Chapter 10: Reality check
When Phul woke up that day, the first thought she had was how she had to search for a part time job now, since it'll be a while until her next song writing gig. She also thought that maybe today was the day she would take Zax out and have fun with him, something she rarely did. It was always Zax who took her out. So she was freshening up in a good mood. She brushed her teeth, took a shower, make breakfast and ate it, and got ready to go part-time job hunting. Only when she was about to head out, did she pick up her phone and saw that she had two messages, one from Zax, and one from an unknown number.
Naturally, she clicked on Zax's first, which said, 'I have something important to tell you.'
"Hm? Important? I wonder what it was, I missed it yesterday." She thought to herself, "Well I'll be meeting him today anyway, he can tell me then."
So she sent a text back, "Let's meet today then, it'll be my turn to treat you something good." with cute excited emojis.
She giggled at her own silliness. Then she opened the second mail. It was from Golden Meteor Entertainment legal team. As she skimmed through the somewhat long content, her smile disappeared.
Golden meteor Entertainment had requested an audience with Phul, to attend to any legal matters regarding TARA. As soon as she saw that name, she flinched a bit, what a way to ruin her day, she thought. They had even offered to arrange for a lawyer for her for the contract and terms reading, and although Phul knew, receiving a lawyer from the other party never ended well, she couldn't afford one of her own. They had requested Phul to come to Golden Meteor Entertainment's cafeteria for the discussion, and to text a time and date feasible for her. Ah, a dilemma.
Phul really did not want to go through it. Why should she care about the legal matters of TARA, didn't they kick her out? Why do they need her now if she wasn't even a part of it? They could go to hell for all she cared. But Phul was smart enough to know that was not the case. Golden Meteor was a big company, and they'll do anything to make the debut of their new artist any scandal or problem free. Even if she didn't agree to meet up with them to clear the legal matters, they'd keep tailing her, or worse, use legal force. They could even sue her for refusing to co-operate in a matter that concerned both of them.
Phul knew better that it'd be immensely bothersome to brush it off now only for it to come biting back later, so she decided to be brave and go through with it. Besides, she's smart, she thought, she would only settle for the contract that's most beneficial to her, regardless of what her assigned lawyer says, he'd be Golder Meteor's pawn anyway. One thing was immensely bothering her though. She hated TARA, and really didn't want to run into then while she was at Golden Meteor Entertainment. Now, that would be the worse. She didn't even want to thing what would happen if she saw them. Would she break down, or would she be violent? Either case, it'd be bothersome.
So she sent back an email, saying today noon was okay, she'd rather get it over with as soon as possible. She added a condition though. She didn't want TARA to be there when she was at the company. If they couldn't manage that, she said she wouldn't come.
And almost instantly, she had gotten back an email. "It really is a proper company with many employees monitoring activities every second, isn't it", she thought, and sighed while opening their response.
"Sure, we can arrange for that, please rest assured you will not run into anyone from our talent TARA while you are here. Our legal team and the lawyers will be waiting for you at the cafeteria at 12:00. The location to the company is given below." They had sent.
"Well I've got my work cut out for today." She thought, and buckled up. She was heading into the enemies lair. She went back in and changed her outfit to a more pretty one, did her hair and makeup with extra effort. She herself didn't understand why she was doing that, she just did. Maybe she didn't want to look inferior in the company that rejected her. Maybe she wanted to prove that they had actually made a wrong choice. Maybe, just maybe, she wanted Golden Meteor Entertainment to change their mind, and choose her again.
She looked at herself suddenly in the mirror when she thought that.
Slap.
She slapped herself. "What the fuck Phul?" she told, to her reflection in the mirror.
She looked at her face, she never used to put this much effort in her makeup, and she only used to wear casual dresses out. 'Maybe, just maybe, she wanted Golden Meteor Entertainment to change their mind, and choose her again.'? Does she still want to be a part of TARA, to be on stage together with Nayan, Rio and Vega? After all they did to her?
"I'm so fucking pathetic." She said, and started wiping her makeup off. There was a sharp pain in her chest, the one we get when we're so sad it physically hurts, she grasped the collar of her dress, "I hate it, I hate myself so much. H-have I still not moved on?"
