| "Hello guys, meet your new publicist." Johnny rounded the corner of the recording studio, a young girl a few steps behind him. "Hi, I'm Justin, this is Chris, Lance, and Joey." Brianne shook thier hands, smiling at each one. "I'm Brianne." She returned to Johnny's side, waiting for him to lead her to the office she would be working in. "Send JC to meet her when he decides to show up." Johnny called, ushering her out of the door and down the hall. "If you need anything I am right down the hall." Johnny pointed toward the door of his office, then stopped her infront of an identical door. "This is all yours, settle in today, then I want to see you tomorrow morning when you get in." "Thank you." She twisted the knob, then looked over the dark wood desk, with matching chair, and few filing cabinets that occupied the room. Johnny excused himself, while she looked through her filing cabinets. She had a complete file on each of the guys, dislikes, birthplaces, families, everything anyone would want to know. She also had copies of every interview they had done for magazines, television, and radio. Her desk contained an address book with phone numbers for magazine editors, television producers, and radio executives. As she was looking over the talents' files at her desk, her door opened to reveal Justin. "Hi Brianne." Justin called, throwing himself into one of the chairs on the other side of her desk. "Hi Justin?" She questioned, not sure if he was the one introduced as Justin. "Yeah, what are you looking at?" Justin peeked over the desk for a look at the file. "Your profile." She shut it, letting her hands rest on the manilla file. "Anything interesting?" He raised his eyebrows, slouching into the chair. "Not really, can I help you with anything?" "No, just came to chat." "Oh, what about?" She stood to return the file to it's place, then turned to face him when she had finished. "Nothing in general, where you from?" "Here, born and raised." Feeling a little uncomfortable, she returned to her chair, ready to dismiss him. "How old are you?" "Twenty two, you?" "Didn't you read my profile?" He teased, "twenty." "Just browsed through it. When was the last time you updated them?" "Couple of months ago." He stood and pulled the file from where she had placed it, then flipped through it. "We should probably update them. Do you see anything that needs to be changed?" "Just a few little things, I'll write them in, okay?" He pulled a pen from her pencil holder, then began writing and scribbling. "Good, and could you tell the others to stop by to do their's when they get a chance?" Just then JC walked into the office, ready to meet the publicist Joey and Chris described as hot. "Hi, can I help you?" Brianne stopped, it was the man from the coffee shop, she prayed he was lost. "I'm JC, but you know that." JC held his hand out for her, distaste apparent in his tone and posture. "Brianne." She took his hand, then made her way to the filing cabinet to obtain JC's profile for him to look over. "You know each other?" Justin stood, placing the finished file on her desk. "Unfortunately, yes." JC stated, turning to leave the room. "Josh, could you make sure this is correct?" Brianne called him back, handing him the file. When he sat in the chair Justin had been in seconds before, she regreted not being more specific. "Brianne, I'll tell the other guys to come do it, I'll see you later." Justin left them to themselves, while Brianne took her place behind the desk. "There." JC slid the file across the desk, tossing the pen with it. "Thank you." She pushed the file to the side, then placed the pen where he had gotten it from. "Is that all you want?" JC stood, staring down at her helpless figure. "Yeah, that'll be all." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand, looking over Justin's edited profile, trying to avoid eye contact. "Good." JC slammed the door on his way out, causing her to jump at the sudden noise. She quickly went to work retyping the guy's profiles with the new changes, trying to forget the confrontation of the morning. Soon the rest of the guys had come and gone, interviews were arranged, and it was time for her to leave. She gathered her things, turned off her lights, and tried to make her way to the parking lot. Digging in her purse for the keys to her car, she rounded a corner, running right into JC. "Sorry." She called over her shoulder as she walked away from the potentially dangerous situation. "You should be." JC shouted, then was unrewarded when she kept her pace. Yet again he had been unable to phase her, from what he knew. That night she pondered looking for another job, as she searched the newspaper for anything that caught her eye. Throwing it onto the counter, as she made her way to the kitchen, she decided one day experience wouldn't look good. She would have to stick it out for longer, they had to go on tour eventually. She had a light dinner, then changed out of her work clothes, into a pair of pajamas, ready for a night in front of the television. Just as she was getting into a new episode of Friends, the phone rang and she cursed the caller as she ran to the phone. "Hello?" She panted, grabbing the remote and hitting the mute button. "Hi Brianne, what are you doing?" Justin's familiar voice greeted her, and she stood shocked for a moment. "Hi, how did you get my number?" "I have my connections, it's okay that I called you, right?" "Yeah fine, what'd you need?" She wondered who his 'connections' were. "Nothing, just wanted to talk." "You seem to want to do a lot of that, anything in general this time?" "Kind of." He paused, trying to think of a way to bring it up. "Kind of? What about?" Pulling a glass from the cabinet with one hand, she used the other to obtain the milk from the refridgerator. "How do you know JC?" "We met in a coffee shop, not a pleasant experience." She poured herself a glass of milk, then returned the milk to it's place. "Are you going to stay with us?" Justin's unconfident voice hit her, causing her to have the urge to hug him. Luckily he wasn't within reach, so she had to settle for assuring him JC wouldn't have that effect on her. "Justin, I don't care what Josh and I think of each other, I can do my job and he can do his." She shook her head in emphasis, ignoring the fact he couldn't see her. "Good, what are you doing tonight?" "Watching T.V., you?" She returned to the couch, watching the silent television while she waited for Justin to answer. "Watching T.V. with you?" Justin asked, careful not to scare her away. "Sure, when you coming?" "Right now, where do you live?" Justin grabbed a pen and paper, ready to jot down the directions. Soon, he was on his way to her house, while she changed back into her work clothes, and tidied her apartment. |
| Chapter Two |
| Four months later.... |