A Change of Heart

"Oh god, who are you hooking up with now?"

2 weeks later, middle July

Both bands were in the studio today, all of us just clicked as best friends. We honestly spend so much time together now that it's unreal. "Veronica, do you want to go out to lunch with us?" Ryan asks as I was talking to Lucy about a new sound.

"Uh sure, Lucy you want to come?" I ask and she shakes her head. "I've got a meeting today with Randy, you guys can go." She smiles and we nod. "Let's go guys!" Joe jumps up and we all follow behind.

"So, non-native Nashville citizen, where is your favorite place to eat here?" Les asks and I shrug. "I hardly eat out, Jos and I like to save money. I usually bring my lunch, so I don't know any good restaurants." I admit and they gasp. "Ah, you uncultured citizen!" Jake gasps again and I roll my eyes. "You guys are so dramatic." I joke and they chuckle.

"Well, there is this small diner down the road and it's amazing. We usually go here on Wednesday's, but we'll take you today." Zach says and I nod. "Sounds good." I laugh and they nod.

—

"Oh wow, that place was good." I tell them as we're walking back to the studio. "It is indeed." Ryan agrees. "So, how is your relationship with Jos now?" Joe asks and I smile. "We're back to normal, I apologized for taking his side and I found out that he did do some nasty shit while I wasn't home. However, as mad as I should be at him, I've decided to let it go because I'm trying to stop holding grudges." I explain and they all smile.

"See, that's what being an adult is all about. Good job girl." Paul says and hugs me slightly. We all walk in the building, Matty was standing right there. "Speak of the Devil." Chase whispered under his breath. "Shut the fuck up." Zach whispered back. I give him a small smile and walk straight past him. "Awkward." Chase whispers again. Instead of whispering back, Zach smacks him over the head.

We walk into the studio, Lucy was back already. She gives me a look and I start to panic. "What?" I ask and she frowns. "Randy wants to see you in his office." She admits and I start to panic. "Why?" I ask and she shrugs. "No idea, just go on in there." She tells me and I feel like I could vomit. "It'll be okay." Ryan says and puts his hand on my back reassuringly. "Maybe I'll see you guys later." I joke to cover my fear.

I walk in to his office when his assistant tells me to, she gives me a reassuring smile. "Good evening." Randy says and sticks his hand out for me. I just knew I was being fired. "Hello." I smile to him.

"Where do we start, hm." He pulls some papers out and I already feel my job slipping away. Of course it's just when I became friends with the bands and love them. "I'm very impressed with you." He states and my eyes widen. "What? Really?" I ask and he nods slowly.

"I had a meeting with Lucy a while ago and she talked about Jackie. She told me that you came forward with information about how she had been treating her band. I found the note you left anonymously in my box but Lucy outed you," he lifts up the paper and I blush, "I appreciate your concern with how our clients are treated." He admits and I nod slowly. "I care about each of them." I tell him and he smiles.

"Lucy came forward with this." He says and hands me a small folder. I flip through the papers to find complaints that were turned in to her that were against Jackie. I see both COIN and LANY had turned in complaints. Then, there were random workers who also came forward, the file had at least 20 complaints. I hand the folder back.

"Due to my on-going investigation, I'd like to offer something pretty special." He starts off and I feel myself lean forward slowly. "I was reading your application and saw that you'll be attending Belmont for live audio engineer, is that still correct?" He asks and I nod.

"How would you feel if I connected you with someone to give you a crash course on how to do Lucy/Jackie's job perfectly?" He asks and I nod viciously. "I would love that, are you sure? I'm broke as hell, I don't know if I can pay for that level of expertise." I ramble and he cuts me off shortly. "It'd be paid for by the company. I want you to do it because it'd be easier to teach someone who has had some experience. Plus, I want to keep you in the company for a while and if it means training you, I'd gladly do it. You'll basically be getting Jackie's job once the investigation is over. I like your work ethic and I like you, so do you want to do it?" He asks and I felt like crying, my McDonald's boss never loved me like this.

"Wow, I'm baffled but of course I'll take the opportunity. Thank you so much, I'm about to cry. Wow." I rant and ramble, he laughs and stands up to give me a hug.

"This will be hard work on you, you won't be with Lucy and the bands for a while. You'll come in early and leave late. This guy is hardcore and you're going to be training hard, but it'll give you a huge output. Are you ready to be pushed to your limits?" He asks and I nod fast. "I'll do what it takes. Thank you so much, when do I start?" I ask and he smiles.

"We'll start on Monday, it'll be a new week for success." He tells me and I smile. "I'll be here at soon as possible, thank you." I say again and step out of his office.

I was practically running back to our studio with happy tears flowing down my face.

"Honey what's going on?" Lucy asks when she sees my face when I walk in. COIN was in the middle of recording a song, but when they see my tears they came running out. "What's going on?" Ryan asks as he comes to my side. "Nothings wrong, I'm just so happy!" I exclaim and their faces finally let go of the worry.

"So what is so amazing?"  Joe asks and I smile widely. "Basically Jackie is under investigation and I'm going to be trained to take her spot." I tell them and they all cheer. "So you'll be our person?" Jake asks and I nod. "Yay!" LANY cheers and pile in to hug me.

"But," I start and everyone's faces fall, "I will be gone for a bit and won't be helping Lucy because I'll be in training. I'll miss you guys, but we'll have our Tuesday night get togethers still." I promise them and they smile. "Awe, we're going to miss you, but you're going to absolutely kill it." Lucy says as she hugs me tightly.

———

"Joselyn. Joselyn. Joselyn. I have news." I shake her when I run into the house. "Oh god, who are you hooking up with now?" She asks and puts her book down. "I basically got promoted and will get classes to be like Lucy, it's paid by the company. Then Jackie, the mean one, will be fired after the investigation and I'll get her spot to work with LANY." I yell and she tackles me in a hug.

"Roni, I'm so happy for you! This is amazing, will you be paid more?" She asks and I laugh. "Well duh." I say and she hugs me tighter. "Great because I've got news too!" She yells and I pull her back.

"What?" I ask and she smiles. "I passed my phlebotomy certification and applied in the lab, I will be making almost 15 dollars an hour!" She babbles and I smile. "No way! This is amazing! Our lives are turning out good so far!" I scream and hug her again.

"Wait," I pull her back and she gives me a look, "why did you assume I was hooking up with someone?" I ask and she laughs. "It's been an interesting month, what else can I expect?" She asks and I laugh. "True, true." I mumble and we hug again.