A/N Again the disclaimer. I do not know personally anyone mentioned. This is purely a fiction exercise. Also because English is not my native language you may have to excuse some mistakes I may write. That being said I hope you enjoy it. :)
It's 8AM when you arrive at your office. You feel a bit like a zombie, you spent the night waking up several times. You even dreamed about your new work and every time some new ideas or some better ideas came to your mind you had to write them down.
"Good morning!" Jo greets you as soon as you get out of the elevator. "Looking sharp!"
"Oh dear, more like a zombie. I slept at the very most two hours..."
"Doesn't show up at all. You look perfect."
"Yeah, the wonders of makeup and a good outfit... And coffee. I need more of that." You talk quickly like you're on speeds.
"Hahha! Ok, I'll take it to your office right away."
"Thanks. So, I'm gonna work more on this Grant. Let me know when he arrives. And please, stop him from instangramming his feet while he waits! Hahaha!"
Joan shakes her head laughing. "Oh, you're evil."
It's almost 9.30 when you check Grant's twitter. After posting a picture of his dog again, an hour ago, you see a new tweet from ten minutes ago: 'Something tells me I should have doubled the amount of coffee...'
"Oh really?" You comment amused. "Interesting."
A minute later Joan is on the phone speaker. "Grant Gustin is here."
You take a deep breath. "Here we go."
You leave your office and you meet him in the reception area where he's sitting on the couch facing Joan, who gives you a compromised look. You go over her desk and you whisper some words to her before you reach Grant and introduce yourself.
Grant was immersed going through his phone and only when you speak directly to him he looks up to you. "Oh, sorry. Hi..." He turns off his phone and stares for a moment at you. He looks surprised. He stands up quickly and extends his hand. "Grant Gustin. Nice to meet you." His face is serious.
You shake hands with him and you smile. Your professional smile number 17. "Pleasure is all mine. Thank you for coming. I know you don't have time to waste so what about we get starting?"
Grant just nods still a bit intrigued. "Sure."
"Care to follow me, please?"
He nods again and you lead him to your office. You can totally sense he's feeling a bit uneasy.
"Sit down, please." You ask always with a smile, pointing the chair in front of your desk.
Grant sits down and you do the same sitting on your chair. "So, Mr. Gustin, can I get you anything?"
He shakes his head. "No thanks. But you can call me just Grant."
"Ok, if you prefer it that way." You smile again.
"I do." He's still looking at you like he's suspicious.
"Ok, you seem like you want to say something. Feel free to speak." You notice he's all serious, tense and almost annoyed which contrasts with almost everything you read and watched about him. He came across to you as a funny, happy guy that is always smiling and since you met him you have barely seen any of his teeth.
Grant moves in his chair like he's uncomfortable. "I don't have anything to say."
"Ok..." At that moment someone knocks on the door. "Come in!" You answer while you watch Grant curiously. 'He's either not happy for being here or something happened...'
Joan walks in with two cups of coffee. She puts one in front of Grant and the other one in front of you. Grant looks surprised at you but doesn't say anything.
You smile at Joan. "Thank you. That would be all." She smiles with a discreet wink at you and leaves.
"It's black. Maybe you can double the amount of coffee now." You show him your professional smile number 8.
For the first time you see Grant smiling. "Right. Thanks." He raises the cup and takes it to his mouth. "Strong, just as I like it."
You lean back on your chair and you grin. "Good. Now, how's your dog Jett? Cute as always?"
Grant raises an eyebrow. "He's fine. Thanks for asking." He has now his stare locked on you. And he's serious again.
'Ok, finally I got your attention.' You think to yourself. You decide to keep that strategy. "What about your family? Your brother Tyler? Your sister Gracie?"
Grant opens his eyes in awe. "Excuse me?"
"I was just asking how your family has been doing." You shrug.
Grant squints his eyes at you. "They're fine, thanks. Why would you want to know?"
"Courtesy. Now let me ask you one thing. Why are you here?"
Grant hesitates for a minute. He finally speaks. "Because my agent thinks I need a publicist." He declares honestly.
"And what do you think?"
"Honestly?"
"Sure."
"I don't see the point."
"Ok. Why?"
"I just don't see the point." He shrugs his shoulders.
"I'm aware you missed an interview last week because of a mistake from your previous PR agency. Is this correct?"
"Yeah. It could happen to anyone."
"It could, but it shouldn't. Ever. Did Michael tell you why he thinks you need a publicist?"
"Yeah. To deal with the press, my public image, public events, interviews and that stuff."
"Exactly. And did he tell you what approach he wants to take?"
"Sort of."
"Ok, for this to work out answers like 'sort of' are no good."
Grant sighs annoyed.
