Status: In Progress
I'm in Kandyland So Don't Save Me
Three
The meeting with the representatives was quick. They mostly addressed Vanessa with photoshoot concepts and what props we’d be needing and the likes. It was rather unnecessary for me to be there but I was getting paid so I didn’t really mind. Something had to fuel my intense addiction to shopping.
“I don’t like it,” I said almost immediately to Vanessa as soon as we walked out of the meeting.
“I didn’t think you would,” she replied.
“It’s completely sleazy! I mean, couldn’t they think of anything more classier than that instead of contributing to the already-filthy image of the band?”
She chuckled as if I were joking. I wasn’t. “That’s their thing. They’re supposed to be sleazy. If they weren’t, their music just wouldn’t make sense. I mean, we can’t just shoot them all praying in a church as they all scream and rap about fucking bitches and getting crunk now, can we?”
“But don’t you think this is pushing the limits?” I asked.
“There is no such thing as ‘limits’ in this career,” she replied, laughing. “Besides, when did you become so coservative?”
“Ever since I read the Mothers Against Brokencyde page,” I mumbled.
She stopped walking in the hallway and turned to face me. “You don’t seriously believe that shit, do you?” After a bit of silence from me, she rolled her eyes and continued walking towards the exit. “If it weren’t for that stupid site, I would have never been able to come up with my genius idea.”
“You mean controversial idea?”
“Controversy and scandal equal publicity. Remember that and you will get far in life, my dear,” she said, winking. She got into the taxi hailed out front to take us to the restaurant where we would be meeting the band as I stood out there and sincerely thought about what she said. “Hey, whore, coming or not?”
“Yeah…” I replied, climbing in before the taxi headed off.
…
We were first to arrive at the restaurant, not that I was surprised. I was used to dealing with spoiled rockstars thinking they could do whatever the hell they wanted. I had sometimes waited an extra hour or two for them. Thank god Blackberries came with Brickbreaker.
“Hey there, you guys must be the AP guys.”
I looked up to see four casually dressed guys. The one speaking had straight dark brown hair with a section covering part of his eye.
“Hello, I’m Victoria Belmore but you can just call me Tori,” I answered, shaking the man’s hand.
“Hey, Tori, I’m Mikl. This is Phat J, Antz, and Se7en,” he replied, pointing to a man with straight lighter brown hair, one with short, spiky black hair, and one with longer black bedhead-looking hair respectively. “Sorry we’re late, Albuquerque gets a little crazy with traffic around this time.”
“It’s alright,” I replied, sitting down and motioning them to do the same. “I’m assuming those aren’t your real names?”
He chuckled. “Nah, just stage names. It’s kind of better that way. Keeps those ladies guessing,” he added with a wink.
‘Or it keeps mothers of teenage girls from setting your house on fire…’ I thought to myself as I smiled politely and nodded. “So you guys have two shows this week, am I right?” I asked them.
“Yeah, we have one tomorrow night and one in three days. Are you guys going to be able to work around that schedule?” he asked. The other three were quietly talking amongst themselves so I guessed that this was the lead guy.
Connor immediately knew his queue as he handed me a small packet of papers. “Of course, we have the week planned out. We’ll be attending both shows, doing the interview in two days, and then starting the photoshoot the day after your second show. You guys should be all set by the end of the week and expect to see an article in next month’s edition,” I explained.
“Fantastic,” he replied with a grin on his face. “So do you guys have any plans for the rest of the evening?”
I glanced over at Vanessa, who was texting silently at the end of the table. Her boyfriend, Brian, distracted her even when she was away.
“Huh? Oh, uh…not quite. What are you guys doing?” she asked, quickly putting her phone away and looking suddenly intrigued. It hadn’t even been twelve hours after her hangover went away and she was still thinking about getting drunk again.
“We were planning on hitting up some bar or club, if you guys want to come along…” he said. Although he said ‘guys’ I had a feeling the question was more directed to just us girls.
“We’d love to!” Vanessa almost immediately cried. I assumed I had no choice. She sounded way too enthusiastic about this but there was no way she would have gone alone.
