Tillie casually glances up at me with a ghost of a smile.
“Oh yeah,likewhat?” I ask, sarcasm pouring out of me and landing right in her lap.
She pulls the pen from her lips, licking her bottom one slightly. My cock twitches again, making my chest tighten in anger at my reaction to this damn woman.
Tillie jams the pen into the bun on top of her head. “Okay… based on the limited bookkeeping records and documents on file—”
“What the fuck? I kept everything aboveboard—”
She tilts her head. “I’m not saying you didn’t. I’m just saying that based on what I had to go on… not that what I had was bad, Ryan.” She tilts her head slightly. “It appears your PR was mostly focused on the indie scene.”
“Yeah, we’re anindierock band.” Sarcasm flows through my words. “That’s how we like to be seen,” I say.
Her eyes narrow slightly. “I get that, but if you want to expand your reach and grow your fanbase, we might need to consider branching out a bit more. The indie scene is all well and good, but there is a bigger world out there.” Tillie swallows hard. “Now, with my help, I’m going to take you guys from the indie rock scene to where you need to be.”
“Wearewhere weneedto be,” I say, confused.
She furrows her brows and purses her lips. “Well, correct me if I’m wrong, Ryan, but you guys are a rock band. Rock bands are huge right now, and with a sound like yours, a sound I distinctly heard yesterday, you guys clearly need to be out of the indie rock scene and on an expanded platform.”
“We don’t need to change our platform. The indie rock scene is where we are. It’s where we’ve always been. It works fine for us,” I say, knowing this is where my PR skills have always taken us.
The guys in the room shift uncomfortably in their seats like they want to say something all at once.Well shit!
“Ryan, honestly… do you think your band is going to get bigger by continuing to coast along on the indie rock scene? If you guys want to get on the big stage, and not as a backing band but up there with the world’s popular rock bands, you need to get out of the PR hole you’ve dug yourself into. You need to think outside the box you’re so firmly locked into. You need to consider the bigger picture, Ryan. Billboards, television, radio stations, and not the small indie rock stations either. You need to be played on the large commercial stations, the ones that can skyrocket your career as a band if you want to be famous in America. Also, we need to consider subtle advertising, such as in subway stations and on trains, as well as on social media, etc. You name it. We need to have Recoil’s brand everywhere, andnotjust small-time indie.”
I scoff and shake my head. “We don’t have funds for that!”
She tilts her head. “You do. And if you want to make it in this industry, you have to spend money to make it big. You know the old saying, ‘You have to spend money to make money.’This couldn’t be truer for your PR expenses.”
I shake my head rapidly from side to side and furrow my brows, looking around at everyone else who already seems convinced. “This is bullshit! This is not who we are. We’re not that desperate for attention.”
Danger sits up taller and sighs. “It’s not desperate, Ryan, but this is what we all want. The band wants to be big. Remember the dream we had? You and me, our names up in lights in Times Square?”
I stand and pace the floor, recalling that exact conversation. We had it the night we took that photograph on the wall out in the hall. But that’s different. We were just starting the band, and I had no idea we could actually make it.
“Next, you’ll be telling me you want us to headline with some fucking crazy band and to do a duet or some shit,” I say, not really making any sense because that works out well for most bands.
“Well, actually, Staked is a popular band at the moment. We could set up a headline tour with them?” Tillie states.
I let out a bellowing laugh as Danger tenses and goes stiff as a board.
“See, Tillie, if you knew us at all…” I wave my hands around like a raving lunatic. “Knew anything about how we work as a band…” my hand gestures wildly to each of my bandmates, “… you would know that Danger was engaged to the backing guitarist in Staked, EllafuckingSlade. Fuck, Tillie, you know nothing. Nothing about us. How can we trust you with the selling of this band if you don’t even know the basics ofus,” I yell.
She draws her bottom lip into her teeth and looks across to Danger, who’s as tense as Lunar, but somehow, she manages to rub his arm.
“Look, okay, a tour with Staked? Yeah, I’ll make sure thatneverhappens. I’m sorry, Danger, I didn’t know, and I should have done my research. But, Ryan, shutting down the right course for this band at my every turn isnotgoing to make things easier. You need to accept that either you want this band to succeed, or you’re going to be another whitewash band that fades into obscurity. Quite honestly, right now, it’s your choice.”
I run my fingers through my hair and groan as I turn, kicking my chair, which rolls across the room and hits the wall before I storm out of the boardroom. I can’t let Tillie know that, even though I think her advertising and marketing methods are entirely over the top, she is probably right. I see now that the way I was handling the PR was old-school. Everything is so much more advanced these days, and there’s so much I don’t know. I hate to admit it, but maybe the indie rock scene isn’t the way to go anymore.
However, I am scared.
Fucking scared of everything right now.
I’m scared of how quickly things can go tits-up.
I move across to the kitchen area just off the boardroom and pace back and forth, trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing. Hearing the boardroom door creak open, I look up and catch Danger walking out. I risk a glance at him, but he frowns at me.
“What?” I jab.
