Note to Americans. Brits write dates the other way around than Americans do. So for example, Christmas Day 2012 would be written as this in date form – 25/12/12. All dates in the story will be written in this manner.

3/1/12 - 9:33 am

Jade walked fast along the cold street. The shop where she worked was just up the road from here. She didn't particularly want to go to work today, but she had to. If nothing else then it would help her take her mind of what a mess her life had become.

She had thought about staying home today, and claiming to be ill, but she knew that nobody would fall for it. After all, they had only just got back after the holidays today. And Jade had fairly obviously been well yesterday. Maybe if she had skipped yesterday, then she would be better off skipping today. The difference was, yesterday she thought she could handle it. Today she knew that she wouldn't be able to handle seeing Beck again.

Subconsciously, she pulled her woolen coat together slightly, almost snuggling in the warmth of it as the thought of their break-up left a cold sensation inside of her. She tried not to think about it, but slowly the thought edged its way into her mind. Anger bubbled up inside of her subconsciously as she thought of the memory, before brushing it aside in favour of something much more pleasurable.

Presents.

Her presents were always a good thing to think about. She should think about those presents that were just sitting there underneath the tree, glistening with red and black ribbons and wrapping. There was that glorious pair of scissors, with the sharpest edges that she had ever felt, the ones that had drawn blood against her finger and the blood had dripped down her finger, landing on the floor in a perfect circle.

Oh, and that necklace that Beck had given her.

No.

No.

No.

She wasn't allowed to think of that. She had chucked the necklace back at him when they had broken up. She didn't know why Beck had given her the necklace in the first place if he was just going to break-up with her after New Year.

She wondered why it had been so sudden. Had he been thinking about it for ages and decided suddenly that this was the best time to break it to her? Had he just got sick of her?

Had he been cheating and the other girl had finally got sick of Jade?

Oh God Beck cheating. Beck running his hands through another girl's hair. Beck kissing another girls neck. Beck teasing her, running his arms all over another girl. Beck sleeping with another girl.

Maybe Beck had gotten another girl pregnant. Maybe one day Beck would come in and announce that he was getting married, and then nine months later Beck would come in and announce that he was having a son.

Had it just been one hook-up? Had he gone out one night with his mates and seen a pretty girl?

Beck saw far too many pretty girls.

Had that pretty girl liked Beck?

Pretty girls always liked Beck.

Had they spent the night in each-other's arms, kissing desperately? Had they never seen each-other again, until one night where the girl called in tears and told Beck that she was pregnant?

Or had it been going on for longer than that?

Had it been a secret affair? Had Beck been sneaking around behind her back? Had it been lots of secret kisses and meetings that Jade never knew about?

Oh God, had it been that time when Beck had gone to that audition? Had it been everytime that Beck went to an audition? Was that why he never got a job?

Was that why they were still both working in a coffee shop?

But Beck was fine working in a coffee shop. But that was because Beck was the manager of the coffee shop. It was why Jade had to come into work today. She did not know whether Beck would take the opportunity to get rid of her while he had the chance, but she wasn't willing to find out.

She couldn't afford to lose this job. She barely had enough money to keep going anyway without Beck's extra paycheck. If Jade could have quit this job, then she would have done. She wasn't a manager, as Beck was, but it paid more than being unemployed would.

Jade had no family in New York. She couldn't call home. They'd tell her that she was stupid for even trying to make it to Broadway in the first place. She didn't know what she would do without this job.

Beck had been her shoulder of support to lean on… to depend on… to cry on. And it was over. Beck had ended it. Beck had proved that he was just a selfish, cruel, evil, vicious, uncaring, emotionless, robotic, uninteresting, dull, gorgeous, unfeeling, romantic, sappy, amazing, terrible, frustrating, confusing, heartless, cold, son of a bitch.

No, that was cruel. Beck's mother was very kind. It was his father that was evil. Beck and Jade had that much in common. Jade sometimes wondered if it was mandatory for businessmen to be evil.

Beck definitely took after his father.

Wait.

No.

That could not be the sign of the coffee shop.

She was still supposed to be ten minutes away.

She was not supposed to have to face Beck yet.

She was not supposed to have to do that yet.

She was not supposed to have to lose all of her dignity yet.

Jade stopped for a moment outside the door, almost trembling, before inwardly sighing and pushing the door was supposed to be doing manager stuff, and leaving Jade to stay out of Beck's way.

She stopped short the moment she entered at the sight before her. "Why are you in an apron?"

"Why are you not?" Beck replied and it infuriated Jade how he could possibly be so calm while talking to her. Was he just going to pretend that they didn't break up two days ago? "You're late."

Jade didn't move a muscle. "Where's Cat."

"Gone home."

"Why?"

"Her grandfather died."

"Poor her. Why can't Robbie cover for her?"

"Because it isn't Robbie's job to run around covering for Cat."

"Oh yeah, and it is yours."

"I'm the manager. I'm in charge."

"You're only the manager because Trina was in love with you." The words were out of Jade's mouth before she could bite them back. Once they were out there though, Jade wasn't going to be sorry for them. A silence fell between the two of them, and Jade moved to put on her apron while Beck just stared at her, a slight amount of guilt apparent on his face.

What happens if Beck really did get the job because Trina was in love with him? What happens if he slept with Trina? What happens if Beck broke up with Jade because of Trina.

No. She had to work now. It would take her mind of it.

10:53 am

"Come on André, what did they say? Tell me it is good news. I need good news." Tori struggled to hide the desperation in her voice. It was stupid, but she didn't want to sound weak in front of André. She didn't know exactly what her relationship with André was, but she didn't want to compromise it by sounding like a whining little girl. It was not professional either. She was either going to get the gig, or she wasn't. Pleading with André wasn't going to help her become an international super star within one day.

