Ozean Horizon

I was sweating and fighting for oxygen by the time I returned to my seat. I didn’t want to miss a second of their performance.

“Man, I haven’t seen you sweat since before the pandemic,” Tony continued enjoying himself.

“What can I say? I just didn’t want to miss anything,” I said gasping for air.

“What did you say to Kiia when you were down there?”

“I just needed to find out if she had changed since the old days.”

“Well, everyone’s changed since back then, so it was kind of a stupid thing for you to ask, respectfully,” he rolled his eyes at me.

“Yeah, but sometimes people forget how far they’ve come. I didn’t want my presence to hurt their performance.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, it’s not like you’re that important.”

The stage lights went down as the stinging of his response bit through my chest.

They had changed their opening since the last time I saw them.

The lights came up with the band already on stage, the drums triggering the lights; band facing strobes connected to the kick drum while soft white and blue lights cast onto the band and the crowd from above.

Unlike Arcadia, Kiia being a singing guitarist didn’t detract from their performance. Her voice was as deep and immersive as ever, but the sustain and vibrato of her playing matched the expression, creating a one person soundscape.

Behind her, the band was tight. They were top notch musicians. Just like A Warm Place, everything was intricate and done with intent. Nate wasn’t quite his predecessor, but he was good enough that no one other than me cared.

As good as the frontmen and women before her were, none of them measured up to Kiia. She was great when she was younger, often compared to me, but now, she was something so much more dominant and haunting. I started to wonder how I would have measured up if I hadn’t stepped away from the stage.

In my heart I knew that they had won the competition because of what I had just asked myself. I hadn’t performed in three years, I had no desire to go back on stage after I collapsed before the pandemic, but Kiia nudged an ember in my chest to want to be out there again, to create music again; to feel inspired.

I couldn’t even clap. I felt like I was standing outside my body, watching someone else’s life unravel.

I was dialed in and washed out simultaneously for the rest of their performance. The crowd was overwhelming.

“Thank you, we are Ozean Horizon. Good night.” rang out through the theatre long after their performance had ended.

Tony and I didn’t speak to each other for at least ten minutes as the crowds were filtering out. He was making his decision, I was wrestling with the doubts in my soul.

“So, between A Warm Place and Ozean Horizon, who wins?” He asked.

“You seriously need me to break the tie for you after what you saw tonight?” I asked, as condescending as possible.

“Yeah, I mean, A Warm Place makes more sense as my opener,” his voice trailed off. “Ozean Horizon was too good.”

I laughed, mainly with irritation.

“Look, Cy, if we were touring as Beyond the Realms, and I had you out there with me, I’d love to do it, but I’m not risking getting blown off stage every night,” he was locked in. “I’m not you.”

“So, you’re okay getting skewered on social media after this by the people that were here for making such a bad decision out of fear?” I pushed.

“Yeah,” his expression was unchanged. “Take some responsibility for it, too.”

He left ahead of me, committed to making his decision.

I scrambled and called the CEO.

“Cy, you said you’d only call if you witnessed something generational,” he said, holding me accountable.

“Yeah, I did.”

“So, is Tony taking them on tour?”

“No.”

“Oh?” he laughed. “Well, I wasn’t expecting any of this.”

The pause on the line was uncomfortable.

“How good were they, Cy, honestly?”

“I wanted to play again.”

The silence on the other end made it obvious he put his phone on mute.

“Well, Cy, you’ve been signing deals for me for a while. If getting this band under contract gets you in the studio and on the road again, I’m willing to let you sign them to any deal that doesn’t lose money.”

Our call ended after that. I just needed the go ahead.

***

By the time I made it to the green room, the members of A Warm Place were celebrating moving up in their career. Tony was a small arena headliner, and that kind of exposure was huge for a band who couldn’t sell out a theatre on their own.

Hedgehogs and Arcadia had already made their way out of the green room, obviously dissatisfied, but not shocked by the end result.

However, Ozean Horizon were still sitting in their corner of the room, completely unphased by the final result.

I walked past Tony and A Warm Place, making my way straight to Kiia.

“Hey, aren’t you going to at least congratulate our winners?” Tony called out to me.

I ignored him. This was probably why I had such a bad reputation.

“Cy, thanks for holding up our deal; if you were the tie breaker, we wouldn’t have accepted it anyway,” Kiia said calmly.

“No,” I said, fixated on her shimmering amber eyes. “I’m here to ask you to join me for a drink right now and coffee in the morning.”

The initial reaction from all of OH was shock. AWP and Tony only heard the first part, but were all suspiciously quiet, trying to hear what we were discussing.

“Cy, you and I both know we have nothing to discuss. I know what kind of man you are.”

“Kiia, look, I know that I have an awful reputation. I know that I did some terrible things when I was younger. I know you see me as just an industry shill, but please just hear me out,” I pleaded.

Her bandmates looked away, nervous, clearly on my side at this point in the conversation.

“Okay, so if I do decide to meet you for two drinks, what would we talk about, and what’s in it for me?”

“First, we’re clearing up any misconceptions and miscommunications about me because I need you to trust me,” I paused, letting her roll her eyes. “Then we’re going to write your major label contract with Twilight Reverie that lets you keep your masters and creative control.”

Kiia fell out of her chair.

The room fell silent.

The other members of OH had their jaws unlatched, scratching at their ears making sure they heard me right.

Tony didn’t say anything, but I could sense his surprise, and his anger at stealing his credibility with a once in a lifetime offer.

The members of AWP’s excitement had turned to frustration.

I could hear the singer say, “Unbelievable, corrupt Cy at it again, thinking he’ll get laid.”

They were justifiably pissed. This was, however, Tony’s fault, since he forced my hand. Tony was probably going to have to put a clause in their contract about publicly badmouthing me to stay on his tour.

Upon finding her composure, Kiia stood up and looked me in the eye for the first time.

“Hey, yeah, a drink sounds good…maybe we can start over.”

She hesitated—not with fear, but with calculation. “Look, I don’t want to pretend the past doesn’t exist, but today was the first time we actually met.”

“I understand.” I smiled. “Let’s get a drink next door and figure that part out first, we’ll hold business until the morning.”