Elaine stopped outside the tall menacing building and looked up. The mid-day sun glinted off the windows of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. "You can do this," she chanted to herself under her breath as she closed her eyes. "You. Can. Do. This." She let out a soft sigh and opened her eyes and went in the building.

It was her first day at her new job and she was nervous as hell. She had worked at a local talent agency for years, and she was good at her job; as an underling who worked in the office only. Recently she had gotten promoted and she was fine with all that until her boss decided her skills would best be used in personal managing. It did mean more money, which her wardrobe would like, but also more stress.

Her first client: renowned showman Peter Vincent. No, she didn't know anything about him but that wasn't the point. He was proper famous. Well, she had seen his posters around town for years promoting his show: Fright Night. That was big enough for her. She had only ever worked with people she had no idea who they were, which made the job easy. Peter Vincent was in his late thirties and been in the business for years. He certainly would know what he's doing and see that she had no clue how to do her job. Why couldn't they have assigned her some teenybopper pop star or someone in their early twenties? At least someone who didn't know what they were doing so she could learn how to do the job while propelling them to the top. How was she ever meant to handle someone who already had a thriving career when she didn't know the first thing about bookings and personal meetings?

She was told to meet Peter on the set of his show at 2:30, and she had a room number and the name of his head assistant to speak to. Trouble was she had no idea where to go in the bustling hotel. She felt utterly ashamed when she asked the front desk and even more when her stilettos slid on the slick floor and she fell dropping all her folders. She gathered her things quickly and tried not to look back as she scurried away towards the direction the receptionist pointed.

After a few more wrong turns she ended up in a darkened theater. No one was in the audience as this was rehearsal, but that didn't lessen the action on the stage. Some scantily clad women with fangs were attacking a group of men in leather. There was a lot of smoke and screaming and hissing. Maybe this was why she had never bothered to come see the Fight Night show. Vampires really weren't her thing at the best of times, and she really didn't call this entertainment.

She made her way silently towards backstage as the action on stage continued. Eventually someone yelled cut and the ominous music stopped and some more lights flickered on which defiantly helped her to find her way. Everyone was hustling by her and paid her no notice, even when she tried to stop them to ask for direction.

She began to get flustered in the bustle of people so she went and stood off to the side and tried to catch her breath. "Are you supposed to be here?" A gruff voice said from beside her. She jumped a little as she looked over at the older man with graying hair and blue jumpsuit who climbed up onto a short ladder and began dismantling a light.

"Um… Yeah. I'm Peter Vincent's new manager." The man looked at her as if he was less than interested in her tale.

"Who are you supposed to be meeting here?"

"Peter Vincent?"

"No…" He said sternly shaking his head without another word.

"Um… Oh!" She said reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out the slip of paper she had written the head assistants contact information on. "Is Ashley Learman here?"

"There." The man said pointing further backstage at a table that had a few lights shinning on it with a few people mulling about it.

"Um, thank…" When she looked back the man was gone and scurrying off with the light he had unhooked. "…you."

This place was a mad house, defiantly. She was sent to work in a mad house. She took another deep breath and approached the lit up table. The table held a variant of things, mostly papers and half empty coffee cups. Men mostly surrounded the table except one woman who only wore a very short black robe. Well, the lighting man did say that Ashley was at this table. She slowly reached out and tapped the woman on the shoulder who turned around quickly, scoffing and giving her an angry look. "Can I help you?"

"Um… Are you Ashley Learman?" The woman began laughing harshly and then said something she knew was less than kind in Spanish before walking away making her feel foolish.

"Excuse me," said a male voice from behind her and she turned to come face to face with a man who was an inch or two shorter than her with soft thinning brown hair. His face was round and genuinely kind but his face had no hint of a smile. "Are you from the agency?" He asked raising his eyebrow at her.

"Yes, I'm Elaine Hawthorne." She said extending her hand, which he did not take. Instead he sighed loudly.

"I told them to send a man. This is not good, this is not good." He said the last more to himself than to her.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes there is." He answered bluntly and she couldn't help but scoff.

"Are you sexist or something?"

"Not at all."

"Is Mr. Vincent then?"

"No. Peter loves women, if not too much. That's why I asked for a man."

"Um, okay." She said, not really following.

"Anyways, I'm Ashley. I spoke to your boss yesterday."

"You're Ashley?"

"Yes?" He asked giving her an intense look as if her commenting on his name was the worst thing she could do.

