Loving Her Was Red

3 Simple Rules

Taylor stood outside of Scott's office, sunglasses perched on top of her nose and a cigarette in one hand, while the other supported her handbag. She was mindlessly blowing up wisps of smoke, running an eye throughout the room, but unfortunately, nothing caught her fancy.

Suddenly, a short, stout figure bumped into her, sending a bunch of papers flying everywhere.

"Char. Watch where you're going, honey." Taylor pretended to look concerned over her manager, who was bent down, picking up papers for the meeting, which was decided by Scott at short notice.

"Not funny, Taylor. Not funny at all." Charlotte murmured under her breath as she filed the papers again and sat down on one of the seats next to Taylor, who remained in her standing position.

A shrill ring of the bell and the receptionist waved them in, eyeing Taylor who was still holding onto her cigarette, seemingly unaffected as to why had she been called by Scott Borchetta himself.

Walking into the familiar room that she had first discovered when she was 14, Taylor glanced at the man sitting in front of her. A thin, balding man, around the age of 57, whose back was now turned to Taylor.

"Uhm-uhm." Charlotte cleared her throat to announce their presence. Clearly, Taylor wasn't half interested to carry on the meeting, but Charlotte was intent on keeping up with all of Taylor's work.

Rapidly turning around, his wrinkled hands holding a U.S. Weekly, Scott faced Taylor, peering over his horn rimmed glasses to take a better look at the singer. Sighing and mumbling, he gestured Charlotte to take her seat while Taylor moved around the room, obviously showing a keener interest in the paintings on the wall rather than the topic of conversation.

"So. So." Scott stretched out the words in a monotonous tone.

"So what, Scott?" Taylor replied, her eyes fixed on a portrait that hung upon the walls.

"None of that attitude here, Miss Swift. I'm not to be messed with." Scott raised his voice, his jaws clenching.

Charlotte was about to apologize, before Taylor cut in.

"Alright. You wished to talk, Mr. Borchetta?" Taylor said as sweetly as possible, making herself comfortable on the chair, next to him.

"Hell, I did. Have you any idea Taylor Swift, as to how many phone calls I have had to answer on account of your recent unscrupulous activities? The after party had just been taken care of, now you seem to come up with a new scandal! Coming out of a model's apartment in the wee hours of morning, is that what you want to showcase to your fans, Taylor? And-"

"Oh shut up." Taylor said before she even thought about it.

She was sick of people, ordering her around and questioning her about her personal life. She had decided not to give in to such manipulative people anymore.

"What'd she say?" Scott gaped at Charlotte, with his mouth half-open, obviously still trying to absorb what Taylor had said.

"I-Tayl- I'm sorry. She's kind of really not her at the moment. Bit overworked, I think." Charlotte replied hastily.

Charlotte was prone to Taylor's nonchalant attitude, her indiscretion towards people. She was the one who did try to shield her, should something wrong happen.

Taylor's eyes narrowed towards Scott, who was staring at her with a scorching gaze.

Scott pointed a remote at the TV screen, flicking through channels until he came upon one.

"-Sources have implied that Taylor Swift, 24, Speak Now hitmaker, was seem coming out of Victoria's Secret top notch model, Cara Delevingne's apartment in New York City.

Mobbed by paparazzi and photographers, Taylor Swift, in a fit of rage, threatened dire consequences to a reporter, who questioned her about her upcoming new album."

"And her breath smelled of coffee, alcohol-"

"Of late, Miss Swift has been seen spending a lot of time with her now-engaged friend, Karlie Kloss."

They kept on flashing photos of Taylor coming out of Cara's apartment, her being supported by Karlie, who held out a hand to prevent further clicks from taking place.

Switching off the TV, which had left Taylor flustered for a moment, Scott continued.

"Miss Swift. I'm setting up ground rules for you. You seem not to be vaguely understanding the reverberations of your actions. All of these rules, you are to follow, lest they be broken or overruled in any manner, Big Machine Records will withdraw from the contract and you will apparently be nothing but a songwriter that was once, well. Taylor Swift."

He handed her (or rather, forced into her hands.) a file consisting of numerous pages, typed out and signed by Scott himself.

"Whatever." Taylor mumbled under her breath as she placed down her cigarette in the ashtray and tossed her bag over to Charlotte. Placing her legs over the table, just over Scott's plaque, she began reading the document, her eyebrows creasing and her face falling with each and every word she absorbed.

"No. NO! I'm not agreeing to this!" She stood up, her face one of anger and frustration, throwing the file over at Scott, almost hitting him in the face.

"Ah, I see. You grow more despicable, Miss Swift. Very well, then. You can go and pursue another career, now that you are free to do so." Scott spoke in a gentle, humble tone, his voice dripping of sarcasm.

"Taylor. Sit down. Please." Charlotte pleaded, as she pulled Taylor by her hand onto the seat.

Taylor gazed at Scott with utter dislike, how could he possibly do this to her?

"It's surely not that bad." Charlotte bit her lips as she took the file from Scott, who now bore a frown.

"Alright. Clause 1. You are not allowed to drink, smoke or consume any sort of drugs, minding events, parties, conferences, performances, concerts and the like." She stated in her high pitched British accent.

"Clause 2. You are not to carry on flings, especially with your model friends (Taylor snorts), actresses or any other celebrities, effective now on."

Charlotte's eyes widened for a moment, her eyes then flickered over to Scott's.

"Go on." He smiled, giving her an assuring look, as Taylor cast him a look, which was equivalent of throwing about 12 knives.

Charlotte gulped, as she struggled to read the next statement.

"You are to go out with Harry Styles until decided otherwise."