The door was slammed.

Austin Moon casually looked over and nodded towards his manager. "Trish, you're early. Did you want to watch the game with me?" Austin questioned, pointing at the TV with his remote.

Trish, Austin's very angry manager, stormed towards him and snatched the remote from his grip. She turned off the TV and stepped in front of him, arms folded and foot tapping impatiently. Austin looked at her with an incredulous look.

"I just wanted-"

"You always just want." she sneered.

He sighed, his head lulling back onto the leather couch behind him. "What did I do this time?"

"Rob quit." Trish deadpanned, but her voice held a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

"Good." Austin muttered under his breath.

"Austin!" Trish exclaimed.

"He was horrible, Trish!" Austin shrieked in reply, "He wore suits every day like he was a butler! He made me wear a bow tie to the red carpet! He even messed up the date of my photoshoot-"

"-The photoshoot was my fault." Trish interrupted quickly.

Austin rolled his eyes. He personally didn't care who was at fault, all he knew was that Rob was an awful assistant who should have never been hired. Rob even used his shower, without permission! Assistants had rules; not using the musician's showers is one of them. Rob broke the rules often. Austin wasn't a rule follower himself, but he believed that assistant's should always follow the rules and do things according to task. Rob seemed to always have his own schedule. He was a forty-something-year-old idiot who probably even used Trish's razor on his legs.

He was not in Austin's good books.

"Austin, that was sixth one. In three and a half years." Trish sighed.

"Obviously, I'm hard to please." Austin said, giving her a witty smile.

Trish shook her head. Austin was infuriating her. She may have been his friend since he was twelve, but that doesn't change the fact that Austin's changed and he needs something to pull on his big boy socks for him. He needed someone who wouldn't kiss his feet. He needed someone who he couldn't get rid of, someone who could do this job properly and right.

Trish scrubbed her fingers through her frizzy, curly locks. Austin smirked at Trish, "Remember what your Mom said: Don't frown or your face will stay like that forever."

"Now is not the time, Austin." she barked, "This is serious. You need an assistant. Your life is so busy that you can't keep up without one. The assistant is meant to help you."

"And Rob was doing exactly the opposite." Austin chimed, his voice growing distant as he now travelled into his room. He returned wearing a grey hoodie and holding car keys. "If you're so worried about it, find another one. You didn't have trouble with the other five after I fired the first one."

"I know, but Austin, I don't think you're-"

"I'll catch you later. Studio time." Austin said, walking out and shutting the door in Trish's face.

She sighed, her shoulders sagging with stress and frustration. "-Getting it." she finished with a grumble. She could see the flashing lights from behind the curtains. She didn't know how he managed to even walk to his car with the paparazzi following him like that.

Trish glanced around his apartment and saw the bottles of beer and scotch everywhere. Although she trusted him enough to drink appropriate amounts, she swore one day he'd grow a drinking problem. He's already got an attitude problem, what would stop him from any other problems?

She pulled out her phone. "Cassidy," Trish sighed, "I need you to clean Austin's place."

"Again?" Cassidy groaned, "What about Rob? He's his assistant, can't he do the cleaning?"

"Rob quit." Trish groaned, "If you know of anyone willing enough to be Austin's seventh and last assistant...let me know."

"Actually," Cassidy said, "I think you might have a taker. I'm staring at a biography of her as we speak."

"Thank God," Trish breathed, "Now get down here quick. It smells." Trish hung up the phone, silently thanking God that somebody might fit this role. She prayed it was the last one to ever fit the role.

x

2 weeks later

Ally smiled wide, stepping into Starr Records large building. It more beautiful than she imagined it would be. She smelled the aroma of success. Her heart was practically jumping inside of her mouth. It was happening. It was really going to happen this time. Her dreams were going to come true - everything she's thought about, everything she's cried about, everything thing she's talked about, it was all unraveling to be true.

Or so she thought.

She stops at the front desk. Ally drummed her fingers nervously on the counter top. A woman with glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose eyed her intensely. "Can I help you?" she asked. Well, at least she sounded nice.

