She had graduated from high school and went onto college where she received a degree in tour and business management. Liz hadn’t heard a word from Taylor, or any of the Hanson family, in all of those years. She had even attempted to invite them to her high school and college graduation ceremonies, but she never heard anything back from them.

It hurt her to think that fame had affected the boys in such a negative way. Liz never imagined Taylor not being her best friend, and never in her wildest dreams did she think he wouldn’t be in her life at all. It didn’t seem fair that so much time had passed without having him in her life, yet she was still thinking about him every day. Every time she thought about Taylor and his brothers she became angrier with them. Each one of them had changed for the worse and probably didn’t even remember that she existed.

After Liz graduated from college in May, she realized that Tulsa wasn’t exactly the place to find the type of job she was looking for. Summer was quickly approaching, and she decided it was time to go out on a limb and do something crazy. Liz packed up her whole life in Tulsa and moved to Los Angeles on her own. She had saved money all through high school and college and used college loans to get her by until she found a real job.

Luckily, when she arrived in Los Angeles, she found an ad in the paper that was written by a girl close to her age. The girl was also new to the area and looking for a roommate. Although Liz felt like she was out of her mind for calling a stranger and offering to be their roommate, she was pleasantly surprised when they met. The girl’s name was Layna, and the two of them actually had a lot in common.

The two girls made a habit of exploring L.A. and eating lunch together on a daily basis. This particular day was no exception, only this time, Layna had some big news.

“I saw an ad in the paper that you might be interested in,” Layna mentioned to Liz as she sipped on her cappuccino.

Liz turned her attention away from the crowds of people passing by and looked at Layne curiously, “Really? What was it about?” she asked.

“It was a listing by one of the record companies around here… I can’t remember the name of it right now. I mean, there are so many record companies here in LA that it gets hard to keep track of them all,” Layna explained.

A record company? Liz thought to herself. Suddenly her interest peaked.

“What did the ad say exactly?” she asked.

“Well, it said they have an open position for a tour manager. And get this… Do you remember those guys that used to sing ‘MMMBop’ back in the day?” Layna asked with a smile.

Liz had never mentioned to Layna that she used to live next door to them.

Suddenly, Liz’s heart began racing so quickly that she could feel it pounding in her chest. “Yeah… they are called Hanson. What about them?” she asked as she tried to cover up the eagerness in her voice.

“Anyway, I guess this record company just picked up Hanson and the person they hire would probably be managing their tour,” Layna said.

Oh my God! Liz thought to herself. If she could land this job, it would be the perfect opportunity to get back at them for what they did to her. She would easily have the power to make Taylor Hanson’s life a living hell. She had to get this job.

“Oh, I forgot to mention that they are only taking applications until tomorrow. So if you’re interested, I would definitely hurry up and apply,” Layna said.

“Oh my God! That means I have to get a resume and portfolio ready by tomorrow! I have to go, Layna… I’ve got so much work to do! I have to get this job!” Liz exclaimed as she stood up from the table and began thinking of all the different things she could put on her resume to make herself stand out from the other candidates.

—

The next few days were nothing but complete chaos. Liz created a perfect resume and portfolio and dropped it off at the record company the next day before noon. The very same day, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, Liz got a phone call from the manager of the label. She couldn’t believe when he asked her to come in for an interview the following day.

Sure enough, she dressed in her finest business-like clothing and went to the interviews. Liz thought everything had gone perfectly. She answered all the questions with confidence and sounded like she knew exactly what she was talking about. The manager seemed pleased with her responses and told her that they would let her know their decision within the next day or two.

Liz didn’t let her phone leave her side. She was starting to get worried because she hadn’t heard anything yet. Finally, when she was making dinner that night, her cell phone began ringing from the kitchen table.

“Hello?” she answered eagerly.

“Hello. May I speak with Elizabeth Lively please?” the voice asked on the other line.

The rest of the conversation was all a blur. All Liz really heard was that she had gotten the job! The manager wanted her to come in the next to get started. She was beyond ecstatic. She finally found the job of her dreams, and in the midst of it all, she was going to give Taylor Hanson the payback that he deserved! Her life couldn’t be any more perfect.

—-
Liz’s stomach turned with nervous butterflies as she sat at her desk in her new office. She had been working for the record label for close to three weeks, and had found out on the first day that she would in fact be managing Hanson’s tour. Not only would she be their tour manager, but she was also required to go on tour with them.

Over the past three weeks, Liz had done her best to make a plot of ruining Taylor’s life one step at a time. Let’s just say she had set up quite the tour for her old friends. She researched venues across the United States and made sure she scheduled Taylor and his brothers for the worst ones possible.

Her favorite part of the plan was the opening act she had scheduled for Hanson’s tour. She booked a punk rock band called “The Chelsey’s” that supposedly had a bad reputation. The band was an all girl group, and apparently the three girls were rude, obnoxious and constantly caused a scene wherever they went.

Today was a particularly important day for Liz. She would finally be meeting with Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. The guys had no idea that she would be their new tour manager, and they definitely didn’t have any clue what she had planned for them.

