Beautiful Sky 2: The Conclusion(21)
Author: Ashley Blake

"Maybe, but you heard my dad, I really don’t think there is any way that he would let me do this full-time and, working for him, there’s just no way that I would be able to do this part-time, it’s just not fair to the other guys in the band.  I think that I just have to accept that after these next few months, that will be it for me and the band.”

“Well, I saw your mom’s reaction so let’s just wait and see if she can convince your dad, if that is something that you want.”

"I appreciate what you’re trying to do Sky, I really do, but I think I’m just going to drop it. So, what do you say we get out of here?”

His mood instantly changed as he was able to push his feelings about what had just happened down deep and it seemed like he had no problem moving on. I didn’t want to beat a dead horse with this so I decided to just drop it and wait and see what would happen next.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Chapter Twelve

The next four months passed quickly and graduation was fast approaching.  Jonathan and I were inseparable and we spent almost every single day together.  I basically moved into his room but I always made time to hang out with my friends so that they didn’t think I was ditching them because I had a boyfriend.  I hated when girls did that.

Over spring break Jonathan worked with his dad at the company so that he would be prepared to start the Monday after graduation.  His dad wanted him to just dive in without any kind of break.  He was super rigid and I kind of felt bad for Jonathan but he seemed fine with it, after all this was the way his dad had been all of his life.  Since his dad’s company was in New York, I wasn’t as bummed about him graduating because I was going to be able to see him all the time. He told me that he would fly me to New York to see him every weekend or he would come see me if I wanted, and if I was busy he would make the plane available to me whenever I had the time to come see him.

Jonathan’s band played at the Shadow Room one more time about three weeks before graduation, it was totally packed and it was their last show.  He found out that several record execs were there again that night because the buzz about the band was really growing.  It was close to finals and a bunch of us wanted to give ourselves a break so we went to see them and we all had a great time.  It was back to the books for me the next day so I buried myself in the library and I was there until 1:00 a.m. most nights.

A week later, I decided to study in my room since Katie was at the library and I heard a frantic knock at my door at around 3:30p.m.  My last final was coming up in a couple of days and I had one more paper due after that, and I couldn’t wait for it all to be over.  I had no idea who would be knocking at my door at that time and I knew it couldn’t be Jonathan because he was supposed to be in class.  I opened the door to see him standing there with an extremely excited look on his face.

“Hey, what’s going on? I thought that you were supposed to be in class.”

“I am, but I got a text from Matt and he told me to step out of class because it was urgent.  We were just offered a record deal with Capitol Town Records!”

“Oh my gosh Jonathan, that is huge!”  Capitol Town Records was part of the Big Seven record labels.

“I know!  We’ve gotten offers from smaller labels before but never anything like this!  They want to give us a one-year record deal where we put out an album and we tour and promote the record, and then they’re adding an option for two more years, two more albums and more touring if the first year goes well. This is so incredible we are all so excited!  How am I going to tell my parents about this?  I’ll have to figure something out because this is an offer that is too good to pass up, this is what we’ve all wanted!”

I was so excited for him but then I was instantly punched in the gut with the reality of what this really meant.  I would probably not see him very much for the first year and I just knew that the band was going to take off so that would mean they’d be picked up for the two-year option after the first year.  I probably would barely see him for three years. While I was happy for him and I knew that this would be the beginning of something really great for him, I was really sad because I felt like this would be the beginning of the end for us.

I didn’t want to ruin his moment so I put on a happy face and told myself that we could talk about details about us later, after he cleared this with his parents.  There was no need to stir the pot if his father was going to put his foot down about this.  I would just have to wait to see what was going to happen.

I gave him a huge hug and a kiss.  “I am so happy for you!”

“Thanks, sweetie, that means a lot.”  He pulled away a bit and looked at me with a bit of worry on his face.  “How am I going to tell my dad about this?  He’s never going to allow it.”

“Jonathan, I think you’re going to have to go to your mom first.  She seemed to really understand how much you love singing and she loved the show.  Maybe she’ll be able to get through to your dad.”

“I hope so, I really want this Sky.”

“I know you do, sweetie.”

“Maybe my mom will be able to get through to him.”

“What if you kind of negotiated doing it for a year to see what happens, and if things don’t work out then tell your dad that you’ll work for the company.  Maybe if he sees this as a temporary hiatus for you he will be more open to it.”

I saw a flicker of light in Jonathan’s eyes and I could tell that he thought this was something that might actually work.

"Sky, that’s actually not a bad idea. My cousin Jeremy was allowed to take a year off before he started college so maybe my dad will see this as me taking a year off before I start working for the company. The only problem is what if the band really takes off and the record company decides to exercise the additional two-year option?”

“I think that by that time, if you guys blow up, your dad will have to understand because you’ll be big time and recognized all over the world.  I think the first step is to get him to agree to a one-year trial period.”

“I think you might have a great idea there, I’m going to call my mom and tell her that I need to see her this week.”

“I hope it all works out for you.  When does the record company want an answer?”

"We have a few weeks because we have to have our attorney look over the contract.”  His expression became very serious as he looked at me. “Sky, I want you to know that this is not going to change anything between us. We will figure out how to make things work, okay?”