Greetings Josephine,
I am emailing you today because I was skimming through the application forms for a new assistant and I noticed your application in the pile. Although an assistant job won't include much real work with the arts, I would really appreciate it if you considered my offer to do some assistant work for me for a few hours each day.
If you are free this afternoon, I would like to meet with you and discuss the possibility of the position for you. I apologize for the late notice, this is an abrupt emergency so please let me know as soon as possible of your decision.
Regards,
Dr. Sebastian King
"Oh. My. GOD," I ogle over my computer screen for a good ten minutes, statue still, as I reread the email that I've just received. I always check my emails right when I wake up, so I'm still in bed with my laptop in front of me and Jasper's actually probably still asleep so I don't want to be too loud but I'm still so excited that of all people, Sebastian King wants me to work for him.
I quickly reply to the email in the most professional- sounding vocabulary that I acquire and tell him that I am free after 12:15, when my last class ends. I try my best not to sound incredibly overjoyed and I reread the email five times before I finally push the 'send' button and close my laptop to get ready for the day.
After my shower, I get dressed in one of my most professional-looking outfits which consists of wide-legged black dress pants, a pink sleeveless blouse with a black floral beaded pattern on the top, and a black blazer with pink shoes that match the color of the shirt. I dry my hair and leave it down around my shoulders and decide on if I should wear my reading glasses that I never wear, just to make me look smarter and, even though it's not necessary, I slide on the black rimmed glasses.
Dress to impress, that's my motto.
"What's got you all fancy?" Jasper wonders, coming down the stairs and into the kitchen where I'm making a cup of coffee for myself.
"Nothing. I always look this good," I assure him jokingly as he flattens out some wrinkles on his t-shirt before pouring himself a cup of the coffee that I'd just made.
"Seriously, what's up?"
"I might have gotten an email this morning about a job opportunity," I tell him with a small smile. "And it might have been from Sebastian King himself."
"No way."
"That's what I said, but I read it ten times and there's definitely a way," I confirmed, my grin spreading wider on my face. "And then he emailed me again about ten minutes ago saying that I should come by his office at one o'clock to talk about the job. A job. With Sebastian. King."
"That's really amazing, Jo," Jasper says with a grin. "Look at you, being all awesome."
"I know, it's great," I jokingly agree as I grab a banana from the counter and start peeling it. "Anyway, have you started looking for a job yet?"
"I put in one of those applications in the office but this weekend, I'll probably start looking at places around the area and not just in the building," He explains. "I doubt that my role model is going to just up and ask me to be his assistant on the first week of school."
"You never know," I sing, looking at the time to see that it's almost time to go so I pour the rest of my coffee into a to-go cup with a lid and finish off my banana as fast as I can. "Anyway, are you ready?"
"Yeah, let's go," He sighs with a long yawn as we both grab our school bags and leave the apartment, "Anyway, to change the subject, how was your night with Scott last night?"
"It was... kind of intense," I admit and he gives me a side glance that I just roll my eyes at. "Nothing romantic, I promise. We just talked a lot about what happened back then and everything."
"You worry me, Jo," Jasper mumbles.
"I know that but really, there's nothing to worry about. Scott and I are just friends. I can handle it."
"I know but I'm still going to worry," He tells me. "It's my job as your best friend."
"Very much appreciated," I say with a small laugh as my heels clack against the sidewalk on our way to the building. "Oh, and remember that Felix kid?"
"Sure."
"He got my phone number," I tell Jasper. "And I have no idea how."
"He called you?"
"Seven times," I mutter. "I answered the first two but after that, I just put my phone on silent. He's really obsessive, I think. Not obsessed with me, just with winning."
"I'll talk to him," Jasper decides, taking a sip of his coffee. I know by the way that he gives me that 'I mean business' look, I know that when he says 'I'll talk to him' it really means 'I'm going to either a.) threaten to kick his ass or b.) actually kick his ass'.
"No, don't worry about it," I say quickly. "Not yet, anyway. I'm sure that he'll get bored with it. Really, it's okay."
Jasper thinks about this for a moment and then decides, "If he doesn't stop bothering you by Monday, then you'll let me talk to him?"
"Sure. Just give me until Monday," I say to him. "And then you can rip him a new one."
"Eagerly," He grins at me as we enter the building to get to our first class.
