|
Victoria wiped her sweaty
palms against her dark denim jeans. Ok, so she was a little nervous. It was her
first day as the designer for Nsync’s new video and she was waiting outside
Johnny Wright’s office at Jive. She still couldn’t believe she had
gotten it. A comforting hand rested
on her shoulder. Toria turned to see Lisa beaming at her. “Can you believe
this? This is so amazing!” Toria shrugged. She would
probably be enjoying this more if she wasn’t so nervous. She looked around the
busy room. The video wasn’t going to be shot for another few days but there
was much to be done. Two more models had to be
picked, the set had to finish being built and the rest of the designs had to
be cleared through and made. She hoped she could get her work finished by
then. She really didn’t have a choice. Toria glanced down at the
case resting on the floor by her feet. It was filled with design ideas she
had made for the video. A wave of uncertainty went through her. What if they
hated the concepts? What if they hated the actual designs? What if they hated
her? Lisa patted her shoulder,
sensing her nervousness. “It’s going to be ok!” She nodded. She could
only hope. “Victoria. Lisa right? So
glad you’re both here.” Johnny Wright said, walking up to them alongside a
tall Asian man. “This is Paul Nguyen.
He’s our video manager. He’s going to show you where you’re supposed to be
and explain what you’re doing today.” The girls nodded. Johnny spoke quietly to
Paul and then headed on his way. “Well Lisa we’re just
going to get you a script so you can look it over. There really isn’t much to
know. There isn’t any dialogue but there are a lot of things you have to run
through.” He turned to walk away, talking all the while. Toria and Lisa
looked at each other at the corner of their eyes and smirked at his no
nonsense attitude. “Victoria, you are going
to meet with the guys. They will look over your sketches, pick out what they
feel is ideal for the video, and then you will meet the seamstresses and we
can get the outfits started.” He stopped in front of a
medium sized office. “The guys should be coming in at,” he checked his watch,
“9. So, you have a few minutes until they get here. I’ll see you later.” He turned to Lisa, “If
you’ll just come with me, I’ll find you a script.” “Sure.” Lisa smiled.
“I’ll come back as soon as I can.” She managed to say quickly to Toria,
before she followed Paul. Toria walked into the
office with trepidation. Her stomach twisted and she felt sick. She tucked
her design case under her arm and walked around the room, looking at the
décor to stem her nervousness. It was a moderately large
room and although it was a little stark, with its white walls, long table and
black leather seats, the wide windows on the wall made it welcoming. She rested the case on
the table and poured herself a glass of water. She walked over to the
windows, looking out at the people and cars passing by. She smiled as an
elderly couple walked by holding hands. They looked very happy and she looked
on wistfully, hoping that she could find that kind of love one day. She heard laughter behind
her and turned around to see the five members of Nsync walking into the room. She took a calming breath
as they walked over to her. She was surprised when
they all, quite formally, introduced themselves. It wasn’t as if she didn’t
know who they were but they introduced themselves nonetheless. When they got
into the actual perusal of the designs, they treated the occasion like any
other business meeting, which was another surprise. She had thought that
because she was so young, they wouldn’t take her seriously but they did the
exact opposite. She was also doing a
pretty good job at pretending to be calm – although it was a little hard
considering the fact that Justin was giving her curious sideway glances. Justin inspected her face
once more. He knew who she was. She was the girl from the mall. The one who
had caused that major scene in Fornica. But there was something
else. That feeling from before. That sense of recognition. He’d seen her
somewhere before. He knew it. He just wasn’t sure where. He had been meeting
people all his life and it wasn’t easy for him to remember faces anymore. But he knew her. He was
sure of it. He wondered if he should
just let the mall scene pass like it never happened or let her know that he
remembered her. By the way, she was twisting her hands in her lap and the way
her eyes were desperately looking anywhere but at him, made him realize that
she remembered and was embarrassed by the whole thing. He wouldn’t say anything.
He would let it pass and pretend it never happened. He didn’t want to scare
her off. By the looks of her designs, he could see she was gifted at her art
and they really needed her. When the meeting was done
and the designs were picked, they all shook hands briskly and made there way
out of the room. While the guys got ready
to leave for an interview, Victoria waited outside the room feeling calm. The
meeting had gone well. The guys had loved her stuff and Justin hadn’t
recognized her. She was oddly put out by
the fact. Hadn’t he just seen her a few days ago? Although she knew she shouldn’t
care, it was really somewhat insulting. She shook her head and
laughed a little. She really should be feeling relieved that he hadn’t. It
was one of the stupidest things she had ever done. “Victoria!” She looked up to see Paul
heading towards her. “How did the meeting go?”
He asked, stopping in front of her. “Good. It was good. They
liked the stuff. I’m just ready to get working on them.” She smiled. He smiled back. “Well
let’s get you over to the seamstresses. Once you meet them, you all can discuss
what you need, the fabrics, the tools etcetera and we’ll send for them. When
they arrive you guys can start doing your thing. How does that sound?” Toria grinned. “It sounds
good.” It really did. |