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the guys are now packing the gear to leave. The club is pretty much empty now, aside from the people who work there.
    “Hey guys, can you take a break, we need to have a talk,” I say. They stop what they were doing and we all take a table.
    “So I’ve got some interesting news… ” I say excitedly.  “The woman I was just talking to, she is with Sony Music and she just offered to become our manager… not only that, she offered us a deal to cut a record with Epic Records!”
    “You’re kidding,” James says in total disbelief.
    I put her busi ness card on the table. They see I’m dead serious.
    We sit silently in a stunned moment staring at the card on the table and then, in unison, we erupt together getting up high fiving each other, jumping up and down laughing! “We have a record deal baby!” Ted yells.
    I let the guys get it out of their system before I say, “Guys, guys, settle down now. ” They are still too excited to stop but I continue anyway. “Look, you do know what this means though right? If we go this route, this is for real. This would mean taking on the band full time. No more school.”
    That thought finally settles them down. We are all quiet for a while, until Ted finally speaks.
    “Well I don’t care, I love this freaking band. I love you guys,” he puts each of his arms around James and Chris. “Playing drums in school or in this band is a no brainer for me. I’ll take you guys any time!”
    “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” James says. “As a musician, it would be crazy to pass it up. I’m in,” he says and asks me, “What about you Lor?”
    “You know I’m all in James…” It was a moot point for me I had no doubts on that matter.
    Chris is the only one sitting quietly now. He is no longer smiling. You can see the conflict in his face. We all stare at him.
    “Oh c’mon lawyer boy! If you say no I’ll object!” Ted says jokingly. “How am I going to get as many girls without you around? You’re my chick magnet dude!” Ted teases him on but Chris still doesn’t respond.
    “Guys, can I talk to Chris alone?” I say.
    James and Ted get up and go to the bar laughing celebrating the news.
    “You don’t have to give an answer right now,” I say.
    He looks at me for a moment before he speaks. “You know I want to do this. But my parents… they are going to be so disappointed. How can I face my dad and tell him I won’t be a lawyer? “Sorry dad I’m going to play guitar instead.” Chris pretends to say as if delivering the news to his dad.
    “Look, from what I could tell when I met them, they love you Chris and I’m sure they will support you if this is what you decide. They will be disappointed, yes, but they will want you to be happy. The question is what do you want?”
    “What do you think I should do?”
    “I don’t want to influence your decision.”
    “But I want your opinion. It’s important to me.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand in his.
    “Well , my very biased opinion is, you are 24 years old. You have a lifetime to be in a law office later. If this doesn’t work out, the worst case scenario is you come back to school to finish, get your degree and be a lawyer. So, if in your heart you feel you want to do this, then you should.”
    We sit quietly for a while until I hear him say excitedly.
    “Fuck it. I want to do this!”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Very!” He gives me a big smile and pulls me in for hug. I yell at the guys. “Chris is in!”
    They come back to meet us with some drinks and we make a toast to our future.

Chapter 7
     
    Our taxi pulls up to the building where the offices of Susan Carmichael are located. It’s a posh high rise in the heart of downtown LA. When we called to set up the meeting three days ago, her office staff booked us all plane tickets for today. As we walk through the office everything looks very modern and white.
    “It’s like walking into heaven,” Ted says.
    “Well if your