I sighed as well. “Sure…” I replied with a fake smile. Partying with emo boys wasn’t exactly at the top of my priority list.
“I don’t like it,” I said almost immediately to Vanessa as soon as we walked out of the meeting.
“I didn’t think you would,” she replied.
“It’s completely sleazy! I mean, couldn’t they think of anything more classier than that instead of contributing to the already-filthy image of the band?”
She chuckled as if I were joking. I wasn’t. “That’s their thing. They’re supposed to be sleazy. If they weren’t, their music just wouldn’t make sense. I mean, we can’t just shoot them all praying in a church as they all scream and rap about fucking bitches and getting crunk now, can we?”
“But don’t you think this is pushing the limits?” I asked.
“There is no such thing as ‘limits’ in this career,” she replied, laughing. “Besides, when did you become so coservative?”
“Ever since I read the Mothers Against Brokencyde page,” I mumbled.
She stopped walking in the hallway and turned to face me. “You don’t seriously believe that shit, do you?” After a bit of silence from me, she rolled her eyes and continued walking towards the exit. “If it weren’t for that stupid site, I would have never been able to come up with my genius idea.”
“You mean controversial idea?”
“Controversy and scandal equal publicity. Remember that and you will get far in life, my dear,” she said, winking. She got into the taxi hailed out front to take us to the restaurant where we would be meeting the band as I stood out there and sincerely thought about what she said. “Hey, whore, coming or not?”
“Yeah…” I replied, climbing in before the taxi headed off.
…
We were first to arrive at the restaurant, not that I was surprised. I was used to dealing with spoiled rockstars thinking they could do whatever the hell they wanted. I had sometimes waited an extra hour or two for them. Thank god Blackberries came with Brickbreaker.
“Hey there, you guys must be the AP guys.”
I looked up to see four casually dressed guys. The one speaking had straight dark brown hair with a section covering part of his eye.
“Hello, I’m Victoria Belmore but you can just call me Tori,” I answered, shaking the man’s hand.
“Hey, Tori, I’m Mikl. This is Phat J, Antz, and Se7en,” he replied, pointing to a man with straight lighter brown hair, one with short, spiky black hair, and one with longer black bedhead-looking hair respectively. “Sorry we’re late, Albuquerque gets a little crazy with traffic around this time.”
“It’s alright,” I replied, sitting down and motioning them to do the same. “I’m assuming those aren’t your real names?”
He chuckled. “Nah, just stage names. It’s kind of better that way. Keeps those ladies guessing,” he added with a wink.
‘Or it keeps mothers of teenage girls from setting your house on fire…’ I thought to myself as I smiled politely and nodded. “So you guys have two shows this week, am I right?” I asked them.
“Yeah, we have one tomorrow night and one in three days. Are you guys going to be able to work around that schedule?” he asked. The other three were quietly talking amongst themselves so I guessed that this was the lead guy.
Connor immediately knew his queue as he handed me a small packet of papers. “Of course, we have the week planned out. We’ll be attending both shows, doing the interview in two days, and then starting the photoshoot the day after your second show. You guys should be all set by the end of the week and expect to see an article in next month’s edition,” I explained.
“Fantastic,” he replied with a grin on his face. “So do you guys have any plans for the rest of the evening?”
I glanced over at Vanessa, who was texting silently at the end of the table. Her boyfriend, Brian, distracted her even when she was away.
“Huh? Oh, uh…not quite. What are you guys doing?” she asked, quickly putting her phone away and looking suddenly intrigued. It hadn’t even been twelve hours after her hangover went away and she was still thinking about getting drunk again.
“We were planning on hitting up some bar or club, if you guys want to come along…” he said. Although he said ‘guys’ I had a feeling the question was more directed to just us girls.
“We’d love to!” Vanessa almost immediately cried. I assumed I had no choice. She sounded way too enthusiastic about this but there was no way she would have gone alone.
I sighed as well. “Sure…” I replied with a fake smile. Partying with emo boys wasn’t exactly at the top of my priority list.