A/N: I'm back! I hope to have another chapter up this week, I'm working out some inner details of the plot and sub-plots, so bear with me please. Thanks to all have listed this as a favorite story, I promise to keep going!
Later that night, Spied and Jude sat in the back of the bus with Wally and Kyle, adrenaline from their first show still running through their veins. Jude blocked her head as Kyle came crashing down on top of her, falling over from a sharp turn in the road, and Wally fell on the floor. Spied burst out laughing and they all righted themselves and found a seat.
"So," Spied began, "Dude's filled us in on how Ally&Cora came to be, well, Ally&Cora. And from what it sounds like, you definitely got the vibe Cora wants out, right?"
"Definitely. The girl is being completely stifled by their label, as well as Ally, and her positive outlook is going down the tubes with every day that goes by. We have to do something."
"Do you think she's open to it though, jumping ship and joining NBR?" Kyle asked, suddenly pensive.
"It's not something I've talked to her about yet, obviously, but both Tommy and I mentioned we'd like to hear whatever she's working on, and she sounded genuinely interested in doing that, so I say we let the next few weeks play out and we take it from there. We know she's got a great voice, but we haven't had heard much of her actual songwriting ability, which is what would interest us most."
"Any word on what her current contract is like?" Spied asked Jude, who shook her head.
"Tommy's working on it, he knows someone in L.A. who can get a copy of the contract to Snake's legal team."
A few minutes later, Tommy walked into the back room of the bus, grinning and closing his phone.
"I just spoke with my contact out in L.A., who happens to work at the label in question. According to her, Ally and Cora are signed into a 3 label deal. The label has exclusive rights to all material written and recorded, which I assumed, but here's where things get tricky. The girls are actually each signed to a sub-contract, regarding their specific rights in the group. Ally is locked in solid, but Cora on the other hand, is essentially seen as a backing vocalist and nothing more. If she walks away, she takes a financial hit, not that her actual payout is much in comparison anyways, but there is a downfall. Any material that she wrote and recorded at the label; stays at the label."
Jude's smile fell and she shook her head, feeling angry.
"So basically all of the songs she wrote when they were first signed are vaulted, even though they were never released."
Tommy nodded and dropped down beside her on the couch, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Pretty much; yes. But that will be Cora's choice - if she wants to walk away from one album's worth of songs to start fresh and be free, or to stay chained to the nightmare she's in for a small, extremely small, chance of getting those songs back."
The group sat in devoted silence for a moment, each knowing instantly what their choice would be in that situation.
"I just have one question." Spied said, breaking the silence.
They all looked up and he smirked.
"Who's contact at the label Quincy? Old flame perhaps?"