Chapter 33

While the excitement on my first day back was wild, it didn’t take long for things to return to normal. Part of that was because in high school, the latest drama always drowns out everything else, and the fact that my show wasn’t out yet. I think I helped it along by not being able to actually say anything. By the second day back, everyone’s attention had shifted off to some other drama, allowing me to kind of fade back into the woodwork.

And I was honestly fine with all that. I won’t lie and say I didn’t love the attention, but it was also kind of nice getting back into my routine.

Of course, that didn’t mean weirdness connected to my being on a reality show stopped cold. We weren’t allowed phones in class, so I kept mine off and in a side pouch of my bag and didn’t check it until I got out of class at the end of the day. Since all of my friends, family, and the people I work with have my schedule, I usually only find a few texts to call someone back when I get out of school.

When I turned my phone back on after school on Thursday, however, I had nineteen missed calls from a number I didn’t recognize in an area code I didn’t recognize. I was about to call it back and find out who they were when my phone rang again, showing the same number.

Whoever this was, they wanted to talk to me pretty badly.

“Hello?” I said, answering.

“Charlie Nelson?” a man’s voice responded.

He sounded like he was from the northwest somewhere. Not New Jersey or New York, and his accent wasn’t thick, but it was noticeably not southern.

“Yes?”

“My name’s Jim Stratton. I’m an entertainment lawyer out in LA. The producers from your show gave me your contact info. I wanted to reach out and talk to you about my services and what we’re going to be doing together.”

“Uh ... I don’t think I’ve agreed to work with you or anyone else yet,” I said, a little taken aback by his attitude.

“Of course, of course. I just wanted to get out in front of this thing. The producers said you made quite the impression, and your storyline is going to be a big one this season.”

“I think there’s some confusion. Like I just said, I haven’t made any decisions about representation. And I can’t really talk about the show.”

“Totally understand, totally understand. But here’s the thing, kid, you’re going to need someone like me on your team. These music competition shows chew up talent and spit them back out faster than you can blink. But I know how to leverage the exposure into lasting success. My clients get endorsement deals, book high-profile tours, the whole shebang. With me in your corner, you’ll go from a reality show contestant to a bona fide star.”

“Seriously, you’re not really listening to me. I appreciate you reaching out, but I already have a manager and a lawyer.”

“Yeah, the show mentioned that, and I’m sure they’re great for what they’ve been doing with you so far, but with all due respect, you’re about to step into a whole new world. We’re talking Hollywood, endorsements, and possible deals with TV, once your name gets out there. Whoever you’ve got, won’t know the first thing about how to make it work out here. Everyone knows The Stage films fast, so the networks get on their game fast, which means you can’t wait until it airs to start making calls. I’ve already started fielding some calls about your setup, and what kind of deals you can do. I’m telling you, if we move fast on this, you’ll have product sponsors lined up before the first episode even airs.”

“You’ve what?” I asked, incredulous.

Was he even allowed to do that, start talking to companies as if he were my representative without even talking to me about it first?

“I get it. It’s crazy,” the guy said, misreading my tone of shock as excitement. “Everyone gets that kind of whiplash the first time. I’ve got a new talent tour starting up in late April that has a spot for you already lined up, and let me tell you, they were excited when I told them you were on board. I’ve also got a couple of websites looking for a sponsor that are just about ready to sign you, and of course, you’ve got the show tour itself. Now, I can’t start getting much traction on TV appearances until your stuff airs, but if what I hear about how you’re coming off in the edit is true, we’ll get them. And that’s when the real money comes in.”

I didn’t even say anything. I was too shocked. He’d already set up a tour for me without even talking to me. While the whole point of this was to get shows, this wasn’t what I had in mind. I didn’t know who this guy was or what he thought was a good show for me. Worse, if this was how he treated someone he hadn’t met, I could only imagine what he’d do once he had your permission.

“All we gotta do is get you to sign some documents,” he said, again misinterpreting my silence. “Just boilerplate stuff, to authorize me to close some deals, and we’ll hit the ground running.”

“Look, Mr. Stratton, I appreciate you reaching out; but I don’t know you; I haven’t authorized you to represent me or to set up any deals on my behalf. And, I’m not interested in working with someone who would do that without my consent.”

“Whoa! Hey now, don’t get the wrong idea,” Stratton replied, his tone turning serious. “I work with a lot of the contestants at The Stage and I have an in with the producers. This is probably all a shock, but this is how things are done. I was just trying to get the ball rolling for you, that’s all. I know how these things go, kid.”

“I very much doubt this is ‘how things are done.’ I can’t imagine that anyone who’s taken seriously in music or TV has an agent making deals for them before that agent even talks to them.”

“Look, kid...”

“That’s another thing. Don’t call me ‘kid.’ Now, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I have both a manager and a lawyer, who you’re going to be hearing from if you keep trying to make deals in my name. Thanks for your time. Please don’t call me again,” I said, and hung up.

For several minutes, I just sat in my car, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. I understood pushy sales tactics and the whole ‘assuming the sale’ thing. Warren had walked me through sales strategies, or at least getting booked strategies, when we’d been cold-calling venues trying to get gigs.

This was beyond that, though. He was actually out there, making deals for me before he ever talked to me. How was that even possible? Or legal?

That was the thought that propelled me into motion, I called Mr. Eaves.

