So new story! This one is a big undertaking, I've never done an AU before so I hope it doesn't go horrifically. Please note I know nothing about the music industry, and the information included in this story is just what I have gathered from a bit of googling. It will not be perfect, but, you know, it's not real, so you know. I'm hoping to include every character at some point or another, with most playing a pretty big role.
I also don't normally favour Jesse's POV, which, while this is in third person, I'm going to try to stick to. Also, writing in present tense is apparently a little more difficult that I expected, especially as I'm used to past tense, so if there's any mix up I apologise.
This story will not be updated perfectly regularly as I have lots of things going on (i.e finishing my other stories and making sure I don't get kicked out of uni) but I will do my best. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!
"Welcome to Barden Records."
It is strange, but he swears everything is sparkling. The white walls, the large portraits of their successful artists, framed albums, the giant reception desk, the waiting area with its big red chairs, hell even the people that are milling around or rushing through. It's all just there, his new home, serenading him with popular songs as he looks around in amazement. The elevator chimes to his right, people talk animatedly into their phones, the speed typing of the keyboard behind the desk; it's all the new soundtrack to his life here.
Jesse had a good feeling about this place.
"Excuse me sir? Do you have an appointment?"
He is broken out of his musings by the young man at reception that he had approached half a minute before, who is looking at him expectantly. He has big sideburns and a goofy face, a pen designed to look like a magician's wand stuck behind his ear.
"Yes!" He glances down at the name tag. "Hello Benji, I'm Jesse Swanson. I have a 10 o'clock with Chloe Beale?"
Benji begins to tap on the screen in front of him, and within ten seconds looks up at him in pleasant surprise. "Oh! You're the new A&R liason!" The young man's face melts into a boyish grin. "Congratulations on the job."
Jesse nods grandly, like an old king, and grins back. "Thank you. I'm looking forward to it."
Benji taps on the screen a few more times and then smiles at him again, his head tilting to one side. "You're a little early but I've let her know you're here. She'll be here any second."
To pass the time, Jesse signs in and receives his welcome pack, a small thin package in a clear plastic wallet. He clips his temporary badge to his jeans after being assured a permanent one will be made within the next few days. The elevator chimes again and Jesse see's Benji waving. Turning, he sees a small redhead walking towards them with a huge grin, waving at the receptionist just as eagerly. When she's close enough, she raises her hand and warmly shakes Jesse's hand.
"Chloe Beale, acting Senior Vice president of the Artists and Repertoire department. You must be Jesse; welcome to the team!"
He lets go of her hand and smiles kindly at her. "I'm just grateful to be here."
Her grin grows to impossible levels and she claps her hands together. "Well, you'll be hitting the ground running today I'm afraid. Lots to do and not enough hands to get it done. Want a tour?"
She leads him to the elevators after they say goodbye to Benji, and she points at the numbers as they climb to the 8th floor.
"First floor is Business Affairs and Legal, we don't have much contact with them. Second is a bit of a jumble, a lot of stuff to do with promotion like new media, publicity, marketing, that kind of thing. If you need any of them you can normally just call or email. Third is pretty much the same as second, though the Art department is based there which is good to note. Fourth is our floor which I'll show you around at the end, and then fifth is where a lot of the higher up people are based that are difficult to catch. Seventh and eighth is the recording studios, the editing suites, meeting rooms, that kind of thing. Ninth is where the company's president Mr Stroma is with some other extra rooms."
Jesse tries to keep track, his eyes flickering as he attempts to match the information up, and Chloe's laugh distracts him. She points at his pack. "Map's in there if you get lost."
He smiles gratefully and they get off the elevator. She shows him around most of the top floors, introducing him to the people who might be useful to him, letting him look around in his own time. Chloe points out break rooms and toilets, explaining which floor has the best coffee and to avoid the bathrooms on the third floor. She shows him the studios, introducing some of the producers and assistants. The largest seems to be empty and Chloe frowns, until they hear a voice singing enthusiastically in the recording space.
"Since you've been gone, I can't breathe for the first time!"
A large girl wanders around hooking up wires to a microphone, swaying her hips comically as she works. Jesse can't help the smile and watches Chloe walk towards the mixing board, pressing down a large red button.
"What the hell are you doing?" she says in a deep voice, making the woman spin in shock. She recognises the laughing redhead and puts her hand over her heart.
"Shit Chloe I thought you were-" She cuts off when she spots him. "Who's the new kid?"
"Jesse, hi." He raises a hand awkwardly in a wave. Her eyes are trailing over him hungrily. "New liason."
She walks through the door that separates the booth from the room and eyes him again. "Fat Amy, smokin' hot assistant."
"She works for one of our producers, Beca, who's pretty much the top dog here," Chloe explains. "You'll be working with her a lot in the next few months. Where is she by the way?" She directs the last question at Amy, who rolls her eyes.
"Where do you think she is?" the blonde scoffs, crossing her arms. "It's been an hour so she'll be done soon."
Chloe's nose scrunches up as she turns to Jesse. "Wanna grab coffee?"
