After another long night of staying up, I get ready to go to the office again. I get changed in a black long sleeve shirt that I cover with a red long sleeve plaid shirt. I wear a pair of dark blue skinny jeans that I put with black high-top converse. Lazily putting my hair back in a bun, I leave my flat and get into a cab which drives me to the office.
When I get there, I check in and continue up to the familiar conference room. I open to find the same assorted group as the day I came here with Zayn. Mr.Cole smiles at me nicely as I take a seat next to Paul and take out my papers from yesterday. We wait a little longer for a few more people to enter the conference room before Mr.Cole stands to speak.
“As many of you know, we have a new publicist consultant; Bear. She was here all day working hard and now she’s going to show us what she’s discovered. Bear, the stage is yours.” Mr. Cole says to me as he sits back down into his chair. My heart starts to race with the shock of learning that I have to present my findings to all these people. I shyly stand up and walk towards the end of the conference table that is opposite Mr.Cole. I put the pile of papers onto the table in front of me as I address the assembled people.
“As Mr.Cole said, I’ve been working hard since yesterday. I’ve had to look through all these papers of merchandise. I have to agree that most of them will do great with sales,” I say as I remove the top half of the papers from the pile and lift the bottom half up to show. “These, however, may not. Such as the One Direction Uggs or the One Direction hair straightener,” I say showing pictures of the two pieces of merchandise to the group with a small amount of laughter rising from them.
“I love band merch as much as the next teenage hormonal girl but these are just creepy. Like the One Direction contacts. Who came up with these, may I ask?” I smile showing off the piece, again getting more laughter in response. I notice Charlene start to squirm in her seat, not laughing, but I ignore it for the sake of her reputation.
“Anyways, these kinds of merchandise won’t bring in customers. Fans are more likely to go for products that include music somewhere in them. Maybe if we sell iPod cases, we could attract these kinds of customers. Fans also like pictures of the bandmates. Like posters. Posters are great and all, but what about cardboard cutouts?” I suggest as a agreeing murmur falls over the group.
“Imagine, being about to take a selfie with a cardboard cutout of Harry, and it being Harry’s actually height. Fans would love that. Like a small way of imagining that you met the boys. These are the types of products we should sell. Sorry, but I’m afraid the One Direction contacts will have to go. I know, I know. You were all rooting for it, and so was I until I realised I’d have to look into a mirror every time I wanted to see the boys.” I say walking over to the garbage and disposing of the bottom half of the pile. I return with the top half and hand it over to Tommy. I sit back down with a smile from Mr.Cole as he stands.
“Very nice work, Bear. Thank you for the entertaining presentation, too. I think we all can agree that you made a good decision getting rid of those contacts,” Mr.Cole says with laughter coming from the group. “That is all. Thank you again, Bear. Keep up the good work.” He says as he dismisses the meeting. Everyone gets up and I immediately get several congratulations. Charlene and Tommy come over and compliment me on my good work. I thank them and walk out of the conference room with Paul.
“Whew, now that that’s out of the way, time for the really hard part.” I tell him as we start to walk towards the hall.
“If anything it gets easier from here. I bet you’re already learning the tricks on how to make the boys listen. Now's the fun part. You’ll see. You and I will be working side by side for a long while.” Paul says back to me with a smile.
“I’m looking forward to it. Me, you, and five other boys. Taking over the world, one song at a time.” I smile up at Paul he smiles back at me and we say goodbye to each other. I hear Mr.Cole call my name and I turn walk back up the hall to him.
“Very nice job, Bear. You’ve really proved yourself.” Mr.Cole says as I approach him.
“Thank you Mr.Cole.” I say politely.
“If you don’t mind, the company has a few things they wanna run by you. It’ll take awhile so if you want to do a little today and more tomorrow, go right ahead. Just go follow the crowd up the elevator and the receptionist at the desk up there will lead you.” Mr.Cole tells me as he goes into his office.
I nod and follow his instructions to follow the crowd. I wait for an elevator with them and squeeze inside with them all. Several people bump into my hip, causing my cuts to get agitated and start to hurt more. When we arrive on floor 5, everyone gets out of the elevator and starts to go their own way. I look for the receptionist desk and see a lady there with a blue sweater on.
“Excuse me, Mr.Cole just sent me. I don’t really know where I’m going right now..” I say to the lady as she munches on her gum and continuously stares at her computer screen.
“Name?” says the woman dulley.
“Bear Trenton.” I say getting annoyed with the woman’s lack of interest.
“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry. I should’ve known! Right this way, Bear.” the woman says suddenly with a smile. I walk after her as she leads me where the rest of the people on the elevator went. She opens up a black door and turns on the light inside for me. “People should be in soon, I’ll tell them you're here. Is there anything I can get you?” she asks before leaving.
I dismiss her offer and she leaves the small room as I start to look around the tiny office. My office for the day. With a smile, I take a seat behind the desk and look around at the blank walls. I think quickly of how everything would be decorated if this was my office for a while. I take out my laptop and phone from my bag as I hear a knock on the door.
“Come in.” I call out as I log into my laptop. I look up to see a Peter from the paint party. “Peter?! You work here?” I ask as I walk around the desk to give him a hug. It’s unusual to see him clothed in a suit and no paint on his skin.
“Well, yeah. How else did you think Zayn and Louis found out about that party? Anyways, welcome to the team. I’ll be one of the people who has to run things by you. I’m in charge of photoshoots and music videos. Would you like to start?” Peter say while returning my hug and sitting down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. I walk back around the desk to my chair and sit down.
“Sure, let’s go.” I say putting my arms on the desk and giving my full attention to Peter.
“Okay, well next week, the boys are going to Tunbridge Wells to film Live While We’re Young. While they’re there, they’ll be doing several photo shoots for the upcoming year. You need to be there so you can instruct them on what’s appropriate. Here’s what Modest will be looking for,” Peter says while handing me a packet of paper that has the title: One Direction LWWY Etiquette.
“Yikes, okay. So I just go by what’s in here to know what’s good and what’s not?” I ask while flipping through the papers.
“Yes, exactly. It’s pretty basic. If you have any questions, Marco will gladly answer them. He has the same job as you but with the five boys, it’s hard for one person to handle. Clara will be here in a little while to go over a few guidelines for you to follow by.” Peter says while standing up.
“Wait, Clara from the party?” I ask with a curious glance to Peter. He smiles and nods his head before he leaves the room. I turn my attention to the etiquette packet, reading off some of the pages. I’m distracted from reading when another knock at the door interrupts me.