"Um… Nothing." She said shyly as he broke into a large smile.

"No problem. I get that a lot. I've just learned to live with it. So I am Peter's head assistant. There are plenty of other assistants but he hates all of them and knows none of their names and fires them regularly. Therefore if you ever need anything about Peter you come to me."

"Why wouldn't I just ask Mr. Vincent?"

"If you ask Peter you will be fired. If you want to keep your job you will just do the things he tells you to do. If you need clarification, come to me."

"So he's demanding?"

"Demanding doesn't begin to cover it. I'm not really afraid to say that our boss is a diva. I've been working with him over two years and he was rather bad when I began but he's even worse now. He's learned over the years his fame gives him power and the power to boss people around. He's set in his ways and he likes what he likes and his temper is very short. He is an angry person, and its sad to say but you will need to tip toe around him. He doesn't know you yet, so he has no reason to listen to anything you say."

"If he doesn't want to listen to anything I say, then why does he even want a manager?"

"Because he desperately needs one. Come here," he said motioning to a deserted corner back stage that was very much darker. She followed him and he lowered his voice when he spoke again. "Peter will never say it, but he needs help right now. The show is failing, not for lack of audience, but because Peter is a bad business man. He needs someone to set him right or he's going to loose the whole show. I'll get you all the records tomorrow and expenditures and account numbers and such. It's going to be very hard, but it's your job to get him on the right path. It will be hard and Peter will not want to work with you because his head is bigger than the building, but you have to try. Honestly, I don't know how many more managers we can go through. Now don't repeat that to anyone." He said sternly and she nodded. "Alright. Peter will be down in a few. Greet him, try and go along with his antics. Schedule a meeting for later in the week with him. I will try and make time to coach you before then, we'll see. I have things to take care of some things, just wait around until Peter shows up." And just like that, the little man named Ashley was gone.

"Ookay…" She muttered trying to make sense of all the things she was just told about her new boss. If she was nervous before about not being able to do this job, she was assured now she couldn't do this job. How was she ever meant to please and unappeasable boss. Unappeasable and in a sinking ship. First day and already the odds were against her. She was starting to feel hot around the collar as she started to hyperventilate. "Calm down, clam down." She whispered to herself, wringing the strap of her purse in her hands as she tried to control her emotions. She wasn't ready for this, not at all. What was her boss thinking by sending her here? Either way she was here and had to deal with it. She took a deep breath and tried to reassure herself that worst thing that could happen was he fired her. Plus his career was already failing. Nowhere to go but up, right?

She had nothing to do but wait for the man himself. So she stood around and tried her best to keep out of other people's way as she waited. When Peter finally arrived there was no missing him or mistaking him for someone else. He stumbled onto the soundstage with a specific drunken swagger and began yelling orders at nearly everyone. She didn't know what he was so angry about, but he kept yelling profanities as he ordered people about, shouting things like 'I'm sick of fucking waiting on you people.' Even though he had just arrived. Or, 'no, I don't want a fucking read through, I want to get this fucking thing over with.' Or her personal favorite, 'Ashley! Where the fuck is my iced coffee.'

He looked exactly like his Fright Night posters. Clad head to foot in black. Long grimy black hair, dark goatee and mustache, and an eyebrow pricing above his left eye. His long leather coat was opened to show off his bare chest and silver necklaces and chest and neck tattoos. She wasn't sure if he looked more like Chris Angel or Russell Brand. Either way he wasn't anything that she found attractive about a man, but that didn't make her any less nervous about approaching him. If anything his gothic appearance and boisterous attitude scared her more than managing Brad Pitt would.

Nevertheless he was her job now and so she had to speak to him. She had no idea how to approach him and deep down she really didn't want to, so she slowly edged out of the darkness and followed his movements around the stage, never getting more than ten feet close to him.

"Ashley!" Peter yelled again and Ashley showed up nearly immediately at his side with a cup of coffee. "Took you long enough, fucking hell, Ash."

She was on the edge of deciding to speak to him after rehearsal, trying to convince herself he might be less surly then when the worst happened. Ashley noticed her standing there and motioned behind Peter's back for her to come forwards. She gave him a worried look and he motioned her forwards more aggressively.

She approached tentatively as Peter looked over a script someone had put in his hands. Her heart beat quickly and when she was finally by his side all she could get out was soft, "Mr. Vincent?"

