Riley Sparks nervously tapped her foot against the hardwood floors of Roque Records. She had been in Los Angeles for two days in a hotel. She was only 19 years old, fresh out of one year of college before deciding that it wasn't for her. Her first choice was trying out Disney World to work as a character, but then realized maybe L.A. would be a better choice. More options in the lifestyle she wanted.
Fame wasn't something Riley had an interest with. The life of a famous person never struck her, but she loved the press it came with, and being a secretary at one of the best recording studios just fit for her. So here she was. The lobby of Roque Records waiting for someone to call her back so she could sign the last bit of paperwork and actually start working.
Riley heard about the secretary/assistant job through her best friend Camille Roberts who by chance was dating Logan Mitchell who was signed to Roque Records. Camille got Logan to put in a good word for her and it worked. The company called her, interviewed her over iChat, and then told her to drive out from her hometown San Diego the next week to start the hiring process.
"Riley Sparks?" A tall, dark beauty spoke out the hallway and into the lobby. Riley's eyes sparked and she stood up instantly with a smile on her face.
"Yes, hi, that's me. I'm Riley." The light brown haired girl stuck her hand out and shook the other girl's hand.
"Welcome to Los Angeles, Riley. My name is Kelly Wainwright. I'm Gustavo's assistant. We spoke on the phone a few days ago after your interview?" Kelly ushered Riley down the hall.
"Yes, I remember. Thank you for the directions! I don't think I could have trusted my phone's GPS with all the turns." Riley softly chuckled, letting her charm ease out of her personality. She was trying to calm herself down of the nerves. It didn't show on the outside, but inside she was dying.
"Oh, not a problem. I'm glad you found the place with ease. Gustavo is in the studio booth right now trying to finish a song, so we're going to go in to my office and just finish up some paperwork and talk for a bit. Sound good?" Kelly smiled big, holding her clipboard to her chest and still managing to walk Riley down the hallway and towards an open door.
"That sounds great. Thanks!"
"So we're going to set you up in the apartment complex that one of our groups lives at. The Palmwoods is a very neat place. There's a pool, gym, tons of teenagers." Kelly explained, handing Riley a small brochure of the place.
"The Palmwoods? I think my friend Camille actually lives here. Wow." Riley smiled at the thought of seeing Camille all the time.
"Camille Roberts, right? Yeah, she lives there. You both must be close if she convinced her boyfriend to convince his record label to give you a job." Kelly laughed, handing Riley another packet full of information.
"Oh, yeah. We went to high school together. We're pretty much the best friends that everyone in school hated because there was nothing that would break us down, ya know?" Riley grinned up at Kelly while picking up the last packet.
"Well, I'm glad that you two managed to stay friends with the distance and everything." Kelly checked her phone for the 4th time. They had been in her office for at least half an hour going over policies, instructions, job details, everything. "I swear these boys never know how to respond to a text message. None of them! Our biggest group, Big Time Rush, is such a hassle."
Riley nodded her head while chuckling. She read up about the bands under the label and saw that Big Time Rush was full of teenage boys that were rowdy and still really cute.
"They're at a photo shoot today without me or Gustavo, so they're probably enjoying themselves and acting like fools. We've just been so busy around here lately that we needed to hire someone. Your main job, Riley, is to be my assistant mainly and occasionally Gustavo's. You'll have to be anywhere when I can't pretty much. And if you aren't out and about, you'll be here answering phones and just doing small errands around the office for us. It shouldn't be hard. It might actually be fun if this is what you said you wanted to do."
Riley couldn't stop her smile, "Oh, this is definitely what I want to do."
"Gustavo, this is Riley Sparks. Our new assistant and secretary. Riley, this is Gustavo." Kelly gave a slight introduction as Gustavo turned around in his swivel chair that was placed behind his dark table in his office.
"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Roque. I look forward to working here." Riley reached across his desk to shake his hand but stopped immediately when he started yelling.
"Kelly! Where are the dogs? They should have been here an hour ago!" Riley's eyes went wide eyed at his outburst and looked at Kelly for her reaction. She was surprised to see Kelly calmly checking her phone again and not making any signs of worry or anger at Gustavo's screams.
"They're on their way now. James said they ran over with lunch and got behind schedule." She put her phone down and looked at Gustavo. "Now should I reintroduce you to Riley or are you going to yell again?"
Gustavo looked over towards Riley and she started to fidget. It was like he just realized she was standing there. "I apologize. I'm Gustavo Roque and welcome to my record company. I take pride in my business and we take things seriously around here. I rarely joke about anything and if I do, you laugh."
