#ABPOS The Thinner Soul, Chp. 13
Radiance- She's the only person I know that can throw a raft like she does. Kayla is reasonable. That's what I make of what she did for Kaylin, but Natalie is unreasonable. The way she sees recompense is far elite. She's also my sister, so I must say that God had it all worked out. We've never had a fight, and she's never needed to bill me.
I remember the first time I read the settlement between Ample Records and Kaylin. I knew right away that Natalie needed to have a look. It just felt like I was quietly being rolled over or squeezed; the way they elected me to solve Eaton's crime. I wanted to make it clear that I expected blood to prove thicker than water, and that Reece couldn't just rest on my loyalties. I mean it was the cleanest clean up I'd ever seen. That was Kayla's lane, and I wasn't a dirty player but I had come through muddier waters than I imagined she had. By the time Natalie got her degree of legal knowledge on the table, Reece knew that I wasn't as thick as blood.
The minute Sam read the raft we threw, I understood what all the buzz surrounding Ample's sonship was. He's quick. Absolutely no push over, or move under. He's his own, and that's the only ball he's willing to roll. I did think we were a bit overzealous, but I knew she knew bitter better than me. I thought her interpretation of the law and the way to make things fair was a hell of a shot. A shot that at my age, and given what I believed, I just needed to see read off the faces in the room. I still remember Sam pushing the document over to Reece. She skimmed fluently without too much to do, and then began writing right atop what Natalie had drawn up. It was only pushed back once before Sam spoke. They exchanged body positions, and Reece's hands suddenly moved under chin.
The final agreement was I owned the name Ample Records. Not the label, but the name. It was an adjustment that Sam proposed, and Natalie specifically warned against. It was a different road than what we had plotted. In the end, it tested my loyalty and my growing shrewdness.
The one thing that never happened is that none of these things have moved from behind closed doors. All these years later, and I'm wondering if this is the moment. It was the second thing Natalie had warned me about-- a possible non-disclosure. In that moment, I had my chance to assess how big a deal the final direction of the settlement was to Sam, and it was. We locked eyes, and he relented. No non-disclosure agreement on the ownership, just the causative.. and I'd take the offer. It not only proved that the alternative to meeting in the middle was a no go, but it proved why. It was respectful and to be respected.
This time it's Jeff's search, and the answers I gave him for the second time.
"I never met my father."
"My mother will barely acknowledge that I have a father."
Those were the easy ones to pass off, and we'd long moved on from staring at each other and looking one another up and down. We were Dunbars. And the reason he understood I was in the room was simple. I was Ample Records' first success, and that made me a distinct kind of brand ambassador. The other answers were new, and I didn't know they would be needed when I agreed to meet.
"Nobody knows where he is."
"I'm sure he must have signed the birth certificate. Sure, I can do some looking around."
My understanding was that he was just going through a general period of deepening curiosity-- being older and having the money to possibly do some digging. I wasn't suppose to see it as a possible target on their wealth. I also tried to see his questions as common, but I didn't know for sure where this was headed. Where ever it was heading, it was sure to come up again, and I needed to get ahead of the outcome.
My first question was first for a reason. It was the principle piece of truth that I would need to protect in this matter. I knew Natalie would give it to me strait, and from all the perspectives that were naturally on the table.
"Do you think that it's the Dunbar that I have to thank for all of this?"
#ABPOS The Thinner Soul, Chp. 14
Kaylin- I've certainly been walking with Radiance's career, comeback, and the new album launch. K-Ezra is in media first and foremost. That's what I've learned of being in this business, and I take it seriously. So, I'm not sure how I missed the news, or where I was when this Plymouth landed on the scene. It's just been published that Radiance Dunbar is the owner; the name holder of Ample Records. I'm looking at the sources that are running with this output, and they're all pretty real deal.
I did expect a hard hitting campaign, but this is downright outlandish. It's shifting the gears from captivating to compelling, and that could certainly translate to spins.
I'm watching my two songs rub their hands together to keep warm, and it's almost time for the second release of Radiance's launch, but this instead. "That's odd", is what I'm thinking. But the words that slip out from under me are..
"That's strange." I'm fully compelled and bouncing from one site the next. I'm moving back and forth between my laptop and my cellphone. I'm checking the important sites, and all the socials of the main players. I need to know if this is an official wildfire.
"How could this be." are the next set of words. I've been in enough meetings at Ample, but what did I miss? When did this happen? More importantly, when did I lose?
Surely my settlement with Ample had rocked the boat. So, what was I hearing, and would my settlement had gone the way that it did if this was true back then? Something had shifted, and I was knocked off by the information. Like, internally. Simply put, it wasn't good news. It made it seem as if she'd had the last laugh. It didn't matter what the details were. It was the perceived value that it delivered.
And what's with the Dunbar anyway? I thought quietly.
That's it. It's the name. I suppose he was working for her the whole time. Naturally, it meant that was the reason he had crossed me.
A Better Pair of Shoes “The Thinner Soul”, a novel
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