Page 11 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze
I curse under my breath as I pull up the racing game we’ve played together since I was a teenager and they were kids. Before I know it, their voices echo through the hotel room and I reach for my bag to search for my headphones. I can clearly hear the TV from next door and snoring from the other side. It’s faint, but if the walls of this hotel are that thin, I’d rather not disturb my neighbors.
"Hope you don't mind we already started without you," Jackson says before he breaks into curses and I hear him crashing his digital car, the changing lights of the screen reflecting in his face.
"Hello to you too," I say and roll my eyes when only now they mumble greetings, clearly distracted by the game. A look at the present members reveals that Zoey didn’t make it tonight.
I know being a helicopter parent is not going to help my case but it’s weird. Once she went to college, I’ve barely heard from her – enough to know that she’s alright and enjoying her time, but she doesn’t volunteer much about her life there at all. A part of me was hoping to catch up with her tonight; another part of me was not prepared for dealing with teenage petulance.
Gaming night is a set time once a week that Jackson made all of us promise to do our best to keep.
So far, I only had to cancel three times, and two of them were because the internet where I was didn’t work. The third one was because I overslept when I took a nap after a particularly draining day.
Sometimes we shoot demons, sometimes we build things, but today I guess it’s racing day. One of the games that definitely brings out the competitive streak of all of us.
"And of course you already started. Had to get a few rounds in before I crush you in this game?” I watch as all of them roll their eyes at the exact same time. "Can one of you at least share the screen so I can watch?"
"Wait a second," Reed says, and then a few seconds later, my screen fills with a cartoon scenery and Reed’s signature yellow car flying past it.
"Who's leading?" I ask, but all of them are too focused on the race to answer. Tanner even shushes me.
Online games are definitely a better outlet than crashing heads in real life, just like we did at that charity football match two years ago. Tensions were even higher than they are now, and all of us were younger, fitter and very motivated to work our anger out on the field.
It ended up being a lot of fun, but if there’s one thing I took away from it, it’s that I’m getting too old for it. I spend a lot of time at the gym, but after the match, I was so exhausted I barely moved for three days.
The time at training was a good thing, though. I got to hang out with my brothers, some friends from the industry, and I even managed to make new friends and do some networking.
While it wasn’t my intention for joining the match, I ended up signing two other actors from my team to Croney. During that time, Asher also got together with his girlfriend Kayla, and it would be a lie to say it hasn’t benefited me, be it knowing that they’d shake up the industry by creating their own label or knowing when certain news like engagements would break so we could coordinate our news accordingly.
I can’t believe it’s been two years already.
And only two years at the same time.
Hiring Lily was the best thing Millie and Kayla could have done to bring their company forward, even if their original intention wasn’t exactly hiring talent. From what Asher told me, they just wanted to make sure that nobody would have a say over their brand and actions anymore, which turned to helping other artists with the same issue.
Lily. I lean back in my seat and cross my arms in front of my chest, only offhandedly still listening to my brothers.
She's a character. She’s got a sharp eye for talent, and the fact that she's lived here in Japan for a while means she could be way ahead of me when it comes to a market entry.
Which might become worrisome.
It’s a step I’ve been contemplating for a while. Croney is doing great in the American market, and even in the European market.
But I miss the challenge. I still have more than enough work, but it’s running too smoothly. The occasional PR disaster about one of our artists aside, my job has gotten dull.
I miss the strategy meetings, feeling like a general on the battlefield, fighting for Croney’s spot on the market and defending it. Being successful is amazing, but it feels like I’ve reached a place where competitors don’t even dare to challenge Croney anymore.
Except Lily.
"Earth to Adam," Tanner says loudly, and I close my eyes for a hidden eye roll before I blink them open and look at my screen, clenching my jaw. They know exactly how to grind my gears and their condescending ‘Earth to Adam’ is definitely one of their tricks to annoy me. "What's going on?"
"Just thinking," I answer Tanner and unfold my arms, trying to not let it get to me.
Tanner is the only one finished with the race so far, Reed’s yellow car and Jackson’s blue monstrosity still fighting for second place on my screen.
"About what?" He wiggles his eyebrows.
"Lily," I admit, and even the two guys still racing look into the camera.
"What's that tone?" Reed asks with a chuckle before glancing back at his screen, and I shake my head. “You sound like you’ve bitten into a lemon, the way you said her name.”
