A/N: ayo another story! I told you I would have one soon! So basically, Barden never happened. It's all AU. I'll update as I can, I promise. Rehearsals will make it difficult, but don't worry. I'll get into a groove with it eventually. Happy reading!
Chapter 1:
Aubrey Posen stood in line, just like she did every single morning, for her coffee. She pressed the button on her phone to check the time. Taking notice of it, she tapped her foot nervously, waiting for the line to move. Some idiot couldn't make up their mind for their order as everyone behind her groaned in frustration.
Finally. Finally the line moved and everyone quickly placed and received their orders. Aubrey slipped through the crowd, trying to make it to her interview with time to spare. This was her once in a lifetime chance. She's always wanted to be a known journalist, starting off in small newspapers, running the wedding columns, but this was her chance to make it big. As long as nothing ruined this for her...
Aubrey was gliding down the streets of New York City, sipping her coffee as she made her way to the Journalism office. She was making great time for running a bit behind at the coffee shop, and she was feeling pretty great about herself. Her portfolio was tucked under her arm, filled with her articles she felt best represented her work. It was pretty much her baby!
As Aubrey rounded the corner, she quickly met a person's frame that was much larger than her petite one. She felt the remainder of her steaming coffee run down her shirt as she cursed into the sky. "Shit! No. No. No. No. NO! This cannot be happening to me. I don't have time for this. Damn it!" she groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes, wishing to rewind time.
"Oh God! I am so sorry! I wasn't paying attention! Are you alright? Can I help you in any way?" he rambled, picking up her portfolio that she had dropped in the collision.
"No. You've done enough." she spat, trying to rub the coffee out of her shirt, but every time her hand brushed her skin, she winced in severe pain.
"You're burned." he pointed out. "Do you need to go to the hospital or something and get that checked out?"
"No, it's nothing. I need to go. I have to get to this interview." she mumbled, grabbing the portfolio out of his hands.
"Are you a small size?" he called out as she began to walk away.
Aubrey froze and turned around to look at him with a concerned yet confused look on her face. "I'm sorry?"
"It's uh my sister's birthday tomorrow and I got her this shirt and it's in my car right over there. She's a small, but I feel terrible about your shirt. Please take it, and I'll get her another one today."
"I'm not taking your shirt. I really have to go." Aubrey spun around on her heels.
"Miss, wait! It would make me feel a lot better if you took it since I ruined yours." he called, running over to what appeared to be his car. He pulled out a bag and handed it to Aubrey with an apologetic look on his face. "Here."
Aubrey reluctantly took the bag from him before muttering a "thank you."
She continued muttering under her breath as she arrived at the building, slipping into the bathroom before signing in. She was early enough, but as her father always said, "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. And if you're late, you're dead meat." Aubrey unbuttoned her shirt, cringing as she saw her red chest starting to blister slightly. She sighed as she slipped it off and folded it up, setting it in the bag the man had given her. She pulled out the new shirt and looked it over. A small smile covered her face as she saw it. She had tried it on at Anthropologie until she looked at the price tag, sadly putting it back on the hanger.
Aubrey pulled the shirt over her head, wincing as it rubbed up against her blistering skin. At least it covered the burn so no one could see it.
She made her way to the front desk with a determined smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Aubrey Posen! I'm here for the interview with Mr. Moyer." she said cheerfully.
"Right, right! Okay, here's your pass, and it's on the fifth floor. Good luck!" the secretary said, making Aubrey a bit nervous.
"Oh, one thing. Can I leave this here until afterwards?" she asked, lifting up the bag with her stained shirt. "It's a long story." she added with a sigh.
The young lady smiled a small smile. "Normally I would say no, but you're the only one for this interview that actually looks like she knows what she's doing, so sure. You can get it when you drop off you pass." she explained, taking the bag from Aubrey.
"Thank you so much!" Aubrey sighed with relief, making her way to the elevators.
"Hello Mr. Moyer, I am Aubrey Posen, here for the column interview." Aubrey said firmly, but eloquently.
"Ah, yes! Ms. Posen! Please! Take a seat!" he said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. "So tell me why you think you're fit for this position."
