Calvin's Industry

Calvin Constantine slowly peeled off his lollipop wrapper. The sharp and annoying sound was loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the quiet boardroom.

Everyone seated there looked at him with disgust. This was a serious meeting, yet here this grown adult was, indulging himself like a child.

But everyone's attention quickly shifted to the man in charge upon hearing his voice.

"Twenty years," Nathan Harrington, Calvin's father-in-law said with a rumbling tone that frightened everyone.

No one could even bring themselves to look at his face; just his large hands marked by dark knuckles, old bloodstains that soap couldn't wash away anymore.

"For twenty years, I worked hard building this company from the ground up."

Nathan rose from his seat, his large shadow covering most of the room because of how tall he was. Though he wore an expensive black suit that cost more than average people earned in a year, the danger of making him angry was most apparent.

Nathan had built his music company the way old kings built kingdoms; with fear and pain; and everybody knew it.

Now that kingdom was falling apart. His biggest singers were either signed with other companies or caught up in legal issues the label wanted no part of.

Radio stations that had partnered with the label for decades were no longer playing their songs. And if they did, it was based on forced demand.

To the average person, everything seemed fine, but behind closed doors, it was different. Nathan's company was sinking.

Everyone looked disturbed about it; everyone except the man rolling candy in his mouth while sinking into his chair.

Calvin's long brown coat hung loose on his thin body, making him look more like a scarecrow dressed for a funeral than a living business executive. He looked perfectly calm; so calm, in fact, that he seemed bored.

This felt disrespectful on so many levels.

But before addressing his son-in-law, Nathan walked toward his wife Stephanie, seated beside him but trying hard to look away. Though she put both hands together as if reciting a prayer, that wasn't enough to stop her painted fingers from shaking.

About ten years ago, those hands had signed the best stars into the label and comforted her husband at times like this. Now they shook whenever her husband looked at her.

"Stephanie, you built this company with me," Nathan said in a low voice as he walked toward her like a hunter ready to strike.

"I trusted you with everything. I put our money and our future in your hands. The family name was entrusted to you."

Stephanie could no longer hide how afraid she was. She swallowed hard as her husband came closer.

Though she wore expensive makeup, Calvin could still see the fading bruises and swollen parts of her face directly caused by her husband.

"So tell me," Nathan said as he stopped behind her chair, "how does the biggest music company in America suddenly start losing money?"

A few seconds passed, and no one made a sound. Stephanie opened her mouth but knew better than to repeat the sad truth she'd told him the night before.

So she said nothing, even though she knew the answer. Everyone in the room knew the answer but didn't want to lose their lives because of Nathan's anger.

Nathan walked over to his son Ronald, his twenty-two-year-old son who was now hunching in his chair like a student who'd failed to study for a test. One would have expected a son of Nathan to share the same dominant qualities as his father, but instead, he was covered in sweat in the cold room.

As Nathan came closer, Ronald tried his best to look busy, shivering as he looked through papers on the table that he'd already read twelve times.

"I gave you one job, Ronald," Nathan said, putting his large hands on his son's shoulders.

The young man almost jumped when Nathan touched him. His entire body went stiff that instant.

"Your job, Ronald, was to find talent; real talent; the kind of singers who would restore our company to its former glory."

Ronald's voice cracked when he spoke.

"Dad, we hired the best teams in Los Angeles. Every singer had a whole team with the best managers, stylists, and voice coaches. We even hired people to handle their social media."

Nathan raised a brow as if he'd just heard something surprising.

"The best?"

Ronald didn't know what to say anymore as his father's angry face changed into a bright smile. Knowing Nathan, the smile only made everyone in the room more afraid.

He waited ten long seconds, looking around as if he enjoyed how everyone squirmed at his temper.

"Well, if we have the best, then why are we losing fifteen million dollars this quarter?"

Now Ronald had done it. The old clock on the wall was ticking like a bomb.

Everyone in the room knew the real answer. Ronald was too afraid to take chances.

He played it safe by only signing singers who sounded exactly like everyone trending on the radio. Everyone he'd signed the previous year had no fire, no reason for people to care about them.

Nathan had thought that by having Ronald on the job instead of his older son; caught in many scandals; the label would have a shot at getting better. Now it seemed that was the wrong choice.

But there was more. Calvin had heard the whispers around the office.

Based on his sources, Ronald wasn't just being too careful; he was taking money from other record companies and selling information about which artists Nathan planned to sign. He was trading company secrets for cash payments going straight to his bank account.

Now Ronald would learn what happened to those who failed Nathan Harrington.