When I get to my Intro to Photography class an hour and a half later, I sit down where I had sat on Monday and wait for the class to start, dreading the moment when Felix came into the room because something told me that he'd be bothering me again today but today, I'm prepared. I'm just going to completely ignore him. Completely. It might be childish but I don't care, I think that it's the only way that he'll leave me alone.
"What's up with the outfit?" Felix wonders as he approaches me a few minutes before class is supposed to start, just as I expect him to do. Even if I wasn't giving him the silent treatment, I wouldn't tell him about my interview with Sebastian because I'm slightly positive that he'd throw a jealous hissy fit and maybe try to sabotage my meeting.
When I don't respond to him or even look in his direction, I can hear him laugh a little bit.
"You're just going to stop talking to me then?"
Well, at least he's quick.
"That's very mature of you, Jo," He tells me sarcastically but I still don't even acknowledge his presence, I just look down at my phone and start playing a game, hoping that these few minutes will go by quickly and class will start. "Oh, come on, you can pretend to hate me all you want but I know that you think that my ugly persistence is charming."
I bite my tongue so that I don't scoff. Charming? He really thinks that he is charming?
"You are absolutely no fun," Felix decides just as the professor stands up at the front of the room and starts the lecture and I let a small victorious smile spread across my face. I win. For right now, at least. Even as we're going through lecture, I see Felix occasionally glancing over at me but I just continue to ignore him altogether until the end of the class when I am successfully one of the first people out of the room, escaping Felix for the rest of the day.
I spend my next two classes listening to lectures and hyperventilating while Jasper tries to soothe my nerves in our Digital Color Theory class.
And then, before I could even blink, it's time for me to make my way to Sebastian King's office for this interview. Jasper walks with me since his classes are now over, and adjusts my blazer as I pull some loose strands of hair out of my face.
"He's going to love you," Jasper assures me once we're standing right in front of the closed office door and then he steps closer to me and kisses my forehead. "Just don't forget who you are."
"Right," I sigh. "Who am I?"
"You're Jo," He tells me with a small laugh. "You're talented and confident and totally badass. And polite to authority figures, don't forget that one."
"Okay. Yeah, I can do this," I confirm, more to myself than to him. "Thanks, Jas."
"Anytime. I'm going to sit over on that bench and then when it's over, we can go to lunch," He says, pointing to a bench sitting in the hallway just a little farther down. "Go kill it."
And then he's urging me towards the office so I timidly knock and wait for a response. When I hear Sebastian's deep voice beckoning for me to come in, I twist the knob and walk into the enormous office that seems to double as a studio space. There's a large desk off to one side where Dr. King is already sitting with two chairs on the other side and then off to the left there's a wide open space with a white backdrop set up and an empty tripod in front of it.
"Hello, Miss Mast. I'm glad that you could make it," He offers me a warm smile. "Please have a seat."
"Yes, Sir," I breathe, reminding myself to be confident. I'm a good photographer, I'm a smart person, I can do this. I can do this. "I just want to say that I really appreciate this opportunity. It really means a lot to me."
"Well, I think that you have some astonishing potential in the art industry," He says with a warm smile and I can't help but smile a little bit. "However, this assistant position won't really be much of that. It'll mostly be making phone calls, filing paperwork, scheduling appointments. I just want that to be clear."
"Of course. I'm happy to help in any way that I can," I tell him. "I worked as an assistant for my mom's accounting firm for a while so I think that I can do a good job at it too."
"Wonderful," Sebastian smiles, he's a very happy man, I've noticed. Which surprises me because I always assumed that artists were always the broody type. "Well, let me show you to your office."
"Really? I've got the job?" I wonder, sounding calm and collected while I am also feeling elated and confused. I thought that there would be a lot more questions than that and that he'd want to interview other people as well instead of just giving the job to me.
"Yes. Just like that," He confirms. "Is that alright?"
"Yes," I say quickly, standing out of the seat that I'm sitting in and he does the same. "Of course, I just assumed that it would take longer than that."
"I'm confident in your abilities, Miss Mast," He assures me as I follow him across the room to where there's another door between where his desk is and the studio area. There's bookshelves lining the wall behind his desk and the door is right beside those shelves. "Anyway, I know that it's small but I hope that it's okay."
