Sweet Girl

Outside Your World

Stevie watches the woman carefully as she enters her living room, stepping over wires and sound cords as she balances her large leather tote on one shoulder. The sun is sinking rapidly in the winter sky; it'll be dark before six o'clock today. She takes note of her bright blue eyes and long red waves - almost as long as her own hair. She has to be at least thirty, but probably not much more than that. There's something about her that she immediately likes, even if it goes against her better judgment. She doesn't understand why Dave had to bring in another person to do this documentary - he's a filmmaker, why can't he just do it himself?

"Hello, uh," Stevie stumbles as she extends her hand, the girl's name already out of her mind. She looks to Dave who smirks; he knows this is Stevie the diva.

"Vivian, Steve," he prompts her. If the young woman is thrown by the moment she doesn't show it on her face.

"Vivian," she repeats, reminding Dave she can speak for herself. Stevie picks up the hint of an accent immediately. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Nicks. Dave has been filling me in on the new album; I'm thrilled by the opportunity to work on this."

Well spoken, ok. That's points in her favor. There are no stars in her eyes, no nervous ticks in her speech. It almost bothers Stevie how calm she is. "Thank you for helping out. It'll be fun; we're having a lot of fun, aren't we Dave?" She can't say that she's honored or excited; she has no idea who this girl is or what she's doing, really.

"I'll mostly observe," Vivian launches into an explanation automatically, "I may ask questions when the cameras are off so that I can better understand context when they are rolling. Anything you say off camera will be off the record; it's merely for my knowledge so that I can edit this into the best, most truthful depiction of the story you two are trying to tell."

Oh - so she's an editor. Makes sense, Stevie guesses, though there was no outside editor present for Destiny Rules. "Of course, as long as I can reserve the right not to answer anything I don't want to. And these conversations don't go much past filming."

Dave quirks an eyebrow and runs his hand along the back of his neck. Stevie the diva is out in full force, because of course she is. Vivian is new, which means she'll become and adversary or a play thing for Stevie. He's seen this before.

"Of course," Vivian nods, still not shaken by the woman in front of her or her attitude. "I won't be conducting interviews or asking your life story or anything like that. Your life story is not my concern; the story of this album is." Vivian smiles pleasantly as she squares up to Stevie and Dave suddenly wonders if bringing her on might have been a mistake. She's the best in the business, but she's just as mouthy as Stevie. He hadn't thought of that balance.

"Oh, well," Stevie nods as she reaches for Sulamith on the ground, cradling her in her arms. "Dave, darling, we should get started." She wraps a hand around his waist and squeezes his hip, changing tactics. If she can't intimidate this woman outright she'll let her know who's boss in other ways. Flirting with her producer feels good for the moment.

Dave and Vivian exchange a glance, and Vivian backs herself into a corner to sit on the floor out of the way. She pulls a small black notebook out of her bag, which is now sitting by her feet. Her goal is not to be noticed; this is the darkest corner she can find that will hopefully keep Stevie Nicks' careful glare off of her.

____________

It's been three hours by the time Vivian stands and stretches. She was almost certain they were never going to call a break and that this was some ploy to make her legs fall off as she sat stock still in the corner, listening to Stevie and Dave and her girls work on "Everybody Loves You." The moment the break is called, Vivian grabs her bag and heads out the front door, looking for a quiet spot to smoke away from the house. It's a welcome respite; she didn't realize how intense Stevie was going to be.