Still no ownership of DP for me.

I expected the interview to be over at that point, but I guess Derek wanted to squeeze every ounce of humiliation out of me. He sat down next to Simon across from me. "What have you gone over so far? Besides your mime act."

Simon said "Actually that's about it. We were waiting for you. What in the world took you so long? Did you bring the prototype?"

"I did," Another big glare at me "but I'm going to have one more rebuild before the testing starts."

"Really? Shoot. I thought you told me last night that you had it done. I really wanted to see it in action."

"Yes. Well. I guess you'll have to learn to live with disappointments." He looked at me again. "Have you found that to be the case Ms. Saunders? Lots of disappointments around you?"

"Uh …"

"Ignore him. He's really grumpy until you get to know him. And then, well actually he's still pretty grumpy."

Derek growled "Still in the room. And I'm not really grumpy. And she can't ignore me. I'm doing her interview."

"Pfth - I'll do the interview, you'll scare her. You just sit there and listen. Oh and take notes while you're at it." He turned to look at me. "So tell me about your education. Film studies was it?"

Was this what working with these two would be like? This strange bickering? It surprised me that two men who were obviously so different could be partners. But maybe that was the point. Their strengths complimented the others weaknesses. Derek obviously had no social skill, and Simon seemed to be in the running for Mr. Congeniality. I got the feeling that Derek was the figuring and technical part of the operation while Simon ran the creative side.

They were both good looking in different ways. Simon had the exotic thing going for him. That combined with his charm certainly must have girls flocking towards him. Derek was more subtlety handsome. Not someone you'd notice across a room and think wow, but intriguing in his own way. He had really nice eyes - when they weren't flaying you in his death-ray glare. Which I'm sure kept all the girls flocking away.

The interview started with me answering different questions about my school. Then I showed them some script writing I'd done as well as the storyboards I'd used for my senior project. Simon seemed impressed. Derek seemed indifferent. Every time I glanced at him I asked myself why I was even going along with this farce of an interview. He made up his mind he didn't want to hire me the moment he recognized me as the girl from the lobby.

"Okay, I'm sure you're getting sick of the fifth degree. Last question." said Simon "Give us an example of something in your life that was very challenging and why."

"My senior project was the most difficult. It took many hours of work to get it set up and film. I was basically the producer as well as the director of the film, and since everyone else was doing it on a volunteer basis, I had to work around all of their schedules. Trying to keep shooting on time was a real challenge, and I'm very proud of how it turned out."

Derek gave an unimpressed sounding snort. Then he asked his first question since Simon had said he was going to lead the interview, "How did you juggle that with your job?"

I was taken off guard, "My job?"

"You know the people who were paying you to do things for them." God he was so smug.

Argh. I'd kind of been hoping to avoid this question. The answer just sounded bad. I tried not to lead a spoiled life, but this was the one thing my dad was insistent on. If he was paying for school, I wasn't allowed to work. He wanted me to concentrate on my studies. "I didn't have a job at the time. Being a student was my full time job."

"Oh, you're one of those." The scorn dripped from his words. "Tell me, have you ever had a job in your life? One that pays? And don't count babysitting."

"Yes. I worked in an office every summer since I was fifteen."

"Fifteen really?" His eyebrows rose "That's a bit young for an office worker. And office work doesn't seem to fit your career path. Tell me, did your dad know the owner?"

My dad was the owner, but I wasn't about to tell him that. It made it sound like the only reason I'd worked there at all was because of him. Maybe that's how I got the job in the first place, but I kept it because of my skills. They brought me back summer after summer because I was a good employee. I ran the whole office smoothly.

I didn't say anything, but I'm sure he knew.

He gave me a triumphant look. "You've never had to work for anything have you?"

Simon butted in "You're being a bit harsh, aren't you bro?"

"We need to know she can handle pressure. As much as you like her previous work and story boards, we really have no idea how long it took her to do them. What if she writes something we decide to go with and find out half way through there's a design flaw. We might have to start from scratch and we wouldn't have months for rewrites. It needs to be done as quickly as possible. Also, she's only had a summer job, and in college classes change what? Every three or four months? This girl has no idea what commitment is."

I blurted "I'm a big sister, I have a little sister."

"Well good for you. I'm sure mom and dad are real proud of their princesses."

"No. I'm an only child and my mom's dead. I mean I volunteer. You know, boy and girls club. I've been working with Rae for 4 years. I started volunteering in high school because I knew it would look good on my resume. But when I realized how much these kids needed, and how much I have to give, I stayed with it. It started with tutoring, but I realized these kids needed help beyond school. Once I was old enough, I went through the vetting process to become a big sister. They're really particular about who they take, and you have to commit to a long period of time. They don't want people who will be one more disappointment in these kids' lives." I directly at Derek "I know what commitment is."

Something flickered in Derek's eyes during my impassioned speech but it went to fast for me to identify. The smug look was gone, replaced by the neutral expression he'd worn during the rest of the interview.

Simon cleared his throat. "Very commendable of you. Well I think we have all we need. I'd like to-"

Derek cut him off "Simon, can I have a word with you outside for a moment?"

They stepped outside the room and I could hear a heated discussion. There voices were too low for me to make out exactly what they were saying, but I heard words here and there . . . prissy. . . chance . . . pampered . . . try . . .

Their voices were growing louder as they continued to fight. I heard Derek hiss. "Just because she has nice legs and a pretty face doesn't mean we should hire her."

"I like her work. That's why we should hire her. The face and legs are a bonus."

"If you want to take a chance on a spoiled princess, fine. Go right ahead. But don't come crying to me when things don't work out. She's your responsibility."

Simon stepped back in without Derek. His face was red, but he appeared in control. He gave me one of his dazzling grins. "So when can you start?"