Sammy x Henry: The beginning

Chapter two: Music and dreams

                              1929
Henry woke up with a slight headache from the alcohol he had consumed last night, but it couldn't bring his spirits down; today Samuel would come over at the studio for an interview, and he was rather excited to see the man again. He went through his morning routine and set off for work. His small house, which he inhabited alone, was close to his workplace, so it was only a five minute walk.
As he had expected, Joey was already at the studio, cheerful as ever, and his mood only improved when Henry told him about the applicant that would be visiting today.
"A talented musician you say? Sounds like just the man we need for our music department! I'll be awaiting his arrival."

Meanwhile Samuel was on his way to the studio, not feeling nervous at all; he'd just see what would happen, it could be a nice opportunity to get a job he actually might like. However, he just wasn't the person to get overly excited about something, and appeared completely calm as he entered the building of Sillyvision.
He took a moment to look around and take in the atmosphere of the building; it had a very welcoming feel to it, and something wonderous as well, as if dreams could actually come true in here. Samuel knew better than to believe in something that silly however, and just made his way towards a young man cleaning the halls.
The janitor had his back turned towards him and didn't seem to notice him, so he tapped his shoulder lightly. The janitor jerked his head around, and Samuel apologized before asking his question. "I'm sorry, but do you happen to know where mister Drew is? I spoke to Henry Stein last night, and he invited me over for an interview-"
The janitor nodded. "Yes yes, he should be up in his office, it's right down the hall." He then extended his hand, which was slightly covered in dirt, towards Samuel. "The name's Wally by the way, Wally Franks. I've only been working here for a couple of weeks, but I'll tell ya, this place is not all fun and games, trust me. Good luck with your application anyway!"
Samuel looked at the other man in doubt before accepting the handshake. "It's nice to meet you Wally, my name is Samuel Lawrence. And thank you for the directions, I'll get going then."
He wondered about Wally's remark concerning this place as he walked into the direction of Joey's office; it sounded so out of place, since the studio seemed pretty nice so far.

He snapped back into reality however when a rather short, eccentric looking man with shoulderlenght brown hair and a thin moustache walked up to him, extending his hand towards Samuel right away.
"Ah, Samuel Lawrence, isn't it? My name is Joey Drew, I'm the manager and co-owner of this studio, as you may have already heard from my good friend Henry. You're here for your application as a member of the music department, right?"
Samuel was quite taken aback by the enthusiasm radiating off of the man, but shook his hand anyway. "It's a pleasure to meet you mister Drew, my name indeed is Samuel Lawrence. And you are correct, I am here to apply for a position at your studio."

Joey smiled warmly at the other man and motioned at him to come inside his office, gesturing at a chair opposite of his desk as they walked in. He sat down and studied Samuel for a bit; the musician seemed rather polite so far, and was obviously capable of keeping his nerves under control, a very valuable quality when working in a stressful environment like his studio. He folded his hands as he leaned back in his chair. "So Samuel, tell me a little bit about yourself; how did you get into music?"

Samuel sat down in the chair opposite of Joey, listening to the question the man asked him. "Well, I've been interested in music for my entire life actually. I had to teach myself everything though, since my parents weren't exactly in a position to fund music lessons.
But with a lot of practise and self-study I eventually learned to play the piano and sing. When I was old enough I decided, in a way, to follow my heart, and made my passion into my profession. I usually perform at bars nowadays, but it's not exactly the career I have always dreamed of. I'm hoping that'll change if I were to get this job."

Joey considered Samuel's story; the man was certainly passionate about music, which would be required for the job he had in mind for him. "Sounds like you would fit right in at this studio, we all are passionate about our work here. But well, before I hire you, I'd like to see you demonstrate some of that talent Henry has been telling me about. Lucky for you, there should be a piano down on one of the lower levels of the studio. Let me take you there right away."

As Samuel sat down at the piano, he did feel a tad nervous; after all, Joey seemed pretty enthusiastic about him so far, and he didn't want to throw away his shot by messing this up. But he didn't, as usual his fingers danced along the keys, finding all the right notes and playing them in the appropriate order, as his lovely voice accompanied the piano.

Henry was standing in the hallway outside the soon-to-be music department, listening to Samuel play and sing; the musicians voice simply made his knees go weak.
He didn't want anyone to know, but he had been secretly following the men to this room as soon as he had overheard that Samuel was going to perform a piece of music, eager to listen to his voice again. His presence did not go unnoticed for long though; as soon as Samuel finished playing the piece, he looked up, right into Henry's eyes, smiling and motioning at him to come in. Henry's face turned a bright red as he stumbled into the room, but Joey was far too impressed by Samuel's skills to notice any of that.
"You were absolutely right Henry, this man has a great deal of talent! I would be out of my mind not to hire him!" He turned towards Samuel. "With this obvious amount of skill and talent, I am more than happy to welcome you as the first ever member of our music department; Samuel Lawrence, you'll be my music director!"

Samuel smiled, still rather composed but happy with all this praise.
"Thank you very much mister Drew, I'm sure I'll enjoy my time working here. And director of the music department, that's like a dream come true." Joey patted him on his shoulder before leaving the room to check on the other workers. "I'm sure you will make a fine music director mister Lawrence, I'm sure you will."

Henry smiled shyly at the other man as soon as Joey had left the room. "Well, welcome to the studio Samuel! I'm happy to have you here."

Samuel, caught in a rare moment of excitement from getting this dream job, put his arm around Henry, smiling widely at the man. "Thank you so much for inviting me for an interview, without you none of this would have happened. Say, what do you say we hit the bar tonight, together? Drinks are on me. See it as a 'thank you' for getting me this job; besides, coworkers need to get to know each other, right?"

All Henry could do was nod, trembling on his legs as he tried to suppress his blush from becoming even more obvious.