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Road Signs and Rock Songs	By : classic06 Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Kelly Clarkson Views: 9486 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is purely a work of fiction. I do not know Kelly Clarkson,and I am not profiting from this story.

Chapter List
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++++++++++
"Hey," Kelly nodded as she followed her brother into the office.
"Hey," Jeff smiled. "Big new, big news."
"Good big news?" Kelly asked hopefully, sitting in a chair. Jason stood beside her, arms crossed. He was probably even less of a fan of Kelly's manager than Ashley was.
"We're going on tour," he clapped his hands together.
"We?" Jason raised an eyebrow.
"Tour? When?" Kelly asked eagerly.
"This summer. Starts in July."
"July?" Kelly scrunched her eyebrows. "Don't you think that's kind of soon? We don't really have that much time. I mean, how big of a tour we're talking about?"
"Arena," he nodded with a grin.
"Arena?" she looked at him questioningly. "But I...I don't even have an album out yet, how do you expect me to sell out arenas?"
"That's thing," he replied, leaning over the desk, towards her.
Jason stood closer to her.
"This is going to make the record company set a date for the album. That's why we're doing this. They aren't going to want your tour to flop because that'll look bad on them."
"I don't know about this," Kelly shook her head. "I mean, if we're going to do a tour, I'd rather it be theaters. It's more intimate, you know? Especially for this new album."
"Don't think intimate. Think big. Horns and string sections. Catwalks. You're a superstar now. You should perform like one."
"But I love theaters."
"The sponsors think it's a great idea," Jeff countered.
"The sponsors?" Jason cut in. "We haven't had a meeting with her sponsors...when was this?"
"Oh, you guys were in Texas, and I didn't want to mess up your vacation," he shook him off.
"Vacation or not, Kelly should be informed of something as big as a meeting with her sponsors about a new tour."
Kelly frowned at her hands that were folded in her lap. She looked up at her manager through her eyelashes, "It's already set, isn't it?"
"Everything's already planned out," he smiled. "You don't have to worry about a thing."
Kelly nodded, standing.
"Leaving already?" Jeff stood as well.
"Apparently I have a huge tour to plan...and a single to pick and promote and shoot a video for...and an album to release...and somewhere in there I have to turn 25. Happy birthday to me."
Jeff chuckled lightly, "It isn't that bad."
Kelly chose to save the energy and not even bother glaring at him as she turned, walking out the door.
"I'll be one second," Jason nodded at her, closing the door, leaving him alone with her manager.
"Exciting times, right?" Jeff smiled.
"I'm going to give you a little tip," Jason said, his voice careful. "Get the album out."
"I'm working on it."
"Yea, well if you want those executive producer credits to stay on there, you'd work on it harder to make sure to get it out soon."
"Why do you say that?"
"I know her," Jason nodded to the door. "It's not when she curses you out that you have to be worried...it's when she doesn't say anything. You keep this up, and you won't be around much longer. Hell, if I had a choice, you would've been fired after last summer. So you might want to get the album out before she completely takes you off of it."
Jeff frowned as Jason turned, walking out of the door.
+++++++++
"An arena tour?" her musical director frowned. "Don't you think that's a little much? I mean, you've toured three times in the U.S. in the past two years. Asking fans to pay that much for tickets when they haven't even heard the album yet sounds like a lot."
"I know," Kelly replied, picking at the chips and salsa. "Plus the fact that this album isn't right for arenas at all."
"Yea, how do they expect you to keep the album's intimacy while performing for 15,000 plus people, most of which can barely even see you because they're so far away?" Jimmy asked.
"I don't know," her shoulders slumped.
"Well, let's look at the good news," Aben suggested. "The single's coming out next Tuesday. That's huge, right?"
"Still don't have a date for the album," she pointed out.
"It's gonna work out, KC," Jason nodded. "So, where's the rest of the crew?"
"Ash went pick up Jill and Kate because they weren't sure how to get here--"
"Don't they live in L.A.?"
"Yea, but they're even more directionally challenged than me," she laughed softly. "And Jay went to the airport to pick up Cory, Einar and Deaner."
"So, we haven't talked about your birthday yet," Aben noted, still trying to lighten the mood. "I was talking to Ashley about it this morning, and we are both pumped. Any set date yet for the party?"
Kelly shrugged, "At the end of the summer?"
"There they are," Jason smiled as Ashley along with Kate and Jill walked into the small restaurant.
"Hey," Kelly stood, hugging Jill.
"Hey," Kate smiled, hugging her as well, placing her lips next to her ear. "Can we talk?"
Kelly nodded as she pulled back, "Everything ok?"
"Yea," she gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Just...you said I could ask questions?"
Kelly smiled, "Sure. After?"
Kate nodded as they all sat around the table.
"So, did y'all get the album?" Jason asked excitedly.
"Yes," Jill nodded. "And we both love it. Seriously, KC, some of your best work."
Kelly beamed. "Couldn't have done it without these guys," she motioned to the musicians at the table.
++++++++++
"So?" Kelly looked up at her brother after he had arrived with the remaining members of her band.