This room is more of a closet with a desk inside and a few filing cabinets but I don't care. It's a job and it's a job with Sebastian King. "I'll manage," I say.
"Great. I'll show you the systems and everything on Monday but for now, do you have any questions?"
"What are the hours?"
"I haven't decided yet but I want it to be convenient for you. What's your schedule this semester look like?"
"I brought a copy of it, actually," I say, calmly taking my printed schedule out of my bag that I'd printed this morning along with my resume, which I don't think that I'll need. I hand it to him with a polite smile and wonder if it's possible for me to be any more intimidated than I am right this second.
He glances at the paper and then says, "All morning classes, that's good. I've been thinking about one to four on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then three thirty to seven on Tuesday and Thursday. Does that sound good?"
"Yeah, that sounds great," I say, hoping that I don't sound too enthusiastic but I'm sure that the grin plastered on my face kind of gives me away. I can't help it though, I really can't believe that this is happening to me right now.
"Great," He chirps. "You can start next week but unfortunately, I will be spending the day in New York so I'll have my TA show you how everything works. She'll be doing all of the help with class work such as grading assignments and working with my students but you'll handle the boring stuff until you get more acquainted with the way that things work. I won't require a dress code, casual attire is just fine."
"Alright, got it. Thank you again for this opportunity, Dr. King. I won't let you down."
"I have a lot of faith in you, Miss Mast," Sebastian King tells me and I wonder if I might faint. It's becoming a serious possibility. "Anyway, that's all I have for you today and I do have a class to get to soon so are there anymore last minute questions?"
"Nope, I think that covers it. I will see you on Tuesday," I confirm, offering him my hand to shake, which he takes and then he's ushering me out the door.
When I get down the hallway to Jasper, he's waiting expectantly.
"So, how do you think you did?"
"I got the job!" I squeal quietly so that Sebastian King doesn't hear me squealing in the hallway as I walk with Jasper down the hallway and then down the stairs so that we can go somewhere for lunch.
"Really? Just like that?" He wonders with raised eyebrows. "I thought that it was just an interview."
"Yeah, I thought so too," I say. "But he just gave me the job- he didn't even look at my resume or anything."
"That's great, Jo, really," Jasper tells me but he doesn't sound nearly as happy as I thought that he would when I told him the news.
"You sound like there's a 'but' coming," I observe. "What could possibly be wrong with what just happened? I'm getting to work for Sebastian King. I mean, it's just stupid secretarial stuff but I might be able to get his TA job after I take some more photography courses."
"No, I mean it. It is really great," He assures me hesitantly.
"Jasper," I deadpan, knowing that there's something that he doesn't want to tell me.
"It's just," He sighs. "That it sounds kind of fishy. I mean, you are incredibly talented and he's so lucky to have you to work for him but he didn't even look at your resume? Did he ask you any questions about your skillset at all?"
"Well... kind of. A little bit," I say with a defensive shrug as we leave the building, passing people going into the building to get to their classes.
"All I'm saying is that he's a grown man and grown men are known to... pull tricks on unsuspecting girls- especially ones that idolize them," Jasper explains to me hesitantly, not wanting to upset me with his accusation. "And I'm not saying that that's definitely the case. It is a major possibility that he saw just how incredible you are. Just be careful."
"I appreciate your concern," I mumble. "But stop bursting my bubble, alright? This man has spent time all over the world helping starving children and abused mothers. He's a really great man, Jasper, there's nothing to worry about."
He looks like he wants to say something else about it but then he decides to drop it. "Okay. You're right. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry, let's just not talk about that right now," I say quickly. I understand why Jasper is hesitant about how easily I got the job with Sebastian but he doesn't know the guy like I do. I understand how awesome he is, how much time and money he gives to charity by selling his art. He just saw my work and realized all of my potential and while the idea is out of this world to me, it's even more insane to think that his intentions weren't pure when he hired me so quickly. Jasper's heart is in the right place, he's just wrong.
"Anyway, how about subs? There's a nice Italian place just across the street."
I smile and hook my elbow into his as we walk across the street. "Italian sounds great."
"It does sound a little bit off," Scott tells me as I'm talking to him over the phone that night after I told him what happened today with the interview.
"Why can't he just like my work?" I ask him, incredulous that both Jasper and Scott are skeptical about Sebastian.
