New Sensation Read Free Page A

my head. "Cutbacks, Rick. These are tough times. We used to commission photo shoots and writing jobs to freelancers, but the print market is badly in decline. I'm basically doing two jobs now for one salary and even that's pretty terrible. I'm thinking of going freelance and picking up work from the web – music blogs, that kind of thing."
    "Sounds a good move. Remember what I said about working on a production line or in a shop? When you're paid a fixed amount of money for your time, your income isn't scalable. Every time one of my songs gets played or bought, I get a royalty without having to do anything. Ye t I only have so many hours in my day. If thousands or even millions of people worldwide by my stuff, I get paid more money without investing any more time. Make sense?"
    "I guess so. So what you're saying is working for someone and earning a salary will never make you rich?"
    "Exactly! That income cannot be scaled. The only exceptions to that are ridiculously well-paid athletes and CEOs. Everybody else is just running on the hamster wheel. You should use your skills to write books that can be sold again and again. Take photographs that pay you a royalty every time they’re published. Get the picture? You're not only scaling your income then, you're creating your pension. Your work will earn you money for the rest of your life and, because of copyright laws, your children's too."
    I looked at his sparkling blue eyes and felt my heart begin to beat faster again. "You're pretty business -savvy for a rock star."
    "Days and weeks sitting in a trailer as a kid reading textbooks, Amy. I used to get what the local library threw out."
    I started to think about the possibility of what Rick was suggesting. In just one day, he had made me start to imagine life beyond an employer – more importantly, an employer that was making me work twice as hard for a single salary and was laying people off left, right and centre. Would I be next? Then where would that leave me? I was already broke, on a final warning from my electricity company. If I didn't pay the bill that month, they would cut me off. I had grown tired of living like this. At twenty-nine, I still had a long career ahead of me but, nevertheless, I'd imagined it working out a bit better than this. In a time when everybody around me was losing their jobs, I had kept reminding myself that at least I had a job. But what good was that if I still couldn't afford to live? I needed more. I needed the life that Rick was talking about.
    "You're absolutely right," I said as Rick poured some more wine into my glass. "I need to get out before I'm pushed out."
    "That's the spirit."
    "What about you? Is doing this solo album your way of breaking out, too? Aren't your bandmates pissed off about it?"
    The corner of one side of Rick's mouth turned upwards in a sexy smile. "Are we off the record?"
    "Absolutely."
    "I really couldn't give a shit what they think. Those guys haven't contributed a single creative thing to the band in the last three years. They've been faxing in their performances on the last couple of tours and I'm the sole songwriter. If they resent what I'm doing, they can go to hell. They're all sitting in mansions screwing prostitutes and snorting coke off the backs of girls' asses because of the royalties I'm earning them. So if they don't like it, they can write their own material and see where that gets them."
    My jaw dropped. "Holy crap," I said, genuinely shocked. "I knew there were rumblings of discontent in the band, but I didn't realise it was th at bad."
    "All good things, Amy. All good things." He raised his glass. "Here's to both of us. New beginnings, fresh opportunities."
    I smiled, momentarily thinking about what lay ahead. "You're a dangerous one, Rick Borrell. You get a girl thinking about doing all sorts of crazy things."
    "Such as?" He replied, leaning forward.
    I peered seductively over my glass at him. Shit, what was I doing? Was I actually flirting with