chris’ room to avoid disturbing Javier, even though Javier’s heart was pounding inside his chest because he was worried sick about the son that he had loved and cared for since he was two and a half years old. Javier loved Chris just as much as the children that he had conceived. Chris was the child that made him a father without having to conceive his own children. Charlene and Cherub were just two more priceless gifts from God, and Chris was the first. While Javier cried like a baby in his bed, Theresa’s phone call was finally answered. Crying, Theresa said, “Chris…”
“It’s not Chris, Mrs. Olivier.”
Theresa started crying even more bitterly, thinking that Chris had been kidnapped. “Oh, my God, who the hell are you and what have you done to my son?!”
“Mrs. Olivier…”
“I want my son back! I demand you to give me my son back! I am not rich, but I will give you anything you want! Just bring my son back to me safe and sound! I will rob a bank if I have to, just give…” screamed Theresa.
Liam interrupted her. “Mrs. Olivier, listen to me. I am not an abductor. I am Liam Buchanan from Manning Records. Your son is in a hotel room with me. I am waiting for him to take a bath, get dressed, and sign his contract with Manning Records, so that he can choose fourteen of the 4,000 songs he wrote for his debut album, his real one.”
“My son has been in a hotel room all this time.”
“Yes, Mrs. Olivier.”
“Where is this hotel?”
“You know where the Manning Records premises are?”
“Yes,” said Theresa, smiling, “yes, I do.”
“We are in the five-star hotel right beside the Manning Records premises.”
“Got it,” said Theresa writing the information down in an old post-it note she had found and putting it in the pocket of her sleeveless, pocketed button shirt. My husband and I are going to that hotel right now. Give me the room number.”
“The room is 546.”
“Room 546, ok… We’re on our way!” said Theresa, filled with joy, hung up, redid her makeup and her hair and went to her and Javier’s room. “Javier, get up. I know where our son is. Not only couldn’t he be safer and in better hands, but he also got signed with Manning Records!”
As he got up, Javier screamed, smiling, “What?”
“Our son got signed, finally! He’s in the five-star hotel right by the Manning Records building!”
Javier and Theresa hugged. Then, Javier took a quick shower, changed his clothes, did his hair and they went out of the house in a matter of minutes.
Minutes later, when Javier and Theresa were on their way to pick up Chris, Javier’s cell phone rang.
Javier answered the call almost immediately using his hands-free headset. “Hello.”
“Dad, is my brother still with Heath Manning’s minion?”
Javier laughed. “Yes, your brother’s still with…” he said, and then turned to look at Theresa and asked her, “What is that guy’s name again, Theresa?”
“His name is Liam Buchanan,” said Theresa as she put a disc of spearmint in her mouth just to taste something sweet.
“He’s with Liam Buchanan.”
“Oh, good…”
Laughing, Javier said, “But you called Liam ‘Heath Manning’s minion’.”
Laughing, Cherub said, “I didn’t know what else to call him, Dad, I mean… Oh, and just so you know, I sent Manning Records all of my brother’s CD’s with his songs on them because I am sure that my brother’s going to record all those songs with Manning Records. Manning Records is a good record label, although it just got started.”
“I agree with you. I mean they’re great if they put your brother in a five-star hotel.”
While all of this commotion was going on, Liam, Heath, and Chris were gathered in Chris’ hotel room and Chris and Heath were signing Chris’ eight-year-contract with Manning Records, for $10 million. If Chris’ future albums were successful during these eight years, Manning Records would sign him for eight more years and then let him retire and enjoy the fruit of his work, due to his age; his contract couldn’t be extended for more than two eight-year terms. Everyone was happy and hugging, and just minutes later, Javier and Theresa arrived at the hotel room.
“Sweetie,” said Theresa as she gave Chris a hug, “we came to take you home, if you don’t have anything else to do with Mr. Manning.”
“I’m going to take a two-week hiatus, Mom, and then I’m going to start recording my debut album.”
“The time of your hiatus has been extended to two months because we have two new artists and they’re going to start recording shortly,” said Liam, “so there’s no need to hurry. It says so in the contract.”
“Oh,” said Chris, “I was so excited I didn’t read that part.”
“Oh, if you didn’t notice that clause I can make your signature void, print you a new copy of the contract and have you sign it again,” said Heath. “I don’t want any problems in the future, you know?”
“No, it’s ok,” said Theresa. “As Chris’ legal guardians, we authorize you to validate that contract just the way it is.”
“Ok, then I will have it notarized right now. It’s a good think I have all the services I need available to me in my building,” said Heath and laughed.
Smiling, Chris asked, “You have a notary in the same building, too?”
“Yes,” said Heath. “All right, so just to make sure we’re on the same page and you understand how it’s going to be, you have two months to get prepared, you know, to decide how you’re going to look, how you’re going to dress, the attitude you’re going to have towards the fans and the press, you know, to build Chris Olivier, the artist.”
“Thank you,” said Chris.
“We’ll keep in touch via email,” said Heath as he and Liam walked out of the room with the contract in Liam’s hands.
Chris and his parents hugged and then they left the hotel in a matter of minutes.
While Heath’s new artists started recording their first albums, Chris got helpful advice from his family members and his friends on what kind of artist he could be, how he could get a bigger fan base, and how he should act toward the press and how to control himself when a paparazzo or a reporter made him angry. They told him not to flick anyone off if he were angry, not to swear at paparazzi, and not to make his bodyguards attack the paparazzi in case of an aggression because that would make him lose fans instead of making him gain them. He had to show people how well-educated and classy he was and he had to be nice at all times and act politically-correctly if he became angry, for any reason. Chris decided that Javier and Theresa would keep complete guar