Starlet - Book 2 - Mate Games

8. Softer Shoes

I make it through a class and a half before I fall asleep. Then people start yelling.

I open my eyes and Marcus is carrying me into Dipak's office.

"Mike. Sit down."

Kane puts his hand on my head. "No. She's tired and weak. Did you eat?"

"I forgot. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You had a lot going on. We should have had them bringing you food."

I yawn and rub my eyes.

"You want some pineapple?"

I shake my head and twirl Marcus's hair.

Thora says, "She's tired. Let her sleep. Feed her a bunch. She'll be fine in a couple of days. It takes a lot out of us when we go through heat."

"Oh f**k you. You know damn well this is because she didn't eat. Then she slept in the bath. She had no idea what to do or what was happening. You people put her on an island alone. Nobody to ask questions. She was scared to death. She was sitting on the steps shaking with a little bag. You people need to leave us the f**k alone. Not 1 of you give a flying f**k about anybody but yourselves. Give me my sister."

"Mike, sit down."

"No. I am done with this bullshit."

"You don't even have anywhere to go."

"I'll figure it out. She'll be a hell of a lot better off with me."

"You don't have food to feed her."

"I'll buy some." Mikey pulls me off Marcus and carries me into the elevator.

Omar runs in with us. "Don't leave. Take care of her and make her stronger. But you need to talk to her before you leave. She made friends here. She's in the theater. She loves it. She's the lead actress this time. She has her house in the village. You'll do more damage if you pull her away from everything she's worked for."

I can feel him trying to relax. "What do you want to do, Star?"

"I want to finish the play. I don't want to quit in the middle. I want to be famous again."

"After the play is over, we're going to talk more about leaving."

"Ok."

"Keep them away from her."

"Alright."

Mikey lays me on a couch and I go back to sleep.

I wake up when he's yelling again.

"AND WHAT THE f**k DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS, ASSHOLE? I KNOW IT'S YOUR IDEA. ANOTHER WAY FOR YOU TO EXPLOIT MY SISTER." He's yelling at Tre and Collin this time.

I run over and sit on Collin's lap.

"DO NOT..."

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" I scream as loudly and as high-pitched as I can.

"STAR."

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

"FINE. What do you want to say?"

"Why are you yelling?"

"This asshole wants to make money from you teaching dance in his building now."

"I want to be an instructor. He said I can. He thinks I'll be good at it."

"Yes, but he wants to make money off of you."

I scratch my head. "I want to make money off of me too."

He rubs his face. "You are not good at business."

I roll my eyes and pick up his contract. "This is the contract anyone who tries to teach in his building will see. It's a starting point for negotiations. Also, you can't expect him to make no money. It's wear and tear on his building. Those floors are really expensive."

"How do you know that?"

"It's the same thing for the theater. We have to pay the castle a percentage of we make during a play. The castle keeps the theater good for us and does lots of upgrades with the money. Also, I remember from when I took dance lessons. The owner would always complain about the floor being expensive. Made me wear softer shoes."

Thora runs in. "I heard we're negotiating being dance instructors. I'm here for that. Let's go to the conference table." She pulls me. "GET UP. I'M NOT SITTING ON TRE."

"FINE."

Collin sits at 1 end and Mikey sits at the other end of the table. Thora and I sit by Collin. Tre rubs his eyes. "Summon Paul and Dipak."

"Yes sir."

"Girls, you are on that end. You are negotiating with him, not for him."

"Have you never met my brother?"

They bust out laughing.

Thora and I move over beside Mikey. Tre and Paul sit by Collin. Then Dipak and Marcus come in and sit in the middle. They give us all pizza.

"How much would you want paid?" Collin shakes his head. "I don't know how to do this. I don't want you working for me."

"I wouldn't work for you. I would work for myself. You will pay me for the class. I would get 100 a person. So, if there's only 1 person in the class, I would get 100g. 10 people, I get 1k. And that's my price. I'm not willing to negotiate. 100g a person. Other instructors may be cheaper or more expensive. But I wouldn't be your employee. The contracts would be per class. I would let you know when I'm ready to teach 1, and then it could be scheduled and contracted."

Dipak nods. "All instructors are going to be different. And she's telling you right now, she's not willing to negotiate. Her price is 100g a person. 200g is a good price for the class. You will get 100g a person after her charge. You're getting that because you are keeping the building up. You are giving her a place to teach. You are doing the paperwork for the business. You are paying for the staffing."

