IVY

IV

And you poke that bear till the claws come out
And you find something to wrap your noose around
And there's nothing like a mad woman

Taylor Swift - Mad woman

Taylor sat at the glass conference table, surrounded by members of both her and Henry's teams. She was technically the boss of the meeting, but sat at the end of the table, facing a series of men at its head, she couldn't feel further from it.

So she sat hunched over, resting her head in her hands, and her cheek squashed against the glass.

The singer had long since tuned out all the muttering around her, instead watching as her breaths condensed on the glass, before fading away and being replaced by another.

"Taylor? Taylor. Taylor. Tay!" Her head shot up to see Tree and Henry both calling for her attention.

"Sorry, I zoned out a little there." She turned to see several men rolling their eyes at her.

"We were just discussing public relations. Everyone is extremely pleased with the public reception to your wedding." Scott spoke up.

"Right. Well we're doing really great, married life is wonderful. Thank you so much for asking." Taylor scoffed, beyond tired of having to deal with them.

Henry reached over to touch her back, both an indication that she should stop being stubborn, and an act of support for her.

"Taylor you need to start taking things more seriously. At this rate you can wave goodbye to your career. Not everything is about you. By being so dismissive if everyone's hard work to create your brand, you are disrespecting all of us and Henry." Scott scolded her from the opposite end of the table.

"Look don't go berating me. I'm listening." Taylor sat up straight, facing him head on.

"Okay. So everything has been very successful so far, we have all but removed any trace of last year's PR disaster. The tabloids are really investing in you two as a couple, is great PR. And so we have a new plan for a character that you can really lean into in the coming year."

Taylor scowled at him, seeing where this was going. "Because it would be absolutely insane if I tried to be like... oh I don't know... me?"

"You need to understand that 'you' wouldn't cut it. No, it's bigger than that. You're a train-wreck. So I'm proposing we really lean into this aesthetic that we introduced over the last year. The bulk of your southern Baptist audience from your early days has been replaced with a younger, more hip audience. They're absolutely eating up this more mature, sultry vibe, and your relationship together is really helping to solidify that."

Taylor could see exactly where this was going. "This makes absolutely no sense. The real me can't be shown to people because I'm too bland, so you've created this wild party girl thing for me. But then you have to tone down the other side of me because apparently it's unthinkable that I might want to date women." She could feel herself getting frustrated, a fire rising in the blonde's chest and tears beginning to fill her eyes.

The air in the room seemed to be sucked out, everyone staring into Taylor's eyes.
"I thought we were past this Taylor. This is highly inappropriate."

She sunk into her chair, looking at her hands squirming under the glass. Tree debated whether or not to intervene and give Taylor a moment to calm down, but she didn't feel that it would help.

"Now if I may continue uninterrupted, we have curated a dynamic for you two which will require some publicity stunts, and the involvement of paparazzi. It's a kind of carefree dynamic duo thing."