Mary tries to get Bash started. Bash just likes referencing movies about redheaded killer dolls with scissors. . .

Oh, and don't think the angst is over. There's a reason why I put it into that category.

I'm also inventing a few characters just for plot reasons. =)

Filler chapter for the most part...

Higher than my income
my income's breadcrumbs
I've been trying to survive

Keep Your Head Up- Andy Grammer

She could do it. But that didn't mean it wasn't without complications.

First, Bash needed to work on his social skills. Taking him to get a haircut was much more challenging than she expected. They went right after she was done with work.

"Why do I need a haircut?" he fussed for the 10th time in less than an hour.

"So that you aren't hiding beneath your hair."

"It's not that long. Not long enough to put in a ponytail anyway."

"No, but give or take two weeks and it will be."

Bash scowled then jumped back when the barber whipped out the scissors. "Hey Chucky, do you want to point your scissors somewhere else?"

Mary shook her head. What had she been expecting?

It was worth it though, when Bash got out of the chair and let her take a look. Her jaw would have dropped if she didn't have good self-control. He looked. . . amazing. His eyes were no longer nearly covered by hair.

"Wow," Mary managed to say.

"Thanks. Can we get out of here before I get my throat slit by Chucky over there?" he nodded his head to the man that had given him the haircut.

Mary paid (and tipped the barber), thanking them.

"Really? Chucky?" she rolled her eyes when they were outside.

"Did you not see the way he was handling those scissors? I thought my life was going to end right there in that chair."

Getting him clothing proved to be just as much work. He told her his shoe size and she did her best to find black dress shoes for him to wear to work. Once she got a good look at his bare feet, she knew the blisters would take a very long time to go away. So she bought him tennis shoes until his feet could heal. Bash allowed her to buy socks after she got a good look at the ones on his feet. Mary didn't want his getting any more holes than they already had.

Everyone had the same reaction to Bash's new look as he and Mary went into work the next day. He had split from her after the shopping trip. She didn't ask him where he went, and he didn't tell her. It worked out that way, but that didn't mean Mary wasn't curious.

"He's cute," Natalia caught up with her when Bash was called to see Alec and Hugo. "I didn't get that good of a look at him yesterday."

"We got his hair cut," Mary said simply. She and Natalie had never spoken much before. When they did, it was merely business.

"You have to give him some credit for the way he stood up for everyone yesterday to Hugo," Mary settled at her desk as Natalie rambled on. "I'm glad you didn't get fired."

That was unexpected. "Thank you?"

"I mean, if you were gone, who would bring that boy around?" Natalia walked away before Mary could say another word. She clucked her tongue and sighed in annoyance before going back to work. She should have known Natalia had another reason for talking to her that didn't involve the network.

An hour went by and Mary felt herself growing anxious. Where was Bash?

"Miss me?" she heard him say behind me just as she was about to call Alec. He took the seat that had become his since yesterday, the one placed next to Mary's.

"Not as much as Natalia did. Take your feet off my desk."

He did as she asked. "Are you okay?"

"No," she pounded her fist onto the desk, causing Bash to jump back. A few turned to look at her but said nothing. "I'm tired, I have a headache, and my father called last night to tell me he can't have dinner on Friday."

"He lives in the same city, doesn't he? What's the problem?"

"I was looking forward to it. Now I have to wait until next week."

"So do that."

Mary shot him a glare. Bash remembered his mother's wise words- women don't want men to solve their problems, they want them to shut up and listen.

So that's what he did.

She ranted for a few minutes before noticing that she had forgotten to ask him about Alec. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you how it went with Alec."

"Good," Bash gave her a triumphant smile. "There was a slight disagreement between Alec and Hugo for how long I could stay. Alec wanted to give me three weeks, but Hugo said I have two weeks to impress him."

"That doesn't give us a lot of time, does it? Why do you look so happy about it?"

"It's more than I thought I was getting."

