Hey,

here's my new story. I started posting it on DLS, but that site keeps vanishing, so I came here. Anyway, here's the first part. :)

Prologue. The job interview.

"Why am I doing this again?" Tommy questioned, not even bothering to hide his evident unhappiness about the situation he found himself in. Glancing at his watch, he sighed heavily. So much for a nice night out!

"Because," Mike, his friend, explained once again, while trying to adjust his tie, "I met this really hot girl yesterday, and tonight I'm going out with her. I forgot I had this meeting and I couldn't get a hold of her to cancel. Look, all I'm asking you to do is to ask her the questions I wrote down for you. How hard can it be to interview for an internship? You do this all the time at G-Major!"

Tommy set his forehead into a frown. "You compare the interns of G-Major – the young and usually overly-giddy girls that only want the job as an intern to meet famous people – to an internship at Toronto's biggest music magazine? You're kidding, right? I mean the last time I interviewed an intern she had her hand on my thigh after barely two minutes!"

Mike laughed at that comment. "As I recall it, you told me that after five minutes she was already busy sucking you dry. It's not my fault you set your requirements this low! Don't ruin this for me, man! You ask for her résumé, you look at it, and then say 'yes', or 'no'. Just remember one thing: Don't screw her! She believes you work for SOLID. I don't want her to think we're as sex-obsessed as the horndogs at G-Major."

"Technically we work for the same boss," Tommy pointed out, but then admitted defeat as he noticed his friend's anxious look. Joking was over. "And that aside, I'm married now – remember? Why is she coming in after closing time anyway?" The applying girl was scheduled for six pm, that's why Tommy was still sitting in his friend's office, waiting. It was Friday, and he really hoped this interview would be over soon. He had bars to be and wives to forget.

Mike, a tall man with dark brown, longish hair, lean built, sat down on the edge of his desk with still a minute of his time to spare. "She's still in high school. She had classes until four, so I gave her 'til six to show up. I planned to be here myself, but now… Have I mentioned how hot that woman is that I met?"

Tommy nodded, sighing. "Okay, okay. Go, have fun, and I'll hire you some overachieving high school student. How old is she?"

"Eighteen since last month."

Just great, Tommy thought. She'd probably recognize him and then turn all 'groupie' on him. Five years ago, he had still been a famous member of the boy band 'Boyz Attack' and statistically most of their fans had been between twelve and seventeen. That girl fit the numbers.

"I got to go," Mike called, halfway out already. Tommy merely waved a goodbye, before leaning back on the couch he was sitting on to close his eyes. Fife-thirty. Maybe he could use the spare thirty minutes for some quick slumber. Ever since he was shackled to a wife, sleep refused to come easily.

"Excuse me? Hello?" A female voice echoed along the empty hallways. Tommy awoke in no time, having merely dozed off. It was…fife-thirty five? Who was that early? She really was an overachiever!

"Anyone here?" the girl called again. "I'm Jude. I applied for the internship…"

"Over here," he sleepily responded. The rest of the floor was dark; only Mike's office was illuminated. He heard the footsteps nearing and straightened up, preparing for the worst. Usually, girls began to squeal once they recognized him. That high-pitched note was the very last noise on earth he wanted to hear just then. And surprisingly, it never came when she entered.

A shy head appeared around the corner of the door, smiling politely as she held out her hand. Long blond curls framed the head that Tommy had to admit was quite a pretty one. "Hi, I'm Jude Harrison. I applied for the internship. Are you Michael Stern?"

He shook his head as he motioned for her to come inside. "Michael had to leave early. I'm To—by Jackson." He didn't want to push his luck of going unrecognized by mentioning his real name. Standing up and adjusting his clothes, he then shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. You're early." A hint of accusation came with those words.

