Charttoppers - 16. And the Number One Is...

“...Tyler Edwards, the UK sensation that took the world by storm just a few months ago, has officially debuted at #1 in the US with his first album, ‘A Story To Tell’. With 870,000 equivalent album units in its first week, Edwards’ album earns him a landslide victory. Earlier this week, ‘Story’ also debuted at #1 in the UK, as well as over twenty-five other countries across the globe.

Sitting pretty at #2 is Samson Flynn with his second studio album ‘Night Calls’. With first-week units of 394,000, this is Flynn’s biggest debut ever, over 50% higher than that of his first album two years ago. On the singles chart, Samson’s new song ‘The Perfect Place’, which he performed at the Stardust Awards last week, shoots to #2, becoming his highest charting single ever. The top spot is held by Tyler Edward’s new track ‘Distance’, which received a rather clumsy performance at the same event.

Number 3 on the album charts is another new release - Ash Khong’s second studio album ‘Too Close’. The title is the perfect description of its chart battle against Flynn, as it was a tight race all the way to the end. In the final tally, Khong’s album ended up with 385,000 units, only 9,000 short of the #2 spot.”

~~

“Come on, it’s gonna start!” Anna shouted from the couch, where she sat with a big bowl of buttered popcorn in her hands. The latest episode of Drag Race was about to begin, but Samson was still sitting at his work desk, eyes glued to his computer screen.

“In a minute!” the singer yelled back, clicking on the mouse again.

“Are you still refreshing that page? Oh my God!”

“What? I wanna see the charts,” Samson replied impatiently. Any moment now, he would finally see the latest album charts. According to what Hank told him, he sold a whooping 394,000 units in the first week, which was amazing, but he had no idea how much Tyler and Ash had sold. He’d seen some predictions, but they were all different, and they all predicted a tight race between him and Ash. As much as he tried to temper his expectations, he couldn’t help but hope he would get a pleasant surprise.

“Me too, but you gotta chill. They’re not gonna publish it any faster just because-”

“Fuck yes, it’s loading!” Samson yelled, interrupting her. His heart was racing as he held his breath, waiting for the page to load.

Finally, there it was. The Elite Albums 200 chart. He wasn’t surprised when he saw Tyler’s picture pop up next to the number one spot, but right below him, at number two...

“Ohmygosh! I’m number two! I’M NUMBER TWO!! What the fuuuuuuck!” the singer screamed, beside himself with happiness and excitement.

“What?!” Anna jumped from the couch and ran over to look at the screen.

“This is insane! I beat Ash, I can’t believe it,” Samson kept staring at the charts, looking at his album cover next to a big, yellow number two, while Ash’s cover was right under his. His first album had barely scraped the top ten, peaking at number seven for just one week, before dropping to fifteen. But now he was number two, and it was only because of Tyler’s surprise release. If Samson had released any other week, he would’ve been number one.

“Congrats, baby,” Anna hugged him tightly, shaking him in the process. They were both crying tears of joy. “You so deserved this!”

“I still can’t believe it, how did this happen,” he almost whispered, trying to process what was happening.

This could be the moment he’s been waiting for all this time. This could be his time to shine. If he plays his cards right, keeps working hard and promoting his music, he could become a big superstar. So what if Tyler is number one right now? He won’t be at the top forever. Besides, there is room for more than one young, male pop star, and Samson would show everyone just how much he has to offer. He is just getting started.

The next few days passed in a blur, as Samson celebrated his number two album and number two hit single with Hank, Anna, his family and friends.

As Hank entered the singer’s apartment that day to take him to the taping of a new episode of Kyle’s Friday Show, he could barely enter the hallway.

“Wow, what’s going on here?” the manager asked, taking a look at dozens of packages, gift baskets and bouquets covering the floor. Dolce & Gabbana, Bvlgari, Gucci… Luxury brand names could be seen on nearly all of the packages. “Where did all this come from?”

“Ugh, sorry, I didn’t have a chance to clear it out,” Samson said, poking his head through his bedroom door. “Gifts from… everywhere. Radio, TV, fashion designers, it’s crazy. I don’t… This has never happened before!”

“You’re in the big leagues now,” Hank smirked. “This is where everyone starts loving you, which means everyone will want something from you.”

After getting dressed and ready for going out, Samson joined Hank in the living room. Minutes later, the two men were on their way to Studio 78, where Kyle’s Friday Show was taped. It was one of the biggest talk shows in America, and Samson was one of the guests.

