"What are you doing here?" Nick asked in a hostile tone.
"I'm from GO magazine. I was sent to review your album," she replied professionally.
"Oh, okay?" Brian said. "This is quite a surprise. We knew someone from GO was coming, but we had no clue it would be you."
"I'm sorry for not warning you, but I only got this assignment from my editor an hour ago. I'm just as unprepared for this as you are," she stated. "Do you mind if I sit down?"
"Not at all," Kevin said, gesturing to an open chair next to Nick.
She purposely took the other empty chair between AJ and Howie. "You know, you guys can finish your lunch. Ignore me."
Nick shot her a dirty look as he continued eating. God, that was just like him to be mad at her for something that happened over a year ago. Biting back the urge to make a comment, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and got her notebook out. This was going to be a long afternoon.
After they finished lunch, Liz listened to them record two songs. By the end, she thought all the boys were ready to break. They were working really hard.
"All right, guys, go home for the day," their manager, Marian, finally said.
She heard a collective sigh of relief and went out to tell them what she thought. "Great work today, guys," she said.
"Thanks, Liz," said Howie.
"I'm really glad it's you doing this review," Brian said. "We were afraid it was going to be some big burly guy who hated pop music."
"Well, it's me, and I'm really liking all this stuff." She looked at her watch. "I'm sure you guys want some rest. It was great to see you all again, and I'll be back tomorrow."
"Great," Nick muttered under his breath.
She heard him and shot him a dirty look. The boys all went their separate ways, and Liz went back into the room to grab her things. When she came out, she saw Nick waiting for the elevator. She was about to take the stairs, but realized that would make her look very immature, so she stepped up next to him. Their floor lit up above the sliding doors and they stepped on.
"What kind of crap are you going to make up about us this time?" he asked evenly.
"I don't see why you hate me," she stated without looking at him.
"Ooh, that's tough to figure out. I hate you because you were going to make us look awful."
"Honestly, Nick, if I had lied about changing my mind, wouldn't I have gone ahead and made you look bad?"
"You didn't do it because you wanted to prove me wrong."
"Give me a break! You think I would have gotten fired just to prove you wrong? I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me."
Just then, the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. Before he could reply, she bolted out the door and hailed a taxi.