Chapter 18: Reconnected
It had been over three months since the dreaded phone call that broke any and all ties between Hayden and Justin. Hayden had picked up the pieces of her shattered heart with the help of Tyler and Riley, while Justin on the other hand continued to beat himself down for screwing things up. Tyler had returned to California shortly after Hayden’s graduation, while Riley and Hayden moved into an upscale apartment in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Hayden had gotten a job with a prestigious marketing firm doing event promotions while Riley worked at an accounting firm. Both girls had secured successful careers and although Riley was now dating Tyler, Hayden had yet to take the plunge with anyone since Justin.
“Hey Hayden, what’s going on?” Riley said entering the kitchen and setting her portfolio on the counter.
“Nothing…I’m running late. I have a meeting at 9:30 to go over new events at the Xcel Energy Center.” Hayden said collecting all of her things before saying goodbye to Riley.
The drive into Minneapolis went quick, thankfully traffic had already lightened up and she was in the office twenty minutes later. After setting everything down at her desk, she grabbed her notepad and headed into the boardroom for the daily status meeting.
“Good morning everyone…” Jim, Hayden’s boss, said ushering everyone to take their seats. “As you know, we secured promotions for two of the biggest grossing entertainment tours of 2007. I know we’ve been keeping the artists under wraps, but I’m happy to tell you we will be sharing this information later today with those of you that have been selected to accompany the tour throughout the U.S.”
Hayden felt butterflies in her stomach at the mention of this news. These two tours were major accounts and she was willing to do anything to secure her position as one of the account managers.
“We’ll be holding meetings with two of you to discuss the tour and what we need from each of you. That’s all I have for now…” Jim said before dismissing everyone from the meeting.
Hayden made her way back to her office and nervously shuffled through some papers. She had submitted reports earlier in the week regarding some new promotional ideas for some of her accounts and today was her day to play catch up. However, it wasn’t long before Hayden heard a knock on her door and Jim walked in.
“Hey Hayden…you have a minute?” Jim asked sitting in a chair.
“Absolutely.” Hayden said putting her papers aside.
“I wanted to talk to you about the two tours we’re doing promotions for.” Jim said before handing a packet over to Hayden. “I’m happy to tell you, we have chosen you to work on one of the tours. I know you’re still considered new here, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised with your work and we would love for you to represent the company to the clients.
Hayden was elated with the news. This was everything she had been working for. “Wow…thank you for this opportunity. I would love to do it.” Hayden said excitedly.
“Great…well inside the packet is some information regarding the artist you’ll be working with. What we’re looking for is making sure our company is doing whatever it takes to get the artists’ name out, promote sales of merchandise and tickets, and overall the artist is satisfied.”
“That sounds great…” Hayden said before opening the packet.
“Great…well have you heard of Justin Timberlake?” Jim asked, just as Hayden’s eyes landed on his picture inside the packet.
Hayden felt her throat go dry and suddenly the room was burning hot. “Yeah…” Hayden managed to squeak out.
“Good…you’ll be joining his tour tomorrow night when it stops in Minneapolis. The tour has been getting fabulous reviews and Mr. Timberlake is very excited to have you help out on the tour.”
“He knows I’m coming?” Hayden asked nervously.
“Not you exactly…but he knows one of our employees will be joining the tour.” Jim said before standing up. “Look over the packet tonight…it has everything you will need for the tour. Also, your passes for tomorrow night are in the back sleeve. I talked to Melissa; she will be taking over your accounts from March-July. After Justin finishes the U.S. part of the tour, he will be doing a European leg as well. I’d like you to accompany him on that part as well.”
“Sounds good.” Hayden managed to say. The truth was she was extremely excited to be heading up this account but the fact that it was Justin was something all on its own. Jim knew she wanted this more than anything and she certainly couldn’t turn him down now.
“All right…well his manager Johnny Wright is being informed about you, I believe he will be calling you tonight to discuss the schedule for tomorrow night. Have a good afternoon Hayden and can’t wait to see how the tour goes.” Jim said before exiting Hayden’s office and leaving her to her thoughts.
Hayden’s head was spinning, her heart was beating out of her chest and suddenly she didn’t feel well. Something inside of her told her this was definitely going to be a disaster.