"So, the plan is to start rehearsing tomorrow," Jason replied.
"Rehearsing for..."
"'Never Again' and 'Since U Been Gone' and 'Walk Away'," Jason recited, looking at the paper before him. "Then the single is released on Tuesday. You start radio promo right away with that. The following week, y'all have a couple more rehearsals, some fittings, then y'all get started on the talk shows, as well as figuring out the concepts for the tour," he looked up at his sister and her band to make sure they were all following along. "That should bring us well into June where you will then start rehearsals for the tour, and for the Live Earth thing."
"Life Earth?" Cory questioned.
"One sec," Kelly assured.
"Hopefully by then," Jason continued. "You'll have a second single out and will be starting to promote that as well."
"You can have a second single without an album out?" Jill looked at the pair of them.
Kelly shrugged, "Looks like we're gonna find out."
"And what happens if y'all finally get a release date for the album?" Kate questioned.
"Then we are looking at nights with two or three hours of sleep," Jason frowned.
"Can't wait," Kelly replied sarcastically.
"So, Live Earth?" Cory reminded.
"Oh, yea, Live Earth is this huge concert taking place in July. Well, I say huge, I just found out about it like a month and a half ago, and I was the first one they talked to so I don't know what other artists have signed up, but it's supposed to be huge, taking place all over the world at the same time. I think they said we get five songs each or something."
"What's it for?" Jason, her musical director asked.
"The environment, getting the word out on how to protect it and all that. Seemed like something cool. Jeff thinks it's the perfect way to kick off the tour."
"Jeff?" Kate questioned.
"Slime ball," Ashley replied.
"He's my manager," Kelly corrected.
"I think Ashley's assessment was more accurate," Aben mumbled.
Kelly sighed, "Anyway, yea, Live Earth...y'all in?"
There was a collective agreement throughout the table.
"Good," she smiled. "I think it'll be a lot of fun."
"Oh, food," Deaner grinned as their waiter arrived with their meals. "Bout time."
++++++++++
"Thanks for lunch, Kelly," Jason smiled.
"No problem," she waved it off as they all stood. "So, who's going where?"
"I'm going home."
"Deaner's coming with me," Jimmy replied.
"And Cory and Einar are staying with us," her brother noted.
"Sounds good," she nodded, catching Kate's eye. "Oh, um, Ash, you can bring Jill back?"
"Yea, what about you?" Ashley turned to Kate.
"She's gonna ride with me," Kelly informed. "We're gonna go to a shoe store she's been telling me about."
Kate nodded, "Yea."
"Ok, see you at home," Ashley winked at her best friend.
Kelly laughed softly, motioning for Kate to lead the way out of the restaurant.
+++++++++++
Kate smiled, looking around the inside of the Range Rover, "This is really nice."
"I know, right?" Kelly beamed. "I may have splurged a bit, but I had been working hard, and thought I deserved it."
"From what I've heard you're one of the hardest working girls in the business, so I say you definitely deserve it," Kate nodded.
"So, what's on your mind?" Kelly asked, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.
"I kinda had a question."
"Ok..."
"And it's kind of personal, so I didn't want to bring it up in front of the others...I wasn't sure how open you were with them."
"Well, you can ask me now...what's up?"
"I listened to your album, and I thought it was great. I had a question about Irvine, though...why'd you call it that?"
Kelly nodded, "Because that's where I wrote it--Irvine, California."
"When you were on tour?"
"Yea."
"That was the day we played for you," Kate reminded.
Kelly's mouth opened slightly in shock, "That was. I'd totally forgotten about that."
"I just couldn't help but wonder if that was the same day when I was listening to the song a couple days ago. I remember you looked...something wasn't right."
Kelly nodded, "You caught me so off guard when you asked if I was ok."
"I'm sorry," Kate apologized. "I mean, if I had known that something was wrong...I would've done something."
"Oh, no, no, sweetie," Kelly reached over, placing a hand on her thigh. "None of that is your fault. Trust me, I had been going downhill for a while, and I finally just hit rock bottom that day. And in a way, I'm glad it happened...it needed to happen."
"I'm still sorry."
"It's ok," she assured her. "I'm good now."
"Are you sure?"
Kelly turned to see the genuine concern in her eyes.
"You just seem to have a lot going on with the album constantly getting pushed back, and a tour that you don't seem too happy about, and apparently a slime ball manager."
"I'm ok," she nodded. "It's hard right now, but I'm ok. And having you around helps."
"Yea?"
"You're very refreshing."
"And a great booty call."
"A fantastic booty call," Kelly corrected with a soft laugh.
"Hey, my parents always taught me to give a hundred percent in all that I do," Kate grinned.
Kelly laughed openly, causing the blonde to smile broadly. "Cute and funny...you're gonna be a handful, huh?"
"As long as it keeps you laughing like that," she nodded.
"Good," Kelly gave her leg a gentle squeeze. "I could use a good laugh or two."
"Then I'm your girl."
Kelly smiled, "Promises, promises."
Kate laughed, nudging her playfully.
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Road Signs and Rock Songs