Chapter Text
Sammy's POV:
I was sitting in my office working on a new piece of music. The best part about it was the silence. Nobody to bother me. No Wally to ask me where his keys were, no Susie to annoy me with her flirting, no Norman to argue with me about—
"Sammy!" I heard Joey shout with a pound on my door, interrupting my thoughts. "Can I come in?"
I groaned. "I'd rather you not!" I shouted back.
"I have something important to tell you! I'm coming in whether you like it or not!"
"Fine!" I interrupted. "Come in."
Joey stepped inside my office and I gave him a dull look. "Can you make it quick? I have work to do."
"Lighten up a bit, Sammy!" Joey exclaimed. "Stop acting so negatively all the time!"
"Sure, whatever. Now what's so important that you had to interrupt me?"
"Right, right," Joey said. "There's someone coming here to the music department later this afternoon."
"So?"
"So, she's someone important, and I need you to treat her with respect."
"And what does 'important' mean?"
"She's going to be working here."
"She's going to be working here?" I repeated.
"That's right!" Joey confirmed.
"I don't go around deciding who works in your Art Department" I shot. "You don't get to decide who works here in this Music Department! I never agreed to this!"
"She's not that bad, Sammy," Joey reassured me. "She's getting a degree in music education so she-"
"Great, so you're leaving me with some kid who doesn't know what they're doing?" I scoffed. "You don't know what's best for this department! The last thing I need is some young, inexperienced-"
"You may be in charge of this department, but remember that I'm the dean of the college of the arts, which makes me your boss, Sammy!" Joey interrupted. "I have far more control over the music department than you do."
With that, he stormed out of my office and closed the door behind him. I groaned to myself.
That was just what I needed. Someone else to get in my way. Someone who probably didn't have any idea what they were doing.
I preferred to keep to myself at work as much as I could. Of course, I'd have to lead the music during recordings, or help others out with stuff, but for the most part I didn't spend much time with others around the workplace.
Now all I had to do was hope that this new girl would have some respect for that.
Y/n's POV:
"This should be fine. Right? I mean, how hard can it be? It's just some normal studio where everyone should be-"
I was interrupted by the sound of the alarm on my phone. I groaned and turned it off. I turned back to the mirror and touched up my hair one last time before taking a deep breath and stepping out of the bathroom.
I grabbed stuff and left my apartment. With that, I got on the bus before heading to the one and only Joey Drew Studios.
I was grateful to finally be getting a job at someplace other than a fast food restaurant. Life isn't cheap, especially not for a nineteen-year-old girl in college without any financial support. Heck, I couldn't even afford a car.
I was in my second year of college and I was barely into my bachelor's degree in music education; and now I could finally put my talents to use. On top of that, what better way to learn than by gaining experience yourself, right?
I had heard things about Joey Drew Studios here and there, so I finally decided to go check it out for myself. Come to find out, it was more than I expected. There was an entire music department. I felt like it was practically calling my name the moment I saw it.
I had already met Joey Drew when I went in for a job interview. He said I was to be working with a man by the name of Sammy Lawrence, but he wasn't available at the time. But Mr. Drew told me that I would be meeting Sammy on my first day.
He accepted me for the job surprisingly fast. Now I just hoped that Sammy would approve of me.
Surely he would. If Mr. Drew approved of me, Sammy would too. Right?
Once the bus came to the stop nearest to Joey Drew Studios, I got off and headed towards the Art Department where I had met up with Mr. Drew.
I couldn't help but look around and admire the place. It was so interesting. I loved art, but could never see myself being an artist at the studio. I wasn't good enough for that.
After wandering for a bit I realized that I had no idea where to find Joey when I eventually came across a corner and found myself face-to-face with an unfamiliar man.
"Woah there!" He exclaimed. "Didn't see you there!"
"Yeah. Whoops. Sorry," I chuckled awkwardly.
"I haven't seen you around here," he noticed. "Mind if I ask who you are?"
"I'm y/n l/n," I greeted. "And you are...?"
"Wally. Wally Franks," he declared, shaking my hand. "Y'know, I've heard a bit about you."
"All good things, I hope."
"Absolutely!" He exclaimed. "Joey's thrilled to have you working here. He won't stop talking about you."
"Really? But he barely knows me."
"Joey's a strange guy like that," Wally said with a shrug.
"Oh... Well, at least I'll have a good boss!"
Wally laughed as if what I had just said were a joke. "You won't be saying that after working with him for some time. But don't worry, he's not gonna be bossing you around. Sammy's gonna be in charge of you. Believe me, you don't want Mr. Drew nagging you all the time." He paused for a moment. "Well, Sammy's not that great either."
"How'd you know that Sammy is going to be in charge of me?" I asked.
"I told you, Joey's been talking all about you. We all know you're going to be working in the Music Department."
"Oh... in that case, can you lead me there?"
"Sure thing!" He exclaimed. "Follow me, I'll take you there."
Wally guided me throughout the studio to get to the Music Department. I won't deny that I had a pretty fun time talking to him.
