It had taken several minutes after the mayor had left for Jack to get back into his zone. Once this was accomplished he could work for hours without stopping for even the shortest break. Save for the occasional sip of tea, he could breeze through stack upon stack of paperwork without batting an eye.

When he was in turbo speed, time seemed to pass faster than normal and before he knew it it was already noon.

Glancing at the clock, he rested his pen and cracked his fingers loudly. He gave his long neck a good twist to get the stiffness out of it. He also stretched his hunched-over back.

Noon was the only time Jack ever stopped during the day. Being a slave to routine, noon was always the time to refill his tea cup. He only took tiny, gradual sips throughout the first six hours of his work day to ensure that his schedule remained solid.

Sure enough, the tea cup was empty.

Grabbing the tea cup and pulling his seat back, he walked over to the door and stopped.

He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he swore he could hear a faint humming sound. Curious, he put his ear to the door and listened carefully. This time it was a bit louder, and was surely coming from outside his door. It was almost like the murmuring of many tiny voices.

He pulled the door open with a snap and stepped briskly into the hallway.

Girls.

Girls everywhere.

Jack gaped at the sheer mass of females that had gathered in the building. There had to be dozens of them. They were of all ages, holding various papers and wearing blouses and skirts. They stretched down the hallway and most likely out the door. They filled up the whole hallway and were murmuring to each other, no doubt the sound that Jack had heard.

As soon as they all noticed his presence, all sound stopped. There was a brief moment of silence while Jack and the girls engaged in a stare down, waiting to see who would act first.

The moment was shattered when one of the girls in front screamed.

She was a twenty-something year old girl who's eyes were wide with fear and was pointing a quivering finger at jack.

"I-it's a g-ghost!" she stammered fearfully.

A ghost? That was a knew one.

Unfortunately, it looked like the hoard of girls was taking the accusation seriously. Some of the girls gave him looks of fear and began to back away. Many girls started murmuring and looked like they wanted to head for the exit.

Uh-oh. He couldn't have them all leaving at once. They might trample each other to death.

No doubt his scary presence and that girl's comment were frightening them. Jack felt a bead of sweat fall down his forehead and raised his hands in an attempt to calm the girls down.

"Girls, please. I'm not-"

Jack would have finished his sentence, but an immense feeling of pressure built up in his lower chest and silenced him. With a start he realized what it was.

But he had to suppress it. If he did it here then he could cause a stampede.

He desperately willed that it would go away, but it was no use. He hadn't moved for the past six hours and it was fighting to escape him.

He felt his jaw tighten and then it happened.

He yawned.

The terrible sound bounced of the walls and every single girl heard it. To the untrained ear, Jack's yawn had the same effect as a lion roaring directly into your face. It was quite literally a weapon of mass destruction.

About half of the girls screamed and ran for the exit, covering their ears. Several others fainted, while several more just started foaming and sank to their knees.

The sound of hundreds of heels slapping the marble floor could be heard a mile away as the girls trampled each other to get out of the building. The mayor, who had been walking up the front steps holding a new megaphone, was knocked over by the army of women that had run screaming through the front doors. His megaphone was crushed underfoot.

When the sound of stampeding women died down, jack took a long look at the empty hall and sighed to himself. Dismissing the whole ordeal, he turned back to his office.

When he noticed a single girl still standing in the hallway.

She was a lot different looking then the other girls. Instead of a white blouse and skirt, she was wearing what looked like a hand stitched sweater. It was definitely too big on her, the sleeves hung past her hands and the neckline hung just under her collar bone. She was also wearing a pair of marker stained jeans, which fit her significantly better then the sweater.

Her face, Jack noticed, was very flushed from being pushed past by all those girls. Her red hair was a mess from being jostled. She was staring at him.

Her eyes, though. Those caught his attention. They were huge, bright, and full of expression. At the moment, they were wide with surprise, probably from hearing his unearthly sound.

Which also begged the question; why hadn't she run away?

Deciding to find out for himself, he called out to her.

"Hey, girl."

she jolted and straightened up. She nervously clasped her hands in front of her.

"Y-yes, sir?"

Hmm. She didn't seem afraid of him. More like anxious. It just got curiouser and curiouser.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"W-well, I'm here for the job, s-sir." she stuttered.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Job?" he said. "what do you mean, 'job'?"

she reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled looking piece of paper. She extended it to him with a shaking hand and he took it into his thin hands.

Unfolding it, he realized that it was a flier. He read it quickly.

WANTED: A new assistant for the Vice-Mayor of Halloween town. Must be female. Must have resume`. Factors taken into consideration for the job will be skill, experience, and ample bust! 3

Jack crumpled up the flier and growled in annoyance. There was no doubt who the cause of it was.

"Figures..."

When the mayor had said he was getting him an assistant, he hadn't imagined that he would do it this way.

He probably had just made a hundred copies and hung them all over town. He hadn't even put any real specifications on the flier. That explained why so many people showed up.

Oh well, he could yell at the mayor later. There was still the matter at hand.

The girl who was still here.

Looking down at her, she gulped nervously and looked away, blushing. He didn't want to be mean, but she certainly didn't look the part for a Vice-Mayor's assistant.

Glancing at her hands, he saw that she was clutching her resume` tightly and shaking a bit.

With a surge of pity, he felt his heart go out to her. After all, he had once been in her shoes when he was first starting in the political world. She at least deserved an interview for being the only one to stick around.

"Alright, girl. Step into my office and we'll start the interview."

Her eyes went wide with disbelief and she let out a gasp.

"R-really? You mean it?"

"Well, you didn't run away. I'd say that earned you a shot." he said smiling a bit.

To his surprise, she suddenly flung her arms around his waist and hugged tightly. She looked up at him with a huge smile and bright eyes.

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she babbled excitedly.

Having not been expecting the overwhelming wave of gratitude, as well as never really being hugged before, Jack was unsure what to do.

He awkwardly patted her shoulder and squirmed a bit.

"Um... yeah. Still, it is just an interview, mind you. I haven't given you the job yet."

"Oh..."

Her smile faded and he immediately regretted making her sad. Though he didn't know her very well yet, he already knew that he didn't want to see her frown. There was something about her that made him want to keep her happy.

Deep down, he could feel his gentlemanly instincts kicking in. he could tell that this girl needed to be protected.

His instincts told him this, and they had never been wrong before.

"Hey, don't worry, okay?" he said as reassuringly as possible. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

she looked up at him with a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Y-you think so?"

He smiled.

"I know so."

she smiled as well and released him. She got a look of determination on her face .

"I'll do my best! Mister... uh..."

she blushed again and helplessly stammered as she tried to remember what the name on the flier had been. Jack chuckled and placed his hands on his hips.

"It's Jack, Jack Skellington." he said extending his hand towards her.

She shook his hand and grinned at him.

"Jack Skellington, huh? That's a pretty cool name, sir. I wish I had a name like yours. I'm a bit jealous."

Jack was surprised. She was the first person to not make a joke about how his name sounded like the word "skeleton".

"Thank you. Why don't we step into my office and start the interview?"

he held open the door and gestured inside. She stepped past him and was about to walk in when she suddenly turned around and beamed. Her face was mere inches from his and she was standing on her tippy toes.

"I'm sally, by the way. Nice to meet'cha!"

without another word, she skipped into the office and left him alone. A bit put off by her close proximity, he adjusted his tie and noticed that his face felt strangely warm. Glancing at a mirror on the opposite wall, he realized that he was blushing.

This was getting interesting.