"I mean, it could be that," He agrees. "But it could also be that he wants to take advantage of you. I mean, have you looked at yourself lately? You're gorgeous. And you idolize the guy. I'm not saying that it has to be this, I'm just saying that he could have seized an opportunity."
"I am not an opportunity," I snap, immediately offended by how he just worded that. And yet, I still blush furiously when he calls me gorgeous. Like, I blush more than I've blushed in a really long time, I can feel my face getting hot and everything. I'm glad that we're only talking on the phone so that he can't see me get so embarrassed.
"That's not what I meant, Joey," Scott sighs. "I just mean that you should watch your steps when you're around him. Especially if you're alone. It's probably nothing though. He probably just loves your work."
"Do you really think that?"
"Absolutely," He assures me. "But you should still be careful. You know, just to make sure."
"I appreciate your concern," I mumble. "But you and Jasper are just too skeptical and protective. It's fine. But enough about me, how are things coming along with moving into the dorm?"
"I've barely started packing," Scott admits, easily letting me change the subject, which I'm thankful for because I was tired of talking about Sebastian and the too-easy interview.
"Don't you move in on Friday?"
"I do," He confirms. "I think that's what I'll do tomorrow, just spend all day packing."
"I'm starting to feel secondhand stress," I say to him. "It's stress from your lack of stress about things that you should be stressed about. Seriously. You're moving in two days and you have nothing packed."
"You sound like my mother," He teases.
"Well, she's a smart person," I tell him with a small laugh. "I don't know, maybe it's a guy thing. I basically had to force Jasper to pack when we were packing up his stuff."
"Yeah, but he had you to help him so it's different," Scott defends. "Because I have to do it by myself and I have absolutely no will power to actually move."
"I can come over tomorrow after class and help if you want," I offer him, laughing again.
"That'd be really great, Jo, thanks," He sighs. "I'll take you to dinner afterwards to say thank you."
"It better be a good dinner," I joke.
"It will be," He assures me. "I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd be moving into a dorm without anything to move in with, that's what."
"Good point," Scott chuckles as Jasper walks up the stairs and into my room, giving me a strange look. I return his strange look but don't actually say anything to him.
"Anyway, I get out of class at 12:15 so I'll see you at around one?"
"That sounds good. It's a date," He chirps and I blush again, just as my original blush had begun to subside, when he considers it a date although I know that that's not really what he meant. There's something really wrong with me, and I need to stop bushing at everything that Scott says before it starts getting me into trouble.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," I mumble, seeing Jasper's eyebrows raise at me.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Jo," Scott says right before I hang up the phone.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I finally ask Jasper.
"Why are you blushing like that?" He fires my question back at me.
"I'm not blushing," I lie quickly but my efforts are sadly futile. "It's nothing."
"You were talking to Scott," Jasper reminds me. "And now you're blushing."
"Are you going to lecture me about Scott again?" I wonder, absentmindedly throwing my hair into a pony tail to keep it out of my face. "Because I know. He just got out of a relationship and that's always messy. I really know."
"I wasn't going to say anything," He assures me with a small laugh. "I was just going to silently judge for a minute so that you're reminded of that."
"I've got it," I tell him.
"And yet, you still blush."
"I can't control my blushing!" I defend.
"What'd he say?" Jasper wonders curiously, sitting on the edge of my bed.
"Nothing," I say quickly, wishing that I was a better liar.
He just looks at me, waiting for me to be honest.
Rolling my eyes, I finally add, "Okay, well it's nothing. He just might have maybe called me a nice name and then he might have, possibly, called our outing tomorrow a date. Which he didn't mean, it's not actually a date it was just that thing that people say. You know? 'It's a date' type of thing but it still sounded cool."
"A nice name?" Jasper wonders as a way to ask me to elaborate.
"He called me gorgeous," I admit to my unrelenting best friend. "That's all."
Jasper smirks at me and I wonder if I'll ever stop blushing again. "You're adorable, Jo."
"Am not," I argue.
He gets up from the bed and leans over me, kissing my forehead in that protective brotherly way that he does, "Just be careful, Jo."
"I'm always careful," I insist as he heads for the stairs to go to his own room. "You just worry too much."
He gives me one last look before he disappears altogether into the room below mine.