Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
The melody on a loop in my brain surges to the forefront. “Can you make sure the Oriental suite has a baby grand?”
Betty breaks into a grin. “Of course. It’s already booked. I’ll get you packed and out of here in a couple of hours.”
“I’m ready,” I say.
And I am. For moving to a new hotel suite, sifting through my feelings for Beau, and to writing music about the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.
THIRTY-FIVE
Vivian
I don’t often meet Tommy at his office, but given Felicity is coming too, it made sense.
I’m not late, but both Felicity and Tommy greet Betty and me as the elevator doors open.
“Thanks so much for coming,” Tommy says as we trade kisses on both cheeks. “We’ve got people lined up on video conference if we need them as we work through the agenda.”
There’s lots to discuss today. The reception to the album, the publicity tour, album sales, buzz for the tour, scope of the tour and tour dates. It’s going to be a long afternoon.
“What can we get you? Coffee?” Melanie, Tommy’s assistant, asks.
I lift up the bottle of sparkling water I brought with me. I can’t remember the last time I had a coffee. Probably the one Beau gave me. Over the last few weeks, I’ve lost my taste for it. No doubt because every time I look at a flat white, all I can think about is Beau.
“Okay,” Tommy says as we all take our seats around the polished walnut table. Tommy’s office is in One Vanderbilt, with three-hundred-degree views of New York. It’s light and bright and optimistic—perfectly suited to the man himself.
Melanie and Felicity’s assistant, Peter, are also in the room, and we all take seats around the board table, a screen at the opposite end.
“First thing’s first,” Tommy says. “What a phenomenal publicity tour. Congrats on getting such great placements, Felicity, but super amazing, Vivian. You handled it all like the true professional you are. You’re so fucking likeable. If only people knew you’re exactly the same way in real life.” Everyone laughs, and I wish we could skip the bit where they all try to make me feel like a queen and just get down to business. Of course, I don’t say anything.
“I think you’ve got Saturday Night Live coming up, but apart from that, there’s nothing until the next single is released.”
“That’s right,” Felicity confirms.
“Before we talk about the tour, I wanted to say that I’ve been writing recently. In fact, I haven’t stopped writing since the album wrapped. Some of these songs—they’re good. I don’t want to wait two years for people to hear them.”
“You want to put them on a deluxe version of The London Album?” Tommy suggests. “The label would love it.”
“Yeah, I imagine the label would love it,” I reply. “But I’m thinking something a little less formal.”
Tommy looks at me like he’s expecting me to say more, but I don’t have more to add.
“Do you mean you want to release another album? Like an EP, within a year or something?” Tommy asks.
I shake my head. “I thought that maybe I’d just stick them up on YouTube or Spotify or something.”
“Behind a paywall?” Tommy asks. “Can we do that, Felicity?”
“No, not behind a paywall. Kind of like bonus content. A thank-you to my fans? I don’t know. Is there a creative way we can get them out there without involving the label?”
“How many songs are we talking about?” Tommy asks.
It feels like I’m in a room where everyone is willing to listen, but I just can’t find my words. Maybe it’s because I’m not quite sure what it is I want to do with this new music, but it’s just so important, so raw for me right now, that I don’t want to forget about it. “Let’s leave it for now. I need to get my thoughts together. Let’s talk about the tour and come back to it.”
“If you’re sure?” Tommy says. I nod and he flicks through a notepad in front of him. “So, you deftly fielded questions left and right about the tour in your interviews. I know we have placeholder dates in New York, Dallas, LA, Toronto and London, but we really need to fill in the gaps and confirm dates with venues and start putting a crew together. First, I suppose we need to understand what your vision is for this tour. Do you have anything in mind other than it being focused on this album?”
I think back to the conversation I had with Beau not long after we first met, when I told him how my real love is writing. How although I love performing, I don’t like touring.
“And…the placeholder dates you’re talking about—the ones we’ve already sold tickets to—remind we why we did that?”
“To lock the venues off. Selling out the dates we did meant we could put a hold on the other dates we wanted. We also wanted people to know you’d be touring. It helps create excitement and buzz.” He pauses and when I don’t say anything, he says, “You want me to get the promoters on the line? They can talk it through with you in more detail if you like?”