Holes in the Sky

In truth, Lily loved the rules. Rules had given her a future and a path to follow. Without them, Lily would have never left High Wycombe, never would have made it to London to live the bustling metropolitan life she had always dreamed of. And she certainly wouldn’t be sitting in the MTV UK office, with cool playlists in the background and surrounded by the most stylish young folks in town.

At times, Lily even felt out of place with her overalls, plain tops, and Converse sneakers. Everyone in the office seemed to always be up-to-date with the latest fashion trends, that changed constantly, much to her dismay. As a result, Lily felt both basic and timeless.

Luckily for her, though, Lily had Sev. Sev worked in the same department as her, Public Relations, and when they both started around the same time, they knew they'd need to have each other's backs. Thankfully, the two became friends.

And they couldn’t be more different. Sev mostly walked around with a scowl, dressed in all black, and working with his headphones on. Lily also knew Sev had graduated from Oxford with honors. It made her wonder if being top of her Public Relations class at the University of Exeter was really that impressive after all. Well, she did the best she could with the best she had.

"Hey." Sev glanced over his computer, trying to sound reticent. "Are you worried about the meeting with Slughorn?"

Lily swallowed hard. Honestly, she knew she was doing well in her activities and had adapted to the company's pace. So, it was a surprise when the department head called her for a one-on-one meeting outside of the usual feedback week. That was not common. Deep down, Lily was worried, but she just replied.

"Oh. It’s probably nothing."

Sev widened his eyes at the monitor as he replied, "You’re confident."

His tone was almost passive-aggressive, and if Lily didn’t know his sense of humor, she might have been offended. But she was familiar with that attitude.

"What? It’s not like I’m the one with the bad reputation around the office," she responded, a laugh on her lips.

"Ouch, Lily. That was uncalled for," Sev said, his face perfectly composed.

Lily laughed and tried to focus on her monitor. But her expression quickly soured. She didn’t want to be misunderstood—she loved her job. Lily had dreamed of working in the entertainment industry ever since she was a kid, watching MTV VJs introduce new artists that broadened her horizons, seeing those huge video award shows in massive theaters, or laughing at teen sitcoms with Petunia late at night in her room.

Hm, Petunia.

Anyway, Lily felt so blessed when, after enduring several terrible and toxic jobs in bland London offices, she finally got accepted at MTV. She remembered hugging Alice, her flatmate, with tears in her eyes, and buying a cheap bottle of white wine to celebrate.

So, yeah, she was grateful for her job, but she hated dealing with complaints. Essentially, Lily’s job was to listen to complaints from vendors and respond with enough charm to make them forget the problem they’d raised. Usually, it was about set builders breaking things or location owners realizing the mess that an MTV shoot had left behind.

And that’s what Lily was seeing: a pile of angry emails she’d have to respond to with the usual protocol. In theory, Sev had the same job as her, but more than once, vendors had given feedback that he wasn’t exactly approachable and could be downright rude. So Lily took on that role, while Sev handled crisis management. On a daily basis, some actor or director would say something stupid at a press conference, and Sev had to clarify that the company didn’t stand behind those comments. Sev was cold, so he was good at it.

"Oh great. Those brainless actors again," Sev muttered, annoyance written all over his face.

"What act..?" Lily craned her neck, curiosity instantly piqued.

"Lily?" A voice came from behind her, accompanied by a tap on the shoulder.

She turned to see Slughorn, her department head, looking at her with a calm smile. "Ready for our meeting?"

Lily glanced back at Sev, who shot her a look that said, "You’re fucked."

With a gulp, she walked alongside Slughorn down the corridors. He had a peculiar way about him, almost like he was dancing with each step. As they passed by, he greeted everyone with a friendly wave. His charm made up for his occasional lack of organization, and Lily liked him for it. But that only made her more anxious. Slughorn wouldn't schedule a check-in meeting just for the sake of it; his already jam-packed calendar wouldn't allow for something that simple.

"How’s your week going, Lily?" he asked, making small talk but not quite looking her in the eye.

"Good..." Lily responded cautiously.

"Good, good," Slughorn mimicked, with his mind clearly elsewhere.

They soon arrived at a small meeting room themed after 16 and Pregnant. The door was plastered with a large image of one of the show’s stars—Lily couldn’t remember which one—and the whole thing struck her as a bit morbid. She tried to push the thought aside and took a seat when Slughorn gestured for her to sit down.