Even though she was quiet his head immediately whipped in her direction with his patent surely expression. As soon as he laid eyes on her his expression softened and his eyes roamed her body without inhibition. "Hello." He said in a husky voice, his eyes finally meeting hers after spending quite some time down her blouse.

"Peter," Ashley said stepping in, knowing how nervous she was. "This is Elaine, your new manager."

"My new manager?" He asked his eyes lighting up in a mischievous way accompanied by a dirty smile. "How exciting." Without asking he took up her hand and brought it towards his face. "Enchanté," he said kissing the back of her hand sensually. Although it should have been a charming gesture, it creeped her out. She just didn't like the way he looked at her, like he wanted to devour her.

"It's so nice to finally meet you." She said although she really didn't know why. Perhaps it was for lack of anything else to say to this intimidating man.

"Isn't it though?" He asked with a smirk. God, how did people work for this man. She hadn't known him but two minutes and she already wanted to slap him.

"When... when would you like to schedule our first meeting?"

"I don't know, later in the week. Ask me later, sugar. Daddy's due on set." He said pinching her cheek lightly and waltzing off towards the stage, barking orders at the director and supporting artists to hurry the fuck up.

She stood there with her mouth hanging open. She couldn't do this. How could she possible work for a man like that who had no respect for his employees. No he hadn't sworn at her yet, but she suspected he would before the end of the day. She also didn't appreciate him putting his hands on her, and calling her sugar. Also, what the hell was up with calling himself daddy? If that wasn't sexually suggestive, she didn't know what was.

She slowly turned to Ashley who still stood beside her and he held up one finger to her, a gesture to be silent as he spoke first. "I will apologize for him, since he never will."

"What the fuck?"

"I told you before, he likes women, thus why I was hoping you'd be a man. He doesn't grope men, he just yells at them."

"I can't work here."

"Oh come on, you've been here twenty minutes. Please, just give it a chance. I'll do what I can to help you out."

Suddenly there was a loud clamor towards the set and they looked to see Peter yelling at his make-up artist who apparently moments before was trying to give Peter one last touch up before he went on set, and he had promptly knocked her pallet out of her hands and set it flying to the floor before he let out a stream of curses at her.

She looked back into Ashley's eyes and he sighed and gave her a begging look. "I have to go deal with this. Please don't leave." She wanted to say more, stop him, call him back and say she couldn't do it, but he was already gone.

She had absolutely nothing to do but wait around and see if Peter would ever want to schedule a meeting. She was a bit fed up with waiting around so scared of everyone else, so she found a chair backstage and sat down on it and just watched as everyone else scurried around, busy now that Peter was here.

She couldn't see what was going on the front of the stage but it was rather loud whatever was happening. She could hear the muffled yells of Peter as he raved about whatever was currently making him mad as all hell and then something else crashing. This man was a wreck, and somehow fate had decided it was her job to set him straight. He needed someone to set him straight, that was for sure. She just didn't know if she could help him. A part of her wanted to, but an even bigger part told her to steer clear of the whole matter. Peter Vincent wasn't her problem. If she got involved would it all be peaches and cream or would he take her down with him?

Eventually Peter settled down and actually began doing his job and rehearsing. Everything was quiet backstage now as the action continued on the stage. There was a lot of loud music, clouds of smoke rolled off the stage and disappeared in whiffs. Part of her wished she was in the audience, just so she could see what was going on instead of listening to it. To listen to it all there was just so much mystery; like who was that that was screaming, or hissing, and why did she hear the licking of flames.

She imagined damsels in distress and Peter, the gothic hero coming to their rescue. Partly she compiled the scene from imagination and sounds, but also from the old Fright Night promos she saw on TV too long ago to remember properly. She was deep in her imagination when someone tapped her shoulder. She nearly screamed but she remembered where she was and caught it in her throat before she disrupted the number of quiet people around her.

She must have jumped at the touch though because Ashley moved into her line of vision and whispered, "sorry. Here." He said handing her a large manila envelope. "These are shorthand records for you to look over. Give you something to do, and it's a general representation of our situation. All the other records are in my office. I can get you whatever else you want by tomorrow.

"Oh thanks," she said, finally glad at something to do.

Since backstage was dark she went back to one of the work tables that had a singular light shinning upon it and pulled up a folding chair. She began looking through the documents and the longer rehearsal went on the more pages she flipped through and came to a greater realization of just how much shit Peter was in, and because she was expected to dig him out, her too.

