Rewind With A Superstar System

Chapter 138: Award Show (2)

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Shivers by Ed Sheeran>

...

They moved through the tables, greeting people. Von gave polite nods and elbow bumps instead of shaking hands.

Soon, he heard someone call his name.

Von turned and saw the guys from the Midnight band standing near the center stage. Standing right next to them was Alex.

"Von! Good to see you, man," Leo said.

Von walked over. The band looked very different from the last time they had shared a room.

They were fully polished now. They were wearing really expensive designer suits, chains, and watches.

"You guys look good," Von said genuinely.

"Thanks to you," Eli the guitarist laughed. "After our song blew up, things went crazy."

It was true. Because their talent was finally discovered on Von’s track, Midnight had signed a massive deal with Colorado Records, one of the biggest record labels in the world.

They weren’t small names anymore, even to Von. The label had given them a huge recording budget, placed them in top-tier studios, and they were currently working on a full studio album after making their highly successful solo debut. The entire industry was backing them now.

"We were nominated tonight too," Leo said proudly, suddenly remembering he hadn’t told Von the details yet. "Best Pop Track and Breakthrough Artist Of The Year."

"Ah, I see we’re competing for that Breakthrough Artist trophy," Von teased after hearing the good news.

Leo shook his head quickly and held up his hands defensively.

"Don’t flatter us. You deserve that one a hundred percent. We aren’t even thinking about it. Our eyes are on the Best Pop Track."

"You deserve it," Von reassured them.

Their comeback story was something of a legend in the industry right now.

Midnight had released their pop single, Best Song Ever around January of last year. For months, it sat dead in the water.

The song had less than fifteen thousand total streams before Von’s Lost & Found got released. But after their collaboration on Coming Home became a massive No. 2 Billboard Hit, the algorithm and their new fans naturally went looking for Midnight’s older catalog.

It gained unbelievable traction overnight. Just a week after they officially signed their label deal with Columbia, Best Song Ever had charted at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following week.

It had even managed to receive a Grammy nomination for its success. They went from complete struggling to top-tier pop stars in a matter of months.

"We’ll see you around," Leo offered. He pulled Von in for a small, brief hug, whispering "thank you" sincerely into his ear before he and his group went around the tables to continue greeting guests and executives.

Von turned his attention to the bar. "How are you feeling, Alex?"

Alex had remained silent the entire conversation. He was sitting on a high leather barstool, casually trying out different colorful drinks from the bartender and staring at the ice cubes.

Hearing Von, Alex swiveled his chair around to face him and smirked in a similar way to Von.

"Like I’m about to win a trophy."

"Haha. I love the confidence," Von laughed.

Alex hopped off the stool, leaving his half-empty glass on the marble counter, and they began walking together through the wide aisles of the ballroom.

"But seriously," Alex said. "We deserve Song of the Year. It Doesn’t Even Matter is more than a song, Von. It changed a lot for me. And it’s not just the money, though having all that money is great. It still changed my perspective on life."

"You’re not wrong," Von admitted, looking at the tables around them. "It hasn’t gone below fifth place on the charts since the second week of January. Even now that our biggest rivals at that period fell off the charts, ours is still relevant."

"Yup," Alex grinned, clearly proud of the numbers. He put his hands in his pockets. "You know, another song I really liked was the one you sang with Aura. It’s unfortunate it still isn’t picking up."

Von could only sigh, remembering how many expectations he had for it. It was a great track. But the music market was entirely unpredictable.

Currently, the song with Aura had a little above a million streams in total. To put that in perspective, those were less numbers compared to what It Doesn’t Even Matter was getting daily. It was a frustrating reality of the business.

"Who knows? It could make its comeback sometimes," Von eventually said, shrugging it off. "It happens to every good song. Look at what just happened with Midnight. One day nobody cares, the next day you’re number four on Billboard."

"I know," Alex replied.

They continued walking around the perimeter of the room. They talked and laughed about different things they saw.

They pointed out other peers and competitors, making quiet jokes about some of the ridiculous, over-the-top outfits some were wearing and other stuff.

Von completely forgot about Emily’s strict advice to meet and greet new executives and network. He was just enjoying the night.

They were still walking, laughing at a rival producer who was sitting at a terrible table near the kitchen doors, when a familiar, imposing figure walked up directly to their front, blocking their path.

"Oh. Hey," Alex said. His expression changed instantly to his boring, unbothered self as he recognized the man.

It was Rex Sterling, the founder of Project: Star and the CEO of Cloudary Holdings, standing right in front of them in an expensive tuxedo.

"Von," Rex said with a big smile, completely ignoring Alex’s greeting. He stepped forward and gave Von a quick hug that the latter didn’t appreciate at all.

"Good to see you, Rex," Von said smoothly, immediately backing away to put some comfortable space between them.

Rex stepped back and looked at them both. Before he could even continue speaking, Alex had already slipped out of the scene.

He just turned and walked away into the crowd, clearly not desiring to communicate.

Von would have done the exact same thing. But he remembered Emily’s words.

Regardless of their complicated history, Rex was still a multi-millionaire and a major power player. He was someone who could change Von’s life, for better or worse, with a single phone call.

Rex glanced at the space Alex had just vacated, totally unbothered by the disrespect, before focusing entirely on Von. His eyes dropped to the black fabric covering Von’s mouth and nose.

"What’s with the hospital gear? You have the virus?" Rex remarked, gesturing lightly to the mask.

"Nah... I’m just being careful, man," Von said and Red nodded slowly.

"Careful... I like that. I have to say, congratulations on the progress. Seven nominations is no joke."

Rex shook his head and laughed a little, looking genuinely impressed by the sheer volume of Von’s success.

"You know, I’ve been in this industry a long time, and you’re an anomaly. The way you keep getting better, dropping hits in different genres... I haven’t seen anything like you."

"I just put in the work," Von said with a smirk.

Rex smiled and leaned in a little closer. He lowered his voice so the people sitting at the next table couldn’t hear him. "I’d really like to meet with you after the show, Von. Let’s have a talk."

Before Von could ask him what the meeting was about, the lights in the massive ballroom began to dim. The loud talking quickly faded into silence as the announcer’s voice came over the speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The show is about to begin."

Rex patted Von’s shoulder. "We’ll talk later."

Rex walked away to the VIP section. Von looked at Olivia, who pointed toward their assigned table near the front. Von adjusted his face mask and walked to his seat. The biggest night of his career so far was finally starting.