A few days later, Hayden still drove the car to his doorstep.
Alex yawned and climbed out of bed. He glanced at the alarm clock; it was four in the morning.
Al, with his thick beard and afro, was wearing headphones, using a pillow to cushion his bottom. The small TV was facing the other side of the bed, and a poster blocked the light. The only sound in the room was the soft clicking of a controller.
Sigh, how did a hip-hop artist become a hardcore gamer?
Alex shook his head helplessly.
Previously, Pablo was willing to take the initiative to bring El back, but after cooperating with SBK, this path was completely cut off. SBK's strategy was to release singles first. Since El wasn't in the secondhand store, Pablo could no longer bring him back to share the profits.
Having squandered such a good hand, Alex previous sympathy for him had long since vanished. He had kept her up at night for over a month, and this was the result of her repeated and stern negotiations. Even Aunt Susie's intervention to kick him out couldn't get rid of him. When Black Buddy gets shameless, he's truly unbeatable.
Thankfully, I'll be able to get rid of this guy once I finish moving.
After washing up and getting dressed, I went downstairs and found Hayden sitting at the table, eating scrambled eggs made by Aunt Susie. There was a pile of documents and a pager on the table.
Alex picked up the pager, a vertical one with a display and a plastic buckle on the back. He tried it on his waist. Although many people wear it like this, he felt it looked strangely tacky. It was too big to put in his pocket, so he simply threw it into his bag.
He took the scrambled eggs from Aunt Susie and ate them while looking at the documents.
He calculated the amount, including the pager number and shopping invoice, and then wrote a check and placed it in front of Hayden.
Then came the sales statistics from Old Joe Music. In just over a month, the album "Lory II" had sold more than 68,000 copies, earning him a little over 3,000 in royalties, with Old Joe Music's check attached. Subsequent album distribution would be handled by SBK, and Old Joe Music would no longer be responsible for sales. He carefully put the check away and then wrote another check for one-tenth of the album's value to Hayden to pay his commission, saying, "These sales figures are pretty good. In a year or two, we should have sales of at least 100,000 to 200,000 copies."
Hayden shook his head. "Too little. According to SBK, Joe made two fatal mistakes. First, the promotion wasn't up to par, which caused the album to fail to gain momentum. Nowadays, listeners follow trends, so if a song isn't popular, they'll naturally think it's not good and give up on buying it. Second, the distribution was too conservative, and since it was only released on cassettes, many people who were covered by the promotion couldn't buy the records. So they simply chose to transfer them, since transferring from cassettes is convenient, which further led to the loss of future buyers."
"That's why we chose SBK, isn't it?" Alex continued processing the next document, which was not a file, but two color photos: one of himself shaking hands with Underwood, and the other of himself with Michelle.
"I got these from the reporters there. They're pretty good; you're very photogenic," Hayden joked. "Should we get a couple of frames to put them up?"
"Forget it." Alex put the photo aside. "They're not really that important people, are they? I'd be embarrassed if Underwood hadn't been elected as a federal representative."
"Whether they are big shots depends on your own level," Hayden said.
Alex thought it made sense, so he took down a book he was reading from upstairs and slipped the two photos inside.
"You can say no to a notebook..."
Hayden saw the book cover and thought, "Sony bought Columbia Pictures' film and music divisions, Panasonic bought MCA Records, and Mitsubishi bought Rockefeller Center. Look at the cars on the road now; maybe in a few years, we'll all be working for these companies."
Alex shrugged. Speaking of cars, his eight-year-old Ford pickup truck, which he had only bought not long ago, was broken by Connie and is still lying in the door. A century-old Ford, ruined by... Connie.
Speaking of Connie, she lazily carried the still-unconscious Emily downstairs.
The last few documents are familiar portrait rights authorization forms.
The reason they got up so early was that they were going to shoot another music video, which was naturally from a second-hand store.
"SBK's producer said the director wanted to use the light and shadow at sunrise. We're running out of time. The professional makeup artists they hired are very slow at doing the girls' makeup. This is a big production, and I heard it will be broadcast on MTV."
