The Discussion

She went across the room and sat down. Her manager looked crossways at her.

"Amy, we need to talk."

Amy. Not Antarctica? Maybe this wasn't about her career, maybe it was personal.

She was wrong.

"I got a call from San Francisco. Were you out swimming with sharks?"

She said nothing.

Tim Olsen put his hands in front of him and looked at them. He had invested a lot of money and time into making her a star. Five plus years of marketing this woman into the worlds biggest star and she just keeps breaking rules.

"The Farallon islands are a protected Marine Sanctuary. When you proposed getting shark footage for your CD cover, I don't think you would jump in! With no cage! With no permission!" He didn't mean to yell but he was a bit ticked off. She could have been arrested. Or worst. "You think I want to explain to all your fans that you were shark food?"

Much to her chagrin she could not look him straight in the eye. That wasn't like her. She had stared down many reporters in her day. She should have been able to look at him.

Tim wasn't through. "Let's see. Album number one, you risked death by standing on a iceberg off the coast of Antarctica almost naked for a video. No special effects mind you. One of my camera man nearly frozen his -" He almost said penis. "Well you know, off that day. Album number two, you jump out a window three stories high above a statue of a antelope. Damn near hit it too. Album number three, you are being interviewed down in by Antarctica, again, and the ice breaker you were on exploded. How the hell you survived that is beyond me. And while under suspension during that investigation, you roll around nude in crude oil for a photo. And then you walk around Chernobyl. Nude. No protection.

"And now you swim with sharks! Great whites!" He paused.

She lifted her head, finally looked at him and spoke clearly. Somewhere during his rant, she got angry. "When I came to you, I was Amy Brace. You helped me becoming Antarctica, a rock star who not only sang about the environment but lives it. I certainly couldn't be Antarctica without singing in Antarctica. And every single one of those other actions that you are mad at me about, you approved of."

She was right. He did.

"If you want to suspend me, do it but at your own risk. My next video you know is risky and yet you approved of it as well."

Tim cleared his thoart. "A lesbian themed video relating to the massacre in Mexico, yeah well, we need to talk about that. I'm worried that you might tick off your ex. And Mexico. Word has it Christina is a dangerous woman to cross. And the Mexicans want to forget about the massacre"

"Currently, Christina is a wanted woman, having broken a few federal laws herself. I think being mad at me is the last thing on her mind." She tossed her hair as she looked around. Thick dark curls framed her face. Deep in thought she looked almost regal.

Too bad her expression was one of a ticking time bomb.

She stood up. "I'm doing it. Tim. You took me in. you did't mold me, I molded myself. I am the best and biggest star your label has seen. You said so yourself."

He said nothing. She leaned over. "Do you read?"

"Yes. I like monster books."

"Ok then, you read monster books. Like any creature feature movie they follow a pattern but each is different enough that each time you read a new one, it is like a whole different story. Right?"

"Yes."

"So what if they were all the same. You would stop reading them. Same with me. Madonna got big being different. So did Lady Gaga. I am who I am. I sing songs that make people think about the environment and my videos, art and albums all reflect that. It is bold, different. Good."

She stood straighter. "So like I said. I'm doing what I do best. Stir the pot. Make some noise." She gave him a hard look. "Swim with sharks."

He knew she meant him. Tim motioned for her to sit. "Not if California charges you with being in protected waters. The legal mess will delay the shoot."

Instead of sitting, she opened up her shirt and showed him her scars from the sharks flesh. "Show them the video of the shark I freed from the debris. How I wrapped myself around it and untangled it. The positive press from that might shut them up."

She turned on her heels and walked out.


Word count: 796