Paul gets a paper. "You also need to keep each business separate, Collin. The dance studio is 1 business. The art shop is 1 business. Never mix books."

Lindsay about jumps on the table. "My belly dancing class is 1 hour every Tuesday. My class lasts 6 months. 24 classes total. I get 300g a person. You could sell spots for 1.2k each, so I think it's fair. I'm teaching belly dancing."

Dipak nods. "And every class is different. Say Whisp wants to teach a ballet class suddenly. Every morning for 6 months. That has to be renegotiated from the start. Her hard limit of 100g a person, would not be the same. Each and every class and instructor will be different."

Collin rubs his eyes and his dad nods. "We'll work on it."

Lindsay smiles. "He's confused. Let's do 1 for this weekend, and he can see how it works."

I nod. "Burlesque."

She smiles. "When?"

"Saturday at 5."

"What's included?"

"2 hours of dance instruction."

"You're going right through dinner hour."

"Saturday at 3."

"What you charging?"

"100g a person."

"You need to at least include a bikini. You're going to have boobs popping out everywhere if you don't."

"2 hours of instruction and a bikini for them to keep. I have to buy those damn things."

She nods. "Yea and I'll be there to help. But you don't need to pay me. I want to help and watch how it goes."

"Class limited to 20. Participants have to be female, over 400, and bonded. Correct?"

"Yes."

"Charge 200 for the class. He would get 100 a person. You get 100. Are we in agreement?"

Collin nods. "Yea, that's fine. But why wouldn't you try to rent out the building? I think you would get more."

Lindsay shakes her head. "You don't say that in negotiations."

Mikey smirks. "But he does have a point. We're going for that instead."

Marcus shakes his head. "If she rents the building. Then she has to staff the building. She has to keep the paperwork correct. She has to run a business. This way, Collin's doing everything basically. She shows up and teaches. Later in the week, she gets her money. Collin does the advertising, the cleaning, the upkeep on the building, the paperwork, the staffing, everything. Whisp brings in outfits and teaches for a couple of hours."

Dipak looks at Collin. "If people are renting the building, you are not going to get near as much money and the building will get a lot more wear and tear on it. If they are trying that, you can send them to the community building for information. They can rent that out. I would not rent your building out."

Marcus nods. "People can lie as well when they do that. We've had people rent the hall out for a class or something, then we have to break up a huge party there where everything is trashed. It's better if you keep your staff in your building. Making sure things are going according to contract."

Tre looks at him. "You also need to contract in advertising. As a general rule, you are going to be doing the advertising and having people sign up at your businesses. But you get to decide if the teachers can also advertise. I know that's weird and these 2 will be fine if they want to stick something on a board. But other people will go too far. They will be advertising their class 7 villages away and trying to cram as many people in as they can. So negotiate the advertising and the class numbers. We'll go to my office and alter this a bit. These 2 are going to play practice anyway."

Thora and I look at each other quickly. "Shit."

"How do we always forget that?" We run off to the theater.

We run in and sit down. We somehow made it on time. Bayden gets up on the stage. "We have the final listing of shows ready. Everyone is getting their schedule now. Make sure your name is on the top. That being said, you have plays off as well. The understudies will be stepping in to give the main actors breaks. 4 weekends of shows is a long time. Everyone is doing great, and we still have over 2 months to pull it together. We open here the weekend after the next races. The final show will be in Rome, 4 weeks later." Everyone cheers. "I know. I know. I'm excited as well. We will be performing in several villages around the area, as well as Paris, Egypt, and Rome. Calm down. Now you will not be required to stay in these places. Doors will be provided to make sure everyone gets home. But if you want to stay, you will be able to stay in the castle's floating inn. Make a reservation with the brain. For the Paris and Rome shows. They are multiple days. It was not available for the Egypt night. So if you want to stay in Egypt, you need to book a room. Keep that in mind."

Leo stands up. "All of this information is in the packet you're getting. A floating inn is a floating inn. It's nothing fancy. It has basic rooms in it that will be available to you if you don't want to go home that night or want to see more of Paris or Rome. Doors will still be available. You are not required to stay."

Bayden nods. "Thank you. And yes, all the information is in your pamphlet. 1 last thing. We need stage help. It will be a lot of moving and setting the stage up at different locations. If you know anyone, please let them know. It's a paid job for 4 weekends. If they can only help with certain shows or days, that's fine. The brains are doing a sign-up. They'll be paid for the shows they help with. Right now, we need at least 5 more for each show. Or you will all be doing stage help."

"UGH."

"I know. Let's get back to rehearsal now."