Chapter 1

For what seemed like the umpteenth time that morning, Alfred let out a gigantic yawn as he took a sip of his to-go coffee. He had only arrived in London a few days ago, accompanied by his brother, and the jet lag was still affecting him. Besides that, it was way too early in the morning for him. Thankfully, the two brothers' university had placed them at the same business for their internship, and as cool as that was, Alfred had not been expecting an international placement. So now Alfred was in a different country with different customs and different (terrible) food at a different university with different people.

Alfred liked the change, but this was a bit of a culture shock. The only thing that was the same was Matthew, his brother, who fortunately was walking to work with Alfred that tiring morning. Alfred glanced over at his brother, who was wearing a coat, suit and tie, and looked completely more professional than Alfred. Alfred himself was in a coat with only a button-up shirt, albeit tucked in (which gave him a few points), and a pair of khakis. Alfred was never one for dressing up, and hated it even more when he was forced into it.

He tilted his sunglasses down to look at his little brother. "Don't you think you're overdoing it a little bit with that get-up, Matt? Also, where are we going again? I already forgot."

The younger of the two brothers sighed. He held his tongue, knowing that getting upset with Alfred was completely useless. His older brother's mind was always elsewhere, dreaming up something big and impossible, when it should be right here in the now.

"We're going to Tudor Rose Magazine, Alfred. A-Aand no, I don't think that my outfit is too overdone. Didn't dDad always say, 'Dress for the position a-above the one that you want to get. T-That way, you'll n-never offend anyone.' P-Pplus, they wanted us to dress p-professionally, Alfred," the poor man stammered. Matthew was far shyer than his extroverted brother, and it tended to extend into his speech patterns.

Alfred looked down at his clothes, feeling just a little self-conscious. I think this is professional enough…

Matthew had already finished his morning coffee and was pleasantly awake in the brisk, morning air of London. He bit his lip tentatively as he offered a piece of advice to Alfred. "Y-You also… might want to know the name of the magazine w-we're about to work for, Alfred…" he said as they went through the crosswalk, only a block away from the office building.

Alfred let out a full snort. "Psh, I'll be fine. You worry too much. And oh yeah! Tudor Rose! Thanks, bro-ha, you're the best!" He gave his brother a playful nudge as they crossed the street. He looked up at the shiny, modern building in front of them, wide-eyed. It had to be at least thirty stories high.

"So this… This is where we're going? Damn, if it looks so fancy from the outside, I can't wait to see the inside!" Alfred put on a cheeky grin. "You ready, Mattie?"

The soft-spoken boy smiled and nodded. "Y-Yes, I'm ready!"

The two boys walked up to the main door, Matthew getting to the door and holding it open for Alfred. He got caught holding the door for a few other people, having to hurry to catch up with his brother. The inside of the building's foyer was buzzing with the morning rush. People hurried to the elevators, getting themselves ready for the day. Nearly everyone was on some sort of electronic device or was chatting with another person. The room itself was very clean and of an efficient, ergonomic design. Mostly everything was modern in style, with a black and white monochromatic color scheme. Small pops of color were dispersed around the room, such as a green plant or an emerald or ruby line of tiles. A main desk of receptionists was positioned in the center of the room, about three women who smiled and greeted everyone a good morning.

Alfred looked around wildly, taking the lobby and its sights in. DUDE! So many people! This is TOTALLY my kind of place, man! And it's so funky too!

Looking very overwhelmed, Matthew leaned over towards his brother. "I-I think we should… g-go and introduce ourselves to t-those women. T-They'll probably know… w-where we need to go…"

"Oh, those three chicks?" Alfred asked, gesturing over towards the receptionists. "All right, no worries, bro. I got this."

Alfred strutted his way over to the three women and took off his sunglasses upon reaching the desk, revealing his trademark baby blue eyes. "Good morning, ladies. My name is Alfred F. Jones and this is my brother, Matthew Williams. We're the new interns for Tudor Rose Magazine. Would you be so kind as to point us in the right direction?" He finished his very suave greeting with a flash of a smile, his shiny teeth practically sparkling as the light hit them.

All of the receptionists seemed to be blown away by the young American man. The first receptionist smiled brightly, turning on her own level of charm, and nodded. "Ah, yes, the new interns! I'm sure that Mister Honda will be thrilled to know that you're here. I'll just buzz for him right away. He will meet you over at the elevators in a moment, gentlemen, to show you to your respective placements." She nodded to them, dismissing the two men. Before Alfred and Matthew had even left the desk, the receptionist turned to the phone to call the mentioned Mr. Honda.

Matthew, who had followed behind Alfred, tentatively tugged on Alfred's sleeve. "C-Come on, Alfred..!" he whispered. "We should go over to the elevators."

Alfred nodded in agreement. "Thank you, ladies!" He gave them one last smile before being dragged away by his brother. Leave it to Mattie to drag me away from every pretty girl that I talk to.