Upon hearing Hayden's words, Connie grabbed Emily and dashed out the door, diving headfirst into the front row of the Dodge Dynasty.
"Aren't you two going to eat breakfast? You bitches!" Aunt Susie shouted at dawn.
"Let's go too."
Alex stuffed the scrambled eggs into his mouth and went out with Hayden. The car drove through several streets and stopped in front of Ellie's house, honking the horn a few times.
A moment later, Ellie climbed down from the second-floor window and ran to the car like a thief.
"Honey."
She snuggled into Alex arms as soon as she got into the car, kissing his cheek repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, you're so kind."
Connie and Emily in the front seats rolled their eyes at the same time.
"It's nothing." Alex hugged Ellie, who was like a small animal, with mixed feelings. He had helped her get a spot in the MV this time, so he could break up with her later. Hmm... But since they were still boyfriend and girlfriend... He looked at the person in front of him and then quietly slipped his hand into Ellie's clothes.
The filming location was not the secondhand store where Alex received the Flash back. Old Joe said that it was not Hellcats territory, and there was a possibility of accidents during filming, especially since the gangs were on the verge of war and a major battle was imminent.
The Hellcats' territory isn't large, and the car quickly arrived at its destination.
This secondhand shop was much smaller and older than the one where he received the apocalypse. A large number of cars and equipment were parked outside, and many staff members were busy at work. After handing over three signed portrait authorization forms to the production crew, Alex led Connie, Emily, and Ellie to the makeup truck. He easily recognized many familiar faces from the last music video shoot. "Wasn't this supposed to be a big production? Why is it the same as last time?" he asked Hayden.
"It'll take three days to film. This director is quite well-known in Chicago, and big productions usually record a lot of footage first, then cut it into a three-minute music video. Who knows if I'll even get to show my face?" Hayden replied.
SBK acted very quickly to make up for the time lost by Old Joe. The decision to make this music video was not discussed with Alex, but this is normal. Songwriters usually don't get involved in these matters. It's already quite good that they are willing to take care of the old relationships of Old Joe music group.
Alex originally had a complete music video in his mind, but he felt that the style of the music video was not in line with the mainstream trend of this era. Moreover, he had never learned how to write scripts or storyboards. He had the ideas in his mind, but he couldn't express them, so he just let it go.
The two walked to a warehouse behind the store, which had been converted into two temporary VIP dressing rooms. Little Lowry and Old Joe each occupied one, and their men were clearly separated at the entrance. Several real gang members wearing floral headscarves were smoking in the distance to keep order and prevent any accidents from happening.
"Hey, APLUS!" AK waved to Alex as soon as he saw him. "Come here, come here, tell us your thoughts."
"What do you think?" Alex walked over and saw Tony, AK, and the others gathered in a circle, talking all over a piece of paper in Pablo's hand.
"SBK secured a performance opportunity at the Bulls' home arena during the playoffs, but it's only for one game. Which one do you want?" Pablo was in a good mood today, probably because SBK's series of high-end and sophisticated moves after taking over had gradually eased his worries. "APLUS?" He handed the paper in his hand to Alex ; it turned out to be a match schedule.
"I haven't researched it." After transmigrating, Alex became a top student, writing lyrics and songs, and preparing speeches. He didn't have the energy to care about the NBA.
"Ignore him, he's a complete basketball novice," Tony exclaimed. "If I had to pick, I'd go for Game 1 of the playoffs, it's a sure thing!"
"Idiot, the earlier you perform, the less attention you'll get. You should at least make it to the Eastern Conference Finals!" AK objected.
"Can we do it? Last year..." Tony was a little unsure.
"Phil Jackson did a good job this year, and besides, we have Jordan. The only team in the East that can stop him is the Pistons. Perfect, we'll face the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals."
"Phil Jackson was a rookie..."
As the two were arguing, Little Lowry, who hadn't finished his makeup, rushed out, shouting like a child, "The final! The final!" "I only want the final!"
"Oh well."
Pablo practically doted on Lowry, who was willing to abandon Al, abandon Morgan, and give up the opportunity to sign with Alex. "Then..." His pen hovered over the match schedule for a moment, "Let's play the first game of the final at home, it's safer.