To say the audience went crazy when the singer appeared would be a major understatement. The claps and cheers continued for almost a full minute until Kyle Morrison, the popular TV host, asked them to calm down. Samson sat in his armchair, with a grin from ear to ear, as he took in the crowd’s reaction. Studio audiences were always instructed when to laugh or applaud, but this was genuine and unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Was it possible that his time had finally come? After the Stardust Awards and the success of his new song and album, maybe he would finally come out as the biggest male pop singer?

“Congratulations on your new album,” the host opened the interview, picking up a vinyl copy of ‘Night Calls’ and raising it so that everyone can see. “I absolutely love it.”

“Why, thank you, Kyle,” Samson said, a bashful smile on his face. “I’m glad you liked it!”

“It’s been a big success for you, hasn’t it?”

“Oh, absolutely. I’m just stunned by the response I’ve gotten. I’ve got the best fans in the world, my Stansons.”

“Shoutout to all the Stansons out there! I’m one of them, by the way,” Kyle said, waving to the camera. “Now, I gotta ask something a lot of people demanded that I ask you - is Samson seeing anyone?”

Letting out a laugh, the singer took a moment to figure out what to say. “Kyle, I am single and NOT ready to mingle.”

“You’re not? Well, I can tell you you’ve just disappointed thousands of guys watching this.”

“Sorry, guys,” he shrugged. “I’m just really focused on my career and enjoying my single life.”

After the interview, Samson stayed in the studio to perform his new single for the audience. Afterward, he and Hank were on their way back to the singer’s apartment.

“Why do I have a feeling my schedule is about to get a lot more hectic?” Samson asked as he sat in the back seat next to Hank, while his driver was taking him back home.

“Because it is,” the other man replied, finally finishing the phone conversation he was having. “It’s been ringing all day. We’ve got you booked for an interview with Alma de Leon…”

“Oh my God, I’ve never been on her show,” the singer’s eyes went wide as he thought about appearing on the biggest daytime show in America. It was certainly intimidating, but also wonderfully exciting.

“And next Thursday you’ve got an interview at Radio X500. They’re dedicating an hour just for you. They’ll be playing your songs, have the audience ask questions, the whole nine yards,” Hank said, before noticing the almost stunned look on Samson’s face. “Uh, sorry. I know all of this must be a lot for you. I didn’t mean to spring it all on you like that. It’s a lot for me too, but we’ll work it out, ok? Whatever you need, I’ll be right here.”

“Yeah, it is a lot. I’m just trying to process everything,” the singer replied, playing with his bracelets. “And thanks. I know I can count on you whenever I need it,” he added, offering Hank a sincere smile.

“Yes, you can,” Hank nodded, returning the smile. “We’ll just take it one day at a time. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but first, we have that meeting with Melanie Roy tomorrow. After we’re done with her, everything else is going to look like child’s play.”

~~

“GOD DAMMIT!!”

Cliff Sanders roared at the top of his lungs, standing in his office on the top floor of the Pinnacle Records building. He was furious. Having just read the latest chart update, he couldn’t believe his own eyes. Not only was Ash beaten to the top spot by Tyler, which was to be expected, but he also charted below Samson. How was this even possible? The Flynn boy was never supposed to be a threat. Sure, he had a dedicated fanbase, but compared to Ash he was just a B-list star. Or at least that’s what Sanders had believed all this time.

Number three! After everything he did to secure that top spot, how could he have failed so miserably? So much money that went to marketing and promotion, all for nothing. It was humiliating! He viewed it as his own failure, not even considering how Ash felt about it. The singer was secondary. It was Sanders’ reputation and his label’s that were on the line. He was mad at Tyler, Samson, Ash, the media, everyone.

“Fuck! This is bullshit!”

In a fit of rage, the man grabbed the nearest thing he could reach - a ceramic statue of a Spartan warrior that stood on a pillar near his desk - and hurled it at the bar on the opposite side of the room. Dozens of bottles of liquor crashed down from their shelves, glass shattering and alcohol spilling all over the floor.

His chest heaving, Sanders fell back into his leather chair, looking around the office like a wild animal as he drew ragged breaths. It wasn’t until a minute later that he managed to calm down, although only slightly. He finally seemed to notice the stench of alcohol that came from the ruined bar, and only then realized what he had done. He bolted up and strode over to the door, jerking it wide open.

“Portia, get over here,” he barked at his secretary. The young girl immediately stood up from her desk and entered his office, her gaze falling upon the mess where a bar used to be. “Clean that up!”

“Uh, shouldn’t I call one of the cleaning ladies?” Portia asked timidly. Cleaning was not in her job description.

“What, you don’t know how to use a fucking mop?” Sanders snapped at her, and she quickly nodded. She was not about to lose her job over this. “Then get to work, I want it clean asap! I have a meeting in half an hour.”