The two walked over together, weaving through people, though not having much luck of getting there promptly. Most of the businessmen tended to walk right into Matthew while the poor boy tried to keep his bag from falling off of his shoulder. Upon reaching the elevators, Alfred jumped to steady Matthew with a single, firm arm, preventing him from stumbling everywhere. Matthew looked up gratefully at his older brother.

"I w-wonder who Mr. Honda is…"

"Dunno," Alfred replied, looking around. "Oh hey, maybe he's related to the car maker! Ya think? That would be so cool! Also, bro, you gotta speak up a little louder. It's hard to hear you in here with all of these people."

Matthew blushed, his brows furrowing as he attempted to speak louder. "I-I'm sorry! It's hard to hear y-you, even… o-over how many people there are! And I d-doubt he's actually… related to the carmaker, Alfred. E-Especially if he's… o-over here in England, s-selling… a-and working on a magazine f-for fashion!"

"Well, you never know, Matt. Ever heard of six degrees of Kevin Bacon—?"

At that moment, Alfred's sentence was cut off by the pinging of one of the elevators, which miraculously seemed to reach the ground floor, despite most of the others being so occupied. A short, nervous-looking Japanese man hurried out as a wave of workers entered the huge elevator. This, thankfully, decreased the noise level in the room. The Japanese man shook his head, seeming to murmur something to himself about "noisy Europeans" before straightening his tie. He looked around the room, most likely looking for the two brothers.

The younger brother leaned over towards the other, his already soft voice getting softer as he whispered. "S-Something tells me… t-that is Mr. Honda," he said with a smile just as the Japanese man found them and started to walk over.

"Hello," Mr. Honda said with a polite smile, his accent quite obvious through his English. "My name is Kiku Honda. I'd like to welcome you to Tudor Rose Magazine. I'm our company's CEO and Editor-in-Chief's personal assistant. I assume that you are both the Jones brothers?"

Alfred put on a smile and extended his hand to shake Mr. Honda's. "That is correct. I'm Alfred. This is Matthew. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Honda. Thank you for the welcome!"

The Japanese man accepted Alfred's hand and strongly shook it. As customary for Japanese citizens, he bowed forward a bit into the handshake. Upon closer inspection, Alfred could see that the man was dressed in a deep, dark chocolate brown suit that was extremely rich in color and expensive in the material choice. He had a mauve button-down shirt paired with it, and a tie that matched the main suit.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, too, Alfred and Matthew. Please, come this way." Mr. Honda gestured towards an elevator and pressed a button. By then, most of the crowd had gone to their respective offices. An elevator soon appeared, and the man led the two others inside. He hit a few bypass buttons of a code rather quickly, and then they were on their way.

Alfred was surprised to feel the elevator still going after a while, having expected them to only go up a few floors. Oh man, how high up is this office?

"Was your flight pleasant?"

Alfred stuck his hands into his pockets as he looked over at Kiku. "Yeah, very much so. It was a direct flight. We've been enjoying the city so far, although it's going to take me a while to get used to driving on the left side of the road!" he laughed.

At first, Mr. Honda blinked at the young man, having trouble understanding the fast-talking American. But after a moment, he nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. That is right, Americans do drive on the right side of the road. I had forgotten. But yes, it can be quite a switch. You will soon get used to everything in the city. It is not that difficult."

"Oh good, but no need to worry, I can adapt to change rather quickly!"

Matthew nods in agreement with his brother, hesitantly smiling at the Japanese man. "Y-yes, everyone has been s-so kind to us thus f-far."

Mr. Honda nodded as he took out a clipboard. "That is very good to hear. I am sure that our Editor-in-Chief will be thrilled to hear that, as well."

He keeps mentioning this editor-in-chief chick, Alfred thought, She must be pretty important.

Mr. Honda seemed to be checking things off on his clipboard as he spoke, looking up after going over a certain piece of information. "Ah, this is right. It says that you, Mister Williams—…? Williams? But I thought your name was 'Jones?' Has there been a mix-up?"

Oh gosh, here we go again. This always takes forever to explain, Alfred thought. Can't the answer just be because Matthew was born in Canada and therefore he does weird things?

Matthew shook his head. "O-Oh no, there's no mix-up. My brother and I do have different last names," he explained softly. "I h-have my mother's l-last name and Alfred has our father's surname."

"Ah, I see," Mr. Honda said with understanding, believing the Americans to have very strange customs. "Well, you shall be stationed as an intern with our writing division. You expressed interest in that, so they were able to match you up with a few writers there. They will work as guides for you, and you will work as their assistant."

Matthew beamed happily, earning an encouraging pat on the shoulder from Alfred. "Congrats, Matt, you'll do great like always!" Matthew smiled at his brother, knowing that Alfred was a good big brother when it counted.

Alfred was rather eager to hear about his own placement, his energy and impatience increasing as Mr. Honda turned back to his notepad.

