He wasn't going to actually say something to her.

No, seriously.

It just sort of happened.

When Ione unloaded some things that were on her wary mind a few hours earlier he went into protective mode. She could fend for herself, fight her own battles, but he also knew how she'd become temporarily numb and frozen when it came to business conversations like the one that happened. How she'd tell him about people talking over her, not at her. How he never really liked hearing any of that.

He didn't share the same experiences currently but as a musician, a goddamn human being, it was enough to make him feel that disrespect as well. Alex was not inherently a confrontational man but the frustration he felt prompted him to want to go over to the record label and make sure they realized no one could speak to her, about her, in the way that they had. His place be damned. Her comfort was important to him and if she felt uncomfortable and disrespected then it became his place. Thing was they weren't in Nashville so that wasn't really be possible at the moment. So he dropped the idea entirely.

He made a quick call to Gina who wanted to go over tomorrow once again, and it just so happened that she was on the phone with Brooke. The opportunity seemed too perfect. He couldn’t help himself. He asked to be added in to their call, letting her know he wanted to have Brooke’s opinion about how everything should go as well. She was delighted. Well, as delighted as she could be. They covered the basics: time they had to leave his flat, estimated time of arrival, ideas on what to say if he gets put on the spot. The usual. As their conversation came to an end, Alex wasn’t quite finished yet.

Alex: Hey, Brooke? Can I call you?
Gina: Should I be around for this?
Alex: Nah, it’s alright.
Brooke: Sure, Alex.
Alex: I just need your number.

A few moments later he made the call.

Brooke: What’s up, Alex? Excited for tomorrow?
Alex: Yeah, very excited. We both are. I was just curious about something.
Brooke: Shoot.
Alex: Ione told me about that call she had with you and Big Machine and the things that were said and I’m not really understanding how you’d just let those people talk to your client like that.
Brooke: Oh. So this is what the call is about.
Alex: Yeah, this is what the call is about.
Brooke: She’s my client, Alex. I am hired to spin the press in her favor. Not play referee to petty arguments.
Alex: This wasn’t a petty argument, this was a grown man saying something uncalled for when you both could clearly hear it and in that scenario you’d want someone in your corner, especially someone who is supposed to spin things in her favor as you’ve called it. It’s one thing to spin things in her favor not just on a superficial level but on a personal level as well.
Brooke: Is she upset?
Alex: She’s asleep. She doesn’t even know I’m calling. But I was upset when I heard it. That's disrespect. Treating her like she's not even a person. I get how things might become heated in those rooms and things are said but that's unacceptable on top of the fact that she didn’t even know about all these plans that were being made for her. You’d think that the musician in question would be the first to know.
Brooke: This is more of a concern to bring up with Big Machine.
Alex: And if we were in Nashville, you can bet on the fact that I would but we’re in London and you were in on the call and had an opportunity to at least speak up.
Brooke: Everyone was getting restless and tempers are bound to come up. You know how those guys get, they talk big and fight big too.
Alex: That’s no excuse.
Brooke: If this bothered her so much, she could have spoken up and it would be handled then. No one even registered it, it was just said heat of the moment as tensions were rising.
Alex: It shouldn’t have gotten to a point where she had to be in a position to speak up like that.
Brooke: Alex, I understand your concern, but there’s nothing more to discuss here. This isn’t my domain. I’m hired to do the job that I do and I’ve been doing it pretty damn well. It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows. What happened is in the past. Let’s all move forward from it.
Alex: So you're just not going to do anything in the future? Chalk it up to the way things are, let some guy shittalk her without so much as an apology because you've decided it's not in your job description to deal with?
Brooke: This isn't going to go anywhere. Have a good night, Alex.
Alex: Yeah, bye.