Access All Areas - chapter one

It's the end of a busy week, and my week is about to get a whole lot busier. Usually I am full of the joys of Spring, come a late Friday afternoon. Only, this Friday is very different. This Friday, I'm meeting the American pop sensation, Rhys Ryan.

I know, I know, I should be bouncing on my heels with uncontainable excitement, right?

WRONG! Sooooo very wrong.

Yes, he's currently the hottest guy on the planet.

Yes, he's got the moves.

Yes, he can really sing.

And yes, every magazine and chat show want him.

Which is where I totally come in. I am one of the more experienced entertainment journalists for Fame-Us, a monthly high-end celebrity glossy that's based in London. I have been behind some of their biggest and best celeb stories because I'm rather good at what I do.

I am usually more than happy to take on any job that my boss, Dex, dangles in front of me...until this Rhys Ryan interview, that is.

So why exactly am I less than enthusiastic about this interview? Okay, I'll tell you why. Rhys Ryan, that's why.

He's allegedly rude.

He's allegedly obnoxious.

He's allegedly difficult.

He's allegedly a playboy.

Quite frankly, he's allegedly a brilliant bastard.

There is absolutely no doubt that the guy can sing and dance, he certainly has that all-important X factor. Unfortunately, if the rumours are true, he is going to be a big pain in my journalist ass. You see, he and journalists have a bit of a love/hate relationship. If he likes you, you get a good Rhys Ryan interview. If he doesn't, you get a bad Rhys Ryan interview. And his relationship with the paparazzi is even worse. I can't even tell you how many times that guy has had some kind of altercation with them. He seems to have no patience for the paps, and they feed off his intolerance of them by annoying the hell out of him at every possible opportunity.

Now I'm no fool, I know how intrusive the press can be. I also know how the paps can intentionally tick off their targets just to get that much-needed shot of them. Sounds hypocritical, right? What with me being a journalist and all that. But I only speak from experience. I have been doing this job long enough to not believe in everything I see and hear. I personally don't like to work that way. That isn't who I am as a journalist. Which is why I chose to work at Fame-Us. We only print the truth, not sensationalised half-truths. What we see and hear, is exactly what we print. Any story that's printed is done so with the full backing of the celebrities involved. And I think it's on account of our respected reputation that Dex was able to secure this big interview with Rhys Ryan. It really is a fantastic coup for Fame-Us and shall no doubt please our loyal readers no end. I only wish that my boss had asked someone else to do it. I mean, it's not like he was short of eager-beaver volunteers or anything. Most of the girls in the office were absolutely gutted that they didn't get to be up close and personal with the mega pop star. But according to my boss, I'm his top girl, so I should get the top interview. If I'm honest, I kind of feel a little guilty for not being more excited about the whole thing. I know I should be absolutely delighted about being the one who has this exclusive 'access all areas' for two whole days with the chart-topping celeb. Believe me, if it was with someone like Adam Levine, I would so be in dire need of some clean and sexy underwear...but this job is with Rhys Ryan, a pouty little teen idol.

Don't get me wrong, he is hot. But for me, he is too clean-cut hot.

24-years-young kind of hot. Anyone beyond the age of twenty that is seen drooling over him is branded a cougar. So cougars everywhere, tell everyone that it's only his music that they love. Then there are all the 'difficult' rumours about him. I have actually spoken with some people who are very much in the know, and apparently all the rumours are indeed true about him. As globally huge as he is, unfortunately, so is his immature ego. So as cute as he may well be, I can't help but feel a little guarded about meeting him.

What if I am one of those people that he instantly takes a dislike to? The interview will be awful, which will put my journalistic reputation on the line.

According to my reliable sources, Rhys Ryan is arrogant, cocky and a womaniser with anyone under the age of 25.

Oh my days!

Maybe that is exactly why I was chosen by Dex?

I'm 29!

