Before You, He Had Me

Three

"How are you feeling this morning, working girl?" Crystal grins at Meg as she walks into the kitchen.

"So fucking nervous." Meg sighs, sitting down at the table.

"You have nothing to be nervous about, Meg. You are the best seamstress I know and you are going to kill it at this new job." Michael smiles as Meg pulls a bagel from the pile adding jam to it.

"Thanks, but I still am. What if I'm not what she expects and she hates me? Or our personalities clash and she hates me? Or—" "Meg. She's not going to hate you, no one could ever hate you. You are a sweetheart." Crystal interrupts with a laugh.

"Pretty sure Calum hates me." Meg mumbles.

"Na, you just hate him." Mike rolls his eyes. "Am I giving you a ride today? You don't exactly have a US license yet."

"Yes please. Or I can call an uber."

"Nonsense. I'll drive you to your first day."

"Thanks." She grins.

"I've got the band and some other friends planning to come see the new house and celebrate you being in LA with us tonight, so we will have a little party for dinner." Crystal informs her.

"No pressure to have the best first day ever then I guess." Meg laughs.

"You are going to be just fine, Megan Grace. I know it. Now hurry up, we don't want you late on day one now do we?" Michael smiles.

"Never." Her eyes go wide with panic.

"Eat in the car, remember how LA traffic is the absolute worst." He laughs, offering her the purse she had set down on the counter.

"Thanks guys. I'll see you tonight, Crys, and you so do not have to throw a party for me tonight."

"Too late. It's already happening. Good luck today, Meg! You got this!" Crystal laughs, yelling after them as Michael steers Meg towards the garage.

***

Much as Crystal and Michael had assured her, Meg finds herself relaxing quickly into the environment of the studio. She is greeted by a girl only a year or two older than herself, her name is Cindy, she was Hillary's assistant two years prior and had been kept on and promoted since her trial year as she calls it.

She finds out that in true apprenticeship fashion she will be following Hillary around each day, and it is expected that she add in her input and ideas or she will never gain respect or the trust Hillary wants her to gain, but of course Hillary will never tell her that; luckily Cindy does.

Hillary is away for three days on a business trip to a set location in the Bahamas, as soon as she is back Meg's real work will begin. For the next few days she will be helping in the sewing room working on costumes for extras and small parts, or patching costumes sent back to them from sets that were damaged in filming.

Overall the day is helpful in calming her nerves, and she definitely feels like she could thrive in the environment of the studio so long as Hillary likes her. Walking out of the building at 6pm she can't help but grin at the blonde woman behind the wheel of the white Tesla.

"It was as good as we said it would be wasn't it?" Crystal laughs as she slides into the passenger seat.

"It was great, yes." Meg admits, "I'm really excited about the job, I think I could thrive here."

"You're sewing machine showed up at the house today, so you can really thrive now." Crystal grins.

"Yes! Is it okay? Did shipping it ruin anything?"