Apparently it wasn't just rumor, but he did fire quiet a lot of people. Far too many for the business to run well. It seemed like it was only Ashley whom had been around longer than six months. Peter had a tendency to throw money around like it grew on trees and had at least two sexual harassment lawsuits that he only just managed to get acquitted.

Jesus...

She had no idea where to even begin patching his life up. He was going to need a lot more than her if this was all going to work. Perhaps she would ask her boss for some counseling tomorrow. Hey, maybe her boss would realize this case was too much for her and pass it off to someone else!

She looked up as Peter came stumbling off the set, looking angry. That silver lining didn't last long, for while it was a good idea and might still work she still had to get the devil to schedule a meeting with her before the day was out. Well, she thought as she closed the confidential folder and put in her bag, there was no time like the present.

Without fear she marched over to the man himself, "we need to schedule that meeting now." She demanded of him, feeling proud to just get the words out without nerves getting in the way for once.

"Later babes," he said putting his hand out to her, gesturing for her to go away without looking at her then strolling right by her.

"Excuse me, Mr. Vincent." She said following, feeling angry at being ignored and pushed aside so casually. "We need to schedule this meeting." He turned to her, his eyes flashing with anger at being challenged.

"I will talk to you about it later. Now fuck off."

She stormed off in such a huff even Peter with his giant stick up his ass turned to look as she went back across the room. She didn't really know what she was doing, she was so angry about her entire situation. In her rage she found herself at a back table that was littered with random papers. Scripts that had gone askew, blank contract papers, forms, manuals. Why was everything in Peter's life one huge mess?

Since apparently no one else in this entire building could do their job properly she began stacking the papers according to category. Her OCD was kicking in and meticulously arranging things helped her to calm down. Soon much time had flown by but the table looked much better, except for a few stray pieces she had to reach to retrieve. She might not have been of much help so far, but at least she had made a pea-sized dent of difference. If she whittled away like this maybe in a year things would start to look different around here.

She reached across the table trying to gather some papers. That's when she felt the pressure of a hand on the small of her back. "Here, let me help you." A familiar voice said and when she looked over Peter reached all the way across the table with ease and picked up the paper she was starching for.

"Thank you," she said nervously, wondering why he was being so kind all of a sudden.

"Not a problem. I always try to help women in need." She smiled at this. Perhaps he wasn't so bad after all. "Although I didn't mind the view of you bent over the table." Her mouth would have dropped open if she wasn't quiet so frozen in place. "Maybe you can give me a little private showing later when we go over business." He said and she felt his hand snake lower on her back and he punctuated his statement by squeezing her ass.

This time she reanimated herself quickly and pushed his hand off of her. "Mr. Vincent, please keep your hands off me."

"Please, call me Peter."

"Well then Peter," she spat, "please keep your fucking hands off me. I'm your manager, not your whore."

"Ooh? Playing hard to get? You know I like that too." He said with a smile and she scoffed loudly and walked away from him leaving him calling after her. "Where are you going? Ellie!"

Peter didn't follow her, thank God. She stormed the backstage in a huff until she found Ashley. "I quit!" She said announcing her resignation before she even got his attention.

"What?" He asked as she drug through her bag for the file he had given her earlier.

"Here." She said shoving the folder into his hands and beginning to march off.

"You can't just quit, wait… What happened?"

"What do you think happened? Peter. I can't work here, I'm sorry. You'll just have to find someone else."

With that she found the nearest exit and left, having to stop immediately as the bight casino lights took her off guard. She had spent far too much time in that dark theater. When she got her bearings she marched off again, and she had gotten pretty far through the casino until she realized that she needed to tell her boss what had happened.

She didn't want to make the call, she really wanted to put it off as long as she possibly could, but she knew that wasn't a good idea. It was best she told her boss what had happened rather than let Peter make the call. At least this way she could minimize the damage and try not to get herself fired.

She found a relatively empty hallway and dialed her bosses extinction, not wanting to hassle about with the office number and three transfers. She had been given the extinction for emergencies only. Well, this was a pretty bid issue she was sure her boss, Janie Falco would want to hear about asap.

"Limelight managing, Janie Falco."

"Janie, it's Elaine."

"Elaine? What's wrong?" Was her hurt really that apparent in her voice. "Shouldn't you be working with Mr. Vincent today?"

"That's the whole problem. I quit."

"You quit!"

"I refuse to work with that man!"

"Why? What the hell has gotten into you?"

