Seven years later
Noelle was finally here. Legion One Management.
She stood beneath the huge sign at the entrance of the thirty-story building, waiting for someone to pick her up.
She was so proud – how couldn't she be? The prestigious internship at Legion One, the Elite Legion, only accepted three interns each year, and she was the first to join that tiny team of the country's largest talent agency. The only team with a direct connection to what she was studying: the mechanics behind celebrity branding.
Legion One was just one cog of Fisher Group, the creation of Conrad Fisher; the man who killed Hollywood.
The heartbeat of the entertainment world was now pulsing on the East Coast, in Nova Bay. Once a quiet coastal town, it had been transformed into a fortress of fame.
Fisher was a ruthless tycoon rejected by the Hollywood elite. He swore he would make them regret the day they slammed the door in his face. And he did. He didn't just play the game; he rewrote the rules.
He studied the disciplined, perfectionist machinery of the Asian entertainment industry and adapted it for the West. He built Fisher Group not as an agency or a production company, but as an army.
His strategy was brutal: strict efficiency, absolute control, and manufactured perfection. He studied what the audience wanted and offered customized dreams. In less than twenty years, half the global blockbusters were filmed in Nova Bay, and the Billboard charts were dominated by Fisher's 'soldiers.'
Noelle wasn't interested in showbiz. She was fascinated by the machine. How did a single man crush an empire? How were these new, flawless stars manufactured? And there, at Legion One, was the man she was about to analyze – who just happened to be the first 'Fisher' star she had come across.
She wasn't sure her academic instructors would approve her approach on the subject or her motivations. That is why her being at the entrance of this building was a result of an elaborate plan she had worked on even before graduating from the university.
Yeah… It was all planned. To the last detail.
But she was feeling a bit conflicted. As she had decided the subject of her case study, she had followed him closely for a long time. Years actually.
That wasn't very academic. She couldn't disclose that she knew many things about him, and his entourage - that is the people she was going to meet any minute now.
She also needed to hide from her mother that she came to the States to study the entertainment sector. Mother would kill her if she ever found out that she hadn't selected an internship at a bank or at least a Fin-Tech company, after conspiring with her father to enroll in an MBA. Her mother strongly disapproved of anything that would divert Noelle from a serious academic career.
Either I'm a fool, or a pioneer...
After a couple of minutes, a girl appeared, moving in the opposite direction of the crowd rushing to get to their offices. As soon as she saw Noelle, she smiled. Her smile was bright and warm, making Noelle feel welcome.
"Hello! You must be Noelle! I am Lexi. Lexi Pierce," the girl said, extending her hand. The moment Noelle heard her voice, she realized who she was. Her name was also well-known, but she had never seen her face before.
"Yes, you're right! Nice to meet you," Noelle replied, smiling and shaking her hand.
"Let's go to our office! We are all waiting to meet you," Lexi said, walking through the entrance gates and swiping her card for both of them to enter.
Lexi seemed like a very joyful person, now that she'd met her in person. She was wearing a cute denim skirt and a short-sleeved blouse with green and red stripes, and she was in a great mood for a Monday morning.
"I'll be showing you around today. You can ask me anything you want. Our office is on the seventeenth floor and we'll get there on this nice elevator. Don't even think about the stairs. It's not a workout, it's a death sentence."
Noelle was certain that they would get along pretty well. They reached their floor, and after stepping out Lexi introduced her to another girl sitting at the floor's reception. "Hey Anna, this is Noelle. She is our new intern."
"Oh! You got an intern? How come?" the girl, Anna, asked.
"Come on, it's been a while since we got someone new on the team."
"Exactly! Years!" Anna turned to face her. "Noelle, nice to meet you! Welcome aboard! Good luck... you're gonna need coffee. Or a drink."
"Nice to meet you, too..." Noelle responded, unsure how to take the hint.
"Come on! Anna will give you the wrong impression," Lexi said and they proceeded down the hall. "As you probably know, Legion One is the core of the Group. We manage the actors, the brightest stars. And this floor? This is the elite. Our top actors operate as an independent unit. Dedicated office, dedicated team.
"Welcome to our unit!" she said, smiling, when they reached a shut glass door. A sleek, elegant sign read "LUCA WEST."
Lexi pulled the door open and let Noelle enter first. "Everybody, here she is!" she announced loudly behind her.
The office was quite spacious. White was the dominant color, accented with wooden details and two comfortable leather sofas that offered warmth. Selective posters were strategically positioned on the walls, all portraying a familiar face. The sofas were placed close to the door, inviting guests to relax. There, a beautiful woman was sitting, and just behind her there were four desks, currently empty except for one where a young man was sitting – not exactly just a young man, rather an impressive young Adonis.