While the girl hurried off to get the cleaning supplies from a nearby closet, Sanders went back to his desk, checking the time. Ash was supposed to arrive soon for their meeting. They would have to find some way to figure out what to do next.

~~

After an intense forty-minute workout session in his home gym, Ash went to take a shower, enjoying the feeling of warm water on his skin. He loved it almost as much as working out. It always made him feel reinvigorated and helped him relax, which is exactly what he needed at the moment.

After the emotional rollercoaster of last week, he had taken a few days off to spend with family and get away from everything and everyone. Marcus was still a sore spot that he did not want to talk about, but Ash knew his mother would probably get it out of him sooner rather than later. She could always sense when he was hiding something important, and since she was there for the week to keep him company, she used every meal as an opportunity to get her son to open up.

There was also the reunion with his former bandmates and their suggestion for him to rejoin the band. It was crazy, he thought. He would never go back. Even though they had some amazing times together, 2Good was a part of his past. Yet, there he was, unable to get that conversation out of his head.

After a relaxing shower and a change of clothes, the Korean went to the kitchen to join his mother, who was making breakfast. While the woman was busy making Ash’s favorite seafood salad, he checked his phone, chuckling as he did.

“What’s funny, dear?”

“Nothing, it’s just… Lance Lovecraft texted me, saying he got ten thousand new fans since our performance… But also ten thousand new haters.”

“Aw, why would anyone hate him?” Mrs Khong asked innocently.

“Oh, you don’t know the first thing about the stan world, mom,” Ash shook his head. “When they get obsessed with a celeb, whether it’s love or hate, it gets intense.”

As they sat at the dining table, having breakfast, the singer’s mom tried her best to keep up a lively conversation, hoping her son would open up about whatever was bothering him. However, she was having little success.

“So, do you want to tell me what happened with Marcus? You said you weren’t together anymore,” she finally decided to go for the simplest approach - asking him openly. “You know I’m here if you want to talk about it.”

“I know, maybe later,” Ash kept it short. He was still not ready to open that wound. As much as he blamed Marcus for his jealousy, Ash blamed himself even more. “Thanks, mom,” he added, looking at her with gratitude.

Finally, after he finished his meal, the singer left the table, knowing he had to be ready to leave soon. As much as he wanted to avoid the meeting with Cliff Sanders, he couldn’t, especially now that the charts were released and his album debuted at number three.

As far as Ash was concerned, that was pretty good. He didn’t even get the news until he woke up to find his phone full of new messages and missed calls. His publicist, Lauren, was quick to let him know what had happened.

“Hey, Ash, good morning. Have you seen the latest charts?” the woman went straight to business.

“No, I haven’t. You know I don’t really follow them, that’s more…” he started to say, but then stopped himself as his mind drifted off. “That’s more Marcus’ thing,” he thought.

Ash would always get chart updates from his boyfriend, who seemed to live for that sort of thing. Marcus would get so proud of Ash’s accomplishments as if they were his own. Whenever the Korean reached a number one spot on some chart, they would have to celebrate. Marcus would then prepare them a nice dinner, or take him out for drinks. Of course, the main treat was the celebratory sex, which was always mind-blowing.

“So, what’s the situation?” he asked.

“You’re number three, behind Tyler and Samson,” Lauren stated.

“Oh,” Ash replied, almost chuckling with some weird joy at the thought of Sanders’ plan failing so miserably. However, he then remembered he was the one who would have to deal with the man. “Sanders isn’t gonna like this.”

Now, after getting dressed and grabbing his phone from the coffee table, the singer headed out to where he parked his car. He wanted to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible.

However, he had barely left his apartment building when a swarm of paparazzi and reporters rushed toward him, their cameras flashing incessantly.

“Ash, your album is number three, are you happy with that?”

“Is there rivalry between you, Samson and Tyler?”

“Have you read the reviews of your new album?”

The questions kept coming and Ash had to slow down as the mob was practically blocking his path. He definitely should’ve listened to Paul and kept those security guards with him all the time, not just during events.

“No, no rivalry between us. We’re just three singers, each doing their own thing,” he replied in a tired tone. “And yes, I’m really happy with how my new album came out. I’ve been getting some amazing feedback from my fans. They’re so awesome, as always.”

“What about Kelly Marvel, are you two still dating? You haven’t been seen together lately,” one of the paparazzi asked, thrusting his voice recorder in Ash’s face.

“No, Kelly and I never dated, those were just rumors. We did a song together, nothing more,” the singer said tersely. Whatever patience he had was now completely gone. “No more questions.” Without looking back, he pushed through and got into his car, driving away.

Paul was already waiting in the lobby of the Pinnacle Records building when Ash arrived. Together, they took the elevator to the top floor, where Sanders was supposed to be waiting for them.

