"Ahh, this is the life." Lindsay sighed as she lounged around the screened in hot tub and pool at the back of Dahven's house.
Dahven nodded jerkily. "I'd completely forgotten this was here." She muttered, unused to being surrounded by people her age that weren't the offspring's of her parent's coworkers.
"Are you serious?" Amanda asked, her eyes widening in shock.
"There would be no way that I could forget something like this." Kim announced scanning the area again.
Dahven just shrugged her shoulders and leaned back a little on the lounge chair. It'd had been so long since she'd been back here, so touring the house and finding it was as much of a surprise to her as it was to them.
"Charm? Hey, were you really serious about that?" Randy asked giving Dahven a strange look.
"Yeah." She murmured. "I'm not home a lot. And when I am, I usually stay in my room."
"Oh, okay." Randy nodded, before jumping up and diving into the deep blue water.
Pulling them all from the bathhouse was difficult, getting them to shower afterwards was worse.
"Hey, Randy, do a me a favor." Dahven said mischievously as she waited her turn for the bathroom.
Randy eyed her. "I'll do it. Depending on what it is."
She nodded. "Fair enough. I want you to sing hmmm, how about.... 'Madeline?' "
"Why?" Randy asked suspiciously.
"No reason really." Dahven said shaking her head. "You just have a really good voice and I wanna hear you sing."
"Fine, whatever." Randy said waving her hand in front of her, passing it off.
Kim counted out the beat for her by tapping her feet and snapping, and then Randy's clear sweet voice rang through out Dahven's bedroom.
As soon as Randy had started Dahven had pushed record on her mini recorder. And when she finished Dahven turned the tape off and smiled brightly. "Hey, I need to go do something." She said before she excused herself.
It only took a few minutes to download it to her computer, and Dahven couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Have you ever thought of music as a career?" She asked nonchalantly as she walked back in twenty minutes later.
Randy's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Only like all the time." She said dreamily.
"You know, I could manage you." Dahven said nodding her head.
"What do you know about managing?" Kim asked in disbelief.
Dahven laughed good-naturedly, she let too much slip. "I don't. I was just babbling. Listen we only have a few hours left before you guys might want to catch your flight back to P-A."
Lindsay looked around Dahven's bedroom. "But I don't wanna go."
They talked around for a while. Hopes, dreams, music, guys, love, guys, movies, loving guys in the movies, and Lindsay kept bringing up penguins.
It didn't take long for their five hours to pass and they had to start getting ready for their flight back to Pennsylvania.
"I'm going to miss you three." Dahven spoke truthfully as she hugged them all as they were waiting at the gate.
Lindsay hugged her last. "Remember." She started seriously. "If you ever see a penguin run in the opposite direction." She tried to remain serious but she broke into a silly grin. "They're dangerous!"
Dahven gave her a quick hug. "I'll miss you most of all, Freak." She said laughing.
Lindsay smiled and started running towards the terminal. "WAIT!" She screamed. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME! YOU CAN'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!!"
Randy and Dahven laughed as the hilarious sight played out before them. "She is one in a million." Dahven voiced, shaking her head laughing as they went to her car.
"I think that the odds are greater than that, Charm." Randy said as she got in the passenger's side.
The drive back to the house was slow and long and Dahven couldn't take it anymore. "Randy? I was serious about managing you. I could do it." She said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Randy asked a hope flickered through her eyes.
"Well, my parents are lawyers and they had to help out this new record company a while ago. You know, to make them legal. And when you sang that song today I recorded you." She sent a guilty look.
"I know I should have asked you first, but when I said I had to do something I recorded the recording onto my computer in the library and sent it to them."
"And?" Randy asked, excitement racing in her veins, mixing in with the fear of being rejected.
"Well, they definitely want you. But you do need a manager, and I swear to you that I can do it. I'm lawyer's daughter. I know a load of legal crap. I could do it. I'd do it for free too." Dahven said looking hopeful at Randy.
Randy was quiet for a moment, and then she held her hand out to her. "Deal, baby."
"Deal." Dahven repeated as she shook her hand, sealing their deal. "Oh, yeah." She added, giving her a wicked smile. "The other person. Well, actually people that I sent it to will be at my house when we get there." She said as she pulled onto the street that she lived on.
