the royal family of the music industry

01. drivers license (prologue)

Olivia Rodrigo, 2021

"Thank you so much for helping me get to work."

Olivia closes the car door and settles into the white leather of the Range Rover, just in time, because the first raindrop falls down from the dark grey clouds above the parking lot and lands on the window next to her.

It feels incredibly, sitting where all those celebrities sat and drove around Los Angeles, singing and cracking jokes for carpool karaoke.

The car is warm contrasting the coldness outside that had Olivia freezing, while the clouds assembled over her, blocking the view on the once blue sky with greyness and predicting storm, or at least rain.

Olivia smiles, a bit confused at James Corden. "To work?"

"No, we're not actually going to my studio. Not this time. Although I would like to make a real Carpool Karaoke with you some day. But today I'm here to bring you to the special location, you've probably heard of right?" James says, wiggling his eyebrows and acting like a secret spy with valuable information, which, apparently, he is.

Olivia eyes the parchment, that's going to change her life, in her hand. It's rolled up and on the inside are a few sentences written with ink and probably a quill, signed by no other than Taylor Swift.

"Yes." Olivia confirms. She had never heard of that location before, but since James Corden is here personally to drive her there, it must be real, right?

"Okay then, seatbelt on, we will be on the road for about an hour it's not that long of a drive." James says in a thick British accent, shifting in the white seat and starting the engine of the car.
"And we can listen to sour." Before he even finished the sentence, he pushes a button on the console and
Good for you starts playing.

Immediately, James starts shoulder-dancing and singing the lyrics loudly.

After a few songs, Olivia thinks about all the questions running around in her head.
Where is she going and WHY is she going?
Why did Taylor write her this weird letter and why is she escorted by James fucking Corden?
Why her?
What the fuck is happening here?!

She decides to ask the easiest question since she doesn't know if he is allowed to tell her anything. This whole thing seems so secretive. Because- really? Parchment? Even an E-Mail would have been old-school. Taylor has her phone number, for gods sake. They've facetimed quite a few times.

"Why are you here to drive me?" She looks at James expectantly, studying his features while he keeps his eyes on the road.

He shrugs. "Because not many people can know the exact location and since I already know all the secrets, it's my job to get the new ones there safely."

"All the secrets?" Olivia repeats.

James takes a second to answer and looks at Olivia for a moment, taking his eyes off the empty road while the rain pours down on the windows and it gets darker by the second, trees seeming to be flying by next to the road and the villages long gone, around them nothing but hills, lakes and highlands. Typical british landscape.

"Yes, darling. I know basically everything, you could say. I could break the internet with one tweet." He says confidently, smiling at the road ahead of him and wiggling his shoulders a bit, before yelling out the chorus of jealousy, jealousy.

Olivias mouth quirks up into a small smile but now there are only more questions in her head, that are ready to break trough her skull to get out of it.

She opens her mouth but James is quick to silent her with a small shake of his head.
"Now now. Keep the questions for the people who are allowed to answer them."