Pick The Second Male Lead

05.7 - Earl Richard

Meanwhile, in the large private office at RE Label, stood a tall handsome man by the curtain wall. From the top floor of one of the city's tallest skyscraper, the handsome man's eyes were unreadable as he watched the flickering of the city's night lights below. Standing on the other side of the large oak desk, an older man stood with a surface pro in his hands.

"Xano seems adamant on doing collaborative work with the DJ" The older man scrolled through the information on his surface pro. "We've reached out to the DJ's agent multiple time but the woman refused to accept our conditions"

"What does she wants?" Richard Earl replied with his deep, calm tone.

"5 million and 10% of future royalty"

The older man - the secretary was confident that his boss would disapproved of such ludicrous demands. Especially since the DJ was considered fresh and new in the music business.

"Fine"

"Fine?" The secretary was startled. "Boss, that's_"

"You can go"

"Yes sir"

The secretary knew better than to talk back to his boss so did not say another word as he left the office. Left alone in his office, Richard Earl turned back to his desk where a magazine sat above everything else. The cover of the magazine featured the sexy young DJ flashing her dimple smiles while she looked forward with her hands holding onto the white headphones against her ears. Richard Earl looked at the photo for a long time before he traced the lovely tattoo that run along the young woman's right arm.

Two days later, after her agent settled the contract with RE Label, Mimi found herself entering the record label after three years. Greeted by Xano personally, Mimi was taken to the large recording studio where she was introduced to the sound engineer and the rapper's crew. Being the only women in the recording studio among the large group of men, Mimi was not intimated. To the men's surprised and delight, the young woman was capable to stand her own ground and did not let anyone bully her into accepting changes to her music or lyrics. What's more, the men were impressed on how Mimi was able to deal with Xano - who was notorious for being difficult to do collaborative work with. When people had assumed it'll take weeks for the work to be done, Mimi was able to complete it in a few days.

"Amazing!"

Xano was clearly happy when the final record was played. Mimi turned off the recording panel and looked at her wrist watch, while the men all looked at her with awe.

"Mimi, marry me" Xano dropped to his knees in front of Mimi and said playfully. "I need your capable music skills in my life"

"As romance as your proposal was" Mimi stood with a smile. "I have to reject. You're not my type"

"Ouch!" Xano fell dramatically onto the ground while his crew laughed.

Mimi rolled her eyes and left the recording studio that was filled with laughter. She had thought to go back leave the record label company in peace when she ran into the male lead - Jayden Kay. As the protagonist of the story, Mimi had underestimated her uncontrollable ties to the male lead. As annoying as it was, the soul within Mimi had purposely avoided the man - wanting no connection to him. But the more she avoided him, the more fate pushed the man to her.

"Excuse me" Mimi tried to side step away from the taller man but was blocked at every turn.

"You're the DJ the other day, right?"

Mimi wanted to roll her eyes. The male lead was playing the "I don't know your name but recognized your face" card to start a conversation with her. Instead of answering, Mimi gave a smile and turned to leave.

"Wait" Jayden Kay blocked her path again. "I'm Jayden"

Mimi held back a sigh. Not interested in dealing with the man before her, she glanced back down at her wrist watch. Jayden Kay clearly saw her indifference toward him and felt surprised. As a famous and well loved singer, Jayden Kay always have women fallen left and right for him. As the story's male lead, he had a very long line of admirers who were willing to do anything for his attention and affections. The original Mimi Ahn had been one of many who had been willing to do anything to be his.

"Jayden!"

Mimi glanced up to see a beautiful woman from a distance. Minutes later, the woman was beside Jayden Kay with tight possessive hold of his arm. True to the original storyline, the male lead was dating a beautiful - equally popular singer in the same recording label. During this time, Jayden Kay was growing tired of his girlfriend's clingy ways while developing interest for the kind and gentle Mimi Ahn. According to the story, Jayden Kay will break up with his girlfriend before he goes on his world tour. After 6 months of his world tour, he would come back to LA and begin to pursue Mimi. Seeing that the development of the story did not change even after her efforts to change Mimi Ahn's image, the soul within Mimi was annoyed.

"I've been looking for you" The beautiful young woman said sweetly to Jayden Kay before turning to Mimi with a dirty glare. "Who are you talking to?"

Jayden Kay frowned at his girlfriend's possessive hold on his arm and moved to get out of her tight grip. But the woman refused to let him go. Just before the two begin to argue, Mimi walked off. Not caring to be stuck in between the lover's spat, Mimi quickly made her way out of the building only to run into a sight she did not care to see. She had just about to leave the building when Richard Earl exited the black limousine. Dressed in a dark blue silk tie-less suit, the man looked like he going to a photo shoot. Beside him was his secretary, telling him current schedule when a gorgeous woman came out of nowhere and grab hold of the handsome man's arm. Very much Jayden Kay's girlfriend, Richard Earl's current girlfriend showed a very possessive hold on him. Mimi watched as Richard Earl frown at the young woman at his side while he casually took back his arm from her grip. But the woman did not take a hint at Richard Earl's scowl and sweetly smile at him while persistently taking hold of his arm. Soon enough, the secretary called for the security guards to stop the woman from approaching Richard Earl. The young woman - a very popular actress, caused a scene by screaming and yelling for Richard Earl when she was ushered away by the guards. But Richard Earl didn't care for the woman's relentless screaming - instead, he told his secretary to handle the woman while he made his way inside the building.

Just as Richard Earl entered through the glass doors, he took notice of Mimi nearby. Their eyes met but both could not read each other's thoughts. For Richard Earl, it had been the first time he seen such clear yet unreadable eyes. On the other hand, Mimi hid a sneer. The second male lead and his dating routine was well known to the entertainment world. The sole owner of one of the world's biggest record label was tall, powerful, and handsome. It was only normal that beautiful women gather around him. While the information was not new to Mimi, it never-the-less disturbed her. Not hiding the disgust in her face, Mimi made her way out.