"So, Wally, what do you do here?" I asked. "Do you work in the Art Department?"
"Not exactly," he replied. "I'm just a janitor. I work all around the studio."
"Oh, nice!" I exclaimed. "How do you like it here?"
"Eh, it could be better," he admitted. "The smell of ink reeks in every corner. Joey and Sammy are both a pain. Not to mention how much I have to clean up considering how massive this place is. It's not the perfect studio that it appears to be from the outside."
"Now I've got questions," I said. "First off, why do you say that everything smells like ink?"
"It's because of that dumb Ink Machine Joey installed," Wally complained.
"I'm sorry, Ink Machine?" I repeated.
"You heard me right."
"Is it just a machine filled with ink, or what?" I wondered.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Well, what's it for?"
"Don't ask me. Joey says he needs it for some 'projects.'"
"But who on earth would ever need so much ink in the first place?"
"Exactly!" Wally agreed. "That's what I've been telling these people!"
"And second, what's so bad about Sammy and Joey anyway?" I continued.
"Joey's always at everybody's throats," Wally groaned. "'Do this,' 'do that,' 'you have to do what I say because I'm the boss'; the man just needs to chill out! And Sammy's just bossy. And I mean really bossy."
"Bossy? How so?"
"Well, he nearly fired me at least five times for losing my keys."
I laughed. "For losing your keys? How often do you lose them?"
"More than I'd like to admit."
"Well, what else? You said that's just for starters."
"Don't even get me started on how much of a perfectionist he is," Wally continued. "If things aren't just how he likes them, he loses his mind."
"Geez. Sounds rough."
"Not to mention, he's so serious all the time!" Wally went on. "I've never seen the guy smile. Something always just seems to be irritating him, even when nothing's wrong!"
"Y'know, Wally, it's not very nice to talk behind people's backs," I heard a voice say from behind us. I looked over at Wally whose face had turned pale. Then I turned around to see a tall man whose clothes were drenched in a sticky black liquid. He had blond hair and brown eyes and he did not look happy.
"Sammy!" Wally exclaimed awkwardly, turning around to look at him. "I didn't expect to see you here! Why aren't you in the Music Department?"
"Because I'm on my way to have a word with Joey since another one of his damn pipes burst in my office again!" Sammy complained.
"Geez, what happened to you?" I asked.
Sammy looked over at me with an annoyed look. "I got drenched in ink, that's what happened," He then paused and examined me carefully. "Who are you anyway?"
"I'm y/n," I stated, putting my hand out to shake his hand. "I'm going to be-"
"Working here, I know," Sammy interrupted. "Joey already told me. I just really didn't expect him to hire you."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, no offense or anything, but you don't exactly seem—how do I put it—fit for this job."
"I'm sure I could do this job twice as well as you."
He scoffed. "You're just some college freshman. You don't know what you're doing."
"I'm a sophomore," I growled.
"Like that makes a difference."
"Listen, Lawrence, just because you may be in charge of the Music Department doesn't mean you're in charge of me."
"Don't call me that," he shot. "And in case you aren't aware, yes, I am in charge of you. This is my department, and you work for me."
"Actually, I work for Joey Drew."
"You work for Joey if you're working in the Art Department. But you're not working there, are you?"
"Well no, but-"
"Then I'm the boss of you."
"That still doesn't give you any right to treat me disrespectfully, you little-"
"Alright, that's enough!" Wally interrupted. "Listen, Sammy, why don't you just worry about getting cleaned up? I'll show y/n around."
"I'll be saving that for after I give Joey a piece of my mind," Sammy snapped. "Because now I've got two things to complain to him about." He then stormed off, brushing past me.
"What a brat," I scoffed once he was out of sight.
"Yeah, that's Sammy for you," Wally said. "But you'll get used to it. Just try to avoid him as much as you can. That's what I do."
I bit my lip. "Yeah, well that might not be as easy as it sounds,"
"Why not?"
"When Joey hired me, he told me that I would be assistant..." I paused. "So I'm Sammy's assistant."
Wally didn't say anything at first but then started laughing.
"What's so funny?!"
"Oh man, tough luck, kid," he chuckled. "That's gotta suck."
I frowned. "You're not making me feel any better."
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh," he said, finally starting to contain his laughter. "But just know, if he's ever bothering you, you've got the rest of us here for you. There's me, Norman, Susie, Allison, Jack-"
"Woah, woah, woah," I stopped him. "Slow down. I have no idea who any of these people are."
"They're our other coworkers. They're all great," Wally told me. "If Sammy's ever bothering you, just come talk to one of us. We've got your back."
"Thanks, Wally," I said with a smile.
"No problem!" he exclaimed joyfully. "Now come on, let's make our way to the Music Department so that you can meet everyone else, shall we?"
"Sounds great!"
I let Wally lead me to the Music Department. My excitement about working at this place was already fading. As much as I wanted to say I was excited to start working for Sammy Lawrence, I wasn't.
I had a feeling him and I weren't going to get along very well.