Gamer Superstar - Chapter 196

Chapter 196: 196 – Problem with sponsorship
When I arrived at the AJP SF headquarters, I was surprised that the building was much bigger than I had imagined.

Although it was only a branch of AJP San Francisco, the building was quite large and well decorated.

The walls of the entrance were made almost entirely of glass, giving the place a much more elegant look.

But I didn’t go through the normal entrance, I went straight to the underground parking lot because of Selena’s tip.

Since I was bringing equipment and instruments with me, it would be easier and safer to transport them via the elevated platform that was already in the parking lot.

Stopping at the entrance to the parking lot, the security guard apparently recognized my car and smiled at me as he approached.

“BlackVelvet?” He asked as he looked at me and my hair, which was possibly another clue Selena must have given him about me besides my car.

“Myself.” I replied with a polite smile.

“Just as a matter of procedure, can you lend me a document, Mr. Black?” He asked.

Nodding, I took my driver’s license out of my wallet and handed it to him.

Nodding his head, he quickly took it to the booth and wrote down the necessary information, then quickly returned to give it back to me and let me into the parking lot.

I parked in one of the spaces he recommended and all I had to take with me was my guitar, acoustic guitar and laptop.

Microphone and other equipment had already been provided by AJP.

When I saw a blue Subaru parked near my spot, I knew that Mark and Frank had already arrived.

So I just got into the elevator with Jason and we went up to the 6th floor, the floor Selena had told me would be the studio.

Even though this show was already airing on my channel, Jason was recording next to me the whole time, preparing content for the channel’s next vlog.

The show would be streamed on my channel, but the backstage of this show wouldn’t be, so Jason would still be very useful.

Arriving on the studio floor, the first thing I noticed was several people walking around while Selena and a blonde woman who looked a little older than her were talking.

The two were dressed very similarly, with very professional dresses and serious expressions as they chatted and pointed at things around them.

Looking around, I was amazed at what they were doing in this studio.

The place was completely transformed into a concert stage, much better than most places I’ve played.

The most interesting thing was that not only were there several screens for me to put up any videos or images I wanted for the songs, but there were even the name “BlackVelvet” or the acronym “BV” in several places, showing that this was really a custom show for me.

My first personalized show.

Another thing that caught my attention was that there was a spot on stage where people brought various Jack Daniels branded decorations.

“Don’t tell me this show is sponsored by Jack Daniels?” I asked in shock as I looked at Jason, leaving him as amazed as I was.

I knew where this sponsorship was coming from because in my “A Bar Song” I quoted “they know me and Jack Daniels got a history” which was a good hook for Jack Daniels to do a sponsorship.

And even though I was drinking at my gigs, I was only 17 years old!

It was completely different for me to drink at a gig in a bar than it was to drink live on a stream sponsored by a beverage brand.

Were they even allowed to sponsor a minor?

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, I quickly went to Selena and asked Jason not to record this part because it could really cause serious problems.

“Hey Selena.” I greeted her.

Looking at me in surprise, Selena smiled as she greeted me back. “Hey Noah, how did you like the studio?”

I replied with a wry smile. “I thought it was amazing, but I’m worried about this…” I pointed to where they were setting up the Jack Daniels decorations.

When Selena saw where I was pointing, she looked a little confused. “That’s the Jack Daniels sponsorship, my aunt got a $40,000 deal from them for that sponsorship during the stream, it was supposed to be good news, why are you worried?”

Seeing that she didn’t really understand the problem, I explained it to her. “Selena… I’m 17…”

Hearing that, I saw Selena’s expression freeze.

She really had forgotten that I was a minor… I understand that I don’t look like a 17 year old, mainly because of my muscles, if I said I was 23 in any club the bouncer wouldn’t even ask for my ID to let me in, but Selena should have known better, she even had to sign a contract with my parents because of my age!

But while I was shocked that she had forgotten, and she was shocked that she had forgotten, the blonde woman Selena was talking to started laughing.

“Hey, I guess your relationship is better than I thought.” She said amidst the laughter.

Which left me confused as to how she managed to laugh knowing the trouble we were in right now.

Seeing my confusion, Selena quickly explained. “Noah, this is Mary Sinclair, the executive director of AJP San Francisco, my aunt.”

Looking closer at the woman, except for the blonde hair, she was like an older version of Selena, with a face very similar to hers.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mary.” I said as I held out my hand to her.

She smiled back at me and shook my hand gently as she looked me up and down. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet the only artist Selena has deemed worthy of her agency.”

Seeing that I was still worried about the sponsorship issue, Mary explained. “Don’t worry, the Jack Daniels sponsorship of your show tonight is for the launch of a non-alcoholic drink they’re developing. It’s a new formula of whiskey for making non-alcoholic drinks or just drinking it straight, of course they’ve also sent you some bottles of the alcoholic version if you’d like, you just won’t be able to show that you’re drinking it during the stream, as I’ve seen that you really like to drink during your shows…”

Listening to her explanation, I was quite surprised because I had no idea that such a drink existed.

But hearing her comment that I like to drink during my performances made me feel a little embarrassed.

When she noticed my embarrassment, she laughed even harder. “Don’t be so embarrassed about it, kid, it’s normal for artists to like to do things like that, Selena has already assured me that your drinking doesn’t reach the point of alcoholism because you only drink at gigs and parties and don’t take it into your personal life. If that’s enough to keep you away from the drugs that end the lives and careers of so many artists, we don’t mind.

When I heard that, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Not because I could keep drinking, because although I enjoyed it and had more fun at gigs when I was drunk, it’s not like I needed it to do my gigs.

I was relieved that I hadn’t burned my image with the CEO of the company I have a contract with, or even because she’s Selena’s family?

Am I worried about what Selena’s family thinks of me?

Pushing these confusing thoughts aside, I just smiled and nodded.

“You can go to the dressing room to get ready, Noah, the makeup team should be done with Mark and Frank, your costume is there too, get dressed after you do your makeup so you don’t get your clothes dirty.” Selena told me and I nodded and walked away.

As I walked away, I didn’t see Mary looking at Selena with an approving expression while even giving her niece a thumbs up with a smile, making Selena even more embarrassed.

Seeing that my conversation was over, Jason quickly came up to me to ask if everything was all right, I explained what I had heard, he too sighed in relief and went back to recording as if nothing had happened.

We walked into the dressing room to find Mark and Frank already laughing and chatting while eating some of the snacks the crew had prepared for us.

My preparation was very similar to when I was getting ready to shoot Duncan Family, with very similar makeup, since I would be under bright lights for hours and a camera pointed at me in high definition, there wasn’t much to get away from the quality of the makeup by now.

I had been practicing my makeup skill with Liv for the past few weeks, but it hadn’t worked out very well, and I had only increased my skill by three levels.

[Makeup Mastery Lv 4 -> 7]

This would be fine for a woman who had no problem making it clear that she was wearing makeup, but for me and the style I wanted, which didn’t look like I was wearing makeup, it was still a few levels away from being satisfactory.

The outfit was black clothes with unmarked designs in the style I’ve always worn, but with slightly more elegant accessories, reinforcing the image that I was a rock artist, but showing that this was like a special occasion, not just an ordinary outfit I’d wear every day.

After almost an hour, I was finally ready and showtime was approaching.