Work Text:
7 AM the alarm goes off, before it can even finish the first beep the man has already turned it off. He was up ten minutes before it but took a moment to clear his mind and still himself before he started his morning. His night last night was long, he stayed out far too late doing drugs and drinking. He knows this lifestyle probably can’t last forever but for now, he’s young and healthy. He thinks for a moment about lying back down, no real commitments to anyone else until his meeting later in the day. But no, disciplines important for him, if he doesn’t have a routine, rules for himself, things fall apart a bit for him.
The man sits up, vision blurry without his glasses and runs his hand through his hair, blonde and well kept. He reaches over to his bedside table and puts on his glasses before opening the bottle of water he always leaves for himself. He takes a few sips before getting up fully and making his bed before heading to his kitchen. He cracks a few eggs into a cup and drinks them whole, unappealing but supposedly effective for the physique he takes pride in having. He changes into his gym attire before placing his clothes neatly into the hamper, finishing his water and grabbing another on his way out. It’s not even seven thirty when he arrives at the gym, ready to start his weightlifting and boxing training he does most every morning.
He spends two hours here, lifting weights and sparring as today’s schedule demands. He’s a bit taller than the other man so as boring as he finds it he works on his outfighting today, just in case he ever needs it. He ends his last round demanding his usual sparring partner, a man who enjoys the fight more than the match, nearly as much as Miles does. They throw themselves into the fray and Miles leaves the gym, battered and sore but finally he felt something today.
Most of his days are like this, boring and uninspiring aside from his training and the music. He’s not sure he’s the best producer he’s ever seen, that title belonging to another but he’s sure he’s good enough and that he enjoys it. Music and fighting are Miles joys in an otherwise dull existence, he climbs up the ladder of success not sure why or where he’s going. He sleeps with women mostly for the release and because he remembers reading in a fitness magazine that it’s good for cardiovascular health. He doesn’t want anyone to be better than him at the things he actually enjoys so he thinks it’s important for his physical ability.
When he gets home he undresses, gets straight in the shower and then makes himself some breakfast. Steak, eggs and spinach are his fuel this morning, taking only a few minutes and he cleans up right away afterwards. It’s around ten o clock now when he checks his calendar. To his surprise, he’s actually got several meetings today, he doesn’t remember having this many and that actually concerns him briefly. He doesn’t usually forget, hasn’t in as long as he can remember. But before he gets too in his own head he remembers the night before and chalks it up to that, deciding he should maybe slow down with the cocaine in the future, having started early the day before.
Before anything else he decides on his attire for the day. A cream colored suit with a gold embroidered tie and brown leather shoes and belt are sharp looking and comfortable for the longer day he has ahead of him. He lives in a perpetual state of extremely dressed and has no interest in changing anything for himself in that regard. People respect him more when he dresses for the job, he’s young still and he knows he has to demand respect through every facet of himself. He steps outside and gets in his car, a frost blue Lamborghini before driving to his office space.
His first meeting is just his usual, the people from the label to ask him about upcoming projects and timelines. Planning radio releases and live shows, boring and droll but necessary. As uninteresting as he finds it all, he does actually appreciate them. The next meeting is interesting, not a name he recognizes immediately. A representative from some major corporation, Pentex? Hes not sure what they want but the meeting is certainly…interesting? It’s a lot of talk about furthering the industries, printing more vinyls, using more resources, those sorts of things. They offer him a deal and he says he’ll sleep on it. His next meeting is someone from some kind of tech company? They speak a lot about some kind of amazing advancements they’re making and how they’re “enlightening technology” and progressing humanity. He once more says he’ll sleep on it and makes sure to remember this one, tech might be important if he wants to get a leg up on his competitors.
The next few meetings are more standard meetings, nothing exceptional or particularly interesting until closer to the evening. It’s someone from some order of Hermes? The individual speaks a lot about their interest in secret truths and finding interesting solutions to every day problems. He’s interested for a time but ultimately decides once more to sleep on it.
The last meeting is odd in its timing, taking place “an hour after sunset” whenever time that is. He has some time before it so he decides to work some. Production is harder and more work intensive than many realize and he’s constantly striving to get better at it. He’s got a lot going on with his most recent additions to the label but they’re easy to work with and legitimately talented so he decides he’ll put in the effort to make sure they also make a lot of money here. If they’re happy, they’re much more likely to return once their deal is up and he thinks they have actual potential.
The sun is about to set and he gets a phone call, some rambling nonsense warning him about not taking an offer of some kind. Miles has had so many today he doesn’t even know which one it could be about and while he politely entertains the man on the phone for a moment he hangs up and gets back to work. He gets another phone call from a calmer person saying similar things, this one a woman, nice voice, older than him but kind sounding. He’s more inclined to hear her out since she’s actually sensible and has a soothing voice, maybe good for radio or music. Eventually though she stops making sense and he chooses again to simply hang up.
It’s a half hour past sunset when his phone rings again, at first he thinks it’s the man for their meeting today. It takes a brief moment before he realizes it’s his old friend, Marcos. Marcos tells him he needs his help badly, his wife has fallen badly ill and his kids need him home tonight. There’s a show starting soon and he’s sorry to ask it but he needs Miles to cover for him and make sure it goes well.
They’re a label affiliate and Marcos might be the only person on the planet right now who can call him twenty minutes before it starts and Miles will say yes and be there. So that’s exactly what he does, moving quickly and exactingly to make sure he doesn’t forget anything. On his way out he spots a man, instantly unsettling him and making his hairs stand on end. This man moves strangely, like he’s pretending to be a person, his interest in danger and power is almost enough to make him stay. But he knows in this moment what his choice is and he grits his teeth and leaves.
