Chapter Ten: A Regina George In Sheep's Clothing

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We pulled up to the studio, John parking his Range Rover in my designated parking space before stopping the engine, the both of us sitting in silence for a moment, trying to figure out what was so possibly important that I'd been called to the studio on my days off.

"Let's go babe, don't be worried, it will all be fine," John said, breaking the silence. He gently tucked a fallen strand of my black hair behind my ear, before I took a deep breath and went to get out of the car. I met John outside his door, where I couldn't help but start to get extremely nervous. It couldn't be good news, not by the way Tamra was talking.

John sensed my nervousness as he put his hand in mine and lead me into the doors of the Capitol Records building, which looked dark, with minimal lighting inside, a sign that everyone must be in the office or studio upstairs.

"Stop worrying, Katy. It's going to be fine. I'll wait here for you, don't be nervous," he said, as he went to let go of my hand. This only made me grip his hand tighter, his facial expression changing into one of confusion.

"No. I want you to come with me," I said, though it came out more as a rushed jumble of words than a sentence.

"Okay. It's go babe," he said, his gorgeous smile returning to his face, as we followed the hallway and waited patiently for the elevator which would take us to studio and office on the third floor of the tower.

I could hear soft noises of people talking in the office as John and I walked closer, my stomach turning into a knot. I tried to figure out what it was that they needed me for, I hadn't done anything stupid that I could remember. Was it because I hadn't been in the studio, writing? I figured that was probably it, as I grasped the door handle tightly before opening the door, John following closely behind, his hand placed delicately on my back, making me feel protected by him.

I was quickly met with the gaze of my team. Tamra, Bradford, Glen, Bonnie, Steve, Greg, Luke and Max all stared at me with blank faces when I walked through the door, as they were sitting around the conference table in the middle of the room.

"Nice of you to join us, Katy. Thank you for coming in," Bradford said, motioning with his hand for me to sit down.

"Nice to see you came too, John. You're welcome to sit down, also." Tamra said, as she made direct eye contact with me, which made me even more nervous.

"So what is it? I haven't done anything stupid, at least I don't think I have.... If this is about the album, look I'm sorry, but I've just been trying to enjoy some time off and to try and get some inspiration, and I -"

I was interrupted almost immediately by Steve, who opened his mouth for the first time since I entered the room.

"No. This is not about your album, this is more serious than that," he replied sharply.

"What is it? Can you just tell me already? You're freaking me out..." I looked around at everyone, who looked like they'd just seen a ghost, and barely anyone made eye contact. I felt the warmth of John's hand reach my thigh, which provided a sense of comfort for the time being.

"We've just been given clearance, as in, we've just been informed by another record label that a pop rival is aiming to release a song that is about you," Glen said, looking at me. I was immediately confused.

"What do you mean?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows. I could feel John's grip on my thigh grow tighter, and I looked at him. He all of a sudden looked guilty too, as he chewed his lip. Was I seriously only person in the room who didn't have a clue at what the hell was going on?

"We mean, there's a song that's been published that is apparently about you, and this person is planning to release it as a single around April or May this year. As in, this isn't a good song, Katy. This is bad.... Very bad," Bradford said.

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