"Yes, Matthew will be up on the twentieth floor today. The team there will introduce you to everyone. Alfred, you will be with the photographers and will be working as their assistant. I believe you put down on your résumé that you enjoy photography? Well, this will be your opportunity there—" Kiku cut himself off as he looked at the paper once more, "—Oh, I'm sorry… It seems that, although you will be working with the photographers, today you will need to meet with someone else this morning. The Editor-in-Chief wants to speak with you directly, Mr. Jones."

SAY WHAT?!

Alfred was shocked, not to mention speechless—which never really happened very often, even by the best surprises—that the boss wanted to talk with him.

"The Editor-in-Chief… wants to speak with me? Wow." Alfred scratched the back of his head as he let out a slight chuckle, his discomfort evident by his tone. "Oh boy, I didn't already do something wrong, did I?" Alfred let out a nervous laugh, exchanging a glance with his brother.

Mr. Honda shook his head with his standard, polite smile on his face. "I am sure that it is nothing that you did wrong, Mr. Jones. It might be because they have a special assignment for you. We shall see."

There's no way that this boss chick could've heard anything bad about me, Alfred thought. I made sure THAT was deleted off of my record! What could she possibly want with me, then?!

Alfred tried to remain as calm as Alfred-ly possible and rid his face of concern. "A special assignment? Okay, I'm always up for a challenge!"

The secretary nodded. "But first, we must drop off Mister Williams—" The bell rung, signaling that they had reached their first destination, and the door slid open for the twentieth floor. "—Here."

Matthew peeked hesitantly out the door, similar to a small animal looking out into the big world for the first time, but then smiled sweetly to Alfred. "G-Good luck, Alfred. You'll be great. T-Text me so we can go home t-together."

Alfred sent Matthew a reassuring grin. "You, too, Matt! I'm sure you'll do awesome! Will do!"

The younger boy smiled, then looked to the secretary. "A-And thank you, too, Mr. Honda."

Matthew stepped out of the elevator and waved to the both of them, looking quite nervous. The doors closed, but not before Alfred got to give him a discreet thumbs up. The doors closed, allowing Alfred to straighten up and take a deep breath to compose himself as the elevator started to quickly ascend once more.

Kiku smiled over his clipboard. "You and your brother are very close, yes? That is good; you will already have one friend here, Mister Jones. Adjusting to a new culture can be very confusing and difficult for some. But you seem like you are up to any challenge, isn't that right?"

Alfred stared at the man's clipboard for a brief moment. What does he keep on that thing? A schedule? A Death Note? Porn?

The American's eyes darted up to Kiku's face with a smile. "Yeah, we are pretty close. We were very excited when we heard that we would be interning in the same place. And yes, Mr. Honda, I am always up to any challenge. Plus, I'm a big people-person. I'm sure I'll adjust in no time!" Alfred flashed him a winning grin before glancing at the elevator buttons, wondering if they were even still moving.

Kiku chuckled softly at the younger man's enthusiasm. "Well, that is good. Being friendly is good, but make sure not to be too eager, Mr. Jones." Just as he gave him that odd piece of information, the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

As Kiku started to leave, Alfred could see that they were on the very top floor of the entire building. Alfred's eyes widened as he took in the new scenery. This...I think this is the nicest place I've ever been in. I really hope my shoes aren't muddy. He looked down just to double-check. Nope, we're good.

The two men walked into an office foyer that seemed rather small, in comparison to how large the building's floor plan was, with a main desk and several cubicle stations. "This is the top floor of Tudor Rose. This is where the personal assistants to the Editor-in-Chief work. My desk is over there." He gestured to a very neat, sparse desk that seemed to have everything in a minimalistic order. "Now, be careful while talking to the boss. The Editor-in-Chief does not like being interrupted or asked many questions, unless they ask you if you have any for them." Kiku lead him to a large set of double doors made of a dark, solid wood. He then turned around right before the doors, giving Alfred one final moment to speak. "Now, before we enter, do you have any questions for me, Mr. Jones?"

Alfred tried not to look overwhelmed. "Uh, don't interrupt, few questions unless asked, do not pass go, do not collect $200. I think I got it." He smiled at Kiku, impressed with his own lighthearted joke.

The secretary blinked in confusion. "I do not think we are paying you, and definitely not two hundred dollars, Mr. Jones." Not getting the cultural joke, Kiku pushed open the doors.

The room inside is a mix of modern and historical in some odd manner that seemed to work. Upon the far side of the room opposite to the doors was an entire wall of glass overlooking the city. The floor was a very gentle, off-white tile, towards a gray spectrum, but so slight the layman's eye would completely overlook it. On the wall to the right of Alfred, a door sits in the middle of a wall of bookshelves. Novels, guides, picture folders, textbooks, and what looked like other magazines were meticulously organized along the wall, everything in its place. To the left seemed to be a large, modern-style frame for a worktable with a walnut-wood tabletop. Lights, two mannequins (male and female), and a few chairs surrounded the space. A soft, green carpet rested underneath an L-shaped desk that sat front and center, directly across from the double doors. A computer, modern desk light, and large rolling office chair completed the look. It was completely devoid of anything else to personalize it except for a nameplate that read one thing:

Kirkland.