The dorms at Keaton don't allow smoking inside, which is a real pain for someone as addicted to his carcinogenic friends as Andrei.

His room smells of smoke, nevertheless. It also smells like a dorm room inhabited by two guys, which really isn't a pleasant odour no matter who you are, unless you're someone with no sense of smell.

He's sitting in his computer chair, his feet up on the desk, his phone in his lap. One hand's on the reciever. The other is flicking a crisp white business card around.

To call or not to call... what a stupid question.

He combs his hair out of his eyes with one hand and picks the reciever up. Wedging the clunky old thing between his shoulder and ear, he dials the number of the business card.

The phone begins to ring.

The ringing stops as the other end is picked up, there is a moment silence where the usual noises of a phone being moved to one's ear is heard, and then a strict female voice began to speak. "What?" Was all this voice said, but the owner was unmistakably Parker Maitland, owner of Maitland Enterprises and business woman extradordinaire. There was no 'hi' or 'hello' or 'My name is Parker to whom am I speaking?' she lef that to her assistants and secretaries.

"It's Andrei Petrov. AKA the Cheeky Little Shit..." he clarifies, a sarcastic grin stretching his lips. He adjusts the phone into a slightly more comfortable position.

"I decided to call."

Parker could hear his smile on the phone, and it was coupled with a satisfied smile of her own, which one could hear in the triumphant tone of her voice. "Ah yes, The kid in dire need of a haircut," She took a breath, about to say something, but then the sound of someone talking was heard. "No, put them in last week's files," Parker said strictly and a bit distantly before returning back to the guy on the other end.

"So, you've decided to call...Keaton's not turning out to be the best, I imagine?"

"Keaton's fine... I'm just a very curious guy."

The chair creaks as he leans back in it, facing the ceiling. hH has a habit of looking up, for whatever reason.

"Curiosity killed that cat, kid. And curiosity was the neighbor's dog. So listen up, because I don't have time for half-ass shit. Either you're in, or you're out. You can take your time if you want and tell me later, but you must have some friends up in the sky, because you're lucky you even caught me today at all. So do you have any questions about Maitland to start out with?" Her voice was changing a bit, softening as she too leaned back in the chair. She had just closed a large file and that gap that been produced was a whole lot smaller, so her moods were up.

"I'm not afraid of dogs."

Questions? "Yeah. What's the pay, what would I be doing, and what would the hours be like?"

Priorities, priorities. He asks about the pay first.

Parker ignored his first comment with extreme ease, just as she was ignoring her second assisstant who had just asked her if she liked cream and sugar in her coffee. The assisstant blushed and walked slowly out the door backwards, as if afraid if she turned her back Parker would stab it in a blink.

"It's a legal firm. You'd be my personal assisstant. Basically-My bitch, oh but wait it gets better; You work when I work, which is sporadic at best and-" This was always the best bait to place on the hook, "-What would you want the pay to be like?"

"Fuck." A quiet profanity, as this sinks in.

"I'd want the pay to be good. Really good. I'd be missing out on an education, after all." He pauses. Of course, if the work is as sporadic as she seems to indicate, he might still make most of his classes.

Parker rolled her brown eyes heavenward as he ambiguously told her the pay should be 'really good'. "All right, kid, I'm willing to pay you 16 bucks an hour, and with my scheduling and hours I see that as way more than fair. You're getting what some of my employees have taken years to achieve. Do we have a deal?" One could almost hear her raise her eyebrow over the phone. The kid had a talent for being incredibly stubborn, cheeky, and an all around fright to be around. He reminded her of someone she knew.

"Not yet." He gestures as he speaks, even though he knows she can't see him.

"I want to know just what being your assistant entails. I want to know," he smirks, "If you're going to make me cut my hair and if I'd get paid extra for the hardship. I want to know if the hours are sporadic enough that I might still make enough of my classes to pass."

He pauses. "That's about two thirds. Of my classes, I mean."

"Hardships? I know I'm a bitch, kid, but I offered you a job because I thought you could handle it. If you're going to up and quit because you can't take being ordered around by me, then hang up right now. Just let it be known that I think you can do it, and that's rare." She sighed softly as a cup of coffee was placed in front of her, she nodded vaguely to her second assisstant who scurried out quickly. Her assisstant (Sandra, or Sarah, or something) was only for in the office, and a lot of the time Parker found herself multi-tasking on the way to some important meetings with other heads of companies. She hated to admit it, but she needed help, or, more specifically, an extra set of hands. "You'd run errands, pick people up from airports, look over my files and make sure everything's been signed. You may not want to be anywhere near a legal firm in your future, but you'll gain a helluva lot of experience, kid. As far as your classes go I have absolutely no idea. You're going to have to keep your schedules handy. One thing's for sure though, I go home every monday and friday afternoon to finish work from my apartment or go to meetings. I might need you sometimes but it's unlikely." She took a sip of her coffe, surprised the warm bodied air head that had brought it to her had gotten her order right.

"And yes you would have to get cleaned up a bit. I'll give you starting money to get some new clothes and whatever else you need. If you're going to be with me, you have to look the part" Here she exhaled deeply, becoming a little more tense as people continued coming in to her office and placing thick files on her desk. "I need to know soon, Kid."

The phone is silent for a moment. Andrei's breathing is a quiet, slow background.

And then he speaks. "Then the answer's yes." Why the hell not.

Parker smiled like a wolf when she heard his answer. "Good. And don't hesitate to bite back, kid, you're as stubborn as a mule; but that'll get you far. All right, be at my office as soon as possible, I don't care when, you'll get your starting money and your keys." There was a click and the line went dead. She'd hung up without a goodbye, and without a see you later. She had an inkling that Andrei would be there soon...What with the 2,500 $ she was prepared to give him.

((Next.))