Like I Love You 

Chapter 2. 

“You ready for the roller coaster?” Johnny asked, sitting at the large oval table that took up most of the board room as he flipped through a large binder of papers.

Justin nodded, as he sat nonchalantly, his legs crossed as he moved the computer chair from side to side. “It’s now or never.” He said, letting go of the breath he’d been holding.

“I think you’ll do fine, Justin. You’ve got the talent and you’ve been telling me for a while now that this is where you wanted to go with your career.”

“I know. It’s just hard to believe it’s really happening, ya know?” Justin voiced, scratching the back of his head. “It’s just me. If I screw up, it all falls on me.”

Johnny laughed slightly. “That’s how things go when you decide to go solo.”

Justin brought his hand up to his mouth and bit his nail. “Yeah, I guess.”

“So you will be shooting for your album cover next week and you’ve got a few magazine spreads to do also.”

Justin scoffed a bit. “Lovely.”

Johnny looked up and shook his head. “You want this album to be a success Justin. We’re going to get you in every magazine possible. Every interview, every promo spot, appearance, performance, you name it. If you want to be on top, you’ve got to do the work.”

“I know. It’s just that it’s a lot to take in.”

“I know. You’re one of the hardest working people in this industry. You’ll have an assistant to see you through all of this so you won’t be so overwhelmed.”

“An assistant?” Justin asked loudly. “Because I don’t already have enough damn people following me around all the time?”

Johnny laughed at his outrage, not the lease bit phased. “Trust me. You’ll need her. In fact she should be here shortly to finalize the itineraries.”

“She?”

“Yes, she. I put my trust in this woman that everything will go along smoothly. You’re lucky she even agreed to do it on such short noticed. Besides, she’s beyond over qualified to be someones PA.”

“Then why is she doing it if she’s over qualified?”

Johnny stood as he heard a knock on the door. “Because Justin. This is a big job and I didn’t trust the last person they hired. I can’t afford things to go any less than perfect.”

Justin groaned to himself, scrubbing a hand over his face. He was mentally picturing his new assistant. Johnny wanted someone perfect. The only thing that came to mind was an old, burnt out woman with a bun and glasses. Someone who reminded him of that one teacher in elementary school that everyone hated. He was already dreading this whole process.

Hearing the door open, he shook out of his small reverie.

“Brynn, glad you could make it!” Johnny said, welcoming her into the room. “I wanted to formally introduce you,” He said, turning towards Justin. “Brynn, this is Justin. Justin, this is Brynn Clarkson, your new assistant.”

Justin’s eyes widened as he sat up and quickly stuck his hand out, meeting it with hers. It was the girl he bumped into the other day and she definitely didn’t remind him of any teacher he’d ever had in his life. He eyed her up and down, taking in the form fitting jeans she wore, along with the black v neck t-shirt that gave a slight view of her chest. Her blonde hair sat in wavy ringlets against her shoulders bringing out the color of her mascaraed brown eyes. He tried to ignore the light feminine scent that quickly surrounded him and the softness of her hand as he shook it with his own. This was a big change from how he’d seen her dressed the other day.

“Ni- nice to meet you.” Justin said, stuttering a bit and mentally cursing himself.

“Like wise.” Brynn voiced as she smiled politely before taking a seat next to Johnny.

“We were just going over dates for everything, Brynn. As you know, Justin has several photo shoots coming up next week. He hates to be fawned over so make sure he’s on time. Photographers hate to wait.” Johnny said as Justin scoffed.

“Whatever. I know how to be on time.” He said cockily.

Just what I need. A spoiled pop star, Brynn thought to herself.

“I’m sure we’ll have no problems, Johnny.” She said masking her thoughts and smiling quickly at Justin.

She eyed him up and down, taking in the way he sat up straight, trying to look interested even though she could tell he didn’t want to be there at the moment. She watched as he scratched the back of his head as his leg seemed to bounce repeatedly. He was dressed as she had remembered him before, jeans and a t-shirt, and the light scruff on his face prevented him ever so slightly from looking his actual age, which she had yet to confirm. He couldn’t be that old. He was in fact the lead singer in Jive’s most popular boy band. Still, in her eyes, he was young.

“I didn’t think you would,” Johnny replied, bringing Brynn out of her daydream. “We’ve got the VMA’s coming up which is a pretty big deal. Justin will need to rehearse for that until it’s perfect. You still need to figure out wardrobe and all that,” He said nodding at Justin.  “His single will also be released on the radio next week so we’re hoping for it to really take off. I’m hoping you’ll be able to e-mail me airplay reports for the first day, Brynn.”