As soon as they entered the CEO’s gargantuan office, the pervasive stench of alcohol and cleaning products hit their nostrils with full force. Not expecting it, Ash started coughing, before turning toward the source of the smell.

“Ugh, what happened here?” he asked, seeing the once luxuriously equipped bar now in shambles. Although the broken glass was cleaned, half of the shelves were empty, many of them fallen down and in disarray.

“Nothing, just a little accident,” Sanders frowned, waving dismissively at the bar. “Come, let’s move over here,” he added sternly, in a rush to lead the two men away from the mess.

The west part of the office was a mini-library, separated from the rest with a sliding door. While two walls were covered in bookshelves, the remaining one featured large windows that took up almost the entire wall. A thick, brick-red carpet covered the floor, while a comfortable-looking sofa and two armchairs were placed around a small, round coffee table. The three men sat down, wasting no time to get down to business.

Before he started speaking, Cliff Sanders took a deep sigh, staring at a point on the wall. “You know why I called you here. We’ve all seen the charts and… the results are not good at all. It’s very, very bad,” he shook his head, his fingers pressed tightly together.

“Number three is not that bad, though,” Ash shrugged. “It’s not like I failed to crack the top ten.”

“For an artist of your caliber, it should’ve been much better. This is only your second album and we’re already seeing a decline. By the time your third record comes out, who knows, maybe it won’t even reach the top ten,” Sanders replied, glaring at Ash.

“Sanders, I think you may be missing the big picture here. So he didn’t chart as high as with the previous record, but the sales were 385,000. That’s thirty percent more than his last album,” Paul interjected.

“It’s not about sales! It’s about me... YOU losing the top spot to Tyler,” the CEO replied, quickly correcting himself. “Even Samson outsold us! This should never have happened!”

“Well, it wouldn’t have if we hadn’t moved my release date,” Ash said, quickly losing his cool. After the paparazzi ambush in front of his building, he had little patience left. “The original date was perfect, no competition. Would’ve been easy for me to be number one, since it means so much to you.”

“Do you think this is about me?” Cliff stood up suddenly, raising his voice. “This is about your career! This is about the entire label! You’re the biggest artist in our roster and you have to start taking this seriously!”

“Sanders, calm down,” Paul spoke calmly, but with authority. “I assure you, everyone is taking this seriously here.”

“It does NOT look that way to me. This is not some silly game of numbers. We have sponsorships, business deals on the line. We need to step up as of this moment. Tyler is still new and interesting, and Samson… well, I have no idea whose dick he sucked to get those numbers, but we need to step up on all fronts. First of all, we need all eyes on you,” Sanders spoke without pausing for breath, pointing at Ash. “That means publicity. We need to double down on the Kelly Marvel story - let’s have you two appear in public as a couple. Paul, get in touch with her team and see if they’ll work with us.”

“No, absolutely not,” Ash immediately shot the idea down. “I am not doing it. We said it would only be until the album release. Well, that’s over now, and I am not doing a PR relationship with anyone.”

“Mr. Khong,” Sanders took a deep breath, his icy stare focused on Ash. “Let me remind you that record labels are a business, and as such we cannot invest in artists who do not give their all. Do I make myself clear?”

“Are you threatening to pull the budget from Ash?” Paul asked, now standing up to face Sanders.

“I am simply explaining to Ash how businesses work.”

“I know how businesses work,” Ash glared angrily at the CEO. “It doesn’t matter anyway, because I’ve already told the media there’s nothing between me and Kelly.”

“What?! When did that happen?”

“Just today. See for yourself if you don’t believe me,” the singer said, pointing at the older man’s phone on the coffee table.

Sanders immediately grabbed the device, opening the browser and typing in Ash’s name. Sure enough, dozens of new tweets and articles popped up in the last half an hour. All of them showed photos of Ash from earlier that day, including a short video clip of him shooting down the rumors about him and Kelly.

Red in the face, Sanders suddenly flung the phone as hard as he could into the wall, making it smash into pieces and fall to the ground. Ash and Paul stared silently, shocked at Sanders’ violent outburst. The ruined bar in his office suddenly made so much sense.

“I can’t believe this!!” the CEO growled, his chest rapidly rising and falling as he stared at the floor. “Get out, both of you. OUT!!”

“Not like we were planning to stay,” Ash shot back, unable to keep quiet.

Hurriedly, he and Paul left the office. On their way to the elevator, the secretary glanced at them with a knowing look. Paul simply nodded, without saying a word. When Sanders was in one of his moods, the entire building knew it. Of course, no one dared to say anything or they would risk losing their job. After all, at Pinnacle Records, no one mattered but Cliff Sanders.