Chapter Forty-Five: Just Seeing Her Made Him Laugh

That evening, Song Ya saw Mira on various news channels, though she only appeared in brief flashes. After all, the news was covering an equality rally, not a warm-up act. Without SBK's advance publicity, Mira wouldn't have appeared on camera at all.

Next, they would leave Chicago, where they'd spent more than a month, and return to SBK's headquarters in New York to begin recording the studio version of To de Klerk—the version that would officially go on sale soon.

"Darling, it's just one day. I'll see you in New York." At the airport, Song Ya held Mira in his arms.

He had to make another trip to Detroit for a radio interview. It had originally been Old Joe's appointment, but the Bulls had lost, and the old fox knew the people of Detroit would tease him mercilessly if he showed up now. So he'd simply dumped the job on Song Ya.

Song Ya couldn't refuse Old Joe, and he also wanted to use the opportunity to mention Mira's new song, so he agreed. It was only one day; it wouldn't interfere with anything. Eric and Al would accompany Mira and the others to New York first. In the coming promotional tour, they would stay with her the whole time as the band's DJ and assistant, which would earn them a paycheck from SBK. Besides, once Song Ya started school, they wouldn't be able to keep following him around.

After personally seeing Mira and the others onto the plane, he and Hayden boarded a flight to Detroit.

As a Detroit native, Hayden was naturally a Pistons fan. He'd done a good job of hiding his loyalties in Chicago. As luck would have it, the interview was scheduled for tomorrow morning during rush hour, so he could still catch a Pistons game in the finals that evening.

As soon as they reached Detroit, the two headed straight for The Palace of Auburn Hills. Tickets had long since sold out, but Hayden knew his way around. He found a Black scalper lurking outside the arena and paid a steep price for two tickets.

"Don't worry. I'm not made of money, either. Our seats won't be caught on camera." Hayden pulled a hesitant Song Ya into the arena. "My treat. Think of it as a thank-you."

In just a few months, he'd already made more than twenty thousand dollars off Song Ya, and he'd make even more in the future. Treating him to a game was nothing.

"I'm not a celebrity, so I don't care if I'm caught on camera. I just really don't understand basketball."

Song Ya followed Hayden into the arena. He wasn't interested in any of the popular American sports—basketball, hockey, football, or baseball. Ping-pong was about the only one he could play.

Even after they found their seats, they couldn't sit down right away. The spectators and players were all facing the flag as a woman sang the second national anthem, "America the Beautiful," at center court.

Song Ya wasn't particularly patriotic, but he had to make a show of it.

The radio station had worked out tomorrow's interview questions with Old Joe in advance. In theory, he could just answer from the prepared script, but the DJ wouldn't necessarily stick to it—especially after the Pistons had beaten the Bulls. Otherwise, Old Joe wouldn't have dodged the interview.

As he was lost in thought, the female singer on the court suddenly hit an incredibly high note and snapped him out of it. The moment that whistle-like note rang out, the tens of thousands of spectators went wild, cheering and hollering.

"Whoa, she sounds like a dolphin..." Hayden clapped along with the crowd.

"Who is she?" From their seats high up, Song Ya could only make out the singer's mass of blond hair.

"Not sure, but she must have connections to get a spot at an event like this," Hayden replied.

When the singer left the court and headed toward the corridor, Song Ya finally got a clear look at her face. And then...

"What are you laughing at?" Hayden noticed Song Ya acting strangely.

"I... I don't know... why... hahaha... why I'm laughing..." Song Ya laughed so hard he could barely breathe. The terrifying part was that he had no idea why.

"She's pretty..." Hayden assumed something about the singer's appearance was strange. He squinted at her. "Looks like she's mixed, too, like you."

"Hahaha... I don't... I don't know either. The moment I saw her, I just wanted to laugh. She seemed... seemed especially funny." Song Ya clutched Hayden's shoulder, doing his best to stay upright.

"Sit down."

The game officially began, and the people around them took their seats. Hayden pulled Song Ya down into his, too. "You haven't fallen for her, have you? You've barely been apart from Mira for any time at all."