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Justin had been lounging around the bus all afternoon, trying his best to seem interested in what Johnny was saying, but his head was somewhere else. In a few hours he’d be back in Minneapolis, the same city that he fell in love with Hayden. He hadn’t spoken to her since she told him off but he knew he had it coming. He did the one thing he told her he wouldn’t, he hurt her. That night was a huge mistake and Justin would have to live with it, but he’d do anything to see Hayden again.
“Hmmm…” Johnny said closing his cell phone while writing something down on a piece of paper.
“What?” Justin said turning his attention from the road to Johnny.
“Oh, I just got off the phone with the Entertainment Promotions Company (EPC) we’ve hired to help with the tour. Their employee will be joining us tomorrow for the rest of the tour.”
“Oh yeah…who is it?” Justin asked, not really caring.
Although Jim had told Johnny it would be Hayden, he wasn’t willing to divulge that information yet to Justin. Johnny definitely wanted to speak to Hayden before letting Justin in on the surprise. “He said she was a new employee but one with experience. I’m supposed to call her later to discuss the schedule for tomorrow and get to know her a little bit.” Johnny said while continuing to take notes.
“Cool…” Justin said. Uninterested in the new employee he put his iPod on and drifted off to sleep.
Johnny just shook his head at the man’s antics. Justin was definitely in for a huge surprise tomorrow.
________________________________________________________________________
After the initial shock of her assignment wore off, Hayden managed to get most of her things done before heading home for the night. Knowing she would be gone for four months, Hayden had a lot of packing to do. She would also have to drop the bomb on Riley that she’d be gone again.
“Hey Hayden…I’m home.” Riley yelled when she walked into their apartment.
Throwing some of her clothes on the bed, Hayden walked out of her room to greet Riley. “Hey…how was work?” Hayden said opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
“It was pretty good…you?” Riley said while hanging her jacket up.
“Oh well you know…the same…oh did I mention I’m going on tour with Justin.” Hayden said with her back towards Riley.
Riley erupted into laughter. “I thought you just said you were going on tour with Justin…that’s funny.”
“I did…and I am.” Hayden said turning to look at Riley.
Riley stood there shocked at the news. “But…what…how…why?” Riley stammered.
“Remember when I told you about the tours our company was looking to land…yeah one of the tours is Justin’s. My boss came in today and offered me the position.” Hayden said trying to explain the bizarre situation.
“You accepted it…knowing you’d be with Justin again?” Riley asked.
“He kind of backdoored me into it Riles. He offered me the position and I accepted it before revealing that I’d be working with Justin again.”
“I see…well are you sure you’re ready for this?” Riley asked before walking towards their bedrooms.
“I think so…I mean this is a huge account for me to take on...but a great opportunity to prove myself.” Hayden said walking into her bedroom.
A few minutes later Riley appeared in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. “Does Justin know you’re going to be there?”
“Not yet…Johnny is supposed to call me tonight to talk about it.” Hayden said folding her clothes and putting them into her suitcase.
“Well since you’re packing…I’m assuming you’re leaving soon?” Riley asked grabbing a shirt and helping fold it.
“Yeah…his tour is coming to the Xcel Energy Center tomorrow night and I’ll join him there. I’ll be gone till sometime in July. I’ll go with on his European leg as well.” Hayden said.
“Wow…well I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. I’m happy for you though. It is a great opportunity for you.”
“I hope I know what I’m doing too Riles…I really do.” Hayden said zipping one of her suitcases closed.
Hayden and Riley continued to pack most of her belongings into three suitcases before Hayden’s phone rang. Knowing she was going to need some privacy, Riley got up and went into her bedroom leaving Hayden to deal with this mess.
“Hello?” Hayden said after flipping her phone open.
“Well, it’s damn good to hear from you.” Johnny said happily.
“Hey Johnny…it’s been a long time. How’s it going?” Hayden asked while sitting at her desk.
“It’s been good…I never got to thank you for the tape of your presentation. Your senior project turned out great. Thank you!”
“Good…I’m glad you liked it.”
“Definitely…well it seems you will be joining our little team here again.” Johnny chuckled.