Indicating for the chair across Mike's desk, he watched Jude as she sat down. She didn't seem like the usual groupie. Tousled blond hair, a gray Ramones shirt, and black boots. What had him a little hooked were her skintight jeans. No girl should wear those pants as long as she didn't know what those things sparked in male heads. Jude didn't seem to know. There was an innocent, shy grin tugging on her cheeks, and he was returning it. It had been a while since he had seen something 'innocent'. Or maybe she was just one of those who knew how to come off the right way. She definitely didn't look like the overachieving student he had expected. That was clear!

Finally sitting down behind the desk, he took a look at the paper in front of him. It was Mike's list of things to ask her. 'How often could she come to work, given her school schedule? How much experience did she have? Had she ever written anything for any (school-)newspaper before?' Tommy inwardly rolled his eyes as he trashed the piece of unhelpful paper. "So… Jude." She straightened up, probably anticipating the very questions he had just trashed. "You're barely eighteen and still go to school. How come you want to work? Shouldn't you be out partying?"

She shrugged uncomfortably, unsure what to make of the person in front of her. He had awfully familiar, but she couldn't quite put a finger to it. And that aside, he wasn't looking at all like a reporter she had expected. The guy on the phone, Mike, had sounded like a real professional person, having asked about her schedule, her intentions, and her experiences. This guy wasn't even interested in that. So far, at least. Dressed in faded jeans, he also wore a white polo-shirt that said 'Armani' – something she knew was an expensive brand because her sister owned the female version of that shirt, and she had spent a whole lot of money for it. A reporter didn't earn that much money – did he? Also, his unfading smirk, and the accompanying penetrating gaze made her nervous. She didn't know what he would want to hear from her. "Music is my life," she finally answered, trying to sound confident and convincing, not that she was lying. "I want to get a foot into the biz as soon as possible. I turned eighteen last month and I'll get off school this summer. I want to make a first step, and so I decided to apply for internships all over the town. I'm glad though that it's my first choice that asked me for an interview," Jude stated with a proud smiled. Her father had trained her for two days so she'd make the perfect impression in this interview and would say the right things. He had to hire people himself, and knew what mattered.

"First choice, huh?" He wanted to snort. He had been flattered so many times in his life that he could see behind every well-trained reply. "Okay. Well…" He thought about something smart to ask. He couldn't care less if she was a good writer, or an eager student who'd love to drop by each day after work just to serve coffee to her boss. She didn't really believe she'd write articles right from the beginning, did she? So, what could he ask her? Would this be a typical G-Major intern, she'd be complimenting him by now. Something like 'you're really sexy'. Jude wasn't looking as if she planned on saying something close to that anytime soon. "What's your favorite band?"

Jude was staggered. Not a question she had expected. "Still active band, or all time favorite?" She returned an irritated gaze.

"Still active band," he added. Interesting reply, he thought.

"U2."

Now that was a reply, he grimly noted. He wasn't even sure if he should believe that. U2 were so famous by now that even those who had no interest in music at all knew them, and their achieved reputation as one of the best bands ever. He tried again. "All time favorite?" Please don't say The Ramones, he inwardly pleaded. He wanted to know whether she really had a thing for music, or not.

"Velvet Underground." Okay, well that beat the Ramones. Not everyone knew them. He placed another few questions, regarding that band, and was amazed she really did know quite a few things about the band's history.

The many things that man knew about the music industry took Jude aback. Almost as if he had been a part of it once. But then again, as a good music reporter he really had to know a lot about music history. However, it did amaze her that he cared so little about background or her other work. She had written some articles in the school's newspaper about some unknown bands, and she had once worked as a stagehand at a local club, The Chain – though, only for two days, until her mother had found out and demanded she'd spend her nights studying.

Tommy thought about his next question. "Imagine you'd have to meet with someone really famous, like…" He wanted to bait her. "Do you know Chaz Blackburn from Boyz Attack? I heard he was in town this week." Chaz was his former band mate. They shared a weird kind of friendship, which was mostly driven by the desire to outdo the other one. They used to fight a lot, back in the days, but had stopped doing that a little while ago. Officially, at least.