"Are you getting paid?"

"No."

"What? Why not?"

Bash shook his head. "Mary, you didn't hear the rest. If I've impressed him after two weeks, then I go through the whole shebang." When she gave him a blank stare, he continued. "Job interview, security screening, temp assignment, etc. I won't work here as a full-time employee because I'll only be here temporarily until the end of summer."

"That's all?" Mary had been so hopeful she would have done more than that for him. "Where will you be living?"

He didn't answer her last question. "Yes, that's all."

Bash wasn't going to answer and she wasn't going to push. "Are you ready to start then?" She held the manilla folders up. "I was looking them over but I wasn't concentrating. I was worried Hugo or Alec had thrown you out the window up there."

"Alec seems nice. I think it would be more likely for Hugo to do such a thing than Alec."

The phone on her desk rang. She picked it up without looking at the number.

Bash only heard Mary's end. "Mary Stuart, TWE network, how may I help you?" Her face brightened like a summer's day. "Hi daddy!" Bash chuckled to himself. Of course Mary was a daddy's girl. "No, it's fine. I understand." He listened to Mary, only pretending to read what was in the folder. "I'm free next weekend if you want to meet up. . . Really?!" She squealed. "Can you please please do that? . . That would be so much fun!. . Ok daddy, bye." She didn't even wait for Bash to ask. "He's coming to my condo this Sunday for Easter and we're making dinner."

"See? You didn't have to wait until next week."

"I know. I just feel bad because I'm sure my mother will want to do something that day, but I might have to tell her we'll have to get together earlier in the day."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out."

"I mean, daddy can't cook much without supervision. He only makes pasta and microwaves dinners unless I'm there, but it will be fun." She turned her computer on. "How about we start making a list?"

"A list?"

"Yes, a list of dinners he and I can make."

"Shouldn't you wait until you're home to do that?"

Mary frowned. "Maybe, but this my way of passing the time while I wait for you."

"Why are you waiting for me?" She was acting so odd. One minute she was happy, the next she was moody. "Either you're menstruating or you have something else on your mind."

Mary didn't say anything. The truth was, she had something else on her mind. On Friday, she had gone on a date with a very nice man that her mother worked with. It had gone well- he held the door open for her, he pulled her seat out for her, paid the check, and never once pushed his limits. Even when he tried to get close for a good-bye kiss on the cheek.

Then came the pictures.

Mary groaned inwardly at the memory. Many people would kill to have lots of money, or to be famous. But there were more downsides than upsides to having both than people thought. Having your picture taken at unexpected or inconvenient times was one of the many.

And now the pictures were in just a few of San Diego's many papers. They weren't in her mother's (who refused to print out paparazzi picture of her daughter) but they were there on the streets. People saw her pictures, knew her by name and face, and almost everything she had done. Mary had been raised well but that didn't stop the lies from printing.

The boy she had been on a date with didn't call her back or ask for another one, and she didn't blame him. She wouldn't want to date her either.

What if they print lies about Bash and take his picture? She didn't know why she was worrying about him. Chances were, being alone for so long had taught Bash how to handle himself but it was still a risk Mary didn't want to take. He didn't even know that he had been talking about her that first night they truly met.

At least her co-workers treated her as if she wasn't one of the most well-known people of the city. It was one of the reasons why Mary liked her job so much.

"Mary?"

Bash was looking at her, concerned.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

Bash furrowed his brow. "What?"

"I mean, how's the work coming along? Do you need any help? Are you hungry?"

Bash looked more and more confused by the second. "I'm not very hungry right now, and the work's coming along fine. You were just spacing out."

"I do that a lot. Actually, I have to see Lola for a second. I'll be right back."

Something's wrong, Bash thought to himself as he watched Mary walk to her friend. I wonder what's on her mind.

"Lola," Mary went to her friend, who was fixing herself a cup of coffee.

"Mary, is everything all right?"

