A new signee.

Mark's label boss, Gary, had purchased a new house for himself and his family. He, his wife, and his daughter moved into the new house recently. It was a well-furnished duplex with about 6 rooms in it. Not only that, he also got for himself a brand new car. He owned about two expensive cars already, but he decided to buy a new car for himself, the money was flowing in...what would a person expect from a record label owner?

It didn't affect Mark in any way that his boss purchased a new house and a new car for himself, he wasn't happy or sad about it.....infact, it was totally not his business. But what was pissing him off was the fact that Gary went about posting it on social media platforms that he had gotten a new house and car for himself. That wasn't even the main problem, the main issue was that he was doing it in a pompous way.

He posted the picture of his new house and car with captions like, 'It isn't easy to become successful after years of struggling. There are many other people out there that have been striving for years that can't even boast of a car not to talk of a house of their own. But I'm grateful to God for making me successful'. Such a senseless caption, the writeup was filled with so much pride and arrogance...and it annoyed Mark a lot.

He wrote like a child, like an immature person...a man in his 'Mid forties was still posting something like this, damn! If not that it was an obligation never to miss meetings summoned by label boss's at the headquarter, Mark wouldn't have bothered to wake early this morning to prepare for the meeting Gary texted him about that was gonna take place at the 'Cool Boiz' headquarter. But he has to be there 'cause it's been long since he last stepped feet into the 'Cool Boiz' headquarter.

It's been long since he made use of the studio in the headquarter to record his songs, he would rather prefer to record his songs in the studios of music producers. Not to talk of the video studio room in the headquarter, it's been almost a year since he shot his music videos there. Without delay, Mark refreshed and brushed his teeth, dressed up, ate breakfast before departing from his apartment.

His main aim was to arrive at the headquarter earlier than anyone else, so he boarded a cab that will drive him there quickly. The cabman did exactly as Mark told him, to drive rapidly so they could arrive at the headquarter in a short time. Arriving at the building of the headquarter, Mark came out of the taxi, paid the cabman, and thanked him for the smooth and fast drive.

Mark took a quick glance at the edifice of the headquarter, it was still glowing as ever, damn! it's been a long time since he last came here. Entering the building, Mark expected to see maybe just one or two people present at the parlor mainly situated for meetings, but to his greatest surprise...everyone was there already.

Even with how early he woke this morning and how fast he prepared to get to this place on time, he still came late. Everyone in here must be really good at coming early, or was it that he didn't rise as early as he thought? Well, he didn't come in time, and there was nothing that could be done about it. What was freaking him out was the way everyone in the room was staring at him, their facial expressions screamed 'Late comer'.

But he gave no f**k about that as he headed to one of the vacant couch in the mini-parlor and sat on it. The moment he sat on the couch, his eyes met with Pascal's, but Pascal quickly looked away. Pascal is also an artiste signed to the 'Cool Boiz' record label. He got signed six months after Mark's record deal. He isn't much of a popular artiste in the music industry, but at least, he's got more fans than Mark...fans that Mark could only dream of getting.

The streaming numbers his songs do generate on the streaming platforms was way better than Mark's own, the same for his music videos too, and most important.....he is making more money for Gary and himself. Since the very first day Pascal got signed to the label, he and Mark had never gotten a chance to know more about each other, they ain't acquainted with each other. They don't talk or gist with each other for reasons best known to them. They ain't friends, and they ain't enemies either.

Mark also took his gaze away from Pascal the moment Pascal looked away, he never had plans of staring at him for a long time...not like he was a girl or something. The other people present at the mini-parlor were Gary, the summoner of the meeting, and the pompous dude, Pascal's manager was also present at the meeting, Jeffrey was there also, a music producer signed to the label and other workers of the label.

Mark was familiar with everyone at the meeting, but there was one person present at the mini-parlor that he had never seen before. Yeah, there was an unfamiliar face in the room, he was sure that he had never seen the person before. A pretty girl in masculine dressing was sitting on one of the couches also. She wore a black head- warmer, a brown thick long-sleeved t-shirt with a brand on it, a fitted dark blue jean, and black sneakers to match it all.....such a masculine dressing.

Mark kept on staring at her until Gary threw a question at him,

"Why are you late, Mark?".

That question on its own pissed off Mark, but as usual, he's got to keep his cool always.

"I woke up early this morning and prepared as fast as possible so I could get here on time, but to my greatest surprise, you guys were here already. I think the problem is from the text message you sent me, it wasn't explicative enough. You told me to come in time as early as possible in the morning, but you didn't put a specific time there, so all I knew was that I was to come early in the morning". Mark elucidated.

Gary's facial expression changed a little on hearing those statements from Mark, "So are you trying to say that I'm the one at fault here?".

Mark didn't reply to that question but his facial expression did. Anyone could tell from his facial expression that his answer was 'Yes', but Gary didn't seem to notice that. Instead, he said,

"Oh! you don't want to respond, well, it's best you don't". Gary uttered as he shifted his gaze away from Mark and focused his attention on everyone in the room saying, "Since the person delaying the start of the meeting is here already, let me state the purpose why I summoned for this meeting. You guys can see the young lady sitting over there". Gary pointed to the girl dressed in a masculine way, "Well, she is a new signee to the 'Cool boiz' record label, I discovered her from IG. Her name is Darcy, and she is a rapper. Darcy, stand up and introduce yourself some more".

Darcy stood up from the couch she was sitting on, cleared her throat and began speaking,

"As the boss said, my name is Darcy and I'm 24 years old. I am the only child of my parents, the only daughter. I currently reside in Chicago, but my parents reside in Alabama. I loved rap music from when I was a little kid, and I have been exploring it since then. Before Sir Gary contacted me that he wants to sign me to this label, I've been signed to a very mini record label that helps in promoting my songs,

I have been signed to the label for about a year now before my record deal with this label. So, that's all for now, I hope we all get along".

After those words flowed out of Darcy's mouth, she took her seat once again. Then Gary uttered,

"Now that you guys have gotten to know some little details about her, I think it's about time for you guys to introduce yourselves to her".

Pascal was the first person to stand up and shook hands with her saying,

"I am Pascal by name, I'm an artiste, I have been signed to this label for about 3 years and some months now".

She replied to him saying, "Yeah, I know you, I've listened to about two to three of your songs".

"Wow! nice knowing that". Pascal uttered with a delighted expression on his face as he went back to take his seat.

And that's how it went by, each of them introduced themselves to Darcy until it finally got to the turn of Mark.