“Take care of yourself, baby girl, and remember if you ever need to come home, we’re here,” Darryl said before taking his seat at the head of the table.
“Thank you for understanding.” Tyler sighed in relief. “Dex, I’ll see you at home. Carla, Aria will reach out to discuss how we’ll move forward.”
“Excuse me?” Carla scoffed. “You cannot make these kinds of decisions without speaking to me first. You’re under contract. So what if the label contract ended, I’m still your manager, and we need to talk about next steps.”
“I never signed anything. You’re my manager by default, and from the way things are going, it won’t be for long.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard her.” Shane pursed his lips. “I. N. D. E. P. E. N. D. E. N. T. Do you know what that mean man?” he rapped. “I mean ma’am. You can get away with either though.”
“Boy, come on,” Tyler laughed. “Can’t take your ass nowhere.” She pushed him out of the door.
The silence in the room spoke volumes. Tyler was the bread and butter at Oakwood. Sure, there were other artists on their roster, but none of them compared to Tyler. Stumbling on her talent was like striking oil. She was a fresh face and pure. With the help of Dex and Carla, Darryl molded her into the perfect sex symbol, and she was his. The plans Darryl had for Tyler exceeded singing. Oakwood invested in Tyler. She was the face of his company and there was no way he was about to let her slip through his fingers.
“Everyone except Carla, please excuse yourself,” Darryl spoke while hitting a button under the table to turn the glass windows in the boardroom into a one-way mirror.
“Don’t sweat it, big dog. I’ll holla at her,” Dex assured him. “These chicks be PMSing hard as hell. Imma holla at her,” he promised.
Carla dropped her head and let out a loud, deep breath when the door closed. She wanted to wring Tyler’s neck for her little stunt, and from the look on Darryl’s face, he wanted to wring hers. They had a deal. Carla's only job was to make sure Tyler went along with the plan they had for her career. It was much easier to do when she was younger, but now that she was coming into her own, Tyler couldn’t be controlled.
“Baby,” she sighed, standing to her feet.
“No.” Darryl stopped Carla from approaching him. “You had one fucking job,” he barked. “One!”
“I told you she’s been acting funny. Dex even said she told him she wanted to stop popping pills, so I guess her conscious is kicking in.”
“Then you force feed them to the lil bitch,” he snapped, making Carla jump. “Do you know how much I make off her? How muchyoumake off her? Give her what she’s asking for.”
“I tried! I said she could have a couple of them boring ass songs on the next album.”
“Have you ever listened to them?” Darryl inquired.
“What?” Carla frowned.
“The songs. Have you listened to any of the songs she wants to put on the album?” he roared, making her jump.”
“No,” Carla mumbled.
“Then how do you know they’re boring? You’re not a music exec, you don’t have an ear for music. Shit, you’re barely a fucking manager.”
“I-I-
“You don’t know shit. Tyler has been writing songs for everybody on the label. Do you think she wanna keep giving her songs away and not sing them herself?”
“I didn’t know,” Carla whispered.
“That’s because you’re not a real manager. All you do is wear nice ass clothes and spout bullshit out of those pretty little lips. Tyler is valuable to me, and I want her back.”
“Ok.”
“Strip her. Cut her off at the fucking knees and make her beg to come back.”
“Ok, I’ll fix it.”
“I know you will because your lifestyle is contingent upon her. Shit, you and Dex need her. If I don’t have a signed contract, you can kiss your little cushy life goodbye.”
“I got it,” Carla mumbled, pulling out her phone to call Dexter.