“Good morning, Chewit, Douglas, and Eaves,” his secretary said.

“Hey, Toni, it’s Charlie. I really need to speak with Mr. Eaves as soon as possible.”

“I’m afraid he’s tied up in meetings all afternoon. Can I take a message?” Toni replied, just like she always did.

“I know he’s busy, but this is pretty urgent. Is there any way you can interrupt him? It’s important.”

There was a pause, and I could imagine Toni rolling her eyes. She wasn’t mean, exactly, but her job was to keep him off the phone and to keep his calendar organized so he didn’t get distracted all the time. Although I think my age was a big factor in getting me downgraded in importance a lot, which I was pretty sure was why it sometimes took hours to get a call back.

“Let me see what I can do,” she finally said.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and waited. I wasn’t sure how important this was, since I’d told Stratton to get lost, but if he was out there making deals in my name, I thought Mr. Eaves should know about it. After almost five minutes, Toni came back on the line.

“You’re in luck. Mr. Eaves has a few minutes between meetings to take your call. Please hold.”

Which could have easily meant she went and asked him instead of just putting me on a call sheet, like always. I didn’t say that, though.

What I actually said was, “Thank you, Toni, I really appreciate it.”

More hold music played before Mr. Eaves came on the line. “Charlie, what can I do for you?”

“I just got a really strange call. This guy named Jim Stratton called me claiming that he’d gotten my name from the show producers and that he was working on booking me performances and deals for after the show aired, trying to get me to sign with him as my entertainment lawyer. He had an entire list of deals he said he’d already worked out for me. The thing is, I’ve never talked to this guy before. He just started going on about all these deals he was making on my behalf, saying I’d be getting millions in sponsorship contracts. I told him I never agreed to have him represent me, and I’m not interested in any of those deals, but he just kept talking over me. He acted like he already had full authority to broker contracts for me. Is it even legal for someone to do that without my consent?”

Mr. Eaves let out an aggravated sigh. “Unfortunately, it’s a common scam in the entertainment industry. That type tries to attach themselves to up-and-coming artists and claim they have the inside track to big deals. Then, they start making outrageous promises to pressure you into signing with them as your manager or agent. If he was truly affiliated with the show producers and had authority to negotiate on your behalf, that relationship would have been mentioned either in your contract or by the producers. Which it wasn’t. Odds are, he got some names from someone on the crew and started cold calling, hoping to convince someone to sign.”

“So he can’t actually make contracts for me, right?”

“No, any contracts would be invalid without your authorization or signature,” Mr. Eaves confirmed. “However, it could still cause problems for you later if he’s out there claiming to represent you and pitching your name to potential sponsors. Even if the deals never materialize when you don’t sign, it could create confusion and complicate future negotiations.”

“See, that’s what I was worried about! What should I do?”

“Right now, you’ve done all that there is to do, at least until we can show tangible damages for his actions. If he doesn’t stop, then we can escalate things, since we’ve given him notice that he’s not authorized to communicate with anyone on your behalf. Other than that, the important thing is we document any future attempts he makes to work on your behalf, either by calling you and asking you to sign or if we hear something from a third party. Still, I want you to send me his phone number and I’ll pull his information, so I can send him an official cease and desist.”

“And that will get him to stop?”

“Maybe. Cease and desists aren’t binding, and anyone can send one for anything, but it’s part of the documentation chain we need to put together if we have to sue for an injunction, which would force him to stop. But, I think this brings us back to an earlier conversation we had. You need an entertainment lawyer, just not for setting up deals. That’s what a manager does. But once the deals are set up, there are a lot of rights in play, beyond just music, and this should be an example that these people only want to find ways to take, and they will put one over on you if you aren’t ready.”

“I thought you were looking for one?”

“Yes, I am. I’m still working on someone, but our priority was finding the right fit, not someone to protect your interests now. Clearly, if there’s already this level of interest, then that was a mistake and I need to accelerate the search. I want you to be ready for it because I know most of our last call was you trying to kick the can down the road.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

He’d been right, clearly. I just didn’t love an ‘I told you so.’

“All right, then. I’ll pick up the search and find someone before you get to the live shows. And don’t worry about this Stratton guy. I’ll take care of it. He was almost certainly only fishing for clients. I doubt he called anyone or set anything up.”

“I hope so. Thanks, Mr. Eaves.”

“Sure thing, Charlie,” he said, hanging up.

Friday was the end of school, at least until after Thanksgiving. True, I’d only been back for like two days, but considering the volume of schoolwork I’d had before the contest, doing both the contest and more schoolwork in California, and then getting slammed with more over the last two days, I was looking forward to having a week that wasn’t absolutely jam-packed for the first time in months.

My day got even better when I saw Kat getting out of her car in the driveway as I pulled up to the curb. As soon as she spotted me pulling up, she dropped her bags and ran over, practically hauled me out of my car as I opened the door and threw her arms around my neck.

“Hey,” I said, laughing as she squeezed me tight.

I squeezed her back and could smell the floral scent of her shampoo mixed with a hint of chlorine that never seemed to go away, no matter how many showers she took. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved that smell. It was uniquely her. Kat pulled back just far enough to bring her lips to mine in a soft kiss.

“I missed you so much,” Kat murmured against my lips before kissing me again, deeper this time.