Riley swallowed her flash of fear, "Yes, sir."
Kelly rolled her eyes at him, "Alright, so now that your intimidation speech is over, I'm going to take Riley to her desk and show her the ropes of it."
Riley gave Gustavo a brief wave as she followed Kelly out of his office. "Was he being serious just now?"
Kelly chuckled, "Yes and no." They reached the circular desk in the front office and Kelly began showing her the basics. The telephone system, the computer programs she needed, the filing cabinet, pretty much everything. She covered it all within ten minutes. "So that's basically it. Now all you have to do is head on over to The Palmwoods and get settled in. I've already called the manager over there to get you all set up in your own apartment. His name is Mr. Bitters, and he's a bit weird sometimes, but he's harmless."
"Thank you so much, Kelly. Really. For giving me the job, and setting up everything."
"It's really no problem. Here's my card with my phone number and email on it, if you have any questions or anything just give me a call. Now, I can head on over to The Palmwoods with you now, or you can—"
Sudden screams were heard down the hall and sounds of crashing into walls were echoing throughout the office.
"Yayyyy," Kelly said unenthusiastically. "The boys are here."
A flash of two boys came around the corner of the hall and Riley took a step back. The two boys, one tall with the stereotypical flippy hair and the other on the short side and wearing a black helmet, came barreling in the room without any sign of paying attention. The taller one had the helmet covered one in a head lock. "Carlos, you give me back my lucky comb right now!"
"Take back what you said about my helmet!" The one named Carlos yelled back.
"Not until you give me my comb!"
"Well then your comb is stupid!"
The taller one let out a girlish screech and pulled Carlos's head tighter. "You take that back!"
"Never!" Carlos was able to move his hand around to pinch the back of the taller one's knee. The tall one squealed again and immediately let go of the shorter one. "Suck on that, James!" Carlos laughed at the doubled over guy before backing up and away from him.
Two more guys hustled around the corner to catch up with the action but at the same time, James immediately stood up all the way and went to tackle Carlos.
They had no idea of their current surroundings and when James leaped on Carlos, Carlos fell back on to Riley, sending all three of them down in a blur. "Oh, my god." Riley grunted, trying to catch her breath and eliminate some of the weight off her.
Kelly immediately started yelling at James and Carlos, and they finally realized they had knocked over some girl and the two other boys ran over to aid the situation. "I don't know what's going on, but Carlos, you give James his comb back, and you both apologize to each other and then to Riley!"
James and Carlos stood up and apologized to one another as Carlos handed James his comb. "Sorry," they both mumbled to each other before turning to Riley and helping her off the ground.
"Hi, I'm Carlos Garcia. I'm sorry for pushing you down." Carlos stuck his hand out for Riley to shake. His face was just too cute to stay mad at him.
"I'm Riley Sparks. And it's fine. No broken bones right?" She laughed and looked at the other three boys.
"I'm James Diamond. And I am also sorry for pushing you down." She shook his hand as well.
"I'm Kendall Knight, and I'm sorry they fell on you?" He said it like it was more of a question and Riley laughed at him. He was beyond cute, and Riley always had a thing for boys with kinda big noses.
"I'm Logan Mitchell, and I think I got you this job." He laughed before shaking Riley's hand.
"Oh! Yes, hi! I'm Riley. Camille's my best friend! Thank you so much for hooking me up with this gig." Riley's grin grew at the fact that Camille found herself a good looking man.
"I can tell you're falling for it already," the group laughed at his tiny pun before Kelly started talking to the boys.
"Gustavo is already peeved about you guys being late, so I suggest you all go and apologize and get started on dance rehearsals." Kelly rubbed her forehead briefly as if signaling the sign of a headache. "I won't be here to rescue you guys if he gets out of control though. I've got to take Riley over to The Palmwoods to make sure everything is set up for her."
"You're staying at The Palmwoods?" Kendall asked, with a spark in his eye.
Riley nodded her head at him, "I am. Maybe I'll see you guys around there tonight?"
"Sure!" James and Logan retorted.
"Definitely!" Carlos exclaimed, nodding his head enthusiastically.
"I hope so," Kendall chimed in before Kelly and Riley began walking away. As soon as they turned the corner, all the boys looked at each other. "DIBS!" Kendall yelled first before running from the others and into the studio.
"Kendall! Dude, I've never had a girlfriend!" Carlos griped following him into the studio as well.
"And I've never had a serious girlfriend, Kendall! What if she's the one?" James asked, following both.
Logan chuckled to himself before pulling out his phone and shooting a text to Camille.
To: Camille
From: Logan
Your Riley friend has already been dibbed.