Another way (Young Royals)

The contract

I had never been so nervous as I was when I went through the doors at TEN music group's office. My heart was beating so much I could feel it in my chest. A woman greeted me at the reception.

"Hi. My name is Simon Eriksson. I was supposed to see Victoria," I said. The woman sitting by the computer asked me to wait for a moment.

"Victoria will be here in a few minutes. You can take a seat there," she said and gestured towards a sofa and a few armchairs further in. I sat down and looked around. There were posters of all their current singers, songwriters and dancers. I imagined myself on that wall one day. It was a crazy thought.

"Hi. You must be Simon?" A woman said. She stood in the doorway to a corridor.

"Yeah," I said. She nodded.

"I am Victoria. A pleasure to meet you," she said and shook my hand. I smiled and told her the pleasure was all mine. She led me into her office, where a man also was sitting.

"Hi, Simon. I am Anders," he said and shook my hand. I smiled.

"Nice to meet you," I said. I sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the desk to them. They were really nice.

"So for how long have you been into music?" Anders asked.

"For as long as I can remember," I said. I had really loved music since forever. "I have been singing since I was little. And I am now in the school choir."

"You are attending Hillerska boarding school, right?" Victoria asked. I nodded.

"I am from Bjärstad. Hillerska was not my personal first choice though," I said. "But they offered a mix of the natural science programme and music and sports, so it has turned out okay anyway," I said.

"Why did you transfer to a school that was not your first choice?" Anders asked.

"My sister Sara was bullied at her first school, so when I was to transfer for highschool I offered to transfer to Hillerska with her," I said.

"What a good brother you are. My brother would never do that," Victoria said with a laugh. I smiled.

"Do you have any more experience of singing on stage than with the school choir?" Anders asked. I shook my head. I did not.

"No, I mostly sing on stage with the choir. Otherwise I mostly sing in my bedroom on my own or when my boyfriend is there," I said. Victoria and Anders looked at each other and smiled. They probably knew who I was in a relationship with.

"Your boyfriend is a lucky boy who can hear you sing whenever he wants to," Victoria said. Ayoub and Rosh had called me a siren. The boy who seduces boys to fall in love with him by his voice they always said. I had laughed so much at them. "Would you like to sing something to us now? We have heard about your incredible voice." I nodded.

"What do you want me to sing?" I asked.

"Sing something you are comfortable with, please," Anders said. I thought about it for a minute. I wanted to show more of my register so that they could get an idea of my voice. I went for a song that I had written myself. It did not have a name just yet. I sang. The lyrics were in Swedish. And it was about Wilhelm. About our relationship. The fight we had fought to be together. And I had a feeling we had not fought the final battle yet. When I sang I got a weird feeling in my stomach. I could not describe it. It just felt wrong. But the lyrics came out flawlessly anyways. Thank God.

"We can definitely work with that. Don't you think, Anders?" Victoria said.

"Definitely. It was beautiful, Simon. Did you write it yourself?" he asked. I nodded. I felt my phone vibrate in the pocket of my trousers. Something was wrong. I could just tell. I did not know what. It kept vibrating. I could tell Victoria and Anders noticed.