"I hate TARA, I hate Vega and Nayan and Rio, and I hate everyone who treated me like shit when I was up on stage. I hate the manager of the previous TARA, and the CEO, who didn't let me be a part of a group I essentially created. I hate everything." She shouted, alone, loudly.
Her breathing was disoriented now, and her dress was all crumpled up, she was silent for a while. But then she broke down. She cried.
"I-i know it was all because of me. I know it's because I can't dance, and what's an idol who can't dance? I-hic-i just wanted you all to wait for me. I want to be in stage too. I want to wear pretty dresses, and shiny makeup and sing under the shiny lights too. I want to see people smiling at me, and for people to listen to my voice too. It should've been me. It should've been me who was in Golden Meteor Entertainment too."
She cried out loud, with tears running through her cheeks, with a heavy heart and uneven breaths. How miserable Phul felt when she got that reality check that TARA was REALLY debuting in a large scale, without her.
But she calmed down after a while. What use was crying now? There's nothing she could do, and at this point, she didn't even want to do anything. She felt helpless at the moment, and was okay with going with whatever flow life took her in.
But right now, she had to go to Golden Meteor Entertainment. "Well, look at the bright side Phul", she tried to cheer herself up, "at least they won't be there. You'll be meeting strangers anyway, so maybe it won't be that bad."
So she somehow managed to pick herself up and dress somewhat presentable, and with a heavy heart and heavy eyes, took a cab to Golden Meteor Entertainment. It was a big building, the kind you hurt your neck while looking at the top. A big fancy logo and shiny glass windows showed it's prosperity, and as she entered the building she was surrounded by workers busy with their works. There's were hundreds, maybe two hundred people, some sitting, some on their desks, some coming in, some going out, some with masks, and some with suits, the place was bustling with workers and staff. What a different atmosphere than Kuroi Entertainment, she thought.
She went to the reception, and the girl welcomed her with a smile. She probably hated working there, and was tired of the corporate shit, but had to smile to any and every customers or else she'd be fired without mercy and replaced in a matter of days, how pitiful she was, Phul thought, but just asked in a low voice, "I'm Phul, I was called by the legal team for affairs with.....TARA.", she said, after a brief pause. She expected the receptionist girl to react when she did that, but she didn't, she just maintained her cheerful corporate persona, "Ah yes, they've been expecting you at the cafeteria, please take a seat over there and I'll get somebody to guide you there."
Phul was somewhat relieved. The receptionist didn't care about Phul or TARA at all, yes, people don't really care that much about what happens around them, Phul thought. She sighed, and sat in the seat she showed, and a while later someone came to get her, and she followed him to the cafeteria.
There, around 3 people from the legal team, and a lawyer on the other side, was waiting for her. Her guide took her to them, and left. She sat across the legal team, beside the lawyer. They offered her something to drink before they started, but she refused. She just wanted to get this over with. They took out some files and document and told her terms of the contract, about how Golden Meteor Entertainment was basically buying copyrights grounds for the name TARA, about how Phul would be compensated for her previous association with the group, but would officially be regarded as not having any ties to TARA once she signs that. Her lawyer also told her how this would affect her, but she just listened.
She really didn't care about it now. She just wanted to cut off her ties from the group and get out of the company as soon as possible. She had planned to give them a hard time originally, but was feeling really down at the company. Maybe because she felt so small in that big place. No matter the reason, she just quietly signed the papers, and didn't argue one bit. The team over at Golder Meteor was probably surprised at her cooperativeness too, they had probably expected that she'd want to negotiate. But she didn't. She felt suffocated there. and just wanted to get out.
Finally all the papers and documents were signed, and now TARA was officially a three member group. Phul was given a cheque then and there too, but she didn't even bother to open and see it. She was just relieved that it was over. She stood up, and collected her belongings. As she walked away from the cafeteria, she looked around one last time, at the company that could've been hers, but wasn't, a place she decided that she hated.
She just wanted a quick look before she left, but she got a shock of a lifetime.
There, among the crowd near the kitchen, she saw a familiar face.
It was Zax.
And he was smiling with the people, at Golden Meteor Entertainment.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone