One Man Band System

After Martin returned to his hotel, Eric invited Ruby and Caleb upstairs to join the girls who had gone up earlier. When they arrived, Eric gathered everyone and asked them to sit in the living room. Then, he opened his bag, pulled out a folder, and placed it on the table. Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura stared at the folder, while Tania, sitting next to Ruby and Caleb, stayed quiet without reacting.

"What’s this?" Chloe asked, pointing at the folder.

"Contracts. Starting today, The Empress will officially be under Elliot’s Production," Eric said with a smile.

Hearing Eric’s words, the expressions on Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura’s faces shifted instantly. Their eyes lit up, glistening with tears. They were now officially a signed band with a legitimate label, something they had never imagined possible before. Without second thoughts, the five of them immediately grabbed the folder and read through the contract. Their faces beamed, especially when they read the clauses regarding royalty splits, base pay, and percentages for concerts or touring.

Then, as usual, "thump!" without another word, all five of them leaped onto Eric in pure joy, knocking him down. The contract papers and the folder scattered across the coffee table. Meanwhile, Emma, spotting a document that fell right in front of her, picked it up and read it,

"Wait... you made one for me, Ruby, Jade, and Tania too?" Emma asked after realizing what she was holding was also a contract.

"Yeah... that’s right... hey... alright, cut it out!" Eric shouted.

"No way!" Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura yelled together, busy smothering Eric’s face with kisses.

Caleb just shook his head with a smile watching the scene, while Tania and Ruby shifted closer to Emma to read the contract Eric had prepared. They went through it, comparing it to one of The Empress’s contracts, which was more or less identical in terms of distribution.

"This is... official," Ruby said, still in disbelief.

"Yeah... we’re really becoming a group," Emma replied.

"But... our group name hasn’t been set yet. It just lists the four of our names," Tania pointed out, gesturing at the document in Emma’s hand.

"Yeah... oh, true."

Emma explained to Ruby and Tania about the conversation Eric and the others had held earlier regarding the use of stage names. After hearing Emma’s explanation,

"Oh... I’m fine with just using Ruby," Ruby said.

"Huh... are you sure?" Tania asked.

"Yeah... it’s fine. I’m sure Jade won’t mind either," Ruby answered.

"I see. So it’s okay if I go by Emerald?" Emma asked.

"Not a problem. Besides, you’re Miranda Cruz’s daughter. If fans find out you’re the kid of a huge movie star, there’d just be unnecessary rumors. Jade and I are nobodies," Ruby answered with a shrug and a smile.

"Hmm... that’s actually true, even though I hadn’t thought that far ahead myself. You really get how this works, huh?" Emma said to Ruby.

"I watch way too much celebrity gossip," Ruby replied smoothly with a grin.

"Ah, that makes total sense then, hehehe," Emma replied with a smile.

"In that case, I’m Sapphire," Tania chimed in, having apparently been deep in thought this whole time.

Emma and Ruby whipped their heads around to look at Tania, who offered a smirk in Emma’s direction.

"It’s not like you’re a household name either," Emma said.

"Whatever. If you get a stage name, I get a stage name too," Tania replied, clearly annoyed.

"Ah... right. I forgot you had that petty streak," Emma mocked.

"Huh... what’s that supposed to mean?" Tania yelled, starting to lose her temper.

"Hey... why are you two fighting over this? Isn’t it great if Tania goes by Sapphire? We’d all be named after gemstones... just like me and Jade," Ruby stepped in to mediate.

"Hmm... good point," Emma muttered.

"Huh... I didn’t even think about that, but you’re right, Ruby," Tania added.

"Is it really okay for us to settle this without Jade here, though?" Emma asked.

"Jade won’t mind. Since she was a kid, she’s never pushed her own ideas on things and always just goes with the flow. I’m sure this time won’t be any different," Caleb chimed in out of nowhere.

"Honestly, I didn’t want to be the one to say it, but if her own brother says so, then so be it," Ruby replied.

"What matters now is that you guys find a group name, because that’s what’s going to represent you and go on the contract," Caleb added.

Caleb stepped forward, picked up the contract meant for Emma, Ruby, Jade, and Tania’s group, and read through it.

"Hmm... that’s true. Every member of The Empress has their own individual contract, but it looks like there’s a slight difference for idol groups. The Empress holds contracts based on the instrument each person plays, but that’s absent from yours," Caleb said, studying the document.

"Is that right?" Emma asked.