“So, Lily… First things first, I wanted to ask you: How are you feeling here at MTV?” Slughorn asked, finally meeting her gaze.

“Well, I really like it here,” Lily replied confidently. She wasn’t entirely sure if her boss genuinely wanted to know or was just trying to ease into the conversation. “I’m really into our niche.”

“You fit in with us quite well,” Slughorn smiled. “You’re definitely a rising star in our department.”

“Thank you, Horace,” Lily said, using his first name. Her boss smiled, clearly appreciating the familiarity.

“At MTV, we trust you, Lily. We trust you so much that we’re ready to assign you a new task.”

Lily straightened up in her chair, intrigued.

“We know you’re great here in the office,” Slughorn continued. “We’ve received good feedback from suppliers, and you… Well, you’ve handled almost all our slips.”

Lily wondered if he was referring to Sev or someone else on the team, sensing a slight tension in the air. But Slughorn, seemingly unaware, was fiddling with the sleeve of his purple shirt as he continued:

“We have a mission for you, Lily.

You’re going out into the field.”

Wow. Lily felt a wave of nerves. In PR, only the specialists usually got to go out in the field, typically to handle spokespeople or key players in the company’s communications. She could barely believe that, as an assistant, she was being given this kind of responsibility.

But she stayed quiet, waiting for Slughorn to explain.

“Lily, are you up to date on the series we’re currently filming?”

“Um… Besides the reality shows, I think Akward and…” Lily replied, trying to recall bits from the scriptwriters' lunchtime chats.

“Shapeshifters,” Horace added, his tone suddenly more serious.

“Yeah, they just finished shooting the pilot, right?” Lily asked, remembering the shoot from about a month ago. She recalled some complaints—one of the actors had broken a set piece, a miniature ship, and the decorators weren’t happy about it.

“Well… yes and no,” Slughorn said, trying to stay upbeat despite his clear frustration. “Let me give you the full picture.”

Lily nodded, focusing intently.

“You know we’re trying to transition from being just a producer of reality shows and music programs to one that also creates scripted series, right?” Lily nodded, and Slughorn continued. She noticed the wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes—being the head of such a big company couldn’t be an easy task. “Well, after Akward did well with the audience, we decided to dive into a genre that’s been really popular with young folks: supernatural series. Have you seen The Vampire Diaries? It’s a blast, so much fun.” Slughorn suddenly chuckled, maybe recalling a scene from the show.

“My flatmate watches it. It seems... engaging,” Lily replied, trying not to show that this genre wasn’t really her cup of tea. Lily preferred more contemporary dramas, like The Good Wife.

“Well then,” Slughorn composed himself. “We wanted something like that. CW, those bastards, they’re good… So we came up with the idea for Shapeshifters. Young actors, fresh faces in the market, an intriguing plot, and a touch of spice.” Slughorn gestured animatedly, as if he were presenting stages of a scientific experiment. “We thought it would be easy to handle…” And then he looked at her with a hint of concern.

“What happened?” Lily asked, concerned.

“The mentioned young actors,” Slughorn rolled his eyes and stood up, pacing around the meeting room as if trying to shake off his stress. “Inexperienced. Spoiled. It’s been holding up our production. The pilot? We had to shoot dozens of scenes multiple times because the actors either hadn’t memorized their lines or weren’t taking it seriously enough.”

“And why didn’t the producers decide to swap out the cast?” Lily asked, frustrated. “Nothing’s aired yet…”

“Out of the question,” Slughorn cut her off, offering no further explanation. Lily sensed that pushing further might not be a good idea. “The board specifically wants this cast.”

“I see…” Lily said, hoping Slughorn would keep going.

“Well, I think you’ve got the picture of your role in all this,” Slughorn turned to Lily, and she felt the pressure mount.

“Sorry, Horace, I…” Lily tilted her head, unsure.

“Babysitting,” Slughorn said with a hint of a smirk. “I need you to babysit these guys, Lily. I need you to manage them, make sure they stick to the terms they agreed to when they signed on as MTV actors.”

“I don’t quite get it…”

“Lily,” Slughorn looked her straight in the eye. “You’re going to be our point person on set. Well, not just on set, but also at their lodging. We need you to make sure they’re in the right mindset and avoid any screw-ups that could damage our image. Paparazzi are already lurking around their place; we can’t let them catch anything that could ruin us.”

Lily didn’t know what to think or how to refuse. Suddenly, the room felt like it was closing in, and she could have sworn the star from 16 and Pregnant on the door was staring at her with a mocking grin.