"No... no..." The singer disappeared down the corridor, and Song Ya finally began to calm down. Since transmigrating, aside from the overwhelming amount of information in his revelations, strange impulses had often popped into his mind. This time felt a lot like that.

"Hayden, could you look into her for me?" Song Ya had been dragging Mira around everywhere lately, stopping at every thrift shop in hopes of getting lucky and triggering another revelation. What if this sudden emotional reaction was a clue? He couldn't let the opportunity pass him by. What transmigrator would ever complain about having too many cheats?

"Now?"

Hayden looked at the court, then at Song Ya. "All right, all right. I know my way around here, anyway. You little lecher..." He kept his eyes on the game as he complained, then headed in the direction the singer had gone.

A few minutes later, he came back. "Come on. She's backstage. I told her APLUS wanted to meet her, and she agreed."

"That easy?"

Song Ya quickly got up and followed him. "Is my name already that useful?"

"Of course. Thrift Shop has been hovering around number ten on the Billboard chart for five weeks straight..."

As Hayden led the way, he filled Song Ya in. "She's a new artist at Columbia Records. Her name's Mariah Carey. But I'd advise you to take it easy. She released her first single just last month, and her first album will be out in the next few days. At this pace, Columbia Records must have high hopes for her."

"You're good. You found out all that in such a short time." Song Ya was impressed.

"The girl's pretty outgoing, and she doesn't seem too guarded..." Hayden stopped outside a dressing room inside the arena and knocked.

A female assistant opened the door. Song Ya finally got a close look at his target, but...

Mariah Carey was still wearing the black evening gown she'd performed in. Its neckline was cut very low, and her mixed heritage had given her striking looks. "Hi... APLUS, right? Thrift Shop. Your song is great, and your style is fresh." She stepped forward and held out her hand. "I'm glad to meet... you... Uh... what's wrong?"

Song Ya bent over and braced himself against the doorframe, laughing uncontrollably.

"Is it my hair?" Mariah Carey misunderstood. Her face changed dramatically as she touched her hair, then hurried back to the makeup mirror. "I knew it. This fluffy perm doesn't suit me!" She smacked the long comb in her hand and loudly berated the makeup artist, tears welling in her eyes.

"What are you doing!?" Hayden gritted his teeth and whispered awkwardly.

"Hoo... hoo..." Song Ya took several deep breaths and finally calmed down. "I'm sorry, Miss Carey. I..."

Just as he was about to enter the dressing room, a voice suddenly spoke up behind him. "Who are you?"

He turned around and saw a tall, handsome white man in his forties looking at him and Hayden with displeasure.

"Uh... hello, hello, Mr. Mottola..."

When Hayden saw who it was, his tongue suddenly stumbled. "I'm Hayden, an agent with William Morris. This is..." He pulled Song Ya firmly to his side. "My client, APLUS, the one who wrote Thrift Shop. We're big fans of Miss Carey's voice... so..."

"Tommy!" Mariah Carey called out to Mottola from inside, sounding pitiful as she pouted. "I told you this hairstyle doesn't suit me. See? Everyone's laughing at me."

"No one's laughing at you," Mottola replied casually. He held out his hand to Song Ya. "APLUS, your song is very good. I hear you're working with SBK, too?"

"Uh... yes." Song Ya shook his hand. "We're recording an equality song."

"I know, I know. I saw yesterday's coverage. The song's very good. Was that girl named Milla Jovovich?" Mottola gestured to the female assistant, who handed him a business card. He passed it to Song Ya. "Daniel at SBK is good at selling records, but I have to say, his methods are completely exhausting his artists' futures. Believe me, if you want lasting success, you need to be wary of him."

Song Ya took the card. It had only one phone number on it.

"That's my assistant's number. If you have a new song, call it. Sony Columbia's doors will always be open to a talented young man like you."

Mottola stood in the doorway, making no move to invite them inside.

"Who was that guy? He started stirring up trouble the moment he opened his mouth." Unable to speak with Mariah Carey, Song Ya grumbled as they left.

"We can't afford to offend him."

Hayden replied, "Tommy Mottola, the new president of Sony Columbia Records."