Next to him, she saw Chloe, her temporary boss, standing at the door of a separate office with glass walls, that was clearly hers. When they entered, Chloe walked towards her.
"Noelle! It's been a while! Welcome!" Chloe said, shaking her hand firmly.
"Nice to be here. Thank you, Mrs. Brown," Noelle replied.
They had met a month ago during the interview. Chloe was open and supportive with her back then. Noelle felt that they would collaborate smoothly.
"Guys, this is Noelle Auclair. She is a post-graduate student who was selected for an internship and will be joining the team for the next three months. I will be helping her with her thesis, and I hope you will show her how we do things around here, so she can learn more about the business," Chloe said to the rest of them.
"Let me introduce the rest. You met Lexi. She's a very important member of the team, as she handles all of our social media." That was where Noelle knew her from. She was the person filming many of his social media videos.
"Here is Noah Griffin. He is responsible for media and public relations."
Noelle, of course, knew exactly who he was. A former recruit of Legion Two, the music division. Along with his friend, they began as members of a promising boy band that was dismantled bit by bit. He resigned as a 'soldier', studied and then returned to work here.
"Nice to meet you, Noelle," he told her, politely but somehow coldly.
"Likewise," she replied. Her cheeks flushed when their gazes met.
"And here is our styling genius! Abby Pratt, our styling advisor," Chloe continued, gesturing toward the beautiful woman on the sofa.
Noelle knew her as well. After reading about her in an article, she had looked her up, and since then had been following her on her channels, where she gave advice on fashion and makeup. She had learned a thing or two from her, and now she was finally meeting her in person.
"Nice to meet you, sweetie!" Abby said, surprising Noelle with her cordial and straightforward attitude.
"In this office, apart from visitors, you'll usually only see us. Abby has her own place, but she comes and goes frequently. Ah! And the person whose name is on the door drops by now and then, but he's not around these days. Noah, the photo shoot is today, correct?" Chloe asked, turning to him for confirmation.
"Yes, in about an hour. I'll be joining him."
"Great! That will last the whole day, right?"
"More or less."
"Nice. So, back to you, Noelle, would you like to share anything?" Chloe said.
Oh, she wasn't prepared for something like that and felt her ears turning red. No matter how many presentations she had made, and how comfortably she could talk in front of an audience about any subject, talking about herself always made her freak out.
"Um... not much. I'm Noelle, from France—Strasbourg actually. I'm an economics graduate and I've been studying here for a year, for my Master in Business Administration. I'm looking forward to working with all of you!" she said, as casually as she could.
"We're looking forward to it, too, and we'll all get to know each other better. Now, you must visit the HR department for some paperwork. Lexi, please take her upstairs and get back quickly; we need to discuss the issue I mentioned earlier," Chloe said decisively.
She liked her style. She looked confident and decisive. Noelle had studied her a little bit more, though. She had graduated from the same university Noelle was now attending, and she had worked really hard in the industry.
She was also the mother of a seven-year-old boy she had been raising alone since a bad divorce, and she liked taking photos—her Instagram was full of great shots! Even though all these details made Noelle admire her even more, she knew she should be careful not to show that she knew anything. It would be weird.
"Yes, ma'am! Let's go, Noelle!" Lexi said, and Noelle followed her. "Everyone is great! We'll all help you! We're very happy to have new blood on board!" she chatted on their way to the stairs.
Lexi guided her to the HR department, and left. Noelle had contracts and forms to sign, was informed about certain technicalities, and was given a laptop and an entrance card. About thirty minutes later, she put the brand-new laptop in her bag and headed downstairs, a pack of contracts for Chloe to countersign in her hands.
It was easy enough to find her way back to the office. She nodded to Anna as she passed by and kept moving. After a few steps, she heard Anna giggle and offer a playful "Hello!", but she didn't want to seem curious or snoopy on her first day, so she kept walking without looking back.
She reached the office door, shifted all the papers to her right hand, and grabbed the knob. She pulled it like Lexi had done before. It was a heavy door, unfortunately, and it seemed she would have to struggle a bit. But suddenly, the door became as light as a feather.
And she felt a presence behind her.
Someone was standing there, holding the door open. She glanced up and saw an arm just above her head. She turned a bit more and realized who the arm belonged to.
The guy whose name was on the door was standing right in front of her.
No matter how many times she had seen that face on photos and on screen, him being so close felt shockingly… real. And dazzling.
She felt like all the blood drained from her body in one second, only to come rushing back a moment later. One moment she was cold as ice, the next hot as hell. She couldn't think of anything; she could only look at him, breath caught in her throat.
And he was looking right back at her, a smile on his face, like this was the most normal thing in the world.