Rookie

One

Tugging nervously on the hem of her blouse, Sidney Roper paused outside the glass doors, ignoring the blaring horns, revving engines, and dry heat surrounding her.  The elegant gold lettering, spelling out Ross Records, intimidated her for only a brief moment, giving her heart a second to realize where she actually was before it started to pump furiously.

“Here goes,” she whispered, expelling a long breath.

Pushing open the doors, she was immediately greeted with a cool rush of air as the comforting environment did little to quell her pounding heart.  Plushy chairs, thick carpeting, and heavy end tables were situated succinctly about the waiting room while enlarged, framed artwork hung on the walls.  A tall, long mahogany reception desk took up the majority of one wall with a thick door beside it.

Through that door is where the magic happens
, she thought, feeling a bit like Alice peering into the rabbit hole.

“May I help you?” asked a haughty voice.

Glancing at the desk, Sidney forced a nervous smile as she approached, tugging once again on the silk blouse she’d found on a clearance rack the day before.  Shopping in LA was so much different than shopping back home in her little Indiana town.

“Yes,” she said, summoning courage.  “I’m here to meet a Lexie Renner.  My name is Sidney Roper.”

Tapping her shiny, manicured nails on the desk, the receptionist rolled her eyes before picking up a phone.  “Have a seat.”

Moving away from the desk, Sidney opted to study the art work instead of sitting down.  The skirt she’d donned that morning reached her knees and was hardly provocative, but since she was more of a jeans girl, she wasn’t much for sitting like a lady and keeping her undies from being exposed.

She didn’t have long to wait, however, before the door beside the desk flew open and a leggy blonde breezed into the reception area.

“Sidney?” she asked, her blue eyes shining.

“Yes,” Sidney replied, offering a slightly shaky hand.  “You must be Lexie?”

“I am,” the blonde answered, taking Sidney’s hand.  “Nice to finally meet you in person.  Why don’t you follow me and we’ll talk.”

“Sure,” Sidney said.

Lexie led her down a long hallway with more framed CD covers and lots of closed doors.  Lexie stopped near an elevator at the end of the hall and opened a door.

“This is my office,” Lexie said.  “Come on in.”

The space was crammed full of filing cabinets with a medium-sized desk shoved in the only open spot.  Lexie took the chair behind the desk, leaving only the one in front of the desk open for Sidney.

“I have your file right here,” Lexie said with a smile as she pulled out paperwork.

For such a cramped office, everything seemed to be organized and in its correct place.  Impressed, Sidney scooted her chair a bit closer.

“Okay,” Lexie said, looking up with a grin.  “Your resume is awesome.  Graduated high school early, excelled at college, majoring in music.  How old were you when you finished high school?”

“Um, sixteen,” Sidney replied, nibbling on her lip. “But that’s because I took a lot of summer classes.”

“Wow,” Lexie said.  “As the Human Resources Director here, I see a lot of people and let me tell you, most of them shouldn’t have graduated grammar school at sixteen.”

Sidney smiled, not sure what to do with the comment.

“Anyway,” Lexie continued.  “What we need for you to do here is probably well below your intelligence level.  It’s a three month intern position, you understand, and not a paid position.”

“I understand,” Sidney said.

“But, if things work out, there’s a good chance you could be offered a permanent, paid position.”

“Okay,” Sidney said, secretly hoping that would be the case.  She’d saved every possible cent she could in hopes that so
meday she could relocate to LA or New York and now she’d have to live on that savings for the next few months.

“You’ll be filing music, helping to keep things organized, learn about the studios and the sound rooms, and other things like that.  It’s not the most glamorous of jobs…”

“It sounds perfect,” Sidney said.  “I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty.”

Lexie snorted, startling Sidney.  “You might change your mind when you see Rob’s office.”

Sidney’s stomach twisted and leapt at the mention of Rob’s name.  Rob Ross, the founder of Ross Records, was also the lead singer in the band Society Lost.

Clearing her mind and her throat, Sidney nodded.  “I really don’t mind big jobs.”

“Okay,” Lexie said with a secretive little smile.  “Well, let’s take a quick tour.”

She sprang from her chair like a flea, and bounded to the door, leaving Sidney to hurry after her.

“We’ll start with the top floor,” Lexie called over her shoulder as she stepped into the hall and punched the elevator button.  “And we’ll end on this one.”

As they rode the elevator, Lexie kept up a steady commentary about how Ross Records was started.

“Rob and his partner, Chad Hunter, they got tired of the big labels and all the politics.  Rob’s band broke from their label and Rob created his own.  Now he tours the country, going to clubs and fairs and such, looking for promising talent.”

Sidney merely nodded, already knowing the company’s history, having done her research prior to applying.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing yet another hallway with only a few doors.

“All the studios are here,” Lexie explained as she pointed to a sign on a thick door.  “Studio One.  We have four.”

Sidney’s eyes widened.  This was where the action took place.

“There’s a lounge with a full kitchen and restrooms up here, too,” Lexie explained.

