The waiting was what was killing her. She was just sitting there in this long semi-creepy looking hallway, with a woman sitting at a desk just typing away. Aislinn sighed. She only put in an application here at the Thneed Factory cause she was fresh out of high school, and (being a stubborn 18 year old) she decided that she wanted to live on her own. So with what little money she had in the bank and her parent's laughing at her (and saying she would never accomplish anything in her life), she left home and now had a one bedroom apartment in downtown Thneedville.

Aislinn started taping her foot on the carpet. She pulled at her vest for the hundredth time since she arrived here. Her golden eyes looked around at her surroundings again. She then tucked a piece of her shoulder length, dark blonde hair behind her ear.
The woman behind the desk paused for a moment in her typing and looked up at Aislinn.

"Mr. Once-ler will be here any minute now," the blonde headed woman said in a country accent.

"Thank you," Aislinn replied politely.

Aislinn was surprised that she had actually got called in for an interview for the secretarial job for the President of the Thneed Factory. She had no previous experience in secretarial work, heck she had no working experience at all! And she wasn't the drop dead gorgeous girl that usually got the secretary job. She was 5' 6", with a pear shaped body and was an average weight. She wasn't the pretty blonde hair, blue eyed skinny girl that all the boys fell for in high school. No she was the dark blonde, golden eyed girl that played softball, played in band and sang in the chorus.

Suddenly, Aislinn heard footsteps coming down the hallway. They were muffled by the carpet, but each step told that whoever was walking down the hallway was someone important. Aislinn peaked to her left down the hallway and saw a tall man walking toward the President's office. The man had black hair, a black top hat, a green striped jacket that came down to his knees, a white undershirt, a black and green striped tie, what looked to be a Truffula Tree sapling pinned to his jacket, a gold chain attached to his jacket, round green sunglasses, and black pants and shoes. He walked past Aislinn and continued into the President's office were, what looked like twin brothers opened the door for the green striped man, and he proceeded to walk into the office. The doors were promptly closed and everything was back to silence.
Aislinn sighed again, and stood up to stretch. Suddenly a phone rang at the blonde woman's desk, she answered it without saying a word, listened for a moment, nodded her head, then hung the phone up.

"Mr. Once-ler will see you now Ms. Gulledge," the woman said, not once looking up from her typing.

"Thank you," Aislinn replied again to the woman.

She began to walk into the President's office and the twin brothers opened the door for her. She walked through and heard the doors close behind her. The room itself was rather plain. It was a huge room with windows all on one side of the wall and a balcony. The walls were painted like the tall man's jacket, and in the middle of the room was a desk with a model of Thneedville on it and an eight foot tall red chair behind it.

"I'm on the balcony," said a voice. "I'll be with you in just a moment."

"Alright," Aislinn called to the voice.

She looked out at the balcony and saw the tall man that had walked in earlier was standing outside leaning on the rails. Aislinn took this opportunity to make sure her outfit looked ok. She wore dark gray pants and her black heeled boots that came up to her calf. She then was wearing a white, three-quarter length sleeve, button up top and a dark gray vest that she left unbuttoned in the front. She had also let her wavy hair down.

The man turned and walked back into the room and took his top hat off and his sunglasses. As he walked to the desk and sat in the big chair, Aislinn had to catch her breath. She saw then that he was one handsome man. His black hair and pale blue would make any girl swoon.

The man gestured to a small chair that was sitting in front of the desk.

"Please have a seat," he said.

Aislinn obeyed and sat down, sitting up straight. The man extended his hand to her.

"I'm Once-ler," he said smiling slightly. "I'm the President and inventor of Thneeds."

Aislinn tried not to let her jaw hit the floor, as she shook Once-ler's hand. The man before her had to be around her age! He had to be 19 or 20, but he was the President of the Thneed Factory! Aislinn quickly composed herself and smiling sweetly at Once-ler.

"I'm Aislinn Gulledge," she said.

"Pleasure to meet you Ms. Gulledge," Once-ler replied, leaning back in his chair. "You're here about the secretary job, correct?"

"Yes sir," Aislinn replied.

"What makes you think you can be of use here?" Once-ler asked.

Aislinn cocked an eyebrow at him, then quickly corrected her action.

"I believe I can help you sir, in everything and anything you need," she replied politely.

"A common answer," Once-ler stated. "What made you want this job?"

"Because I believe I can be of great use to this company and to you sir," Aislinn responded.

"Another common answer," Once-ler commented. "Tell me the truth."

Aislinn was taken aback by this. This was almost like she was being interrogated, not interviewed.

"The truth sir?" she questioned.

"Yes," Once-ler replied. "If you're going to be my secretary, I want to know anything and everything about you. And that includes the real reason why you applied for this job."

Aislinn was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"I applied here sir, because I need the money," she said. "I moved out of my home when I graduated high school, and now what little money I saved up is gone. I need to pay rent and my bills, and I haven't eaten a proper meal in months. And probably the main reason I'm here for this job is so that I can call back home and tell my family that I accomplished something in my life. I want to prove them wrong. And I want to tell them that they can all stop making fun of me because I'm not the black sheep in the family anymore."

There was silence. Complete and utter silence in the room. The silence lasted so long that it began to be uncomfortable. Aislinn fidgeted in her chair slightly, as Once-ler stared at her. She could see in his eyes that there was pain, understanding, and sympathy.

Finally, he extended his hand toward her again. Aislinn was confused.

"I don't understand," she said, looking from Once-ler's hand to his face.

Once-ler smiled a little.

"It means that I understand about being the black sheep in the family," he said quietly. "And that I think we'll get along just fine."

Aislinn cocked her head to the side. Once-ler smiled more.

"What I'm trying to say is that you're hired Ms. Gulledge," he said.

Aislinn blinked. Did she just hear right? She got the job?

"But," she stammered. "I have no experience as a secretary! I have no job experience or skills at all!"

"That's what makes you perfect," Once-ler grinned. "I'll teach you everything you need to know about the business world."

Aislinn opened her mouth but no words came out. Once-ler chuckled. He moved his extended hand more toward Aislinn again. She looked down at his hand and grinned from ear to ear. She shook Once-ler's hand.

"Thank you sir!" she exclaimed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh thank you Mr. Once-ler sir!"

Once-ler stood up and walked around the desk and stood beside Aislinn. Aislinn stood up from her chair and faced him.

"I'm going to tell you a rule that only you will follow, understand?" he said seriously.

Aislinn nodded.

"Don't call me 'sir'," he said. "It make me feel old. And don't call me 'Mr. Once-ler' either. Just call me 'Once-ler'. But you are the only one that that rule applies too!"

Aislinn smiled.

"Then I have a request of you Once-ler," she said.

Once-ler cocked an eyebrow at her but nodded.

"You don't call me 'Ms. Gulledge' or even 'Ms. Aislinn'," she said pointing a defiant finger at him. "It's just 'Aislinn'. And if you need anything, and I mean anything at all, you are to come to me about it first. We black sheep have to stick together!"

Once-ler grinned.

"I think I can agree to that."

Author's Notes:

Hey Guys! Been forever and a day!

I've already gotten this story written and complete. The completed version is on my DeviantArt account. This one on here though has been edited and re-written in some areas.

You say Aislinn's name like this Ash-Lynn

It's an Irish name that I love!

Please leave a review! I want to know what you guys think!

Thanks guys!

I don't own The Lorax or Once-ler or anyother character in this book and movie.

I DO OWN Aislinn! Please don't use her without my permission!