"Who?" Randy asked excitedly. Everything was already going so perfect for her.
"You'll see." Dahven said just as excitedly. Finally she was going to be able to do something with her life. "You will have to home school probably too. That is, if your parents allow you to do this." She added quickly.
Randy's head bobbed up and down. "My parent's said that they would help me as much as they could with music. So I'm sure they'll allow this."
Dahven smiled at Randy's happiness. "Good." She said as she parked her car.
Randy jumped out and raced for the door. Swinging open the front door, she started looking around.
Dahven followed behind her laughing. No one was around. She knew this, but she was having a blast just watching Randy search her house for people.
"Well, where are they?" Randy asked. Her eyes still scanning around the house. Inspecting every possible corner that someone could hide in.
"They're not here yet." Dahven said shrugging slightly, then laughed as Randy's face fell. "Calm down, they'll be here. Don't worry." She said as she walked up the stairs.
Randy followed close behind. Then she heard music. Well, she heard people singing actually, no instruments though. Just a cappella.
She smiled at Dahven and ran for the little library and swung that door open.
Isaac, Taylor, and Zac jumped at the sudden movement of the door opening. Then they relaxed and smiled at Randy. "Hello." Zac beamed, "Randy, right?"
Slowly turning around to face Dahven she quickly hugged her friend and new manager. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She said all in one breath.
Dahven laughed as she hugged her back. "Well, you're my friend and now I'm your manager, so I have to do a few things. But I told you I sent the copy to another set of people. So...." Dahven said as she dragged Randy into the tiny library.
"Randy, I would like you to meet Isaac, Tay, and Zac Hanson." She said smiling proudly at the guys whom she had grown up with.
Randy excitedly shook their hands.
Dahven grinned when she saw Randy looking at Taylor a little bit longer than she was supposed to, to keep it friendly. She couldn't resist doing this. "Tay, remember in New Your when I had they file of you singing 'Two become one?'" She asked, as Taylor was looking a little nervous under Randy's stare.
Smiling gratefully, Taylor looked at Dahven and nodded. "Yeah, and I still wanna know how you got that."
She laughed. "Taylor Hanson, I want you to meet your voice double." She said pointing at Randy.
Taylor's mouth dropped open and Randy's face turned a lovely shade of red.
Zac snickered and was about to cut a joke when Dahven asked him to get drinks for them all. Knowing better than to comment, Zac decided to get them. He wanted some for himself anyway.
Isaac smiled happily at Dahven and went to move closer to her when she held her hand up and motioned for him to follow her. "Hey, I need to talk to Isaac about a few legal stuff and all." She said looking at Taylor and Randy who were looking at their shoes in obvious embarrassment.
Since her words fell on deaf ears Dahven just walked out of the room, with Isaac leading. He led her into her room and shut the door behind them. He smiled at her and kissed her hard on her mouth.
Dahven slightly pulled back and looked up at him. "Tell me something?" She asked softly.
"Okay. Mind telling me what I'm supposed to tell you." He asked when she didn't continue.
"Do you think that I would be a fool to do this? To manage Randy?" She asked as she stared up at Isaac.
He stared down at her for a moment. "I don't think you are. I think that what you are doing is great. You're helping her realize her dream."
Dahven smiled up at him and kissed him. "Thanks." She said after their kiss trailed off. "That was the right answer."
Isaac was about to kiss her again when Zac was knocking on her door, telling them he had their drinks.
Slowly opening it Dahven walked out and went to see how Taylor and Randy were doing. 'No doubt they're still admiring their shoes.' She thought bitterly to herself.
And when she walked into the library she was quite surprised to see them talking.
Taylor was pointing out some constellations through the telescope that Dahven had set in the line of site. And Randy seemed to be taking it all in and telling a few of the constellations herself, and the stories behind them.
Isaac cleared his throat and shattered the moment and quickly Randy and Taylor had separated. Each of them going to a different side of the small room.
Sharply, Dahven elbowed Isaac in the ribs. "Man, if one of your brothers did that to us, you would have murdered them." She stated softly to him as Zac started passing out the cans of diet sodas to everyone.
