Present...
"Hello, my name is Brooklyn Johanson. I have an appointment." I say to the young woman behind the counter in the lobby.
"Oh yeah, they are already expecting you. You can leave your suitcases here and the room is on second floor, room 03." She answers politely so I give her my suitcases and take the elevator to the second floor.
I'm pretty nervous to be honest but I think it's normal...
I arrive at the room but before I knock on the door I take a deep breath.
This is the new start in my life.
New people I'm going to work with.
New experiences.
A new chapter.
I'm excited.
I slowly push the door handle down and open the door when I see a man I didn't expect to see.
"Ah Ms Johanson, right?" A middle aged man in a black suit asks and shakes my hand.
"Ah y-yes." I answer trying to keep calm and look at the man but my eyes only focus on one person in this room.
And this person is called Shawn Mendes...
I shake hands with another man and sit down on a chair in front of the desk.
Shawn is casually leaning against the wall, staring at me devilish but calm with his brown but kind of dark eyes. Maybe it's just the lightning in the room but it scares me a bit.
"I'm Andrew Gertler, Shawn's manager and this is Cez Darke, his usual tour manager but as you probably know his wife brought a child into the world so he can't tour with us for the next few months, that's why we need you." Mr. Gertler explains and of course I know him but I didn't know that I'll be Shawn's tourmanager.
"Oh, congratulations on your new baby!" I answer friendly and shake Mr Darke's hand.
"Thank you." He answers and smiles at me.
"Do you know Shawn Mendes?" Mr Gertler asks again and this question leads my eyes to look at Shawn again.
I stop for a few seconds and just stare at him just as he does.
There's this unpleasant tension in the room and I think Mr Gertler already noticed that something's wrong between shawn and me.
"Not sure if I still know him but yeah, I heard about him." I answer coldly so he looks down to the ground.
Mr. Gertler is kinda confused I guess, he's switching between looking at shawn and looking at me.
" Ah well, that's good. You'll get to know him during the tour." He continues and searches for a document for me to sign.
It's a contract so he explains some things about it and Mr Darke also explains some things about the job but after solid 20 minutes I finally sign the contract.
"That's great! I think you already know that we are leaving LA tomorrow and fly to Europe?" He asks so I nod and smile.
"Good, we all are staying in Justin Stirling's condo here in LA for tonight so you can stay there too. I hope there's a room left."
"That would be great, thank you Mr. Gertler." I answer and smile.
"You can call me Andrew. We're a team! By the way, you will meet the rest of the crew and Shawn's band in Europe. They are already there." Andrew explains so I nod, still smiling.
"I guess we can go to Justin's condo now." He says gladly and shakes my hand again.
We all say goodbye to Mr Darke before I take my suitcases at the counter and we walk to the parking lot where a black car is parked.
Andrew helps me loading my luggage into the car trunk while shawn is already sitting in the car on the back seat.
Andrew sits on the passenger seat since his bodyguard is driving so I have to, whether I like it or not, sit on the back seat next to Shawn.
There's a very awkward silence in the car, only the music is playing on the radio.
Some chart songs but my foot immediately catches the rhythm of the song and bops with it.
"Where are you from, Brooklyn?" Andrew asks to break the silence.
"Actually, you can call me Brook. But I'm from Pickering, just as Shawn." I answer and look out of the window.
"Wow, really?! And you weren't on the same school or met him?" Andrew asks confused and surprised.
I look over to shawn but he's just looking out of the window, acting like he's not listening but I know he does.
"Well, indeed, we were at the same high school." I answer and also look out of the window again.
"Cool. I guess we made the right choice with you!" Andrew says gladly.
He actually seems really kind and nice.
The silence comes back after Andrew stopped talking.
We arrive at Justin Stirling's condo after about 30 minutes. It's on a hill with an impressive and amazing view over LA.
"Wow..." I say quietly, looking my eyes out of the view.
"Awesome, right?" Andrew asks and gives me my suitcases.
We enter the condo and the first person I meet is Justin.
"Ah hello!" Justin says and bro hugs Andrew and Shawn.
"You must be the new tourmanager, right?" He asks and shakes hands with me.
"Yeah exactly, Brooklyn Johanson but you can call me Brook." I answer and smile.
We walk into the living room where Shawn's friend Brian is already waiting for us. I know him from high-school because he already was Shawn's friend back then.
"Shawn!" Brian screams and jumps up from the white couch to bro hug him.
"Hey Brian!" Shawn answers, still quiet and cold.
"What's up bro?" Brian asks confused before he notices me.
"Wait, Brook?!" Brian asks shocked and hugs me.
"Brian! Nice to see you again." I answer happily and hug him too.
We always were pretty good friends since shawn and I met but when Shawn and I stopped being friends, my friendship with Brian also kind of disappeared.
"How are you? And what are you doing here?" He asks confused and looks at me.
"I'm actually Shawn's tourmanager." I answer and blush.
"Really? That's awesome!"
"So who's hungry? I ordered pizza." Justin interrupts so we all walk to the terrace and sit down on the outdoor benches with the pretty view over LA in the sunset.
"So Brook, how's it going? How's your family doing?" Brian asks while he takes a piece of pizza.
"Great. My mum just found a boyfriend and my sister is in Australia with her boyfriend right now." I answer and start eating.
"Sounds awesome." He answers and smiles.
It's kinda like we never were apart from each other.
I look over to shawn but he's still so quiet and mad at me... It kinda freaks me out.
"Shawn man, what's up? You're so weird today." Brian asks and looks over to shawn.
"Right, what's up Shawn? Are you feeling bad?" Andrew asks worried.
"Everything's fine guys. Don't worry about me." He answers annoyed and looks at me for a short moment before he keeps on eating.
-
"So, what was the real reason for Shawn's bad mood?" Brian asks and places his bottle of beer on the ground next to him.
"It's a complicated story..." I answer and look down to the ground.
"Tell me. I'm his best friend so I will find out anyway." He answers and I can see his point.
"Okay..." I give in and tell him everything that happened since the first time I met shawn after all these years.
"Holy... That's a lot..." Brian sighs and looks at me.
"And now he's so mad at me..."
"It freaks you out, doesn't it?" Brian asks a bit worried so I slowly nod and a tear rolls down my cheek.
"Oh no... Please don't cry..." He says and hugs me tightly.
"It's just... It just hurts you know..." I say with a quiet but crying voice.
"You don't talk to shawn about it, do you?" I ask so he nods.
"Of course I won't." He answers and smiles at me.
I look over the skyline of LA in the night. Everything is quiet, I just hear the water of the pool behind us.
"I never thought I would meet you again this way." I say after a while and have a little smile on my face.
"Me neither. I thought the new tourmanager is some older woman..." He answers and laughs.
"Well, it's just a 20 year old girl, finding her old friend again." I answer and laugh too.
"I guess I should go to bed. We have to stand up early tomorrow." I say and stand up.
"Yeah you're right. But wait." He says and takes something out.
"Take this." He says and gives it to me.
"What's that?"
"Look at it." He answers and smiles.
I look at the photo and see a picture of Shawn, Brian and me.
"I guess that was the day I met you for the first time, wasn't it?" I ask so he nods.
"Wow... Such a long time ago..." I say quietly and look at the photo of us.
"Thank you." I give him a kiss on his cheek and say goodnight before I walk to my guest room.