A/N: Enjoy! Next installment will be out October 27th!
"Where has he gone now? Oh dear, not today of all days."
"Oh, Ludo, everything okay?" Theo, the violinist, came upon the frantic manager, who was sweat drenched and searching the dressing rooms.
"Theo, have you seen Jareth? He was supposed to be first for the interviews?!Wrecker just called and said he's not there."
"He may be hiding somewhere. He's been pretty moody since Security locked him out of getting on the roof. We'll head over to the design shop to cover until you can find him. Good luck!"
The manager of Goblin ran all over the concert arena looking for the singer and finally found him up in the catwalks. "Jareth! Jareth, there you are! You can't keep hiding like that," Ludo gasped, putting his hands on his knees. "Oh, no, it's so high up. Oh, no, no. Come down this instant!"
"Ah, Ludo. Were you looking for me?" Jareth's cat like smile formed on his face but he didn't move from his seated position. His long legs swung back and forth, as if he were on a swing set instead of hundreds of feet above the concrete ground of the arena.
"Please not today. You're going to be late at this rate!"
"Late? Banish the thought! I have nothing of importance for today."
I can't find a new singer in time for the tour. I can't find a new singer in time for the tour, Ludo told himself. He took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "Jareth, you've got the one on one with Ms. Williams today! You cannot be late to this. Do you know how hard it was convincing her to make the costumes? It took even longer to convince her to come along with us."
"Yes, yes the famous designer. Why is this necessary? Is she not brilliant enough to look at what we have worn and to design from that?" Jareth drawled, pulling out his bubble bottle and blowing them leisurely down onto the crew members.
"She doesn't work like that. Now come on!"
"You're quite insistent on this."
Ludo sighed. "Jareth, I know you've had trouble adjusting to all of-" Ludo waved his hand around "-this. But this means a lot to the band and your image. Sarah Williams is amazing, and her agreeing to work with us is a huge step forward. I know you hate-"
"I hate pompous people who have egos as big as mine," Jareth interrupted.
"Come on, you don't really mean that. You don't even know what she's like. I promise she's not some Devil Wears Prada monster. But I need you to do this right now. For the band. For your friends. For your manager who will surely have a heart attack by forty eight at this rate."
"You're 47."
"Exactly!"
The singer said nothing for a moment, blowing more bubbles down. He seemed lost in thought, and Ludo was just about to start begging when he put the bubbles away and stood on the catwalk. "Very well. But I'm driving."
"Please, anything but that."
"I think I have just about everything I need," Sarah said, scribbling in her notebook. She looked up at the drummer and gave her a confident smile. "Don't worry about anything. I'll make sure you feel comfortable in every thing you wear."
"You know, I was really nervous when Ludo said we had to meet with you. I don't know why, but I was expecting an interrogation and lots of tape measures," said Cleo Blue, the bassist of Goblin. She was a beautiful Irish woman with wavy russet hair she kept back in a French braid and light gray eyes. Her style was a mix of punk and Victorian gothic and Cleo had explicitly asked for shiny ("Gotta stand out, ya know?") and covered in sparkles.
She was the third band member to arrive. Sarah's first one on one was supposed to be with the singer, but he hadn't shown. After fifteen minutes, Sarah had told Mina to let the next person in and in walked Wrecker.
The drummer was a big and burly man with long black hair in his face and more tattoos than she could count. The large man had sat down in her seemingly tiny chair and had nodded and shook his head through the interview. He had taken the longest as Sarah couldn't get a grasp on exactly what he wanted. She still wasn't a 100% that she understood his style, but she didn't have anymore time to pry it out of him. Hopefully he would open up to her as the tour went on.
The violinist was much, much more open. Theo Blue was the twin to Cleo, and he had gone on and on about everything he liked and disliked. The blue haired man had brought along several magazines and chatted on and on about this and that. It took Sarah about 30 seconds and six (she counted) glances to the door to realize he was stalling. She had taken down all of his requests and suggestions and then sent him out at the 30 minute mark.
"Again, I'll be with you guys so it'll be easy to make changes to anything you find uncomfortable," Sarah said. "I know this is a lot, so let me know if you have any questions."
"Thanks! Have a good day, Sarah!" Cleo blew her a kiss as she headed out of her office, shutting the door behind her.
Closing her notebook, Sarah leaned back in her chair and rubbed her neck. She hadn't done so many one on ones since her early days and it was a reminder to her of just how far she'd come. She checked her watch again and picked up her phone.
"Hey Sarah."
"Hey Mina, have you seen anyone else come in?"
"Um, no not yet. Don't you have to pick up Toby soon?"
"Yeah," Sarah sighed. "I'll give it another five minute before I leave to get him."
"Oh, someone just walked in. It's Mr. Ludo with Jareth," Mina whispered excitedly. "Listen, I'll go pick up Toby so you can focus on Jareth!"
"Wait, Mina-"
She hung up before Sarah could say anything else. Counting to ten in her head, Sarah lifted her head out of her hands at the door to her office opened.
"Ms. Williams, Mr. Ludo and Jareth are here," Mina announced, practically skipping into the room.
"Hello," Sarah said neutrally, getting up and shaking Ludo's hand. He was a bear of a man, she thought, looking up at him. That black suit wasn't doing him any favors, and she made a note to get him a nice chocolate brown suit. It would go better with his coloring. "And this must be the lead singer."
"Yes, I'd like you to meet the leader of Goblin, Jareth King," Ludo introduced.
Wow, she thought. She could see why Mina was fangirling so much for the man. With white blonde hair in a shaggy wolf cut, mismatched eyes lined with blue, and his pale skin dusted with what she thought was highlighter, Jareth looked ready for the stage right now. He wore an army bomber jacket covered in spikes, a black t shirt and black combat boots that his jeans were folded over. And he looked utterly bored.
"Who styled that?"
He blinked. Sarah felt her cheeks reddening. She hadn't even shaken his extended hand yet. She reached out belated and said, "I mean, hi, I'm Sarah."
"Jareth King, my dear," was said in a cordial tone, but she couldn't help but be caught off by his voice. It was smooth, confident and way more attractive than it needed to be. "And to answer your question, I did."
"Wow. Do you even need my help?" She joked. It must have been the right thing to say because Jareth laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
"We'll have to see. I'm excited for what the legendary Sarah Williams will design for us. It will need to be something worthy enough for us to wear considering who we are," he replied, sitting down.
Sarah glanced at Ludo, who looked like he was at the guillotine. "I see...you can just call me Sarah."
"I'm going to go get Toby, okay?" Mina was inching towards the door. Sarah didn't blame her. There was an awkward tension in the room now.
"Thanks, Mina. I'll be done soon. Ludo, you can go wait in the lobby while I talk with Jareth."
"Oh, uh, I think I should stay. You know, make sure everything goes well," Ludo said, glancing at his lead singer.
"Unfortunately, I don't allow anyone to sit in for one on ones. But I got some blueberry muffins from Winchester's. They go wonderfully with the hot chocolate from our refreshment bar. We'll be out once we're done," Sarah replied firmly.
"Do give us the room, Ludo. I'm excited to see what Sarah Williams has in store for us," Jareth ordered, grabbing a pen out of the holder on her desk.
"Jareth, please behave. Remember, 48!"
"Yes, yes, go on now. Tootles," Jareth called after him. He turned back in his chair towards Sarah, crossing his arms at her. "So, Sarah Williams, you have me all to yourself. What are you going to do with me?"