Jude began to laugh, slowly loosening up. This was less of a job interview, and more a talk with a person she could imagine becoming friends with. He knew much interesting stuff about the biz, something that always impressed her, and he wasn't coming off as the usual boss type. As her worries to fail drifted away, she dared to speak her mind. "You call Chaz Blackburn famous?"

Tommy really wished Chaz could hear! He inquired with a smirk. "Explain."

"Oh please," Jude started, doing what she did best – lashing out at lame musicians! "Chaz, and the whole Boyz Attack group, are talentless, butt-shaking losers! I still can't understand how they managed to become so famous. Especially that one guy – Little Tommy Q – he's like the worst of them. My sister had a HUGE crush on him. I think she still has. Anyway, she listened to that cheesy crap they called music all day long. There was a big poster right above her bed, tugged onto the ceiling. She met him once, on a concert, and he didn't even talk to her! He's a walking joke!"

Mildly hurt in his pride, but not nearly enough to take offense, he did thought back, admitting, "He got a lot of offers, I'd guess. Maybe she didn't stick out!"

Jude frowned at the odd reply. "Stick out?"

"Maybe he was just not interested."

"In what," Jude scoffed. "Meeting his fans? I know he wasn't," she stated matter-of-factly. "That guy was hell-bent on screwing everything female. It's a good thing he never met Sadie!"

Tommy was speechless. Was she really applying here? She had quite the nerve to be that blunt. Apparently, Jude noticed, too, how far she had just gone. "I'm really sorry. I'm usually a very nice person." He wanted to laugh at that. "Anyway," Jude spoke, trying to get back to why she was here, "If I had to meet someone famous I'd treat him with respect. I'd not be squealing, giggling, or asking for autographs."

"Good." Cause if there were three things he hated they were squealing, giggling, and singing his pictures. "You mentioned other places you applied at. Where?"

Jude scrunched her forehead in deep thought. There were like twenty, or more. "Um… Every music magazine, a few music schools, a concert hall, G-Major Records, Iggy's guitar company,…"

"Wait. G-Major?" Suddenly he remembered that his boss had told him to show up in time on Monday, because a bunch of interns would come by to introduce themselves. He also remembered having handpicked said interns himself but didn't recall the name Jude Harrison on the list. "A record label. Did you get any feedback from them?"

Jude shook her head. "There was a bitchy receptionist whom I handed my résumé, and I'm honestly not sure if she even passed it on. She constantly mumbled something about redheads, and how they were ruining the world, so I don't think she even realized I handed her my résumé. That place hires creepy people." He could only nod. Wait – redheads? There was this incident a few weeks ago, where he had flirted with the receptionist – Chloe, Clara, Claire… Something like that. He and the C-something named girl had spent the lunch break in a motel and when he had been back, more or less satisfied, he had stumbled over a leggy redhead, handing her his number. She had been the lunch break-entertainment the next day. That Claire-something chick must have seen him. That also explained the frosty behavior he'd gotten from her ever since.

"You're okay?" Jude probed slightly irritated, watching for about a minute how he had spaced off.

"Yeah, yeah…I'm fine. Sorry."

When he stayed silent, Jude smiled hopefully. "You're out of questions, does that mean I got the job?"

Tommy's face lit up, and was about to nod, when an idea hit him. "No. No, actually not. I'm really sorry. You'd probably be perfect for the internship here, but…nope."

"What?" Confused, but more angry and disappointed, she forgot her manners for a moment. "Why not? I'm probably perfect," she repeated his words.

Because – he wanted her at G-Major! For once he wanted an intern that actually was there for the music, and not for him. And he had a feeling she'd like to work at a record label. "You know, it's already six-twenty, and I'm running late for this really important thing… Let's wrap this up. You're not hired. Thanks!"

Jude stumbled out of the office with a mixture of chagrin, sadness, and a giant portion of utter bewilderment. With such a weird boss, she figured it might for the better she didn't get the job after all!