Today was Monday- the first real shooting day of Up Next. I'd gone into work extra early so that I could set everything up and finally get some information about the competition.

After I laid my products out and found my way to the dressing room, I went to the stage area to find the packet of information I was promised. There was a long table of papers, each with a name attached. I walked down it, finding my name at the very end. I took it, heading back towards my station to read it.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be very helpful. There were three sections: competition set-up, rules and regulations, and a section specific to the makeup artists. I read the set-up part first.

In round one, five people would be eliminated, and the same for round two. After that, one person was eliminated each round. Contestants could perform either covers or originals, and had to get at least three out four judge's votes to move on. It sounded simple enough.

Moving on, I read that as a makeup artist I would be responsible for the same four participants and judge each day. Well, I already knew that. We were to go to our four contestants first, then go to the dressing rooms to take care of our judge. Underneath this information was a list of each judge and which artist was paired with them for the duration of the show. I scanned it eagerly. All the way at the bottom, I spotted my name.

Addison J - Marshall Mathers

I rubbed my eyes, looking at it again. I couldn't believe this. I'm not a fan of rap, and I still understand how huge this is. He's one of the most famous people in the world, and I'm going to be working with him every day from now until the show ends. This news was going to make this gig interesting for sure.

I read further down, looking for the rules and regulations. There was a lot about general privacy and copyrights, not stealing and obvious things like that, but I saw a few interesting bullets near the bottom.

• There can be no exchange of bribes between any party.
• There can be no discussion or meet-ups of any kind between any party outside of work.
• There can be no relationship of any kind between employees and judges or contestants.

Hell, they were serious about this. I mean, bribery? It's all very intense. I rolled up the packet, putting it in my back pocket.

I pulled out my phone, checking the time. I was already late, my core four would be waiting on me. I must have been standing there, frozen in shock, longer than I'd realized. I rushed backstage to find Jackson sitting in the chair already, looking bored. Oliver, Caleb, and Missy were standing a few feet away, looking at their phones. I greeted them and began working quickly, trying to make up for lost time. But, before I could send Caleb, my last person, off to get mic'd up, he stopped me.

"Hey, Addison, do you want to go get dinner with me tonight?" I froze, caught off guard. He was so nonchalant, like he did this all the time. It's possible that he does. I didn't have to consider my answer for very long.

"Sure, I'd love to. Just tell me where and when and I'll be there." I sounded a little over-eager, sure, but I didn't care.

"I looked it up earlier and found an Italian restaurant not too far from here. I don't know the city though, so you have to make the final call."

"I love that place!" It was quite a coincidence that he managed to pick my favorite restaurant first try.

"Alright then, how 'bout we meet there at seven?" I nodded in response, and he leaned down to kiss my cheek. I blushed a deep pink as I watched him walk away. The rules and regulations pushed their way into my head, but I ignored it. We weren't going to get caught. It's no big deal.

I checked the time again- I was still behind. I kept getting distracted and losing five minutes here, five minutes there, which added up to me being very late. I picked up my bags and took off jogging down the hall. I burst into the door marked Marshall Mathers without knocking. Extremely unprofessional, but I was already ruined because I was 15 minutes late. One more thing couldn't make it much worse, right?

"I'm so sorry Mr. Mathers, it's been a mess of a morning. I apologize for my tardiness." I said, clearly out of breath. He looked up, his eyes following me as I hurried over to the table and laid out my materials.

"Nah, it's alright. I ain't concerned 'bout being on time for this shit." I smiled, but his expression didn't change.

"You don't want to be here?" I questioned.

"Nope." He was cold, untrusting.

"Me neither." He nodded, relaxing a tiny bit at my words. I moved to start on his base, and he jerked his chin towards me.

"What's your reason?" I pulled my hand away.

"Reason for what?"

"Reason for not wanting to be here." There was still no expression on his face. I've never seen someone so stony. I figured it was best to be honest with him. I don't trust him, I don't even know him, but it still seems better not to lie to him. I can't see him taking that well.

"With all due respect, Mr. Mathers, rap isn't really my thing. I don't hate it, but I don't know much about it. As an MUA I'm responsible for four contestants, and all I can tell you is that some of them are real jerks." I watched his face for a reaction, any movement at all.

He just nodded. That's it. What the hell is his deal?

I finished working quietly. The silence wasn't awkward with him. Not like it is with Oliver or Jackson.

"Okay Mr. Mathers. Are you alright with this?" I gestured towards the mirror.

"Yeah, it looks fine." He got up, walking to the the door. He turned back to me, his hand resting on the handle.

"Thanks, by the way."

"No problem. I'll see you at first commercial break." He nodded, walking out the door. I heaved a sigh of relief. He had this presence- I couldn't even explain it. He just felt powerful. And I guess he was.

I sat down, intending to relax for a few minutes. The door to the dressing room flew open, and I jumped up. It was Justine.

"Hey, one of your people, Missy I think, needs a touch- up. Some idiot in the crew spilled water on her." I grabbed my things and followed her back out to the main backstage area. I could feel a headache forming in my temples. And this was only the beginning.