Deemed waaaaaaay too old for the 24 year old American icon. Maybe Dex was just soft soaping me with all the flattery that he could muster about me being his top girl? That his top girl was the only one he felt would be responsible enough with this mega hot interview. Maybe he said all of that, because he thought that Rhys Ryan wouldn't be sexually interested in me? Therefore, I am less likely to be a distraction. Therefore, more likely to get a great and uncomplicated interview. Oh my god! I have been well and truly duped by Dex. Derek Miller has pulled a fast one on me, and I didn't even see it bloody coming. I mean, I know him. I know him really well. From the very first moment that we met, we just clicked. For a man who was so posh and a little bit pompous, his rather disturbing collection of miniature cactuses kind of helped me relax my way into my job interview with him. I figured that someone who had these cute but prickly little buggers everywhere, had to be someone with an interesting character. And when I say that the cactuses were everywhere, I mean, they were everywhere! In his office window. On top of and beside the water fountain. On floating shelves. On filing cabinets and cupboards. While his absolute favourites were proudly on his desk, just beside his wife's 8x10 photograph. It really was the strangest, yet most relaxed, job interview I have ever attended. We talked at length about cacti and succulents, and about my amateur collection of photographs of abandoned buildings. Dex thought that my keen interest in photography might be extremely useful alongside my impressive hunger for honest journalism. At the time of my quirky interview, Fame-Us was in its infancy. Dex only had one other journalist and one other photographer employed by him, so he amazingly hired me on the spot. That was a little over nine years ago now. I have steadily watched Dex grow the magazine into what it is today. I have watched him grow as a person and as a boss, which is why I still can't believe that I fell for the 'top girl' crap!

Why couldn't he just get one of the guys in the office to do the damned interview? Just like I had suggested.

When I asked him that, he simply replied. "No, Clara. You have the experience and you are likeable." Which in hindsight, meant that the fresh-faced singer would like me but wouldn't fancy me.

Feeling a little deflated and a little self conscious now, I quickly look down at myself before trying to catch a fleeting glimpse of my reflection in one of the shop windows that I'm hastily passing by. Okay, I'm looking a little flustered now and a little bit windswept...but I'm still looking classically professional in my cropped leg trouser suit.

Sure, I'm not hot cover model material, but I think I am plainly pretty. A plainly pretty twenty nine year old.

Twenty nine years worth of plain prettiness.

Pretty plain twenty nine year old.

A plain twenty nine year old.

Just plain old.

Anyway, who wants to be a total babe?

Not this girly. I am who I am. Plainly pretty and all.

I am also strong-willed and confident—both attractive qualities, I'd say. Not that any of that matters right now. This strong-willed, confident and plainly pretty journalist is now on her way to meet the infamous Rhys Ryan for the very first time. He's just coming to the end of his massive sell-out Worldwide tour. Ending it in bold and over-the-top style, here in the UK. His people have eagerly agreed to have an intimate, more up close and personal interview that is to be published in a rare ten page spread in our highly successful celebrity magazine. Personally, I think they're just desperately trying to convince the world that he's not the cocky bastard that he's often said to be. Which is why you can understand I am less than happy about this job. I really can't be done with bratty pop stars, no matter how cute and how talented they are. Even my respected experience won't want to tolerate any of his celebrity attitude that he apparently has so very much of. For this interview, I think I really am going to need to firmly hold onto my professional hat. It's imperative that I do. I can't let Dex down and I can't let Fame-Us down.

On that positive note, I shall go into this job with fresh and non-judgemental eyes. Try to not pass judgement on who Rhys Ryan may or may not be as a person, based only on what I have previously read or heard about him. I value my professionalism, though many don't. Some put the price of a headline story over the price of truth. As I've said before, I know how the game goes down. Things are often printed that are ridiculously untrue, or have been taken completely out of context. Which is why I've always gone against the press grain. My job is something I value and treat with the utmost integrity. I believe that if you're a good journalist, you shouldn't have to embellish the truth that you've been told. If the truth is written well, it will be read well. It's that simple.

So my 29 year old self is absolutely going into this with an open mind and open eyes. I will take the American idol exactly as I find him.

Yup...I am ready for you Rhys Ryan!

*HOW IS AAA GRABBING YOU LOVELIES?

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