"Is it your kind of sick little joke even sending me out here? The mans a psycho! He's a womanizer and a demanding bastard. I've never ever heard of someone so unreasonable."

"Yes I heard he was difficult, but I promoted you for a reason. Did I make a mistake?"

"No, but it's my first client, why did you have to get me him, possible the worst man to work for in the whole city? What were you thinking by sending me here?" She asked heatedly, almost on the verge of tears.

"We didn't have anyone else immediately available. I thought you could handle it."

"Well I can't. I refuse to work with that perverted brute." Her boss sighed.

"Well, you just lost us a big deal. Mr. Vincent was going to pay a lot of money for your service."

"Are you saying I'm fired?"

"No… you get one more chance. You've made us a lot of money in the past. Besides, the deal might not be a total wreck. I'll have to call Mr. Vincent's people and see if we can still salvage the deal by sending him someone else. Until further notice though you're back in the office."

"I'm demoted?"

"Yes. Your lucky I like you, otherwise you would be fired. Now I expect you in the office first thing tomorrow morning. You hear me?"

"Yes." The phone went dead in her ear just as she began crying. She had spent years trying to get that promotion and now it was all gone in a single afternoon. She was so disappointed in herself she didn't know what to do. How many more years was it going to take her to rise up again? Or would she just be fired in another month or so and be left with rent she can't pay and a boss who wont give her a recommendation.

One thing she knew for sure was that she hated Peter Vincent.

"You, you, and you." Peter said loudly. "Fuck off." He stopped around the set making everyone scatter. He would have smiled but his surly disposition got in the way of that, just as it had for years. God he needed a drink. Where the fuck was Ashley? "Ashley!" He barked and the tubby balding man was immediately by his side. This was why he was first assistant. "There you are, finally…" he tacked on, wanting something to nit pick even if there was nothing. "I'm leaving for the day. I am fucking tired of working with these people."

"Alright everyone, that's a wrap!" Ashley called to the whole set and everyone that had been milling about began moving quickly, ready to leave. "Same time tomorrow everyone!"

"Ashley." He said getting the man's attention again. "Where the fuck is that Ellie girl? I want to make an appointment with her. I want to revamp my whole staff. I can't work with such fucking amateurs any -"

"She quit." Ashley said simply, approaching the props table and beginning to organize things.

"What?!"

"She quit. Fire spurted?" Ashley asked holding out his hand and Peter pulled the metal device out of his sleeve.

"What do you mean she quit?" He asked screwing his face up as he tried to comprehend the words. People on his team didn't quit, he fired them. That's how things worked around here.

"She quit, over a half hour ago. Way to go boss. That's a new record. I'll phone the agency, but I doubt I'll be able to get anyone to you until tomorrow at the earliest. Dagger of Doom." He began fishing around in his pockets for the little devil.

"This is unacceptable."

"I can't make the agency move any faster, you know I…"

"No, no, no. Not that. How could she quit?" He said handing off the dagger.

"Who quit?" Ginger said wrapping her arms around him from behind in a playful embrace. She was his latest bedroom muse, but he had no feelings for her. She was just another conquest he would throw away when he got bored and a flashier skirt walked by. He just didn't know if she knew it.

"Elaine." Ashley answered.

"Who?"

"The new manager."

"Well, good riddance I say. She was such a little…"

"Will you get the fuck off me!" He said angrily pushing her off him. He was frustrated and the last thing he needed was her clingy gossip.

"Someone's grumpy." She said teasingly as she walked away in a huff.

"What do you mean she quit?" He asked Ashley again sternly.

"What do you want me to say?" He asked as he began putting most of the props table away in a box.

"I mean its day one, what happened? Or is she really that incompetent?"

"Do I really have to explain it to you?"

"Apparently, yes."

"Look," Ashley said stopping and turning to him. "You made your last four managers cry before you fired them, and they were all men."

"Are you saying she quit because of me?"

"Yes." He said going back to packing up.

"This is unacceptable."

"I'll make sure the next one is better. I'll get on the phone with the agency…"

"No."

"No?" He asked stopping and looking at him curiously as Peter began to take off his jewelry, popping off his fake eyebrow ring.

"I'm going to have a talk with her. I'll get her to changer her mind."

"I'll get you her phone number."

"Don't bother, I'm going to go talk to her in person."

"How? Are you going to go to the agency?"

"Don't be so boring. Where do most people go when they quit?" He asked enigmatically as he simply walked away.