Title: Beautiful Oblivion

Rating: PG-13 for language and themes

Characters: Paige, Spinner, Terri, Ashley…(pretty much everyone, eventually)

Pairings: Paige/Spinner, not sure about any other pairings

Summary: Major AU. As a fashion columnist for a very popular magazine, Paige Michalchuk is all about business. But her world is turned upside down when she meets her new party boy secretary, Gavin 'Spinner' Mason.

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. Don't sue.

A/N: Okay, I know it's stupid to write one Degrassi fic when I'm working on another. But fear not, 'Must Get Out' is my main project right now, this is just for fun. However, since this is just for fun, it won't be updated very often. Now, keep in mind when your reading this fic that it is AU, so forget everything that has happened in the Degrassi series. Erase it from your memory. In this crazy little story, Paige and Spinner have never met. Also, Paige is a little OOC. She's still snobby and mean, but more in the businesswoman like way rather than the gossipy teenage girl way. Also, later in the story I mention Spinner liking Yellowcard. I have no explanation for that one, Spinner just seems like someone who would like them. Now, on with the story [ Ashley, 9-13-03 ]

+WARNING: THIS STORY IS ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, SO THE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN DEGRASSI THE SERIES MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN THIS STORY+

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"Ms. Michalchuk, your late," a woman with a crooked nose and thin lips said sternly to the petite woman that had just walked in.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry Mrs. Mench," the woman said, taking off her sunglasses. She took off her jacket and slung it over her shoulder. "I know it's no excuse, but I was out late last night trying to get a word with Sue Wong. That dress she designed for Madonna caused quite a stir, I was hoping to get an interview."

"You're right, it is no excuse," the older woman said with a glare. "Consider yourself lucky that you are one of the few columnists we have in our fashion division, Ms. Michalchuk. If we had more writers, you would have been canned weeks ago. Now if you don't mind, I have more important things to do than stand here wasting my time with you." And with that, the woman was off.

"Damn it."

Paige Michalchuk, head fashion columnist for Très Femme Magazine, was not a happy camper.  Things just weren't going her way. Her mission to get an interview with Sue Wong failed, she got about four hours of sleep, and now her boss hated her even more than before. Not to mention that the rest of the day was going to be filled with boring phone calls with potential clients and lousy paper work.

'Nope, things are definitely not going my way,' Paige thought to herself as she walked briskly to the elevator, her stiletto heels making a clicking sound with each step.

When she finally reached her destination, she pressed the up button exactly three times, like she always had. She waited five seconds before the bell rang and the shiny elevator doors opened, like they always had. The elevator was empty, like it always had been.

'I think I'm sensing serious deja vous,' Paige thought to herself sarcastically as she stepped inside. She pressed the button labeled 8 and waited. When the bell rung for the final time, the doors opened once more and Paige stepped out, like always.

She walked down the hallway, ignoring the young girl that called her name, until she reached the door labeled 'Paige Michalchuk'. She set her leather brief case onto her already messy desk and threw herself onto the chair next to it. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

'This is going to be a long day,' she thought to herself as there was a knock on the door. Before she could tell them to go away, the door opened and it seemed they decided to come in anyway.

The girl that came in was the one that had called Paige's name earlier. She was a young girl who was slightly plump, but had the face of an angel and could be described as having natural beauty. She had a nervous, but determined look on her face as she walked up to Paige's desk.

"Paige, listen…" she started, but didn't get a chance to finish.

"No Terri," Paige interrupted, "I don't want to hear about any phone calls or papers right now. All I want to do is relax."

"Paige, it's not about that…"

"I'm 22 years old, I should be out partying or wasting my life away. Not sitting here wondering why everything in my life is the same. I need some fucking change in my life, or I am going to go insane."

"I understand that Paige, but…"

"You know what else? I haven't seen my fiancé in a week! A whole fucking week! We're engaged, Ter, we're supposed to see each other every fucking day!" By now Paige was screaming, and the determined look on Terri's face was gone and a slightly scared one took its place.

"Paige, I'm quitting," Terri said quickly. Paige lifted her head that was currently in her hands.

"You're what?" she said with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Um, I'm quitting," Terri said again, just as quietly.

"You can't quit! You're my secretary! How am I going to replace you?" Paige yelled putting a hand to her head. "Oh God, I'm never going to get anything done, and then I'll get fired, and then I'll be living on the streets and…Oh my god, Ter! I know I said I wanted change, but this is too much!"