During this meeting, she was going to give the guys their tour schedule and tell them all about their opening band. She was nervous about seeing them, but she had to accomplish her one goal, and that was to make Taylor miserable. She was going to try to put all of her hard feelings for them aside and try to play it off like everything was okay.

Minutes later, one of the secretaries knocked on Liz’s door.

“Liz, the Hanson brothers are here to see you,” she said.

“Okay, go ahead and send them in,” Liz said as she took a deep breath.

The first person that walked into her office was Zac. God, he looked so different. He wasn’t the little boy she remembered, but he had grown up to be quite handsome. He still had those warm brown eyes that almost made Liz feel bad for what she was about to do to him.

Next, Isaac walked in. His hair was short now, but other than that, he still looked exactly the same. Isaac had always seemed like such a great guy. Liz never understood why even he would have pushed her completely out of his life like Taylor and Zac did.

Finally, her pulse began to race as Taylor was the last to walk into her office. Jesus Christ… she thought to herself as she watched him walk in. It took all she had inside of her not to break down and cry and ask him why he had to hurt her the way he did. He looked even more gorgeous than she remembered. His hair had gotten a little darker and his face had become more mature. And his eyes…. oh god, the eyes were just as mesmerizing as she remembered them. He wasn’t as thin and lanky as he used to be… in fact, he had become quite lean. He was wearing a thin, white t-shirt which definitely complimented his muscular chest.

“Oh my god!” Isaac finally said as he realized who was sitting at the desk before them. Taylor and Zac were too much in shock to say anything.

“Liz?” Zac finally asked as if he was trying to figure out whether it was really her, or not.

“Yeah, it’s me. I just got hired as the new tour manager,” Liz said nervously. She tried to fake a smile, but in reality she wanted to punch each one of them in the face for what they had done to her. Especially Taylor.

“Liz, um wow. I don’t even know what to say. It’s been a really long time,” Taylor finally said as he and his brothers sat down in the chairs across from her desk.

Liz nodded, “Yeah, it sure has.” But it wouldn’t have been if you would have responded to my letters and phone calls… she thought to herself.

“I didn’t even know you were living in LA! When did you move here?” Isaac asked curiously.

Maybe you would have known if you hadn’t completely shut me out of your life… she thought angrily.

“I moved here at the beginning of summer,” she replied calmly.

“Well, it’s so awesome to see you! I can’t believe you’re our tour manager! I mean, how weird is that? We haven’t seen you after all of these years and now you’re suddenly working with us,” Zac replied with a smile. He looked so sincere, but Liz knew she had to go through with her plan.

“Yeah, it’s all very strange to say the least. Are you ready to hear what I have planned for you guys?” Liz asked as she tried not to let her nerves take over her body.

“For sure. I’m sure you’ve come up with a great plan,” Taylor replied, as he flashed her that infamous grin.

Yeah, a great plan just for you, Taylor… she thought sarcastically.

“Well, here is a copy of the first leg of your tour. This list includes all the cities and venues we will be going to,” Liz said as she handed them each a copy of the schedule.

She smiled in satisfaction as she saw the look of panic wash over all of their faces.

“Um… Liz, no offense or anything, but aren’t these venues pretty cheap? I mean a lot of these are really small. And some of them I’ve never even heard of before,” Isaac said as he skimmed the list.

“Isaac, this is what I went to college for. This is my job,” Liz replied, trying her best to sound sweet.

Taylor rolled his eyes, “Well, I think this schedule completely sucks ass. There is no way I’m playing at these shitty venues,” he replied.

For a second, Liz felt like she could cry. The Taylor she knew when she was fourteen years old would have never spoken to her like that. The way he talked and how he rolled his eyes at her so thoughtlessly was completely a different person than she used to know.

Zac sighed, “Taylor, don’t be rude. Liz is right. This is her job, so I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” he said.

God, Zac… stop making me feel bad… she thought.

“So, what else do you have to show us?” Isaac asked with a worried expression on his face.

“Well, I have also scheduled an opening act that will be touring along with you guys,” she replied as she bit her lip. They were really going to love this one.

“And who might that be? I’m afraid to ask,” Taylor scoffed.

Liz opened up her desk drawer and grabbed three CD’s of the punk girl group that she had scheduled to tour with them. She tossed each one of them a copy.

“I got each one of you a copy of their CD incase you aren’t familiar with them,” Liz replied as she watched Taylor’s face growing pale.

“The Chelsey’s are opening for us?” Isaac asked wearily as he hoped Liz was joking.

“Yeah, is that a problem? I heard you guys were looking for a new type of fan base, so I figured this group would definitely bring in a different type of crowd,” she said.

“This has got to be a fucking joke. I’m out of here,” Taylor said as he tossed the CD on Liz’s desk and exited the office.

Zac stood up, “Don’t worry about him, Liz… He’ll get over. Thank you for planning all of this for us. We trust your judgment. Right, Ike?” he asked.

“Yeah… right,” Isaac mumbled.

“Well, we’ll see you again soon,” Zac said as he and Isaac followed Taylor out of the room.

For a minute, Liz felt a horrible amount of guilt for what she was doing to Isaac and Zac… but Taylor’s reaction made it all worth it. He deserved what was coming to him. Her plan was off to a perfect start and she was loving every minute of it.