"Uh...Uh...I..." Oh, come on, what's her name again? Ally. Ally Dawson. Her name is Ally Dawson. "I'm Ally Dawson. I was called to meet with..."

Ally didn't have time to finish her sentence when she heard somebody call out for her, "Ally!"

A short Latina girl came rushing to her with a big smile. Ally smiled back, half-excitedly, half-uncomfortably. This definitely wasn't who she wanted to see. Where was Jimmy Starr? The big man behind all of this? Where's the man she's dreamt about meeting, dreamt about working for?

Ally opened her mouth to speak but she was already interrupted before anything got out. "Come with me." Trish invited, wiggling a finger at Ally, ordering her to follow.

Ally wasn't one to argue or ask too many questions - Okay, the last parts a lie. Ally always asked questions. That's why the students at school disliked her so much. She was the kid who always said Teacher, what about our homework? It wasn't like she meant to make the students' lives miserable. She just always wanted to be honest.

Trish sat down behind a big, oak desk, inviting Ally to sit on a comfortable red chair. Ally took a deep breath, making sure to take in everything about this room. This was it. Everything she ever wanted was happening.

Once again: Or so she thought.

"Excuse me, I forgot to tell you who I am. My name's Trish De La Rosa. We spoke on the phone a couple weeks ago." Trish grinned. Ally even looked like the perfect fit for the job, Trish thought.

Ally nodded, "Oh, Yes, I remember."

"I'm so glad to hear from you. We're really desperate. Austin is just..." Trish sighed and looked at Ally honestly, "I won't lie; he's a handful. He never used to be this way, he just...You know what, let's not talk about Austin, let's talk about you. What made you send in your biography and application for this job?"

"Application?" Ally quizzed out loud. Everything that Trish had just spilled out to Ally hadn't made any sense. Who was Austin? What application? Heard from her? As far as Ally was concerned, this call was random and Ally knew nothing about it. She answered the phone on a rainy night and low and behold, it was Trish De La Rosa (whoever that is) asking to meet with Ally.

Trish furrowed her eye brows together. "Yes, I've got your biography here." Trish pulled out a file. "It's not a legitimate application, but it was close enough. You described your goals, strengths, weaknesses. Everything an interview could've asked for. You definitely seem like the perfect fit and like I said before, without fabrication, we're desperate. You don't need to stress, I've already told everyone you're hired. You had enough about yourself on here that I had no further questions. Again, you're the perfect fit."

Something in Trish's sincere, relieved, and desperate eyes told Ally that this meeting was not what she planned for it to be. Something told her that this was not about herself in the slightest, but instead, about some Austin.

Ally's eye brows wormed together. She was quiet for a moment as she dealt with the confusion in her mind. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry, but I thought somebody had heard my music...I was going to be signed to Starr Records?"

"Heaven's no." Trish shook her head at such an absurd thought. "Sweetie, you've been hired to be Austin Moon's personal assistant."

Ally didn't even have time to feel the disappointment of her dreams being crushed when she heard the name. "A...Austin Moon?" Ally's eyes were wide, she was now gawking and she didn't even try to hide it.

"Yes, of course." Trish said, confused wrinkles lined one on top of the other on her forehead. Trish looked at her oddly. "Is there a problem?"

"I was hired to be an assistant? Austin Moon's assistant?" Ally echoed, emphasizing his last name, double-checking to see if, perhaps, she'd heard wrong. Ally's shock ran deeper when Trish nodded in confirmation. "But I..."

"It's a hard job to take on, but I have the feeling you'll do fine!" Trish encouraged. "I'll definitely run you through some things. What we expect from you, all of your tasks, details about Austin, your pay, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera." Trish said.

Ally sat there stiff for a moment. It turns out that her dreams were just crushed and she wasn't really going to meet up with Jimmy Starr, well, maybe she would, but not for herself and her own career. She was now supposedly hired to be a personal assistant to pretty much the biggest male public figure in the world.

She swallows thickly and forces a smile, "That sounds great."