"Well, sir," she began, clutching the portfolio in her lap. "Over the years, I have written many articles on weddings, receiving quite some praise. This, journalism, is my passion. My one true love, if you may. It's something I've been doing my entire life, writing for weddings, you see. I would go home and write a descriptive review of it as a child, and I continued on with this passion at local news presses. If I do a job, I do it correctly and thoroughly. I am quite the independent woman, especially when it comes to my work. When it comes down to the writing, I make the readers visualize it. I make them wish they were there with the imagery and fluidity of the piece. I make it something I would want to sit at home and read on the weekends. You can give me any task, and it will get done on time and correctly, sir."
"You seem to know what you want, Miss." he acknowledged, running his fingers along his jaw.
"Yes, sir."
"You seem like a bright young lady, looking at your resumé here. I'm assuming that is your portfolio?" he asked, nodding to the binder in her lap.
"Oh yes, sir." she laughed softly, handing it to him.
Mr. Moyer skimmed through the pages, reading over a few of the smaller articles. "These are very descriptive and well written, Miss Posen. I think your skills would fit in nicely here."
"Thank you, sir!" Aubrey said, trying not to sound too over the top.
"Well, Miss Posen. The only thing left to say is Welcome Aboard!" he said, standing up and extending his hand to her. Aubrey stood up and shook his hand firmly, just like her father had taught her to do as a child. "You will start on Monday." he added before sitting down again.
"Yes, sir. Thank you so much, Mr. Moyer. I won't let you down."
"You better not." he said strongly, adding a small laugh.
Aubrey unlocked her apartment and set her bag down on the kitchen counter. She never stopped smiling the entire walk home. With news like that, who could blame her? She sat down at her bar and pulled out her phone to call her mother.
"Hey mom, it's Bree! I just wanted to let you know that I got the job! Call me when you get this." she began. "Please." she added with a small crack in her voice. "I know it's coming up soon. We will get through this. Please, just call me. I love you." Aubrey breathed into the phone before hanging up.
Yes, she was beyond thrilled for this job, but it's just bad timing for everything else. In a week, it will have been a year since her father died, and even though he was hard on Aubrey, she still loved him. He made her what she is, strong, independent, focused. But he's gone now. He can't guide her to the right path when she gets off track. He can't tell her some random quote that makes a ridiculous amount of sense even if they come across as harsh or unnecessary. She misses him like crazy.
Jesse Swanson wasn't much of anyone. He bounced around for a while until he found something he actually enjoyed doing. The pay wasn't half bad either. He got to take pictures of people enjoying life and celebrating the marriage of two people. He got to capture their emotions through the eye of the lens. Work has been a little slow lately with their old journalist up and leaving them in the middle of season so they've had a few temps, but they weren't worth keeping them around.
His day wasn't exactly off to a great start. There was no work to be done today, so he was going to go home for the day and it was only 8 am. And to top it off, he collided with this young lady, causing her to spill her coffee all over her, staining her shirt and burning her. She was pretty pissed, but that's to be expected. Jesse felt bad enough as it was, and to top it off, she mentioned being late for an interview. He wasn't exactly sure how to help, but he knew he had the top he bought for his sister's birthday in his car. Jesse, being the gentleman that he is, made her take the shirt since he ruined hers. He would just go buy another one later.
Jesse picked up another shirt at Anthropologie, her favorite store for some reason, and headed back to his apartment, where he would pretty much sit and watch tv for the remainder of the weekend. Photography can be pretty boring most of the times, especially when there is nothing to photograph.
Aubrey was up bright and early Monday morning, ready for work. It was her first day on the job, and everything had to go just right. She put on her red pencil skirt and jacket, letting her hair fall on her shoulders. She slid on her heels and grabbed her purse with her notebook she loves to use, ready to go get her morning coffee. Why she didn't just make coffee at home, who knows? She just...didn't.
Aubrey walked down the street to the office with her empty coffee in hand. "I'm not taking any chances today." she mumbled to herself as she finished it off and tossed it into a nearby trash can. She pulled open the door and sighed with relief as she felt at home. This is what she's always wanted. This is what she has been waiting for her entire life. This was the start of something new.