"Calm down. Take deep breaths," Terri instructed, taking a few herself. Once Paige managed to start breathing properly, Terri continued. "Everything will be fine, Paige."

"How is it going to be fine?" Paige said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I don't have time to look for a new secretary! I barely have time to breath!"

"You don't have to worry about that," Terri said. "Because I've already found a replacement."

"Really? Who?" Paige asked. Right then, the door flew open and a young man stepped in. He looked in his early twenties, and was obviously a skater of some kind, the skate board attached to his backpack giving it away. He was wearing baggy jeans and a blue tee shirt that had 'Yellowcard' written across it. His outfit combined with his brown shaggy hair made it appear as if he had just rolled out of bed.

"Hey, I'm not late am I Ter?" the man asked.

"Nope, just in time," Terri smiled. "Paige, I'd like you to meet one of my old friends from high school. Paige, meet Gavin Mason."

"Usually I tell people to call me Spinner, but you can call me whatever you want," Spinner said with a wink. Paige looked like she was about to faint.

"Um, Ter? Could I have a word with you?" And before Terri could answer, Paige was dragging her out of her office and by no means being gentle about it. "Okay, first of all, why in the hell are you quitting?"

"Because I need to go back to school, Paige," Terri explained. "I was only half way finished with college when I got this job. I had to drop out of school because being your secretary took up all my time. This is an awesome job and I have a lot of fun, but it's not what I want to be for the rest of my life."

"Alright, that I can understand. But why did you bring that…thing in here to replace you?" Paige said with a look of disgust covering her face.

"He may not be Mr. Trendy, but he's really a great guy once you get to know him. And he's a lot smarter then he looks," Terri said in a not so convincing tone. "I think he'd make a great secretary. Just don't fall for his charms. As charming as he may seem, he has a history of having one to many one night stands if you know what I mean."

"God Terri. I don't even want to be within ten feet of that mess, do you really think I want to date him?" she said back with a hint of distaste lingering in her voice.

"Right," Terri laughed. "Just give him a chance, Paige. At least let him be a temporary substitute until you find someone else."

"I don't know Ter," Paige started. "I tend to avoid people who look like they don't even know who Versace is."

"Well, you're the one who wanted change in your life," Terri brought up. Paige contemplated this for a minute until she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ugh," she said closing her eyes. "Fine, but if he's no good, it's gonna be on your ass, Macgregor."

"Thank you!" Terri laughed giving her a hug.

"Alright, now you guys can kiss," a new voice interrupted. "Just pretend I'm not here."

"Oh would you shut up," Terri said rolling her eyes. "You shouldn't say perverted stuff like that around your new boss."

"I got the job?" Terri nodded. "Aw, sweet! Now Ellie won't be bitching to me about rent."

"Well, I still have to pack up the rest of my things," Terri said. "I'll let you two get to know each other." And with that, she left Paige and Spinner to talk amongst themselves.

"So, Paige is it?" Spinner asked, following Paige into her office.

"Yes, but I am your boss so call me Ms. Michalchuk from now on," Paige said taking a seat at her desk. Spinner took a seat on the other side of the desk so that he was facing her. He leaned back and put his feet on top of her desk.

"Ms. Michalchuk, I think I like that," he said. Paige rolled her eyes. "Just call me Spinner."

"What kind of name is Spinner?"

"Gavin is my real name," Spinner explained, "But Spinner was my nick name in high school and it just kinda stuck."

"Well, I think I like Gavin better," Paige said in a superior tone.

"Whatever," Spinner said with a shrug. "Anywho, I was thinking that maybe we could go out tonight, get to know each other better."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to say no," she replied as she started writing notes on the paper in front of her.

"Oh come on!" Spinner urged taking his feet off her desk. He placed his elbows where his feet just left and smiled at Paige. "We could go out to dinner, get some drinks, maybe go back to my place…"

"Terri was right. A real charmer," Paige mumbled sarcastically to herself. "Listen. I appreciate the invite, but your attempts to hit on me are pitiful. Terri told me about your reputation with the ladies, so I'm going to have to pass. Besides, I already have a boyfriend. So, sorry, but no."

"Damn, I thought I was getting somewhere too," Spinner said, leaning back in the chair once more. Paige laughed. "So you have a boyfriend?"

"Fiancé actually," Paige said putting away her papers, deciding that she wasn't going to get much done with her new secretary around.

'He'd be more of a fiancé if we actually saw each other once in a while,' she thought to herself bitterly.