"Yeah... I’ll look into how idol contracts work a bit more, but there’s one thing for sure, you guys definitely need to decide on a group name. Right here, the space where it says affiliated group is still blank," Caleb answered, pointing at the contract.

"I see," Tania said, deep in thought.

"Actually, I already have an idea for the name, but I held off on writing it down because I wanted to talk to you guys first," Eric chimed in suddenly, fixing his messy hair and glasses.

Emma turned to look at Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura, who were wiping their lips, looking like a disheveled mess but beaming with happiness. Emma’s expression instantly darkened,

"You guys are unbelievable. How dare you snatch Eric away from me when my back was turned," Emma said.

"Hehe... sorry, I didn’t bother inviting you this time," Monica said.

"Same here... sorry about that," Priya added playfully.

"Relax, Emma. We actually discussed a name for your group earlier and pitched it to Eric," Chloe added.

"At first we suggested Princesses, since we’re Empress, but someone came up with something even better, right Laura?" Heidi asked.

"Yeah... Nobelia. Since all your names are precious gems and sound aristocratic, that name fits you perfectly," Laura answered.

The room went dead silent. Eric kept quiet since he had already approved of it, while Caleb just leaned back on the couch, reading through the contract. Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura watched in silence, observing the reactions of Emma, Ruby, and Tania, who were clearly deep in thought—so much so that everyone in the room could practically hear the gears turning in their heads.

"Nobelia, huh," Tania muttered.

"I think... it’s actually pretty good," Ruby replied.

"Right. Short and clearly captures the four of us," Emma said.

Yet the three of them fell silent again, none of them making the final call, still looking lost in thought. Eric turned to look at Caleb, who looked right back at him. Caleb smiled, instantly catching Eric’s drift. Reaching into his pants pocket, Caleb pulled out his smartphone, dialed a number, placed the phone on the coffee table, and switched it to speaker mode.

"Hello?" Jade’s voice greeted them after answering the call.

"Jade, if you keep your own name instead of using a stage name, while Emma becomes Emerald and Tania becomes Sapphire, and your group’s name is Nobelia, are you good with that?" Caleb asked.

There was a long pause. Everyone in the room could tell Jade was mulling it over, accompanied by the faint hum of background noise in the distance. Then Jade picked the phone back up.

"Are the others good with it?" Jade asked seriously.

Caleb turned to look at Emma, Ruby, and Tania, who still seemed lost in thought, though clearly waiting on Jade’s opinion.

"Yeah... they agree," Caleb answered.

"Oh... then I’m fine with it. If everyone else agrees, I agree. Gotta go, I still have class," Jade replied.

The call ended, and silence settled over the room once more. Caleb leaned back on the couch, leaving his smartphone on the table, and turned to look at Eric with a thumbs-up. Eric acknowledged him with a nod, then gathered The Empress’s contracts and asked all of them to sign. Naturally, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura got busy reading and signing the documents, initialing where required to show their agreement.

Then Eric turned to look at Emma, Ruby, and Tania, who were still stunned and looking lost in thought.

"So are you guys good with the name Nobelia? And Ruby and Jade performing under their real names, while Emma becomes Emerald and Tania becomes Sapphire? If you’re all set, I’ll draw up the official contracts. What you’re looking at is just a draft," Eric asked.

Emma, Ruby, and Tania turned to look at Eric, their faces still looking puzzled. But "sigh," Caleb let out a breath and stepped forward.

"Jade already agreed, you heard her yourselves," Caleb said.

Emma, Ruby, and Tania turned to look at Caleb, then exchanged glances with one another. Finally, they smiled.

"Jade is really just Jade... hasn’t changed one bit. But... I agree too," Ruby said.

"Same here... I think the name Nobelia is great and fits us well... I’m good with it," Tania added.

"Alright Eric, please make the contracts. We’ll go with the name Nobelia," Emma said, looking at Eric with a smile.

"Got it. I’ll get them ready then. As for stage positions, Emma is center and Ruby is lead dancer, deal?" Eric said.

The room went dead silent again. Emma and Ruby slowly glanced over at Tania, who sat with her head down beside them.

"Hold on a second with that, I object," Tania protested loudly, while Emma and Ruby’s expressions practically said they already knew Tania would complain.

With that, the three of them launched into a serious debate over their positions. Eric and Caleb simply listened in. Whenever the girls hit a standstill, Caleb dialed Jade to inform her of what they had agreed on, and Jade immediately jumped on board, leaving the three with no room to argue. Though born amidst chaos and fueled by lingering rivalries, Nobelia, the idol group and the second unit formed by Eric, was finally born.