"Umm, why are we drinking diet?" Randy asked as she wrinkled her nose at the label.
Zac giggled. "You're in the music biz now. You have to." He stated simply.
Randy just stared at him. "None of us need to go on a diet." She said, not quite fully understanding what he'd meant.
"We know we don't need to go one diets." Dahven said as she guzzled half of her drink. "But since this is the biz you have to look great almost all of the time."
"Caffeine makes ya break out." Taylor stated directly.
Randy nodded now. "Thanks. Now I understand."
Zac and Dahven just shrugged their shoulders and drank their soda's. After a while some papers were faxed in from the record label 'Two Part Harmony.'
Dahven beamed with pride at the contract. She wasn't capable of signing it legally and being bound to it, but she was going to get it to where she and Randy were put into this contract as adults. She knew the rules to this game. And she knew exactly where to bend them when she needed them to be bent.
"Take a look at this." She said handing the papers to Randy.
Randy read over it and her eyes got as big as saucers. "A five album record deal? All expenses paid? Is this for real?" She asked Dahven in shock.
Dahven smiled. "Totally real, my friend." She replied as Isaac slid his arm around her waist, she looked up at him and smiled.
Taylor and Zac walked over to Randy and read the contract over her shoulder. "You got her a contract to where she makes some of the arrangements of where she plays at?" Taylor asked in shock.
"Is this for me?" Randy asked making sure she had all the facts before she got too excited.
Dahven just laughed. "Yes, she gets to decide where she can play for some things. ‘Two Part Harmony’ and I will determine some of the others. Along with Randy's input and even her parents possibly." She grinned broadly at Randy. "And this is all for you." She said motioning to the papers in Randy's hands.
Randy screamed and started to jump up and down. She ran around the small room hugging everyone. She almost choked Isaac, Dahven nearly fell over, Zac just jumped excitedly with her, and after she had her arms around Taylor's neck she became extremely shy and let go.
Blushing furiously, she backed away. "Sorry." She mumbled.
Taylor was a nice shade of red too. "It's okay." He mumbled back staring at his shoes for the second time that night.
Later on that night in Dahven's bedroom, Randy read over the contract again and again. "Charm, I can't believe you got me this contract."
Smiling warmly at her, Dahven shook her head. "Well, since I am your manager now, I wanted to give you the best that I could. And Mercury didn't give the best one. I'm sorry about that. I know how much you wanted to be signed to them, but since they are pretty much spread thin, they didn't have much to offer." She said a bit regretfully.
Randy dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Think nothing of it. But tell me one thing." She said as she pulled her bed out from under Dahven's.
"What?" Dahven asked suspiciously.
"How long have you known Hanson?" She asked staring up at her when she lay down.
"Well, remember that pic you saw of me and that family? I had told you that it was my best guy friends family?" Dahven questioned to make sure Randy knew what she was talking about.
Randy nodded. "Uh, huh."
"Well, that's the Hanson's. You picked Tay out to be the cute boy for his age." Dahven said as she grinned.
Randy's cheeks tinted to a light pink. "Well, he is cute." She said shrugging.
Dahven laughed. "I know he is." She said as she turned the light out.
"So what happens now?" Randy asked yawning.
Dahven yawned as well. "Now we get your parents and us into a courtroom with 'Two Part Harmony' and we get ourselves signed into the contract as legal adults. Then your parents sign it, we sign it, and 'Two Part Harmony' will sign it. Then you go into a recording studio. Write and record a few songs, then your album comes out, and who knows what then." She sated rolling over, her eyes closing instantly.
"Charm, will I get to see you and Hanson while I record?" Randy asked a bit fearful of the unknown.
Since she didn't answer so Randy stared up at the ceiling. She saw Taylor's face before she fell asleep herself.
Dahven stared up at her ceiling. She heard Randy asking if she was going to see Hanson and her while she recorded her album. She knew the answer. But she didn't want to admit to it. She looked down at Randy, a small smile spread on her lips and her eyes were shut.
Sighing, Dahven rolled over in her bed and looked across her room and out her window. "Why is it that sometimes they seem so far, and then seem so close?" She asked herself as she closed her eyes.
She forced herself into sleep. Thinking of what Randy would do when she got the answer to her question.
