There he is. I thought to myself as I stood outside the café, watching him idly stir a mug of coffee. It's been a year since I had seen his face. The length of his jaw, the deep color of his eyes, and his always perfect hair. I've missed him.

Anticipation began to build in my gut and I moved to grab the door handle, until a woman sat down across from him. Tommy sat up straighter and flashed a wide smile to the unfamiliar woman. I took in the sight of her; shoulder-length chestnut hair curled softly, creamy complexion, and dark brown eyes. She was dressed impeccably in a black knee-length skirt with a navy blue blouse and black stilettos.

I couldn't deny, this woman was beautiful.

I glance down at myself in my favorite pair of jeans, Ramones t-shirt and converse. Yeah, I can't compare with that.

I looked back through the window and the two of them, then just at Tommy. He seems so happy, I'm too late.

Sighing, I turn away and make my way down the busy street, taking in the familiar sights and sounds around me. A year away in London and so much as changed. Faces passed me as I weaved in and out of the moving crowds, headed towards the familiar sign I've grown to miss. G-Major Records.

Although I left, hoping to make something of myself out in the U.K., G-Major was my home. The once place I could turn to when nowhere else was enough. Home away from home. I grabbed the door handle and made my way into to the lobby.

At the receptionist's desk sat a petite blonde girl who looked frantic, almost fearful. Peaking my interest, I headed over to her, I needed to make sure Darius was in anyway. As I approached her, I could hear her muttering to herself.

"He's going to kill me. Haven't even been here a month and I've already fucked up. He's going to kill me. No, he's going to fire me, THEN kill me." She muttered.

I approached her carefully before asking, "Are you alright?"

Her eyes shot up to me, "Does it look like I'm alright?" She snapped before returning to searching her desk. Looking defeated, the girl sat back in her chair with a sigh. Remembering I was standing in front of her desk, she looked at me. Recognition spread across her face and she stood up so violently her chair fell over backwards

"Ms. Harrison, I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you; please forgive me for my attitude!" The poor girl squeaked apologetically.

I smiled sincerely to her, "You can call me Jude, and don't worry about it. We've all had our bad days. Are you alright though?"

The girl smiled weakly and returned her chair to its original position before slowly taking a seat in it. "No, I lost a VERY important file Darius was looking for. He's expecting it in the next 20 minutes and I can't find it anywhere! I'm so fired." She dumped her face into her hands.

I couldn't help but feel for the girl, I knew how Darius could be. Vicious. I sidled up to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder gently. "It'll be alright…?" I trailed off, I didn't know her name. She seemed to sense that dilemma also and raised her head a little so I could hear her.

"My name is Kaily."

I smiled at her, "Kaily, it'll be okay. Is Darius in his office? I need to speak with him, maybe I can smooth things over for you while I'm in there."

Kaily raised her head fully to look at me, hope filling her face. "You'd do that for me?"

"Yes," I replied, "but you have to promise me something."

She nodded her head furiously, "Yes! Yes, anything!"

I giggled, "Promise me you won't let Darius get to you. He can be a tyrant, but you don't need to live in fear around him. Just be honest."

Kaily let out a slow breath but nodded again, "I can do that. Thank you, Jude. Oh, and yeah, Darius has a little bit of time before his meeting. Go ahead in."

I thanked her and headed towards Darius' office. Not even bothering to knock, I walked in. Darius was on the phone, furiously arguing with whoever was on the other line. I stood in the door way waiting for him to notice my presence, smirking at his haughty attitude to the poor soul he was reaming out.

After a moment or so, Darius glanced up towards the doorway where I stood and did a double take. I giggled into my hand at his surprise.

"I'll call you back." He said to the person on the phone before aggressively hanging up the phone with a million dollar smile. He got up from his desk and walked around to meet me in the middle of the office. He swept me up in an awkward hug before releasing me. "Jude Harrison! What brings you back to this side of the pond?"

I took a seat in one of the plush chairs in front of his desk and started picking at a loose thread on the hem of my shirt. "Darius, I need to come back." I said with a sigh.

"Oh?" He replied, retaking his seat across the desk from me. "What happened out in London?"

I avoided his eyes as I found a way to answer him, "It didn't work out. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be." I finally looked at him. "Darius, this place is home to me. It's where I made my first album, where I felt at home. I still DO feel like this is home. When I was there, it almost felt cold. There was no familiarity."

Darius looked at me for what felt like a long time before he finally spoke. "Jude," he sighed. "I don't know what to tell you. You left here FOR London, and now you want back? I don't know, I'm not sure I have the studio time for you."

"Darius," I quickly interjected. "I don't need studio time right now. I just need some place to start again. I haven't written anything since I left. Please Darius, let me come back. I can work my way back up into the studio. I'll do anything."

He was thoughtful for a moment before smiling, "Alright, you can come back. You're on a probationary period. You'll do anything and everything I tell you to, no exceptions."

I smiled widely, jumping up from my seat. "Oh thank you, Darius! I appreciate this more than you will ever know. I can start right now, anything you need me to do?"

He chuckled but shook his head. "No, you can reacquaint yourself to the studios today. I want you in tomorrow at 9 a.m. SHARP for work. Understood?"

Nodding, I smiled again to him. "Thanks again." I turned and headed to the door to exit before I remembered Kaily. "Darius," I turned to him. "I like that girl you've got as a receptionist. Right now she's having a stroke about losing a document you need for a meeting. Please take pity on her."

"Yeah, yeah." Darius said. "Anything else?"

I thought for a moment. "Yes. Can you refrain from telling Tommy I'm here? I'm not ready to face him right now, and I'm sure he isn't too keen on seeing me. Especially after I broke our engagement and left him for London."

Darius nodded at me and waved me away, "Yeah, I won't say anything. Now go, I have work to do. Remember, 9 a.m. SHARP Harrison."

I gave him a parting smile and left his office. Oh yeah, I thought to myself. This is going to be fun.

Thank you for reading, this is a work in progress. Please review! More to come soon!