“Yeah…funny how things turn out.” Hayden said while rolling her eyes. “Hey Johnny…does Justin know yet?”
“Sort of…he knows someone is joining the tour…but he doesn’t know it’s you.”
“Good. I guess I wanted to be the one to tell him...” Hayden said softly.
“Listen…I don’t know the extent of whatever happened between the two of you but I will tell you one thing. This tour has been going well so far but there’s just something missing in Justin. I hope you’re able to bring that spark back into his life.”
Hayden gulped; she definitely didn’t want to be Justin’s spark again. “I’ll try…” Hayden lied. Johnny was just trying to be nice and she didn’t need to alienate probably her only ally on the tour.
“Good…well we’re going to be at the arena around 9 in the morning. I’ll expect you to be there no later than 10. Just bring your passes with and you shouldn’t have trouble getting backstage. But you have my number, call me when you’re there and we’ll meet up and get everything set up. I can’t wait to see you again and I’m sure Justin will be thrilled.” Johnny said.
“Me too Johnny…I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hayden said before hanging up the phone. Her mind was racing with different scenarios, but she was more concerned with how she would feel seeing Justin again.
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After a mere four hours of sleep, Hayden had arrived at the Xcel Energy Center the following morning. Knowing her life was about to take a drastic change, she started making her way through all of the security check points. Finally, she had arrived by the buses underneath the arena. Grabbing her cell phone, she dialed Johnny’s number and let him know where she was at. A few people walking by gave her strange looks but Hayden tried to keep her eyes peeled for Justin. She knew he’d find out eventually but selfishly she wanted to remain anonymous on the tour for as long as possible.
“Hayden!!! You look great.” Johnny said walking up to her and giving her a hug.
“Hey Johnny! Good to see you.” Hayden said once she pulled back from his hug.
“Same to you…here let’s get your things on your bus…” Johnny said walking up to one of the parked buses.
“You’ll be on bus number 2. This is the guest bus. Whenever Justin has friends along or his mom comes out, they’ll stay here. Right now, it’s all yours.” Johnny said helping carry some of her bags on board.
After getting her things on the bus, Hayden decided to explore the arena and look at things for work. She was here to work not play around all day. “Thanks Johnny for all your help…I’m going to look around at some of the signing, since that was a concern from EPC.”
“Sounds great Hayden…just so you know…Justin’s around here somewhere. Usually once we arrive he walks around to get a feel for the arena and just stretch his legs since he was cramped up on a bus all night.” Johnny said while closing her bus and locking the doors.
“Thanks for the warning Johnny…I’ll see you later.” Hayden said laughing before disappearing into the hallways.
Hayden brought her camera and took pictures of all of the signs, the merchandise displays, and even ventured out to take pictures of fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Justin. She was enjoying getting to work on a tour, even though it was Justin’s, this was still her dream job.
Once back inside the arena Hayden decided to head back to the busses. She wanted to upload some of the pictures and send them back to her office. Jim would be pleased to see she had already started working on the tour. However on her way back, she ran into Johnny.
“Hey Johnny…” Hayden said.
“Hey Hayden…so what do you think?” Johnny asked.
“It looks really good; especially the merchandise displays…my only suggestion for now would be to add more posters of Justin near the entrance. You want to draw attention to this tour and that will definitely help. Plus, fans usually pull those down and take them home so it won’t be a big clean-up issue.” Hayden said confidently.
“Hmm…never thought about that. I’ll have Keith get right on that. Thanks Hayden…” Johnny said before getting on his cell phone and communicating the news to Keith.
After giving her suggestion to Johnny, Hayden continued on her way back to busses. Not really paying much attention to where she was going she rounded a corner and slammed into a hard chest, landing on the cold concrete.
“Jesus!!!!!!!!!” Hayden said sitting up.
“Watch it!!!!!!!” The voice yelled back.
Once she regained her composure her eyes met the same blue ones she had been hoping to avoid.
“Hayden…” Justin said softly.
“Justin.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
OK, so here's the last update that I had. I will hopefully get one out to you guys soon. I kind of left you hanging once the site shut down. But please review...let me know what you think! I love to hear from everyone!! :)
Story Tags: justin college