"I'm sorry Tor. They said you were just too sweet for them."

"Too sweet? What the fuck does that mean?" The swear words bounced off her tongue. She did not normally swear, but today it felt good. She had flunked another audition. Another company hadn't even cared about her demo. She did not care all that much about being polite, although she could almost sense all of the mothers in the café simultaneously shooting her dirty looks.

"I don't know Tori. Maybe if you shared that foul mouth in auditions, you wouldn't get the same response. They said you were too pre-teen, too Nickelodeon, too Disney."

"I am not Disney."

"Whatever Tori. I've got to go."

"Oh yeah. Go work for your fancy record company that think I'm too sweet for them. I bet by tomorrow you'll be producing heavy metal albums. Think about it," Okay, now Tori's voice was beginning to get pleading, "once upon a time you were in my position. If your fancy record company hadn't given you a chance, then you would be nowhere. Why can't you do the same thing for me?"

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

And with that, André hung up and left Tori standing there, holding the phone which had just destroyed her last lifeline.

She looked down at her phone, almost expecting for it to suddenly ring and make everything better.

It was not going to ring. It never did. Nothing ever went right for Tori. Not anymore. She had always been told that she could make it. They were wrong, weren't they? She wasn't going to be able to make it.

There was a loud cough from in front of her. Tori looked up and around, surprised to find herself at the front of the queue. She had expected for it to take longer than it had.

"What do you want?" A bored voice asked the question, the waitress' blue eyes staring angrily at her as if Tori had done something unforgivable. Tori barely paid attention, still staring at her phone.

"Just give me a skinny late."

"Size." The girl's voice was getting patronising now, as if Tori was an idiot.

"Give me a tall."

"We're not Starbucks, you know." The waitress smirked, causing Tori to look up from her phone and look at the girl. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips, giving the look of someone who you would not mess with lightly. It was difficult to see at first glance, but her hair was scrapped back into a ponytail, in tatters at its ends, implying that the girl was not as together as she thought. Tori looked a little more carefully at the girl, this time taking in the smudged eyeliner and mascara.

"I'll take a regular." Tori attempted to make her voice soothing, but it just made the girl look down on her more. She was still pretty, Tori realised. Despite the smudged make-up and the messy hair, she was pretty girl, and this was only increased by the rising smirk on the girl's face.

The girl was prettier than Tori was.

Tori bet that this waitress had never had a problem with trying to get her best friend to notice her as more than a friend, or managing to keep a boyfriend longer than two weeks.

"Name?" The girl asked and it took Tori a moment too long to respond, given that Tori was busy staring at the coffee girl's face.

"Vega." Her last name came out by habit, by the sheer amount of times she had been waiting in a room for an audition, waiting for her last name to be called. From the times she even sat there with a name tag.

"Vega…" The waitress paused, her voice hesitant. "There was a manager here a while ago… Trina?"

Once more, Tori's response was almost automatic. "I have no siblings." The tone came out a little bit harsher than normal. But it was Trina. Tori was used to having to claim no relation to Trina. Whether she auditioned for a play (when in New York), or a show (back home in LA), almost everybody would have heard of Trina. Trina had auditioned for everything. And nobody ever forgot about Trina.

She would introduce herself as a Vega and they would ask about Trina, biting back a laugh.

The waitress muttered something, but Tori was too engrossed in her own thoughts to pay any attention.

Maybe they laughed at Tori too. Maybe they waited until Tori had left, and then they laughed at the girl who thought maybe she could be famous. Who thought that maybe she could be a pop-star, or an actress.

The waitress stared at Tori. "Okay then." The girl said disbelievingly, a little bit surprised at Tori's tone. And then she just stood there, her blue eyes expectantly boring into Tori's brown ones. "Money. I need you to pay me."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry." Tori grabbed her purse, pulling out a fiver. That should be enough. The waitress gave her change quickly, and Tori stuffed it into her pocket, and headed over to where she could get her drink from.

Tori had told herself she'd have a new start. She was going to get this demo, and everything was going to be great for her from now on. Yeah right. Nothing ever went to plan. Even when she got an audition, it was always that she almost got the part. Either she was too injured, or too tame, or too wild, or too Disney. And today was no different.

By the time Tori's coffee came, she was in such a state that she just wanted to grab her coffee and go to bed. She made it all the way out of the door and down the street, sipping her coffee and not noticing the extra digits on her cup, written in black marker.

When she was finished she just dropped it, not being bothered to find a bin.

What was the point?

She held her foot over it, about to stamp on it with her high heels, before she saw. There were nine little digits. It was somebody's phone number, written right next to the little name strip that read VEGA.

She thought back to the coffee shop. Yes, there had been the waitress with the long black hair and the blue eyes, but who else had there been?

…

Yes! There had been another worker. A guy, with dark hair and brown eyes like Tori's own. And he had been cute. A smile appeared on Tori's face as she picked up the coffee cup and inputted the number to her phone, before sending one text.

Hello?

I think this is going to be a Jori threeshot, which is interesting, because I've never written Jori before, or a threeshot. There will be a heavy helping of both Bade and Tandre it this also.

And now for the blatant advertising. If you know much about me, you'll know that I run a forum (the number one VicTORIous forum), which is The Topaz Awards, dedicated to awarding the best stories in the fandom.

Our nominations don't start until the 5th, but it would be great if you checked it out. It's great fun, even when there are no awards. Anyway, please review, it's great to know somebody's read it. And I'll take all the criticism I can get. It just helps me get better.

Forever Failing Better

IAmImperfect (Previously PerfectingImperfections)