"Not really," Mary voiced her concerns as quietly as she could. Lola listened. She had always been one of the best listeners for as long as Mary had known her. "He's always on edge Lola, and I'm afraid people are going to see him and get the wrong idea?"

"Mary, being seen with a man doesn't always mean that everyone will think you two are hooking up. I don't know why you're so worried."

"It has nothing to do with what you're thinking. I just don't think Bash is one who wants to be seen in the public eye. He's not very good with people, at least in my experience."

Lola reached for Mary's hand across the table and held it. "You worry too much about other people. Bash will come through. I hear he made an impression on everyone yesterday, and it seems everything has worked out with Alec and Hugo."

"You have no idea," Mary told her the story of what had happened in the conference room the day before. Lola was laughing by the end of it. "So you see why I'm so worried about his social skills? And Natalia comes up to me today to say how good looking he is and how she's more excited to work with him than me, while looking back I'm thinking she was just looking to get some for herself."

"Knowing Natalia, I would say that's more true than her actually wanting to work. Bash is very cute though," Lola looked over to the subject of their conversation.

"Yes," Mary glanced over at him, "he is, isn't he?"

Lola gave her friend a coy smile, but Mary was glancing at Bash and did not see it.

Bash, on the other hand, was getting restless. It had been so long since he could sit in one place without anywhere to go. He was waiting for Mary to finish talking to Lola. One second in Mary time meant an hour in the real world.

He got up and walked around.

Nobody spoke to him, save for one person who apologized after running into him. It was the blonde guy from yesterday's meeting. Cole, or something like that.

"Can I help you?" a girl walked up to him. It was the brunette from that same meeting that Cole, or whoever he was, had been in.

"I was bored," Bash said simply.

"You're Mary's friend," she gave him a smile. "I'm Natalia, good to have you on board."

"Who says I'm on board?"

"Mary wouldn't have brought you ehre two days in a row if you weren't. I just want to let you know that if you need anything, you can ask me if Mary's not around."

"Thank you Natalia. I'm sure Mary will be around though since she's the one mentoring me, as Alec put it. I appreciate the concern though."

"It wasn't concern," Natalia said as she walked away.

"I see you've met Natalia," she had come at just the right time.

"Where have you been? I was getting so bored," Bash turned around to look at Mary, who was looking at Natalia walk away.

"You'll have to get used to it."

"To what? The flirting or the boredom?"

"What makes you think she was flirting with you?"

Bash emptied his jean pocket. Natalia had tried to be subtle, but Bash had always been good at noticing his surroundings. "She slipped her cell phone number into my pocket. It's one of those situations my brother would have fallen for."

"How so?"

"It would take Francis at least an hour to notice and then when he did, he would call that number to see whose it was."

"Your brother sounds extremely intelligent."

"He's much smarter than I make him sound. It's women he's careless about. Maybe he's had a secret child by now."

"Do you miss him?"

"I miss everyone. Him, our two younger brothers, out sister, my parents." The conversation was getting too emotional for Bash. "But enough of that. Let's get back to work."

Even if they did nothing with work the rest of the day, Mary felt a slight sense of accomplishment. She had gotten him to open up about his emotions a little more. He kept the same expression in his eyes, but there was a mask somewhere. There had to be.

"Do you want to go out for lunch? I could use some food," Mary didn't wait for an answer. She took her purse and headed to the elevator. It was up to Bash to decide if he would go with her or not. He chose to go with her.

"Where are we going?" he asked, after spending a moment in silence.

"I think I would like a milkshake," she said. "How about you?"

"A milkshake sounds good, but that's a little harder to swipe than what I normally do," they got off the elevator.

They carried on walking. As they got to the front door of the building, Mary placed her hand on the door handle but stopped as she opened it. "What did you mean by 'swipe'?"

Bash could have laughed it off, but with the look she was giving him added with the fact that he had spoken without thinking, there was no way out. "I usually just swipe things. It started when I ran out of money."

