Ivy sat in the conference room, glaring at the clock. Justin was over half an hour late and she was ready to just get up and walk out. Johnny was there too, though, so she knew that wasn't an option. This is the kind of stuff that just pissed her off. He had no respect for anyone. He just showed up whenever he felt like it, not giving a shit if it fucked with anyone else's schedule. Well, if she was going to be promoting him, things were going to change.
Just as she was about to pick up her briefcase and walk out, screw the consequences, Justin came barreling into the room, looking like death warmed over. Ivy smirked at him, shaking her head. Amateur. He didn't even try to hide the fact that he had a hangover and he slid into one of the empty chairs across from her, mumbling an apology.
"Well, I think we should get started." Johnny said.
"I have something to say first," Ivy broke in, scooting up in her chair, "Something that I need to address." Johnny gave her a warning look and she stared back at him innocently. Sighing, he raised a hand, waving her on, and she looked pointedly at Justin.
"First of all, I want to say Mr. Timberlake, that it is extremely rude to be late to the first meeting, discussing your solo album." Justin finally looked up at her and she smiled at him. "Second, you are wanting people to take you seriously. How are they going to do that if you can't even show up for one meeting on time? And, to top it off, you show up hung over and looking like shit."
Johnny opened his mouth to argue with Ivy, but she shot him a look and he closed it again. She didn't give a shit who Justin thought he was, she wasn't about to sit and take his attitude. Ivy picked up her briefcase, sitting it on the table in front of her. She stood up, flipping the latches and opening the top. She ruffled through the papers, finally coming across the ones she wanted. She closed the lid, noticing that Justin had watched her every move. This time when he looked up at her, his eyes had narrowed. She bit back a chuckle. He was getting pissed. This was going to be good.
"I have here," she started, "a list of people we need to contact. There are, of course, photo shoots that need to be done as soon as you get a feel for your album. There are radio stations that you'll be doing interviews on...its all things that you've done before. You already know what goes on. Now, I know that you've already gotten most of the material ready and that you're going to be going into the studio the beginning of next week, correct?"
Justin nodded slowly and she continued.
"You'll need a different type of promotion though. You want to appeal to the late teens to late twenties crowd so we'll need to discuss more in depth how we're going to do that. I'm sure that you want to market this differently as it's different than the music you've done thus far. We're going to push this and push it hard. You'll be doing more appearances than ever before. I'm not going to lie to you, though; the critics are going to slam you. They are going to say you can't do it. What we have to prove is that you can. It's not going to be easy. In fact, I think this is going to be the most difficult thing you've ever done, but I'm here to help you in every way I can."
"Sure you are."
Ivy raised her eyebrows at Justin's irritated tone. This was one area where he couldn't get the best of her. She knew every aspect of her job and what it was going to take to sell him to the public. She knew that he was already a sort of 'front man' for NSYNC so it wasn't going to be all that difficult, but she wanted to make him work for it.
"Justin, there's one thing you're going to have to realize." Ivy placed both hands down flat on the smooth top of the table and leaned towards him. "I'm not the enemy here, but I will become one if you try your bullshit temper tantrums with me. You're an adult now. Act like one."
"I think what she's trying to say, Justin," Johnny said, "is that you're not going to have the other four guys to back you up this time and cover for you."
"I know what solo means," Justin interjected, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I may not have gone to college, but I'm not stupid."
"That remains to be seen," Ivy muttered and Justin shot a blazing look at her. If he'd been able to shoot darts with his eyes, she'd be full of holes by now. Ivy smiled sweetly at him. "I think what we need to do right now is go over some of the details so we can have your promo underway within the week. Do you have any questions before we start?"
"Just one."
"Okay."
"Why are you such a bitch?" Johnny stood up quickly; ready to tear into Justin, but Ivy waved him off. She'd deal with him herself. Justin was looking directly at her, his scowl making him look more and more like a petulant two year old.
"I'm not the first bitch you're going to come across Justin. I'm just the one that you wanted to promote you. You may think that your little fits and pranks are going to get you your way, but with me, they're not. In fact, I'd think twice about messing with me little man. You think I'm a bitch now? Piss me off and see how much worse I can be. You'd do good to just listen and do what I say, like a good boy. We'll get along much better that way."