"Also, we need to be honest and direct with each other. So I'm gonna tell you what he wants and you'll tell me if you agree." You read to Grant most of Michael's notes.
Grant nods. "Yeah, that's what he wants."
"And what do you want?"
"I guess the same. I just don't want to change who I am in order to achieve it."
"Ok, we're getting somewhere. He also refers here to what he thinks is an overexposure of your private life. Do you agree?"
"Not really."
"No?"
"No, it's harmless stuff."
"Is it? Twenty four hours ago I knew nothing about you. Nothing. Today I could almost write a whole profile on you without even talking to you. I could even visit you at your place."
Grant looks at you confused.
You tell him his home address and you add, upon seeing his surprised face, "No one told me where you live. I just figured it out by looking at some of the pictures you posted. It's totally easy if you know the area."
Grant looks at you expectantly like he's waiting for you to continue. And you do. "I say it's too much. Sure, you can keep tweeting, you're just gonna have to be more careful with what you say and show. Look, you probably don't understand this now, but believe me when I say this can all turn against you. For instance, you were all tense and bothered when I asked about your family. You probably thought 'why is this person that I never met before and doesn't know me asking about my siblings?'. And you're right. But you will have no moral to ask people or the press, when the time comes, to stop messing with your life when you're the one feeding them all the information. Do you understand this?"
Grant nods reluctantly.
"Of course this doesn't apply if you want to become a reality show star or someone who seeks for media attention all the time. In that case, yeah, go ahead, instragram your whole life every hour. 'Look, I'm eating bananas! Hey, now I'm on the toilet doing my shit!' "
After giggling at your words Grant starts to look at you intrigued again. "That's the last thing I want."
"Good. In that case it's the last thing I want too. You're the client, I want what you want. So... Entertainment tweets are one thing, private life tweets are another thing. It's important to distinguish them because you can totally keep doing the first ones. Sports tweets, your public love for Kevin McHale, for instance. That entertains your fans, keeps them happy, it's harmless, like you said. Now, tweets with or to your girlfriend, with your family… that's private life. Of course, one or two general tweets are ok, but not the overload you usually have. And you may think it doesn't do any harm right now but when you start to really become more famous it will. You'll see your private life in fucking gossip magazines, websites, blogs, everywhere. And the worst part is when they make up stories about you. Of course, they make up stories anyway and regardless of what you do or say but if you, yourself, fuel their appetite for gossip it will just be worse."
Grant simply says a little unwillingly, "I see."
"Promotion tweets are also fine, of course. And important. I mean, the ones referring to your work. The premiere of your movie, the schedule for a tv show appearance..."
Grant nods in agreement.
You still think he's a little different than you thought he would be. He's still serious, like he's annoyed, sometimes almost sad. Could his happy, 'love above all else' mood be just a staged act? You need to figure this out too because it has impact on your work.
"I will also be honest here if you allow me." You smile.
Grant frowns interested. "Sure."
"I spent all day yesterday working on you. Knowing everything possible about you, get familiar with your work, with your life and with yourself. In everything I read about you, interviews, your own tweets and videos, other people's opinions about you, anything at all, you seemed to be this really nice, happy, motivated, positive guy. Even sweet. Even too sweet... but that's not the point now." You blush a bit. "The point is that I meet you here today in person and you seem to be none of those things. I find you a little gloomy, moody and even sad sometimes. I know we can't all be happy every time every day, but in order to do my job I need to know which one is the real you."
Grant makes a sad smile. "I'm usually the happy guy. But you don't have to worry, I'll keep being the happy guy for the public to see." His last remark was a bit spiteful.
You take a deep breath. "Ok, I get it, it's something personal. But I do worry."
"Well you shouldn't. After all the reason I'm an asshole to everybody these last days also means there's something less for you to worry about." His tone is even more spiteful.
You scowl your eyebrows. "Sorry, I don't follow."
"And it just infuriates me more, you know? I'm being stupid and annoying to people who care and worry about me because of someone who doesn't."
You look at him confused.
"Guess you don't really know everything about me, uh? And guess I don't really overexpose my private life, uh?" He chuckles sadly.
"Well, I sincerely hope not. But you said it's something less for me to worry about. Why?"
"Is the non-disclosure agreement part of the contract valid already?"
You frown. "Not legally because we haven't signed it yet but contract or no contract, anything you tell me here doesn't leave this office. Unless you tell me otherwise, of course. You have my word. Or we can just sign it if it makes you more comfortable."
Grant giggles. "I was kidding. Who cares if anyone knows I had a cheating girlfriend?!" He laughs almost hysterically.
"Uh?" For a moment you think this is just one of your fucked up dreams.