"Oh shit, I feel like an ass now," Spinner laughed.

"Well, you must be used to that."

"Ouch! Your a feisty one, Ms. Michalchuk," Spinner smiled. "Well, at least Ellie won't be pissed tomorrow morning. She's always complaining about how the moaning and thumping keeps her up." Paige ignored the last part of his remark, deciding she'd rather not know.

"Who's this Ellie person?"

"Oh, Ellie's my roommate," Spinner said casually. "We met back in elementary school and we've been inseparable since."

"You two ever date?" Paige asked nosily.

"Not really, but we've hooked up a few times. I'm not opposed to friends with benefits," he said with a smirk.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Paige said raising an eyebrow. Paige was about to say something else, when a heavy breathing Terri walked in.

"Hey Spin, could you give me a hand out here," she asked taking a breath between each word. Spinner laughed.

"That's what I'm here for," he said and followed Terri out of the office. Paige rolled her eyes and took her papers back out. She was just about to get started again, when a high pitched version of 'The Way You Look Tonight' filled the room. Paige slammed her pen on her desk.

'There could've been some sign saying I wasn't going to get anything done today,' Paige thought to herself. 'I would've just stayed home.'

"Hello?" Paige answered irritably into her cell phone.

"Someone's in a great mood," the person on the other line said sarcastically.

"Well someone is having a shitty day," Paige snapped back. "What do you want, Hazel?"

"Well, I was just going to ask if you got that interview with Sue Wong, but now you've got me interested in your day. What happened?"

"Hun, you don't even want to know," Paige said rubbing her temples. "First, Ms. Mench bitched at me for being late and I have a feeling she's starting to think I'm the devil's spawn or something. Then I had a nervous breakdown because I just started realizing that I had no change in my life. Then Terri tells me she's quitting so she can go back to school. And I start freaking out again because I don't have time to look for a new secretary, but she assures me that she's already found a replacement. That replacement turns out to be some horny skater boy that wouldn't know good fashion if it kicked him in the ass."

"Oh, what does he look like?"

"Well, he's got brown shaggy hair, he's a little taller then me. He's got kind of a lean build, but you can tell he's got some kind of muscle under that ugly, out of date tee shirt."

"He wore a tee shirt?" Hazel replied in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, and he hit on me within five minutes of meeting me," she said. "He felt kind of stupid when I told him I was practically married." Hazel laughed.

"Well, is he cute?"

"Hazel! You know I'm engaged," Paige laughed back.

"Oh come on, give me something!"

"Well, he definitely has no sense in fashion whatsoever, but he is kind of cute now that I think about it," Paige said. "Not that I'd give him the satisfaction of knowing that."

"You wouldn't be the Paige Michalchuk I know if you did," Hazel laughed. "Well, I gotta get going. Try to get a picture of this new guy. I have to see him."

"Yeah, yeah," she laughed at her boy crazy friend and hung up. Paige was about to finally try and get some work done, when she heard laughter outside her office. She got up and opened the door to find at least seven women surrounding Spinner, all laughing at whatever he had just told them.

"Ahem," Paige cleared her throat.

"Oh hey Paige," one of the women said, still chuckling. "We were just introducing ourselves to your new secretary."

"Right," Paige mumbled.

"Spinner!" Paige heard a voice from across the room yell. "You're supposed to be helping me here!"

"Oh, whoops. Sorry Ter! I'll be right there!" he yelled back. "Well ladies, it was nice meeting you all. Maybe I'll run into you later. Bye." And with that, he was off to go find his friend in distress.

"Oh my God! He is so cute! Do you know if he has a girlfriend?"

"Never in my 36 years on this planet have I ever seen someone so roguishly handsome. Maybe if I ask my husband nicely, he'll let me have an affair with him."

"You'd actually ask? I'd just go for it!"

"Did you see how nice his ass looked in those jeans?"

"Oh yeah, I would die to get a piece of that."

"Has a girl ever been arrested for raping a man?"

Paige couldn't believe what she was hearing. Most of these women were both beautiful and independent, not to mention married or in a relationship. And here they were acting like teenagers over a boy who didn't even know how to dress decently.

'Oh God, I really am going crazy.'

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Oh man, I didn't expect it to take this long to finish. Actually, I stopped writing for a while. I didn't even think I was going to put it up. But I did. Well, review and tell me what you think. I don't really know where this story is going, so it might take a while for the next chapter to come out. Well, hope you like it.

[Ashley, 10-6-03]