Justin nodded at Johnny, then smiled to himself as he watched Brynn jot down stuff on the notebook she had brought with her. He had caught her eyeing him as the wheels in his head began to turn but she once again was back into professional mode.

“I’ll make sure it’s all taken care of. I’ve already got travel arrangements made.” Brynn said, handing Johnny a folder.

He scanned over it quickly. “I knew you’d be on top of it. I’m glad I could count on you, Brynn.”

“It’s my job.” She shrugged as the smile fell from her face.

“It’s not your job but you’re doing me a huge favor by filling these shoes. I know you’ll be at your full potential one of these days.”

Brynn nodded, tucking her hair behind her air. It still bothered her that she was stuck doing this. Clearly she had put in her time and dues with Jive and especially for Johnny. She wanted a crack at a real job. She wanted to be a part of the music and the creative aspects that went into creating a tour.

Justin watched the cheer from her face fade and began to wonder once again but couldn’t bring himself to question her. Not in front of Johnny at least. Between the two of them, he felt like the immature child as the adults discussed the correct babysitting plan for him.

“So what’s first?” Justin finally asked, his voice mixing in with the sounds of papers being over turned and the scrawl of pens running across notebooks.

“Next week you’re shooting for your album and doing a few magazines, practicing choreography, shooting your music video,...”

Justin nodded, taking it all in, trying not to roll his eyes. It was all so exciting, still he had been there and done it all. This part was what he hated the most.

“So it looks like we’re all on the same page now. Did you have a chance to meet security?” Johnny questioned.

Brynn laughed, as she nodded her head. “Yeah, yesterday. Will he be around us all the time?”

“Unfortunately.” Justin muttered, fidgeting in his chair again. “It’s like having a damn three hundred and fifty pound chaperon.”  

“It’s for your own safety Justin. You know how insane your fans can be.”

Brynn looked between the two, her eyes wide in question. “Have there been issues before?”

Johnny nodded slightly but returned with a warm smile. “Like I said, his fans are a little crazy. I’m sure Lonnie will make sure everything stays fine.”

Brynn tried to hide the look of worry, masked by her professionalism but Justin could see it clearly. Sometime deep inside of him felt the need to assure her.

“It’ll be fine, Brynn. Seriously, Lonnie’s never let me down.” Justin said, smiling towards her.

She nodded, letting out a deep breath as her shoulders finally relaxed. Justin could see the wheels in her head turning. She might be a professional but deep down, she had no idea what she was getting into.

“I have no doubt it will be.” She said, turning towards Johnny.

“Well, I think that covers everything. I appreciate you coming in on such short notice, Brynn.” Johnny said, as he gathered his material and stood.

“Not a problem.” She smiled, standing with him as well.

“I hate to cut this short but I’ve got another meeting to get to so I’ll let myself out. Feel free to call me with any questions.”

“Will do, Johnny. Bye.” Brynn said, as she watched him leave the room.

She turned to Justin as silence filled the room. Clearing her throat, she grabbed her stuff as she turned to walk towards the door.

“Brynn, wait!” Justin called, as he walked towards her, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Would you have time to maybe grab a cup of coffee or something? I feel we didn’t really get a chance to formally meet.”

“No Justin, I don’t.” She replied, her voice cold. “This is a business thing and that’s it. We’re not suppose to be friends. I’m your assistant, nothing more.”

Justin looked at her wide eyed, shocked by the tone of her voice. He could only stand there dumbfounded.

“I’ll see you next week. You’ve got a seven a.m. wake up call on Monday so don’t be late.” She voiced sternly before exiting the room.

Standing there stunned, Justin could only watch as she fled, all words falling mute on his tongue. He didn’t understand how Brynn could be so friendly towards Johnny and so cold towards him when he’d hardly spoken two words to her. He knew a part of the shock came from being rejected by a female, professional or not.  He’d spent a great portion of his life with women praising the ground he walked on and the fact that Brynn had showed no interest only added to the shock and hurt.   

Beyond that, she still seemed like someone he wanted to get to know. She may have portrayed herself as a professional but Justin saw beyond that. He only hoped that two or three months was a long enough time to get to know the real her. Otherwise, he didn’t think he’d be able to handle working with someone who hated him, not when he saw something warm and hopeful lingering deep down in her eyes.