Fractured [SHAWN MENDES]

~63~

Shawn and Andrew sat in the VIP lounge at LAX before each of them would get on separate flights to their home cities. Both of them were eager to return to the people they loved, and one of them was also thrilled to be leaving California.

"How's it feel to be back in the music game?" Andrew asked tentatively. He noticed that Shawn seemed anxious for a lot of the two weeks they'd been in Los Angeles, especially when they filmed the music video for his upcoming single. There'd been a bit of a battle between his client and the record label.

"What do you mean you don't want to actually be in the video?" the director demanded at the first concept meeting.

"I don't think it's necessary," Shawn replied. "This should be about my music, not me, and there are tons of amazing videos out there that don't feature the artist. I think we should do something really visually beautiful and creative, maybe with some colorful animation."

"But people are going to want to see you. That's the whole point!" one of the Capitol representatives said sharply. "You've been out of the limelight for years and the biggest draw for the video will be to see what you look like and how you've changed. People are curious!"

"It just feels weird to reappear in some light fluffy video like nothing fucking happened. I was convicted of a felony and I went to prison, but hey, here I am for you to look at like some kind of zoo animal in a cage."

Andrew coughed nervously. "Then let's try to come up with an idea that's not so superficial. Maybe one that has some meaning."

For the next hour, a slew of generally terrible ideas were thrown around, and each one was rejected by Shawn. The director actually had the nerve to suggest he be shirtless to symbolize that he was exposed, but it was pretty obvious what he really wanted was to appeal to people who liked him solely for his looks.

The group was about to convene for the day when an intern spoke up. "What if the video was of Mr. Mendes playing to an empty stadium? He could be alone of stage, singing to no one."

There was an awkward silence, but then Shawn started to nod. "I like it. That would work for me. I dig the whole 'no frills' feel of it, and the fact that I'd be by myself reflects how I frequently felt after what happened."

The senior executive grinned. "Production costs would be really low, though we'd need a crane or drone to film from above. You'd have to let us have some close-ups, though. It can't all be shot from a distance."

"I'm okay with that, but I don't want to look at the camera. I want it to feel candid and natural," Shawn said.

Two days later, Shawn was filmed as he played his acoustic guitar and sang on a small stage at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena. He still wasn't crazy about the bland love song everyone insisted was his best option, though apparently that's what the fans expected. The finished product was solid, and after a couple weeks of online promotions, the song and video would be released. He wasn't going to be doing any television interviews quite yet. Instead, there would be several short radio segments that would focus solely on his song, per agreements made with the label. Their hope that was by the time his album came out, he'd be ready to be fully re-immersed as a musician and that no one would care about what he'd done.

"I don't really think I'm in the game, yet," Shawn said in reply to his manager's question. "When my song is out, then it'll be real."

"My gut tells me that it's going to be big. Capitol was very clever to make sure some grainy footage of you filming the video was leaked, because the buzz is huge. You were trending on Twitter yesterday."