I was in the middle of taking a shower when my glasses rang with a call. I walked out of the bathroom only wearing a towel and put my glasses on to see that the lawyer was calling. He had already worked extra without asking for more money, so I didn't want to make him wait. I answered the call and a hologram of him projected out of my glasses onto the floor. Luckily, he wasn't able to see me.

"Good evening, Mr. Miyahara," he greeted me. "I just reviewed the contract, so everything's fresh in my head."

"Great. What do you think?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. Some of the terms might be a little harsh or ambiguous, but everything makes sense from the point of view of a company."

"That's what I thought."

"Why did you ask me to review it, then?"

"I wanted to make sure they aren't taking advantage of GIMA."

"Well, they kind of are, but not illegally. I think the harshest term is thirteen point four. Having to pay back one hundred percent more than the company's expenses if the partnership isn't deemed beneficial is a lot. It's also quite ambiguous that they call this agreement a partnership."

I thought for a moment. "Don't you think that one year of duration is too short for an agreement like this?"

"In my opinion, it is, but I understand why they do it."

I stayed silent again. "Should I sign it?"

"That's up to you, Mr. Miyahara. I'm only offering my services as a lawyer."

"Right. Could I ask to meet with someone from their company so we can come to an agreement?"

"You have the right to, but they don't have the obligation to say yes. They could simply revoke the offer."

I looked down at the floor and brushed my face with my hands. I had promised myself not to be naive again, yet I couldn't bring myself to sign the contract that would assure our short-term future.

"Mr. Miyahara?" the lawyer called me.

"Sorry, I was thinking… would you join me if they agree to talk with me?"

"As long as it isn't tomorrow and you pay for my service, that's what my services are for."

"Alright. I'll call you if they agree."

"Wonderful," the lawyer smiled. "Have a great night."

"You too."

The call ended and his hologram disappeared. I looked up at the ceiling and took several deep breaths before calling the representative of Archilands Records. The call rang multiple times and he wouldn't answer. Maybe he's asleep. Or maybe they already canceled the deal.

"Mr. Miyahara, it's good to hear back from you!" he said as the call started. "Have you made a decision?"

No words came out of my mouth for a moment. "Yes, I'd like to meet with someone to discuss some of the terms in the contract."

The call remained silent for a long while. I began to worry I was about to get hung up on.

"Mr. Miyahara, it's already a miracle for the CEO to accept a suggestion to hire an artist. I don't think you understand how lucky you are for him to even consider partnering with another company."

The tone of his voice had changed drastically from being kind to being one that gave a polite warning.

"I'm only asking to meet with someone to talk about the legal side of the contract."

The man sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I'll call you back as soon as I have a response, whether it's good or bad."

"Thank you."

"Good night, Mr. Miyahara."

I hadn't replied and he hung up.

It slowly became harder to breathe. I lay down hoping that would help, but it didn't. My chest became tighter, yet I wouldn't stop telling myself how naive I was being. I didn't want another situation like Chiharu's to happen and I didn't want to have another attack. The only thing I could think of was to call Aki as she had asked me to do.

Hearing her voice was unexpectedly soothing. I had already forgotten that I was about to have a full-blown anxiety attack within a couple of minutes.

We talked until I fell asleep. I confessed I hadn't eaten anything the whole day and she scolded me. No matter what I said, she was coming to my apartment the next morning and so she did.

She cooked for me and I was full right away. As we washed the dishes, Archilands Records' representative called. The CEO had agreed for me to meet with the lawyers. Obviously, I had the right to bring a lawyer myself, so I immediately called the lawyer I trusted.

Aki was there to hear all of it, so it made no sense not to tell her. She comforted me by saying that she trusted my decisions and that she would stay by my side no matter what, which was nice to hear, but those weren't the words I wanted to hear.

 

The day flew by. Aki made sure I ate properly through it all and kept visiting me in the office. The others finally asked me what was going on and I told them we were going to have a meeting the next day.

 

The lawyer and I met for the first time in a while in front of the Archilands Records headquarters. Even a big company like them didn't have their own building. Their offices started on the twenty-seventh floor, so we took the elevator up to it.

A human receptionist received us. We had arrived five minutes early, so she asked us to wait in the lobby.

The lawyer and I discussed what I wanted to ask for in the agreement while we waited, then the receptionist asked us to follow her into a meeting room. It was large yet narrow. There were three sofas next to the tall windows that allowed to see the center of the city in a way I didn't think was possible. I had never seen a view like that.

More importantly, there were two lawyers sitting on two of the many chairs at the large table, and one person I wasn't told was going to be there. The CEO?!

"Please come in and take a seat," the CEO said.

Both the lawyer and I bowed before entering and sitting down at the other side of the table in front of the lawyers. I couldn't even take a moment to be mesmerized by the view behind the lawyers.

"It's a pleasure to meet you personally, Mr. Miyahara," the CEO said. He didn't smile, he merely stared at me with a piercing glare. He even seemed annoyed.

"Likewise," I replied.

"One of our representatives has told me many good things about your company and your artists, which is strange, coming from him. I hate being bothered, yet something made me research more about your company. I was impressed by the talent of your artists, but there's a lot that needs to improve on the business side, starting with your financial management. I must admit I wasn't interested in settling GIMA under our umbrella, but I assumed you weren't going to let go of it. Even after that, you're here to come to an agreement; not many are willing to do that. So, I'm willing to hear your proposals."

Although he explained everything politely, he wouldn't take his eyes off me. The last part even felt like a threat.

As soon as I opened my mouth to answer, my lawyer placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Please allow me," he said.

It was true that I was more prone to make mistakes at a legal meeting, so I nodded at him. "Go ahead."

"Thank you. Mr. Miyahara wishes to make amendments to some of the terms in the contract, but I'd also like to ask for some improvements in it. First, it's technically correct to call this agreement a partnership, but it would be more fitting to call it a transfer of ownership."

One of the lawyers in front of us replied, "Mr. Miyahara will remain as the owner of GIMA, so that wouldn't be correct."

"GIMA becomes a division instead of a subsidiary at the moment you ask for Mr. Miyahara's decisions to be approved by the CEO of Archilands Records. Again, the contract never mentions anything about a division or a subsidiary, it merely calls this agreement a partnership, which is very ambiguous. If GIMA were to be a subsidiary, AR could legally ask for a merge since they both have practically identical lines of business."

Wait, what? Why didn't he tell me that before?

The other lawyer opened his mouth to talk in front of us, but the CEO interrupted him.

"Let's not waste time. Yes, the agreement would be for a transfer of ownership, a term we will be sure to clarify in the contract. What else?"

The rest of the meeting didn't go any better. The only change my lawyer managed to get was a twenty percent penalty instead of one hundred percent if the agreement wasn't deemed beneficial within a year.

We were willing to keep fighting for more changes, but the CEO wasn't after almost three hours.

"That's enough," he said, still showing no more than a piercing glare. "I'm not going to waste any more of my time here. Mr. Miyahara, are you going to sign or not?"