While they waited for their drinks and food, Aunt Kitty checked her phone and answered a text. Whatever she read on the screen made her wince and sigh.
“What’s wrong?” Louise asked.
Aunt Kitty sighed again. It was probably more bad news; she’d already warned them that if their performance of
It had actually been three years ago, shortly before they posted their first video.
“Maybe,” Louise said cautiously. Perhaps Aunt Kitty had talked to Jillian about it last year.
Jillian caught Louise’s glance and gave Louise a surprised look to say she had no idea what Aunt Kitty was talking about. “No.”
“I’d told you that when people did videos, they had a production company and a logo? Like Spike Lee’s production company is 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, and the logo is the number forty over the letter A?”
That was the conversation from three years ago. Adults had a weird, loose concept of time. It was a full third of the twins’ life and they still remembered it completely.
“We remember that,” the twins said. Jillian added an impatient, “And?”
“Well, you picked out the name Lemon-Lime Jello.”
Louise’s stomach turned to stone and dropped to the floor. “And?”
“You can’t use it,” Aunt Kitty stated.
“What?” both girls cried.
“I just found out that someone else is using it,” Aunt Kitty said.
“They are?” They glanced at each other. Was a musical group taking advantage of their popularity?
“I was approached to do a TV show soundtrack with an elf fusion music element to it. The network people brought with them a sample of what they’re looking for, and it was from a company called Lemon-Lime Jello. I’m not sure if they’re spelling it the same way you two were, but it’s close enough that you’ll probably have to find another production company name.”
“We had it first,” Jillian pointed out.
“Oh, Jilly, I know you thought of it first, but they got to market first. Apparently they’ve gotten quite famous even though they’re based on Elfhome.”
“Wait!” Louise realized that it wasn’t another company; it was her and Jillian. “This was an elf fusion soundtrack from a film production company called Lemon-Lime Jello?”
“Yes, the network copied the music from one of their videos and played it for me.”
“Did you see the video?” they both demanded to know.
“No.” Aunt Kitty waved them down, mistaking their alarm for being upset with the supposedly stolen name. “It was a short meeting. They’re after a very specific sound, something very authentic. People are starting to be elf fusion snobs and they want the sound of traditional Elfhome instruments.”
Jillian started to sulk. Obviously she was thinking of all the money they could be making if the networks hired them. Louise had to agree that it sucked that so much of their problems could be fixed if their parents wouldn’t be so focused on “letting them be children.” What was so wonderful about being a kid? They had to lie to go anyplace that they wanted to go to, and they wasted hours sitting in a classroom, supposedly learning how to fit in with the rest of humanity when quite frankly it seemed fairly pointless to try. They weren’t really humans; they were elves.
“So what are you going to do?” Louise asked as casually as she could.
Aunt Kitty looked at her in confusion.
“About the soundtrack?” Jillian clarified.
“I had to turn the gig down. They specifically wanted instruments that I don’t have.”
“Oh.” The twins shared a guilty look. They could have given her their software, but that would mean explaining about the videos. They couldn’t tell her the truth; everything would start to unravel. Lemon-Lime led to YourStore that led to a joint bank account under Esme’s name that led to what they really were doing at the museum.
“I know you really like the name,” Aunt Kitty continued. “But you need something new. I’m sorry to have to tell you, especially after such a bad day yesterday. If you promise me not to tell a soul, I’ll tell you a secret that might make you feel better.”
“Okay.” At least they were good at keeping secrets.
“NBC is going to green-light a series on Elfhome by Nigel Reid.”
“Really?” they both cried with amazement. Last they’d heard, Nigel had been blocked at every attempt to get to Elfhome.
“They do focus groups and such like that. And this Lemon-Lime Jello production group apparently used Nigel in one of their videos and suddenly he’s the hottest thing on the face of the planet. So the network is going to do a pilot and see what the focus group thinks.”
“Nigel got a visa for Elfhome?” Louise cried.
