She goes to her meeting

After a few moments, she pulls herself together and finishes rubbing her moisturiser in. She then changes into her suit and leaves the photo studio. She walks through the hallways, still struggling to put a smile on her face when no one was looking at her. She walked all the way to her office, which doubled as the meeting room. She paused for a moment to compose herself and put on a fake smile. Then, she opened the door and went inside.

'Ah' Arthur, her right-hand man, said when he saw he enter, standing up to greet her. There were three other people in the room, Mary and two investors.

'Good morning Arthur' Janice said as she walked past him, giving him a pat on the arm to recognise that he stood for her.

'You remember John Talbot?' Arthur asked, gesturing to the first man. The two men stood up.

'Absolutely.' Janice responded cheerfully, shaking his hand.

'Thanks.' John quickly responded.

'Tex Galloway.' Arthur said, gesturing to the other man.

'Nice to meet you.' Janice said, shaking his hand as well. She moved to behind her chair and gestured to Mary, 'You've met my assistant Mary Novac? She'll be assisting us today.'

'Good afternoon Gentlemen.' Mary said. Then, everyone took their seats.

'Janice, I have to tell you, I came away from our last meeting feeling very optimistic about investing in the skincare line of, uh, Starlin products.' John stated optimistically.

'Well, we have an excellent product line.' Janice boasted.

'Oh, no doubt, no doubt.' John said thoughtfully, resting his arms on the table and touching only his fingertips together, 'But that's why your recent drop in sales were especially perplexing. But, uh, we think that we can turn things around, if you'll follow our guidelines.'

'The last time I followed someone's guidelines, Mr. Talbot, was in 8th grade.' Janice retorted, mimicking his gesture to show he wasn't the one in power in the room. The men smiled and almost chuckled at her clever response.

'Well, perhaps we should have said our...suggestions.' John corrected himself.

'Ah, then what do you suggest?' Janice asked, leaning back in her chair, and gesturing for him to continue.

'For starters, you need more of a, an aggressive ad campaign, like your chief competitor.' John explained.

'I agree, the skin tone line reinvents the wheel every 6 months.' Tex added.

'And, uh, how do you gentlemen propose to reinvent this wheel?' Janice asked.

'Well, um, you need a new face for the Starlin line.' John said, knowing it would be controversial. Janice stood up instantly.

'I've always been the face for my products.' She protested. John sighed.

'I know, and I've always had tremendous admiration for you Janice, I have.' John explained, 'You know, I followed your career from the early days, back when you were on the cover of almost every magazine in the country. You know the fitness videos-'

'Sports clothes' Tex added.

'Yeah, the, uh, skincare line, right up to today.' John continued. Janice pushed her chair back under the table, emphasising the meeting was at an end.

'And now it's time to help me reinvent the wheel?' Janice asked, in an accusatory manner. John looked around awkwardly, as if looking for support.

'Well.' He started, tapping his fingers on the table to think. He stood up, followed by everyone else, 'Afraid that's the way I see it, kid.'

'It's the public, they've got to have a pretty face.' Tex added before they all moved away, towards the door. Mary opened the door and everyone left the room.

'You know, we can turn this whole division around Janice.' John explained empathetically, as he shook Janice's hand.

'I'll think about your suggestions.' Janice said diplomatically, 'Along with further options.'

'Fine, and I'll, um, keep in touch with you.' John responded more enthusiastically.

'Fabulous.' Janice stated, watching John and Tex leave, thinking about what they said. She was still beautiful, wasn't she?

'Janice, have you got a minute?' Arthur asked, once the two investors had left. Janice nodded and they headed back into her office.

'I heard you telling Talbot about your...' He started explaining as he closed the door behind them, '...other options, what other options?'

'There's always other options, Arthur.' Janice responded, walking over to her desk.

'Janice, don't be evasive, it's not like you.' Arthur reasoned. Janice sat down at her desk.

'Arthur, I've just been asked to stop modelling for my own skincare line.'

'Well, you needn't take it so personally.'

'It is personal Arthur, my face has always been the trademark for my products.'

'Why not screen test? Do it once. Just, see how it feels. Try it on for size.' Arthur explained, laughing at his metaphor.

'And what if it doesn't fit?' Janice asked, still quite stern.

'Well, it is your company.'

'You coordinate with marketing on this screen test, okay?' Janice stated, giving in. Arthur nodded before both he and Janice looked over at the sound of the door opening, Mary walked in with a sheet of paper in hand. Arthur turned back to Janice.

'You've made the right decision.' Arthur thanked, before turning and leaving the room.

'Janice, I think this is the message you've been waiting for.' Mary stated happily, after Arthur had left, and handed Janice the paper. It read:

'Dear Ms. Stalin,

Please contact me as soon as possible. I have some very important news regarding the halting of the aging process with wasp hormones that I am researching. I believe that you would be very interested in incorporating these new findings in your cosmetics line. I can be found at 345 W Lacy street, #21, Los Angeles, CA. Please be discreet.

Sincerely,

Dr. Zinthrop'

Followed by his signature.