Jesse, who has lost track of the conversation and what is going on, nods slowly, unsure why she's taking him for coffee. Saying goodbye to Amy (and he's glad to be leaving, because her checking him out very obviously was making him a bit nervous) they head to the second floor which apparently has the best coffee, and Jesse is surprised at how often Chloe waves at people, greeting them happily and asking questions about their health and family. He can see, now, why she is the head of his new department. She gets everything working between departments and artists because she's friends with them all.
They walk into the reasonably large square kitchen and Chloe sets about making them coffee ("black, two sugars, please") while Jesse people watches, taking in the ten to twelve people milling around on the two sofas or the dining table. Sitting slightly off to one side is a man slouched over a drawing pad, his thick rimmed glasses falling down his nose slightly. He's scribbling furiously, his pencil seemingly floating over the thick paper.
Chloe hands him a large white mug of steaming coffee with her apparently ever-present smile and then grabs two more cups, walking towards the table and sitting down carefully, pushing a mug towards the man with glasses. He doesn't notice her, his mind too involved in his work, and Jesse sits cautiously in the chair on her other side. Chloe makes no effort to alert the man of her deed, instead turning her back on him so she faces Jesse.
"So any questions?"
"Uh…" Put on the spot he can't think of anything. "Not at the moment."
"Well you can come find me anytime if you think of any. I'm on the contact list in your pack, and you'll see me around the A&R floor a lot."
The glasses guy reaches for the mug next to him, sipping it and exhaling gratefully, all without looking up from his work. Seeing the movement, Chloe twists to sympathetically pat his arm.
"Thanks Chloe," he mumbles.
"How's it going?" she asks, genuinely interested.
"That man will be the death of me." There is a little growl in his voice as he raises his head to look at her, only then spotting Jesse. "Oh, hey man, you the new liason? I'm Donald."
Jesse accepts the extended hand and shakes it firmly. "Jesse. Your drawing it excellent."
Despite his distorted view, he could see it was an album cover, detailed and intricate with a swirl of morphing patterns, woven into words and twisting into small, less detailed pictures. It's incredible, and Jesse thinks he recognises the band name written boldly across the top from a band that had been doing the rounds recently.
"Thanks. I'm the head product designer here, gotta tight deadline so I have to bounce…" He grabs his pad and balances it in his arm, nodding his goodbye and thanking Chloe again for the coffee in his hand. She shakes her head sadly after he is gone, explaining he was under a lot of pressure from Mr Stroma to get the album cover just right by this afternoon. Jesse winces; this guy sounds like a douche.
Their mugs empty, Chloe leads him back to the elevator through a sea of more greetings, and they stand in a companionable silence as they ride the elevator to the ninth floor. Climbing out, she leads him down a corridor, and he can't help but notice her posture change; she stands a little straighter, her smile is not quite as genuine as it has been all morning, she pays nervously with her curly hair. They take a bend and see, in front of them, a large set of black double doors, behind which two people are arguing.
Chloe pushes him back around the corner, leaning back against the wall. The shouting is muffled and undistinguishable, but they don't miss the sound of the door flying open. A brunette hurries past, hair hiding her face, and Chloe tries to grab her attention, but she is ignored.
"That's uh, that's Beca." Chloe gestures to the already disappeared form. "She's not normally like that." Jesse nods slowly and Chloe tilts her head in doubt. "Okay she is, but you'll get used to her."
Chloe walks him to the black doors again, knocking hesitantly, looking ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
But when someone pokes their head out around the door, the face is welcoming and friendly. "Hey Chloe! This the new guy?"
"Jesse Swanson, this is Luke Stroma, President of Barden Records."
"Honour to meet you." Jesse shook his hand and immediately decided he didn't trust him. He didn't know why yet, but something was off about him.
"I can't actually stay to chat," he says as he checks his over-priced watch on his wrist. "I need to be on a plane to New York in two hours, but I trust Chloe has talked you through everything?"
"Absolutely."
"Great, well, have a good first day, I'm sure you'll settle in well, and good luck with everything."
He shut the door and Chloe coughs to hide her less-than-pleasant thoughts on him. Jesse eyes her knowingly and she chuckles, leading him back towards the elevator to introduce him to his coworkers in his new department and show him his desk.
Afterwards, his day passes quickly, as he chases after people, making phone calls and taking instructions and answering emails all at once. It's tiring, but he loves it, and he throws himself into the job with everything he has. He manages to charm a few people in most of the departments, starts conversations in hallways, fetches spontaneous coffees, doing everything he can to begin his career on a good step. He's enthusiastic and when he drops by Chloe's office on his way out, she is impressed by the amount he has achieved.
"I was going to grab a quick drink before heading home, you want to join me?" he asks politely.
She smiles but shakes her head. "I have a ton of stuff still to do before tomorrow, but thanks for the offer. Definitely another time!"
He leaves to find the nearest bar in high spirits, satisfied that Barden Records is exactly where he is supposed to be.
So some characters have been introduced, a lot more will be appearing later on. Three guesses as to who he meets next chapter ;) Please review and let me know what you think! If there's any confusion as to the departments, then I will post the link for the website I found that will explain them far better than I ever could.
As a side note, I didn't know Luke's last name so I just used the last name of the actor who played him... In future for this story, I will do the same if I do not know a character's surname.