Shy in Los Angeles

Chapter Twenty-Four: Meeting Ryker Hoffman

"If you see him, could you please take a picture with him and then I'll photo shop my head over your body!" Jonah pleaded.
I laughed. "I'll try my hardest." I said to make him shut up.
He nodded. "Okay."
"Thanks for driving me and wish me luck." I opened the car door.
"You're welcome and you don't need luck, girl." He waved to me as I shut the car door.
I approached the tall silver building. It was more intimating than I thought it would be, but I forced myself to walk through the revolving door.
I walked up to the front desk in the middle of the open lobby. The young woman behind the counter didn't acknowledge me and continued to type on her computer while talking on her headset.
"Power Records, please hold. Power Records, thank you for calling. Please hold." She repeated and then clicked a button on the side of his ear piece between each call.
"Excuse me." I said to her.
She held up one finger and answered another call.
"Power Records, please hold." She looked up at me. "What? Make this quick please." She demanded.
"My name is Shyla Shaw. I'm not sure where or who I'm meant to be meeting."
"Then I can tell you much..." She scowled.
"I have a meeting about a possible record deal. If you could just look at a calendar or something on your computer..."
"Calendar for who? I need to know who you are meeting with to see their meeting schedule." The woman asked.
"I don't know who." I replied. "Their email address just said 'Power Records.' They contacted me through my YouTube channel." I explained.
The woman's eye's widened and she smiled slightly. "Oh, you are the YouTube girl. Okay, yeah. You are meeting with Misty Underwood, the head of the new talent department and the Vice President of the company."
"Where can I find her?" I asked.
"15th floor, the top floor. There are two doors up there and two secretary for each office. You'll figure it out." She waves me off and then went back to her calls and computer.
I made my way to the elevator. Nerves settled in my stomach as I rose to the top floor of the building. My palms got sweaty and I stepped out of the elevator. There was immediately a large glass door in front of me. I awkwardly pushed through the door and entered the large open room. Both secretaries looked up from their desks and glanced at me before returning back to their work. I swallowed and gingerly approached the desk next to the Vice President's office.
The woman smiled at me. She seemed a little older than the woman downstairs, and nicer too.
"How can I help you?" She asked.
"My name is Shyla Shaw. I am here to speak with the talent finder person, the Vice President. I was contacted through my YouTube channel and organized a meeting for today." I explained.
She nodded. "Okay, yes. Shyla, I have your name here. You are a little early."
I shrugged. "I hate being late. I can wait if needed."
"I'll ask Misty." She picked the phone and hit a few buttons. "Misty, your 11 a.m. is here." She then nodded and listened to her boss's response. "Okay." She hung up the phone. "Misty is in another, unscheduled, meeting right now. She should be done soon." She smiled. "You can just have a seat." The woman gestured to the row of chair against the wall opposite the glass door.
I uncomfortably took my seat and tapped my foot anxiously. I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone. I have never been a very patient person and feared what would happen if I didn't have something to distract.
Noah had sent me a text. It was a selfie of him in his new office at Rotten Tomatoes. He looked really cute and happy.
I smiled and texted him back with two simple emojis, a purple love heart and a smiley face.
Suddenly, the door to the VP's office whipped opened. I dropped my phone and my eyes darted up. I walked in awe as Ryker Hoffman strolled out of the office.
"Holy shit." I muttered.
He heard me! Ryker looked over and met my eyes. Not going to lie, he was hot. I did understand why all the young girls, and Jonah, liked him.
I stood up. "Sorry, my friend is a huge fan."
"Your friend?" He raised an eyebrow. "And not you?" He asked.
I shook my head. "No. Well, you're not the worst, but not my favorite."
"Who do you prefer?" He asked and stepped closer to me.
I shrugged. "Anyone, really." I smirked.
He let out a light laugh. "Alright, smart ass. Tell me then, what are you doing here?"
"I am a singer and there may be a possible record deal in my future." Wish I could tell you why I was being an ass. I think his success intimidated me or maybe his looks, which shouldn't make sense because I am a model. Models have insecurities too.
"Okay, fancy new singer. Whatcha got?"
I frowned. "You want me to sing for you?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
I raised an eyebrow.
The secretary saved me. "Misty is ready for you, Miss Shaw."
"I have to go now. If you are really curious then look for me on YouTube." I walked towards the office door and then saw Jonah's angry expression in my mind. "Wait!" I shouted and turned back to Ryker. "My friend wanted a picture."
He rolled his eyes and gestured for me to come closer.
I ran over and stood next to him. I pointed at him as I took the selfie. I ran back towards the office.
"Thanks!" I yelled as I left Ryker behind.
I opened the door to the office and walked in. My nerves had decreased, but returned once I saw the Vice President.
Misty Underwood sat behind her large desk. She had short red auburn hair, intense hazel eyes, and was quite pretty. She was older than 25, but not older than 35. Her smile was warm and inviting, but her eyes were judgmental and scary.
I waved awkwardly at her as I approached her desk. "Hi, I'm Shyla Shaw."
"Shyla, sit down. We are going to cut through all the boring formalities and get straight into the fun and important stuff that we both care about." Misty said.
I sat in the chair opposite the desk. "Okay." I replied and waited to hear what she had to say.
"I like you. You have a good voice. More importantly, my boss, the President of the company, likes you. We want to sign you. We have to make a contract still, but now we are going to talk simple details." I nodded along. "We will start with one album. You will release it with our help and that will be all we sign up for. Then, if it does well, we will sign your for two more."
"Two?" I raised my eyebrows.
She nodded. "Yep. That comes down to how the first one is received. We will also work on general image and sound. I'm thinking pop, definitely, and your image could be whatever. I was thinking and bad girl or rebel. You will be the hot 'it' girl who is always in the news for one scandal after another, but most of them are just exaggerated lies."
I grimaced slightly at that.
"You're not sure." She noted. "I also like the good girl image too. The problem is that good girl, pretty smile, and good voice don't sell anymore. Taylor Swift is the only person who will ever be able to achieve that and even she has slipped recently." Misty explained.
I nodded. "Okay. Well, I'm open to anything. Can we maybe worry about the image later and talk more about he music?"
"Sure, honey." She smiled. "I love your voice and your covers are great. They will have to stop though. For now on it will be your music, and your music only. We can talk about all that more later though." She stood up. "I want you to meet the President of the label. Come with me."
I stood up and followed after her. I was a little uneasy, but it was good that she liked me and her boss too.
We walked into the other office. This room was colder and darker colored. Sat behind the desk was a middle aged man who was honestly a little creepy looking. He wasn't ugly, but he had the smile of a rapist or something. I felt a little more uncomfortable as he stood up and eyes me from top to bottom. I had a bad feeling about this.