Laughter Lines ▷ Tony Stark

2 - THE INTERVIEW

"I know," he groaned, taking his mug back with him towards his bedroom, "I thought I set my alarm and everything, this is the worst."

"You'll make it work," Ramona called after him, and Jude just waved his hand somewhere behind him, not bothering to see if she had seen his motion.

Taking a steadying breath, he paused in the middle of his room, getting his bearings. He had his coffee, and he needed to take a shower, but his suit was pressed and ready and he didn't need a shave just yet, so at least he didn't have to worry about accidentally nicking himself.

With one more breath, he started his routine. Jumping into the shower, he tried to move as fast as possible, and he sighed as he realized he would have to dry his hair to make sure that he could style it in the way that he needed it to look, especially since he was meeting with someone who wasn't even going to be the person he was working for.

Then again, he didn't expect employers to meet all of their employees, especially ones that are lower level like Jude, though since he was going to be a personal assistant, he expected some form of attachment; or, at the very least, the name of the person he was going to be assisting.

But Jude didn't have the time to ask himself too many questions, throwing himself out of the shower as quickly as possible, hoping that he could just dab cologne on himself that would mingle with his usual scent; he was always told that he smelled nice, even when he hadn't showered as well as other days.

Groaning, he grabbed Ramona's hair dryer and started to fix his hair, knowing that it would take longer because while a hair dryer shortened the time, it lengthened the time it took to make it look nice, which was something that Romona always complained about when she had to mess with her hair, and Jude couldn't argue with her.

He bit his lip as he felt his hair, sighing when he felt it nearly dry, but not quite there yet. He didn't want to start putting in product just yet, afraid of what would happen since his hair wasn't completely dry, so he went back out and decided to get ready, opting to fix his hair just before he left, which would be soon if he moved fast.

Luckily for him, he was well versed in suits, and he couldn't help but take a moment to admire his reflection; he had to admit, he looked good. He flashed himself a smile, then went back to putting product in his almost completely dry hair.

He never did look good with it completely flattened, but he certainly couldn't have it looking like he just rolled out of bed, so he made a point to make it look windswept, but orderly, which gave the appearance of hard work, but also the understanding of orderliness, which was exactly what personal assistants needed to possess, and Jude was a master of both, if he could say so himself.

Rushing back out, he paused at his nightstand to grab the cufflinks that Mr. Banks had gotten for him, feeling himself flush as he looked at the golden accessories that would glint under the sun or any kind of light that shined on them, drawing attention without being too flashy, exactly what Jude needed.

Besides, he could use some of his charisma right about then, today was a big day.

Putting on his watch, he grabbed his coffee mug and drank as much as possible before dropping it onto the counter as he made his way out the door, his briefcase waiting for him on the couch right by the door with multiple copies of his resume and other documents and referrals.

Not that he would need any more. After a referral from Breanna, there was really nothing else that he needed save for his own skills.

"Wish me luck!" Jude called, hardly glancing back to see where Ramona was as he zipped out, only just barely catching her response back, "I'm gonna need it."