Well, she had to agree. Trish had already told her that she'd been hired before they'd even met and she'd already gone around informing everyone of her. Ally also knew that this was probably the best-paying job she'd find until she reached her dreams of becoming a musician. She was in Los Angeles now, she kind of needed the job now that she knew she wasn't going to be famous any time soon.

"Wait," Ally said, "Um, I don't have...I don't have a place. I'm from Miami. I've only got a hotel right now, I don't-"

"Don't worry about it!" Trish smiled, "You'll have an apartment, paid for by us until you can get on your feet. You will be spending most of your time with Austin and a lot of the crew. That means you'll be going to-"

"-Everything." Ally finished for her. Trish nodded. This will be torture. Ally thought. She had to work for somebody and watch them live out her dream. Ally shook her head, forcing out another smile as Trish began to inform Ally of everything.

x

a few days later

"You're what!?"

"In L.A." Ally cringed, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

"You said you were going to Chicago for a concert, Allyson!" her father fumed.

"I know, Dad," Ally sighed, "I lied to you and I'm sorry. I've got a really wonderful job and I've even found an apartment which I'm moving into tomorrow morning. Everything's under control. I have a really good job and it will pay well-"

"How good of a job?" her fathered groaned on the other end, rubbing his forehead. His daughter had lied to him and run away to L.A. He wasn't stupid, he knew that this must've been about her dreams to be signed to Starr Records and he also knew by her tone that she had not been signed. He wished her dreams were more realistic.

"A very good one. I'm...working as Austin Moon's personal assistant." Ally told him. If she was going to tell him, she was going to say it bluntly. There wasn't anything to hide. It was simple and shocking, but not a secret.

Lester chuckled gruffly, "Cute. What are you really doing?"

"Dad, I really am his assistant." Ally said. "I messed up on getting what I wanted and I was hired. The pay could've been higher but it's decent. Better than what I was getting in Miami at the music store."

The line was silent. Lester knew his daughter like the back of his hand and knew very well that she wasn't a liar. The job sounds like something from a book, but it was L.A., cool things happen there. He'd have to trust her. "I'll help you get your stuff to L.A."

"Thanks, Dad." Ally said, "You'll need to visit."

"I will, honey." Lester said, a lump in his throat. Ally really was in L.A. and she really wasn't coming home. She was so far away.

After a few reassuring words to her father, Ally hung up the phone. She sprawled out on the hotel bed. She hadn't begun her work yet. She didn't start for another two days. In fact, she hadn't even met Austin Moon yet. She was nervous, to say the least. She was meeting a successful, handsome, talented young man and was going to be spending nearly every wakening hour with him. He was also famous, she couldn't forget that. Who doesn't get anxious to meet a famous person? Especially somebody as famous as Austin, especially somebody like Austin.

She definitely wasn't a hater, that's for sure. She enjoyed his music, but she really only knew his Single's and a few other songs from his album's. She wasn't like her friends who were complete, what they call, Moonwalkers. Ally had never found Austin all too inspiring. She had read the articles about how he ignored fans, about all the women he slept with, the attitude, the fist-fights.

Ally wasn't much of a gossip-reader but she doubted it was gossip. There were too many facts and proof. Not to mention Trish's statement: I won't lie; he's a handful.

She sighed softly. She felt sure that she would never live her dream. She knew that becoming a famous musician is a one in a million chance, how could she ever think that she would ever make it? There was proof right here, right now. What were the odds that she would get a call from her dream record label only to discover they didn't want to sign her, they wanted her only for their precious Austin Moon, to take care of him and his busy, lucky life.

Even after those talent shows she won, even after those gigs she played at the coffee shops and festivals, nothing had ever happened. Even now, here she was in L.A. and she was getting the exact opposite of what she wanted: to watch somebody else live her dream.

She decided she was going to have to suck it up and deal. She tried to look on the bright side of things: she was getting a good pay, she'd be kept busy so she wouldn't have time to grieve over the fact that her dreams would never come true, and she was working alongside one of the world's most famous musicians. It couldn't be all bad, could it?