The cat, Vladimir was his name, walked me all the way to his mansion on the other side of the city. I'm not calling it a mansion just because it was the biggest building I'd ever seen. It must have had at least five floors and it even had a humongous pool out front. The inside of his home was even more impressive though. It was lavishly decorated with chandeliers, statues, and probably the most expensive furniture he could find. Since my stomach was still growling mighty fiercely, Vladimir was kind enough to cook me some spaghetti before we got down to business. I'd never seen spaghetti that wasn't stale before and this particular plateful even had tomato sauce and meatballs on it. Believe it or not, Vladimir actually said that he only gave me a small portion so that I wouldn't overeat and make myself joke. That one plate was still worth about a month's worth of food in Boondox.
After I had eaten my fill, Vladimir started telling me all about his business. He had access to nearly every music store in the nation and all of the biggest bands recorded their songs with him. Oddly enough, he was a musician himself. He played the drums in his own band, The Party Animals. They were often touring the country playing to giant crowds full of thousands of fans. Their records sold like wrapping paper in Christmas time whenever it was in stock.
You can imagine my excitement when he began making my contract. I was to be the bands guitarist and would start off as a backup singer as well. Vladimir said that he might promote me to lead singer if I became popular enough. I was ready to believe I was hallucinating or dreaming by this point. But the deal didn't stop their. I would be given a room at Vladimir's mansion and would have all of my needs catered for. I could even access his private studio to record my own songs if I wanted too. Of course, the Vladimir would receive a percent of all sales since he was going to be my manager. We both signed the contract and shook hands. "Thank you, Vladimir. I've never even dreamed of a future this fortunate!"
Vladimir just smiled. "Please, call me Vlad. Now that we will be working so closely together, there is now need to be quite so formal." He took me by the arm. "Come, you must meet the other members of the band. They will become your best friends from now on." Vlad led me down a couple corridors until we came upon his studio. Apparently, the band had been on break as they were all chatting amongst themselves. It didn't take long for them to notice me though.
Vlad made sure that I became well acquainted with everyone. There were three other members besides Vlad and I and they all had interesting stories. A large raccoon named Ichi played the piano. He looked a little bit like Tom Nook, but he was a lot taller. He seemed to be very relaxed and calm too. Daichi on the other hand was much more excitable. He was a muscular tiger who was the lead singer. He also claimed to play the electric guitar and, apparently to everyone else's amusement, a harmonica. He defended his instruments reputations as he apparently wanted to fit into both country and rock music. This was clearly a touchy topic for him, so nobody pushed it much.
The last member of the band was a gorgeous fox named Geisha. She was very multitalented. I'd love to name all of the instruments she could play, but then I'd be rambling a bit much. She sure did now how to play the heartstrings the best of all though. All it took from her was a wink and a shy smile and I was smitten. I could already tell she was my favorite band member.
It was getting late, so Vlad had Ichi take me to my room. He didn't talk much, but he did say to be careful with Geisha. He claimed that many animals, including Daichi, had become infatuated with her over the years. I told him that I wasn't interested, but he saw right through me. His last words to me before he left me alone for the night were, "Just be careful kid."
I had no time to ponder Ichi's words of advice as I stared in awe at my new room. It was more of a good sized house itself actually. Besides the front door and the door to the bathroom, all of the sections just had halls between them. I had a queen sized bed all to myself, a sizeable kitchen with a fully stocked fridge (even with alcohol, though I was underage at the time), a living room with a large couch and a plasma TV, a study with bookshelves lined with music books, a bathroom with more cleaning supplies that the whole population of Boondox had ever possessed, and, best of all, a small auditorium for me to practice in. As I collapsed into my bed, I wished my poor old father could see me know. Not long after that, I was dreaming of crowds of fans calling my name.