Beside You

Chapter 7

The rest of the weekend is a blur-Jess clubbing and sleeping with different guys every night, while I'm anxiously counting down the hours to my first day of work.

Monday finally comes, and when I wake, I jump out of bed and walk to my closet, trying to decide what kind of impression I want to make today. I grab a royal blue dress and a pair of tan heels. I look in the mirror and decide to straighten my naturally wavy hair.

Once finished getting ready, it takes me only ten minutes to walk to Modest. When I'm inside, Jeanette, the receptionist, greets me.

"Good morning, Paisley." This is the first time I've been addressed by name by the receptionist.

"You can meet Mr. Magee in his office." She tells me. I smile and walk to his door, only entering after knocking. Harry Magee is walking around the room, paperwork in his right hand and his smartphone in his left. He looks up as I enter.

"Paisley, nice to see you." He hurriedly says. He appears much more stressed now than during my interview. "Sit. I'll be explaining your role here at Modest before you begin your first day." I take a seat across from his desk. He sits down too.

"First of all, if you haven't noticed, this is the busiest time of year for the entertainment industry. So things tend to get a little hectic, but we try to keep an aura of professionalim all the same." I nod.

"Okay, so as you know, Richard Griffiths and I are the co-CEOs of Modest. He is out in the UK, and I moved here to plant the US branch. We manage all of our musicians and all aspects of their careers. To help the US branch get on its feet, we've brought a few of our musicians here, while the rest are back in the UK. We've brought Olly, Cheryl, and Five Seconds of Summer over here with us to the states." He shuffles some important-looking paperwork around.

"I have decided to hire you as an assistant-my assistant-but I am going to have you be the assistant band manager of Five Seconds of Summer. Of course, you won't be making any executive decisions, but you will instead be helping with their scheduling, publicity, and some recording time. Things of that nature. Olly Murs, is launching his new album in four weeks, and Cheryl is getting ready for her tour in two months, and I have been completely swamped in work because of this. Therefore, I'm needing help with the Five Seconds of Summer boys." He reaches under the table and grabs a blue folder, which he hands to me.

"Here's the boys' schedules. I'll have you meet them now. Get to know each other. Then, I'll introduce you to their upcoming projects." He gets up and I follow him out the door. I am feeling so overwhelmed. This is so much to remember, and a lot of responsibility. I don't know if I can do this. But I will. I have to. This is my dream.

Harry leads me into a very large office. Four guys are sitting down, two of them with guitars across their laps. They appear to be songwriting.

"Boys!" Harry announces. They look up.

"This is Paisley Thomas. She's going to be helping me with your schedules for a while. Please introduce yourselves while I get some things ready for her in my office." Harry leaves and I turn to face the guys again.

One is pale with obviously-dyed, bright, red hair. He's wearing a faded Metallica t-shirt and he has a guitar in hand. Sitting next to him is an older boy, shorter and with messy, curly hair. He's wearing a black tank top and he's holding a notebook and pen. Then, there's an asian-looking guy with blonde streaks in his very dark hair. He also has paper and a pencil in his hands. Lastly, next to him is a tall guy with sandy-blonde hair and broad shoulders, holding a guitar. His bright, blue eyes grab my attention, and I realize I am staring, but I can't look away. He's wearing a large red flannel and black skinny jeans with holes in the knees. What catches my eye is the silver ring pierced through the left side of his lower lip. I've never seen a piercing look so good on anyone before.

"Hi, I'm Michael!" I jerk my head toward the cheery voice speaking to me. The red-head sticks out his small hand and I shake it. He seems nice.

"Hey, I'm Ashton! We're so excited to be having you working with us!" The curly-haired one says in a very prominent Australian accent. I shake his hand as well.

"Calum." The dark-haired one nods at me. I smile in return.

"And I'm Luke." Says the boy with the lip ring. He pulls it between his teeth, which is very attractive.

"Nice to meet you all." I say, taking a seat across from the guys.

"So, what do you guys usually do here in your office at Modest, while you're not on tour or recording?" I ask.

Ashton is quick to respond. "Well, we usually spend our time writing original songs, and once we think they sound good, we have a conference call with Richard, who's still in the UK, and Harry. If they all like what they hear, then we record it in the studio-we actually have one in this building, which is nice. And, when we aren't doing any of that, we are going to promotional shoots or events."

"But I also snuck my Xbox in here, so I try and play that a few times a week." Michael says.

"More like a few times a day." Says Calum. I laugh, and so does Luke. His light hair is perfectly quiffed, and I notice how large his arm muscles are, and I realize how attracted to him I am. Gosh, he's hot.

My thoughts are interrupted as Harry comes in and takes me to his office to finish giving me my first few tasks at my new job.