She made her way to the front desk where the young lady from the other day greeted her with a warm smile. "It's nice to see you again, miss." she said sweetly. Aubrey flashed a warm smile as she signed in, receiving her new badge, her official badge, for access.
As she made her way upstairs, Aubrey straightened her skirt and brushed her hair out of her face, wanting to look her very best. "You never get a second first impression, so make it count." her father's voice echoed in her mind as she stepped off the elevator and headed to Mr. Moyer's office.
"Miss Posen, how nice to see you!" he exclaimed as she stood at his door, barely having knocked. "Please come in! Let's get started!"
Aubrey sat down in the same chair she sat just days earlier for the interview. She folded her hands in her lap as she listened intently to her new boss.
"Things are pretty simple. The wedding announcements will be sent to your desk. You will call them and see if they want a spread done. They pretty much all say yes, and we really only pass the more successful ones. Those that will give you something to write about. Occasionally we throw in the small ones, but those are definitely not as frequent in our paper."
"I understand." Aubrey nodded as he continued.
"You'll take your photographer with you everywhere, and if there's something that you feel would do well in your article, get him to capture it. It gets a little crazy during season, so you will be pretty busy. I hope you get along with others well because you and your photographer will be going to many weddings together."
Aubrey bit her lip and fidgeted with one of her rings. She had never worked with a photographer before. The papers she had written for were considerably smaller and did not have room for pictures. It's not that it posed an issue. She just hoped it wouldn't mess with her flow of things as she jotted down her story.
"I am looking forward to it, Mr. Moyer." she assured him with a grin.
"Great! I guess I should introduce you two then." he mumbled, picking up his phone and pressing one of the buttons. "You can come meet your journalist now." he spoke into the receiver.
A few seconds later, there was a small knock on the office door to which Mr. Moyer said for them to come in. Aubrey stood up and turned around to meet the photographer, beginning to extend her hand until she froze. Aubrey pursed her lips and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You." he said in more of a shocked whisper.
"Well this is fantastic." she muttered.
"You two know each other?" Mr. Moyer asked them, noticing the tension.
"It's a long story." he explained, looking over her shoulder at him.
Aubrey extended her hand firmly and waited for him to oblige. "Aubrey Posen. Your new journalist." she said with a forced smile.
"Jesse Swanson. I guess I'm your new photographer." he shrugged. "Welcome aboard...miss? Misses?"
"Miss." Aubrey assured him.
"Welcome aboard, Miss Posen." he said with a soft smile.
"It's nice to formally meet."
"Well, I'll let you two get to work then." Mr. Moyer ushered them out of his office. "Jesse, could you be a gentleman and show her where her desk is?"
Jesse nodded and directed Aubrey to a desk near the others on the floor. It wasn't very big, but she could definitely work with this.
"So this is you. You can pretty much do with it as you please...ya know, personalize it and all that jazz."
"Got it. Thank you."
"Hey, how's your um, you know the whole uhh..." Aubrey looked up at him and saw him struggling, letting out a small laugh. "You know, the burn I caused?"
Color rushed to her cheeks as he brought it up. She dropped her gaze to the floor and messed with her ring again. It's a really bad habit she's had but hasn't broken it yet.
"It's fine." she mumbled, barely audible.
"I'm so sorry." he stuttered.
"It's alright. Let's just pretend it didn't happen. Fresh start, okay?"
"Got it. Fresh start." he repeated, nodding his head and pushing his hands in his pockets.
"Well, I should probably get to work and organize these." she said, gesturing to the pile of upcoming wedding announcements.
"Sure okay! Have fun!"
"Thanks. I'll let you know the schedule once I'm done." she told him, shooing him away.
"Alright. Sounds good, Miss Posen."
"Aubrey." she stated.
"Hmm?"
"You can call me Aubrey."
"Oh okay...Aubrey." he echoed, barely saying her name as if to see how she would react to it as it rolled out of his mouth.
A/N: Okay so I hope you get the gist of it! Please review. If it sucks, I'll think of something better for y'all.