“You earned it, Mary,” Celia told her. “The albums are going to sell well because of what you and Cindy did. You deserve to share in the profits.”
“A hundred and twenty thousand dollars?” asked Stan, who was obviously warming to the idea.
“That’s a low-end figure,” Bill told his father. “It will likely be at least double that in the short term, and a number that defies current estimations in the long term.”
“Well...” Mary said slowly, obviously turning that figure around in her mind as well, “if you absolutely insist.”
“We absolutely insist,” said Pauline, who had been in favor of this part, just not the next part.
“Okay then,” Mary said. “Thank you, guys. You didn’t need to do this, but the money will come in handy.”
“Money always does,” said Greg, who had been opposed to both parts of Jake and Celia’s proposal. After all, if the mothers didn’t want the money, wasn’t that their right?
“You’re more than welcome,” Jake said. “And that brings me to our other musicians and singers here. Laura, Ted, the conspicuously absent Ben, and Phil. You guys were important to these projects as well, and your contributions also made them what they are going to be. Now, all of you were paid as we went along, and paid at a fair rate, right?”
“Hell to the yeah,” Ted said. “I made more on this gig than I would’ve made in three years as a medic.”
“And I surely didn’t mind giving up the singing waiter gig for this one,” Phil added. “It pays better and will look awesome on my resume.”
“I like to think it will,” Jake told him. “In any case, we, the owners of KVA, engaged in some discussion the other day regarding what kind of bonus we were going to give you all now that your parts in the projects are complete.”
“Bonuses?” Ted asked, liking the sound of that.
“It seemed like something we should do,” Jake said. “Bonuses weren’t in the contracts you signed with us, of course, but Celia and I both wanted to add a little kicker for you anyway. Ultimately, however, when we discussed the matter with Greg and Pauline, it was decided that we would not give you simple cash bonuses after all. Sorry about that, guys.”
Ted’s face fell. So did Phil’s. Laura tried to hold hers steady, but a frown crept onto her face anyway. Jake could almost read the thoughts in her head. Why the hell did you bring up bonuses if you aren’t going to give them to us?
Jake let them dangle for a few more seconds and then smiled. “Anyway,” he said. “It was eventually decided that, in lieu of cash bonuses, we just go ahead and dial you all in on the royalties as well, the rate and linkage to the albums being tied to your participation in each.”
“Royalties?” all three of them said in near unison. Royalties for session musicians were almost unheard of. But KVA Records was not the typical record company.
“Royalties,” Jake repeated. “Ben and Ted will each get a half percent tied to both albums, since they participated heavily in both. Laura, you’ll get a half percent of Celia’s album since you were heavily involved in that, but only an eighth of a percent from mine, since you only appear on one cut there. And Phil, you contributed backup singing to both albums, but played no instruments. It was decided that a quarter percent of each album is a fair bonus for you.”
The three of them looked at Jake, mouths agape for a moment.
Jake chuckled (while Greg and Pauline frowned). “Do you want Bill to do the math for you? He will, you know.”
“No no,” Laura said, shaking her head. “I’m just trying to process this.”
“Yeah,” Phil said. “I don’t know what to say, Jake.”
“Say thank you,” Obie advised them. “They didn’t have to do this. I sure as shit wouldn’t have.”
“Thank you!” they all gushed happily.
“Happy to do it,” Jake said, smiling. “Or ... at least most of us are. Pauline will have some contracts for you all to sign with your rates and all that. The most important thing to remember is that these royalties will be reported to the good folks at the IRS and the State of California Franchise Tax Board, but KVA will not be taking taxes out as your royalty checks are issued. Be sure to account for taxes or you’ll get hosed the next year.”
“I would recommend a good accountant,” Nerdly said.
“As would I,” Jake said. “Any questions?”
There were none.
That night, after dinner, Jake and Laura were in their bedroom putting the finishing touches on Laura’s packing. She, along with the rest of the not-needed-for-mixing crew, would be flying out on a chartered business jet at nine o’clock the next morning. She had her two saxophones packed neatly and securely in their cases and all but her toiletries, the clothes she would wear tomorrow, and the clothes she was wearing currently in her large suitcase.
“Looking forward to getting back in the classroom?” Jake asked her. Her leave of absence with the school district was now officially over. She was due back in her classroom on Monday morning, just five days from now.
“No,” she said honestly. “I’m not looking forward to that at all.”
“Then don’t do it,” he told her.
“Don’t do it?” she asked. “Seriously? Just walk away from the teaching gig?”
“Why not?”
“Uh ... because I got a bunch of people—like my landlord, the bank that financed my car, and the bankers who issued my credit cards—who all prefer it when I pay them a certain amount of money each month.”
“You have enough banked from this gig, don’t you?” he asked. “That should carry you until you get a paying music gig. With those references from Nerdly and Celia and I, and with the Nerdlys using their pull down at National, that shouldn’t be too long.”
“I can’t rely on that, Jake,” she said. “Sure, I have a hefty chunk of change in the bank now, enough to pay off all of my credit card debt and still have enough to carry me for a while, but I can’t just quit my paying job. It would stress me out terribly not to have a source of income.”
Jake caressed the side of her face gently. He then kissed his finger and put it to her lips. “You’ll be fine, Laura,” he told her. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
She smiled at his touch, at his gesture. “I wish I could be as confident in me as you are.”
“I wish you could too,” he said.
She looked at him for a moment, melancholy in her eyes, a little bit of fear as well. “Jake,” she said. “I know we’ve never really talked about ... oh ... you know ... where this thing between you and I is heading.”
“This thing between you and I?” he asked, raising his eyebrows a bit.
“Our relationship,” she said. “I’ve had a great time with you these last few months, the best time I’ve ever had in my life, as a matter of fact.”
“I’ve enjoyed our time together as well,” he said.
“But ... but now I’m going home,” she said. “And you’re staying here.”
He nodded. “For a few months at the most,” he said. “I’m still hoping we can get masters in hand before May, and CDs on the shelves by July.”
She rubbed at her eye a little bit. “What’s ... what’s going to happen to us once I go home?”
“Well, I’m going to miss you,” he told her.
“And I’m going to miss you horribly,” she said. “But that’s not what I was talking about. What’s going to happen to ... to us? Is this our last night together? Are we ever going to ... you know ... be together again after this?”
Jake put his hands gently on her shoulders and moved her to the edge of the bed. He had her sit down. He then lifted her face to his, so he could see the tears forming in her eyes, could see the nervous angst in her expression. “You think I’m going to just drop you from my life because we’re going to be separated for a bit?” he asked.