more than a feeling, stancy

Chapter 2

The next few days seemed to mesh into one. Steve would arrive at the office, and continue on his article. Everything felt normal around the office. No one mentioned Steve leaving. No mentions of a going-away party or any congratulations. Steve didn't seem to mind, though. He tried his best to contain his excitement. He received praise from his parents, mainly because he was leaving the house for the next couple of months. Steve lacked in the friends department so he had no one to call about it. The best he could do was call up his friends from college but he knew they were all on the same level. And talking about it could ruin the whole point of the assignment. He didn't want his old friends to spread the news, possibly reaching back to the band in some kind of way. It was best to keep it a secret.

Tapping on his desk with his worn-out pencil, Steve stared at the typewriter. Pressing on a key every few moments, his focus was slowly drifting away. All he could think about was the assignment and what to expect from it. His eyes diverted towards the clock. Holloway had failed to send any information about the assignment. Steve had been waiting every day for that fax to come in so his dream could turn into a reality. It wasn't until Barbara waddled over to his desk.

"Delivery for Mr. Harrington, the future superstar of journalism." Barbara gleamed before throwing a packet onto Steve's desk.

Steve sat up in his seat before cracking a smile. "Is this the information? For the trip, I'm supposed to leave for tomorrow?"

Barbara shrugged. "Holloway has been busy. But yes, the future of Hawkins relies in this packet."

"Busy scratching his ass?" Steve grinned before grabbing the packet. He flipped through the pages before nodding. It was a detailed itinerary of what to expect from this assignment. Steve had been given the job as a backstage assistant. There was nothing glamorous about the job but at least he could lay low. Steve looked up from the packet before pushing it back onto his desk. "I'm so excited, Barb."

Barbara nodded. "I'm excited for you. God, being so close to Nancy Wheeler is going to be a dream. And Eddie Munson? He's beautiful."

Steve shuttered. "No. Not that. Getting to be the first person to write an actual story about these people. Granted, I don't know anything about them but that's what's going to make it perfect. They'll never suspect a thing."

"But..." the redhead paused. "Hear me out. Aren't you considering why they never do interviews or anything? They just want to keep their private lives...private. I feel like this whole undercover thing is a little messed up."

Steve just shrugged. He didn't care about any of that. Everything leading up to this moment has been player correctly and he wasn't going to let Barbara ruin that for him. "Barb, this is journalism. You don't take others feelings into account. It's all about the story. Giving the people what they want. And what they want is dirt about this band. I find it suspicious that they don't talk to anyone. Like they're...hiding something."

"I think it's cool. They just want to be appreciated as artists. Just want the world to know that their music is amazing and that's all you need to know about them. I just think it might be tough to get information about their personal lives. They barely even do photoshoots."

All the brunette did was shake his head. "I promise you, I will succeed at this. Holloway will not get the satisfaction of placing me in local news forever. Plus, knowing nothing about them will make them love me even more. I'm also just going to be a stage manager assistant. They'll never suspect a thing."

"If you say so. Just don't get your feelings hurt."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "Why would you get my feelings hurt?"