He arrives to the show and while things are in mild disarray, his people are well trained and ready for direction when he arrives. It’s a rock show, which Miles is more fond of than his other money maker shows. As soon as he arrives the wheels begin turning and the show continues on without a hitch. Cutting it close but going perfectly is almost the way of things in the live show world and Miles doesn’t think anything of it unusual.
When he arrives at home, the nightly routine begins. Shower once more, a light snack, dinner was eaten on the road today and a few pages of a book he’s been reading. Most of his reading is purpose oriented and this book is no different being a guide on investment management and stock market tracking. The lack of formal education isn’t anything Miles was willing to allow to hold him back so these studies see important to him. Once his reading is done, his snack is eaten and his home is clean for the next day, he falls asleep.
Not having expected to spend two late night shows in a row, the alarm actually takes several minutes to rouse Miles from his slumber. He turns the alarm off, goes about his morning but is so thrown off he’s late to training. This sets him on edge as he knows his warm up is important and he hates missing sparring rounds. Todays a light spar instead of a hard spar like he enjoys best but he’ll take what he can get and being behind makes him miss several rounds he could otherwise have made it for. He takes his time afterward drilling his frustration on the heavy bag, thudding blows as he works through the annoyance his day is starting with. By the time he finishes and feels more regulated he realizes he is running behind again.
More meetings, this time he barely gets through them, gritting his teeth in annoyance and frustration at this small loss of control he’s experienced from his body. The banality of the meetings not helping him any in maintaining interest or keeping motivated. He gets a letter from the meeting yesterday formally stating they are no longer interested in meeting with someone that can’t keep their appointments or communicate. This annoys Miles enough he throws his stapler across the room, denting the wall lightly. He decides to call it quits on today and go out to find a woman, have a drink, sniff a line, have sex. That will make him feel better, he’s sure of it.
Finding a girl goes off without a hitch, Miles is charming and handsome and he knows it, he’s also genuinely nice to the women he meets, unlike many of his peers. He sees no need to treat them as lesser or unequal as he just thinks that’s an easy way to lose to the ones that are as capable as you. A rare mindset in his industry and one that helps his personal and romantic life just as much.
He takes the woman home, sleeps with her, exchanges his contact information, her name is Catherine. He notes that this actually did help and he enjoyed being around her, he believes he will actually call her again sometime when he has time again. She sleeps the night with him and he wakes up back on routine.
The morning comes and he’s surprised to find she helped herself to breakfast and one of his notepads, leaving him something to eat and a note about needing to go home and telling him to call sometime. He intends to do so and is surprisingly back on routine and in a good mood the rest of his day. He can’t shake the feeling he missed an opportunity of some kind though and this feeling sits with him all day, souring what would otherwise be an excellent day.
Miles is not a man of indecisiveness and does not like to make people wait on him so he sits down and reviews his notes from the more unusual meetings. Pentex? They offered him a lower level position in charge of some department, to Miles this feels like a step backwards and he doesn’t do that so it’s an easy rejection. He leaves the door open to future business exchanges but he’ll pass on the offer. The…Order of Hermes? Strange and confusing offer, he’s not sure he even understood what they wanted from him aside from a sponsorship of some kind, he’s curious enough about what it if they do to pay some extra money into it. Not the amount they asked for but they’ll have to be happy as this is purely a curiosity endeavor and Miles is certain he’ll never see the money again. Last on the list of worthwhile meetings is the tech company. Their demo tech was very impressive and this one Miles does actually agree to. All they wanted is an investment and a mutual agreement that he gets first dibs on any advances in audio recording technology or broadcasting tech.
When he returns home there’s someone standing outside his door, a tall, thin man, anxiety filling his entire being and obvious to anyone who so much as glances at him. “OhthankGodyourestillhuman” the man rambles out as he lets a breath out like he’d been holding it and a noticeable relaxation of his shoulders. Miles raises his eyebrow at that “is there something I can do for you? Are you the gentleman who called me the other day? I thought hanging up made it clear I don’t want to be a part of whatever you were talking about” he says to the strange man. “O-oh I um. Well I guess I didn’t really know if I was ME or what I was saying” the man says sheepishly. “Hm. Well. You’re here now I suppose, you don’t look threatening at all, come inside and explain to me why you looked me up and came all this way.” Miles says looking the man up and down and appraising him for threats, deciding there are none and even if the man moved against him, Miles is confident from his frame that he’s stronger and faster than the strange man. He opens his door and gestures inside, the man stepping inside and the door closing behind them. Miles isn’t sure for a time he believes what the man says about him avoiding some great evil and not to entertain it if it comes back, he’s sure if it means more control over himself and his life that he’d agree regardless of the morality of it. The world is too gray for him to think in black and white but for now, he agrees. The man introduces himself as Neil and though he’s older and an anxious mess, something about him makes Miles feel they may have something in common. He can’t quite place his finger on it but it’s enough that he stays for several hours, talking and sharing a drink.
When he leaves Miles decides to keep in touch, this man who looks like his clothes came out of the trash and makes vaguely mystical sounding statements is interesting. For Miles, that’s enough. And he goes about yet another day, bored but with a new friend and Marcos owes him a favor now. He spends his day thinking about what he wants him to do in return and ends up going to sleep at a reasonable time tonight. The Producer needs their rest after all and he’s been awfully behind on that recently.