Ivy looked at him pointedly before glancing at Johnny. He had his hand over his mouth and she was sure she saw him hiding a smile. She knew that, most of the time, all Justin had to do was throw a fit and whatever he didn't like was immediately changed, but not this time. This time he'd have to just deal with it. Making sure that there wouldn't be any more outbursts, Ivy sat back down and picked up the papers again.
By the time they left, it was three hours later and she had a good idea of how the promotion was going to go. Justin had been resistant at first, but eventually opened up and started talking more about what he wanted to project. Ivy had seen that a lot of thought had been put into this and was impressed. Now, if he could just keep it up.
~*~
This was the best time of day. The offices were quiet, most everyone having gone home for the day and Ivy just sat at her desk, enjoying the peace after a long day. She had slipped off her heels and propped her feet on top of her desk, stretching out in her chair.
She could go home herself, but she wanted to just sit and enjoy the feeling of a good day's work. She'd been on the phone most of the time and already had close to a dozen interviews set up for Justin. His first photo shoot was going to take place on Monday morning and she had contacted a number of companies about advertising during the tour.
Ivy still had quite a job ahead of her, but she'd accomplished so much today that she felt great. Even better was, after the meeting that morning she hadn't seen much of Justin at all. He'd gone over contracts and other details with Johnny most of the day and by the time she was done, she figured he'd left. Deciding to see if Nelson wanted her to pick up something for dinner, she called their apartment.
It seemed more and more lately that the apartment was theirs in name only. Nelson only came home to sleep and occasionally eat. Ivy was getting annoyed with the way he seemed to be just pushing their relationship to the side and she was fuming by the time she'd called both the apartment and his office, getting the machine at both places.
Fine. She'd had it. When he did finally come waltzing into the apartment, they were going to sit and have a serious talk. She wasn't going to let him ignore her anymore. Having made up her mind, Ivy slipped her shoes on, grabbed her briefcase and left her office, shutting off the lights on the way. She'd just pick up something for herself. Screw Nelson.
"What're you still doing here?"
Ivy nearly jumped out of her skin when Justin suddenly appeared around the corner. Already in a bad mood, she smirked at him.
"I could ask the same of you. Aren't you supposed to be out getting drunk and laid like a good pop star?" Justin rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall.
"Look, it may come as a surprise to you, but I was working on a few things."
"Mmm...I can say I'm fairly surprised at the notion."
"Do you always have to do that?"
"Do what?"
"Take jabs at me for every little thing."
Ivy pretended to think about this for a moment. Justin was growing impatient and she could see that in the way he kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I think so...yes."
"Why?"
Ivy was somewhat taken aback by the complete confusion and sincerity in his manner. He really didn't know why she didn't like him. "I suppose you assume that since you're a favorite among giggling thirteen year old girls that everyone succumbs to your...charm. I would think, being in the business as long as you have, that you'd have at least some maturity about you. But you don't. You seem to think that by acting the part of the pampered prima donna, everyone around you will just suddenly bow to your every whim. Well, think about this for a minute. What are you going to do when you're no longer on top? What are you going to do when people stop calling you? What are you going to do when the name Justin Timberlake doesn't mean anything anymore?"
"Okay, so don't sugar-coat it. Tell me how you really feel." His snide comeback exasperated Ivy. He just didn't get it. He didn't get that one day that would happen and he wouldn't be famous anymore. Justin let out a soft snort and shook his head. "Look, I know what you think of me. I also know that someday I'll be just a regular Joe again. But I'll tell you something. I'm going to enjoy this while it does last. I might as well because right now.... I am on top. Why not live the luxury and enjoy the perks?"
"Because sometimes it goes too far."
"And that's my fault?"
"Not always, but most of the time...yes."
"You know what, you don't know me. You know the media image of Justin and you don't realize that there's a difference between the two."
"How can I when you do things like you did this morning.... showing up hung over and looking the way you did?"
"Did you even think to ask me why I showed up like that?" Ivy didn't have a response to that. She'd immediately took it as a disregard of proper behavior and lack of respect for her. Before she could think of a reply he went on. "Now, if you'd have asked, you might have found out that I spent the entire night consoling a friend of mine. I took him out to the club to cheer him up, but it didn't work and I spent the night at his place, listening to him and talking to him. Next time you wanna judge someone, you might want to actually get some facts before you open your mouth."
With that, Justin turned and stormed down the hallway, leaving Ivy standing there, bewildered. She was trying to figure out just when Justin had gotten the upper hand in that conversation. What absolutely killed her though was.... he was right.