Mary slammed the door closed. Penelope raised her eyebrows, too busy filing her nails to pay any attention.

"We are NOT-" Mary glanced at Penelope and lowered her voice "stealing anything."

"I know. It was a joke."

Mary walked out of the building, Bash following close behind.

"Maybe I want a doughnut," Mary walked quickly as she went on a hunt for lunch. Bash struggled to keep up (she was fast) and nearly lost her more than once.

"I'm not going to chase you," Bash called after her.

"Then wait where you are. I'll be right back," Mary went into a shop and came back out with a bag. Bash was waiting patiently for her at the street corner. "I bought something for you," she handed him a small slice of pizza.

"It's pepperoni," she said, as if it hadn't been obvious.

"Thanks," Bash hadn't had pizza for a very long time. The slice in his hands did not disappoint.

"They have tables inside if you would rather sit. Or would you like go back to the office?"

"How much longer do we have?"

Mary checked her (what had to be) thousand dollar watch. "I prefer eating out of the office but I won't complain if you say otherwise."

"Let's stay here."

They went back to the shop and found a table near the back. Mary looked around at the customers, eating an ice cream cone. Bash was momentarily distracted by the way she licked it, as if to savor every bite.

"- for Easter?"

"Hmmm?" Bash looked up from her mouth to her eyes. She had still been looking at every other person, but turned her attention to him.

"I said, what are you doing for Easter?"

"The same thing I've been doing for years. Nothing. What about you?"

"I'm Catholic. I'll be busy this weekend, but I won't bore you with the details."

"My father and his wife were Catholic. I know the traditions."

"What about you?"

Bash shrugged. "I was never into any religion very much."

They ate the rest of their lunch in silence. The pizza had been heaven for Bash and Mary had certainly enjoyed her ice cream, she ate it faster than he had eaten his slice.

Back at the office, Mary decided they should be productive. "Would you like to see the pilots? I think I might be able to get a hold of them."

"You want me to watch the pilots?"

"If you want to."

"I want to see the one that sounded like The X-Files."

"Are you a fan of that show?"

Bash nodded. "Have you ever watched it? It's brilliant. The writing, the cast, the scenery. Doesn't hurt how that Gillian Anderson is pretty hot."

"I should have known that would be your reason," Mary sighed.

"What's yours for liking a show?"

"Oh, I don't know Bash. Quality? Acting?" She was being sarcastic and he knew it. "Everything that a good show should have. I stick to quality shows instead of the reality shows we have too many of these days. I don't need to know who the next pregnant teenager is. Do you remember when MTV had music instead of reality shows?"

"Those days seem to be long gone."

"Of course, it's sad how many music videos are trashy and more about sex appeal than about the music. I guess sex really does sell."

Bash thought for a moment. "Mary, how are we getting to New York?"

"I was thinking of flying but that was before you came into the picture."

Bash smiled and Mary frowned. She didn't like that evil smile he had on his face. It made her wonder what he had on his mind.

"What are you thinking, Sebastian?"

The truth? He immediately thought of a road trip even when he knew there was not a single chance of her agreeing to it. The smile washed off his face when he thought back to a car trip he had with his father's family a few years ago. It had been the most headache-inducing, long, and tiring trip of his life. But that was because one person hated him, another wouldn't stop talking, and another (his father) had awful taste is music.

"Nothing Mary. Now what you saying about some pilots?"

So should we get a Mash road trip to New York for the Upfronts? You decide! How will Bash get there?

I won't write much this next week. Tonight my family and I are going out to eat at the Bilbo Baggins restaurant for my bday dinner since Tuesday is my birthday, Wednesday I'm going to see the Monkees in concert (Awwww yeah!) and Thursday I'm seeing my brother and his wife and their adorable baby boy whose 15 months.

Sorry about the delay! I had a really hard time with the chapter title (sorry excuse, I know). Reviews would be nice! =D 3