Lexie strolled past other closed doors until they reached one marked “Lounge”.  Pushing it open, she gestured for Sidney to enter as she flipped on the lights.

“Wow,” Sidney said.

The room was quite large with a long table in the center, several chairs pushed in under it.  A counter took up an entire wall with several cabinets and cupboards.  There was a stove, a refrigerator, a sink, and a microwave.  On the opposite side was a coffee colored sofa facing a flat screen television mounted on the wall.  Two doors, marked for men or women were next to the television, indicating restrooms.

“This is nice,” Sidney said.

“It works,” Lexie shrugged as she nodded toward the door.  “Let’s move on.  We have lots to cover today.”

Pursing her lips, Sidney followed Lexie back to the elevator to the floor below.

“Floor Two is mainly conference rooms,” Lexie explained.  “There are also two rehearsal rooms that we use for all sorts of things – mostly listening to new music or new bands.  That sort of thing.”

Lexie pointed out the massive rooms on opposite sides.  She continued walking, pointing out the three conference rooms – one larger than the others.

“That door at the end of the hall,” Lexie said, pointing, “leads to the restrooms.  There are also lockers back there if the musicians want to store stuff while they’re working.”

Nodding, Sidney listened carefully as though she was going to be tested later.

“That’s about it on this floor.  Let’s go down to the basement and then we’ll go back to the first floor.”

The cavernous basement had been divided into several rooms – each used for storage for specific mediums.  One stored old recording tapes, another music, and yet another files.  Several more locked doors stored other things that Sidney figured she’d find out sooner or later.

“This door here leads to the parking garage,” Lexie said.  You need to swipe your ID card or punch in your code to get in.  It’s sort of the back entrance so that musicians aren’t bombarded by fans when they get out of their cars.”

“How do they get into the garage?” Sidney asked.

“The entrance is behind the building and it’s gated,” Lexie explained.  “There are also round the clock guards.  Anyone can walk into the reception area – as you’ve seen – but you need either a code or an ID card to get through the door to the rest of the building.”

“Okay,” Sidney said.

“Rob is looking into doing the thumb thing,” Lexie said.  “You know, you have to press your thumb to a thumb pad for the door to unlock.  But that sort of thing freaks me out.  I mean, what if it goes on the fritz or something?”

“I don’t know,” Sidney said, slightly amused.

“Well, anyway,” Lexie shrugged.  “Let’s go back to the first floor.”

Once they returned to the first floor, Lexie bypassed her office and began pointing at doors.  “Those two offices belong to the accountant and the lawyer.  That one down there belongs to Chad and the one across the hall belongs to Rob.”

Sidney’s heart twittered once again.  She needed to get over that quickly before meeting him if she hoped to actually land a paid position.

“And here is our little lounge,” Lexie said as she shoved open another door.  Sidney followed her into a smaller version of the lounge upstairs.  There was no stove here, but a small sink, small fridge, and a microwave.  A round table sat in the center of the tiled floor with a love seat pushed against a far wall, facing a flat screen television that was also mounted.

Lexie strolled through a set of swinging doors just past the fridge and pointed out the restrooms.

“And here are lockers for employees,” Lexie said as she waved toward a bank of about ten lockers.  “These are mainly for interns, like yourself, or temp employees – people who don’t have offices.”

Sidney grinned when she spotted a locker with her name scrawled across a piece of masking tape stuck to the door.

“Oh, that’s yours,” Lexie said, digging a scrap of paper out of her pocket.  “Here’s the combination.”

Sidney eagerly twisted the lock, opened the door, and tossed her messenger bag inside.

“Now what?” Sidney asked, anxious to get to work now that the tour seemed to be finished.

“Have a seat at the table and I’ll go get the paperwork that I need you to fill out,” Lexie said.  “The file is in my office.”

They left the locker area and Sidney sat while Lexie jogged from the room.  Sitting by herself, Sidney allowed her new situation to wash over her like a warm shower.  It was hard to believe that just a few years ago she was a struggling college student, trying to get through life on her own.  Her tragic past lurked in the corners of her brain but she was determined, still, to get past it.  She had worked hard to not become a victim of circumstance but instead to make something of herself – something that would have made her parents proud.

“Okay,” Lexie said, entering the room and startling Sidney from her thoughts.  “Let’s get through all this junk.”

She asked questions in which Sidney answered with no problem.  It wasn’t until they reached the emergency contact info that Sidney struggled.

“Well, I don’t really have anyone for that,” Sidney frowned.

“Hm,” Lexie said, taping her pen against her chin.  “No family back home?”

“No,” Sidney said slowly, dropping her gaze to the form in front of Lexie.  “My parents died when I was eight.  The only living relative I have is an uncle and the last I heard, he was in prison.”

“Oh,” Lexie said, sympathy dripping in her voice.  “I’m sorry to hear that.  Um, do you have a boyfriend or a close friend?”

Sidney’s stomach rolled as she thought of Grant, back home in Indiana.  Controlling and demanding, Sidney had been glad to end that relationship and put miles and miles between them.