You Are Not a Diamond

Monday. The one day of the week that everyone hates. Well, that's everyone apart from me. The end of the weekend, the start of another tiresome week. Early mornings, sleep deprivation and work. All of that didn't affect me, though. I guess you could describe me as a 'work-a-holic'. I'd find any excuse to stay behind at work because I just loved absolutely everything about it; writing articles, interviewing bands and taking photographs. You've probably guessed by now - I work at Kerrang! Magazine.

I rolled over in my more than spacious single bed and faced the flashing blue light that read 6:00am on my alarm clock. With one eye closed to shield my eyes from a light that seemed as bright as the sun, I wearily reached up and turned my alarm off. October 26th 2012. I could almost feel the coldness of the harsh Winter creep through my thick bed sheets and cover my entire body. It was days like this that made me want to curl up in a ball and hibernate for days, but knowing that I had a job I love waiting for me to get to was enough motivation to jump out of bed and quickly make way to the tiny bathroom in the corner of my apartment.

Living alone was more than a privilege that a disadvantage to me. I've never really been the social type, and having a room-mate would just be too stressful for me. Which is why I can hardly believe that I got my dream job; I'm interviewing bands almost everyday and that requires a certain amount of social skills to do so. I moved out of my parents house when I was just 18 and ever since then, I've been independent and pretty much self-sufficient.

I went about my daily routine: brushing my teeth, showering (taking an extra 10 minutes to avoid stepping back out into what seemed like Antarctica), oufit (which consisted of black skinny jeans, a thick aztec jumper, converse, a green parka and a thick burgundy scarf), hair, makeup and quickly grabbing an apple on my way out of the door. 7:30am. I smiled to myself. I was much earlier than unusual.

---

"Here she is!" exclaimed my overly enthusiastic and happy manager, James as I made my way down the corridor full of posters.

"Are you ever tired in the morning? You're always so happy and ugh," I groaned. I wasn't in the mood for such happy people. James stroked his just visible stubble for a few seconds while he was contemplating his answer.

"...Nope! I'm always this happy! Listen, Rosie couldn't make it in today because her bitch of a car wouldn't start. So, drum roll please," he tapped his fingers against the side of the table. "You're taking her jobs for the day, yay!" He cried.

My face lit up. James knew me too well. Whenever anyone called in sick or just couldn't make it to work, he gave me their jobs because he knew he could rely on me. Plus, I was more than happy to spend time doing things I loved.

"Yes!" I threw my arms in the air to express my excitement. "What's there to do, boss!"

"Oh you know, Natalia, just the usual: continue with your articles, brainstorm some ideas for the upcoming issue and later on in the afternoon you'll be interviewing, um...hold on a second," James reached down and picked up a pile of papers, frantically sorting through them. "Oh, Young Guns! How could I forget?! You'll be interviewing them at 12:00pm! Good lads they are, did the K! Tour in 2010!"

"Yeah, I was photographing them on their Birmingham date!" I replied, much too happily. "From what I remember, they were pretty fucking awesome live. Not to mention, their new album Bones is a right tune!"

"See, I knew you'd be the perfect person for this job!" James ruffled my dark brown hair and hugged my petite 5'2" frame.

---

The day had be so hectic already. It wasn't even lunchtime and I had taken on more jobs than I had started with. My colleagues normally dumped work on me because they knew I'd do a good job and that I'd happily accept. I think I've given myself a reputation for being a push-over and people take advantage of me for that. I'd lost track of time and gotten so caught up in what I was doing that I didn't even realise that it was nearly 12:00pm.

"Natalia!" My head shot up in the direction of the voice that was coming from my colleague (and best friend), Valerie. "That band um, Young Guns you're supposed to be interviewing have just arrived!"

"Oh shit! I completely forgot!" I discarded the sheets of paper that were in my hands, grabbed my notepad and camera and made my way into one of the empty offices we usually interviewed bands in. Through the glass on the window, I could see 5 good-looking guys perched on the leather sofa, all awaiting my arrival. I cautiously opened the door and stepped in hurriedly, closing the door behind me and felt 5 pairs of eyes piercing through my boy like knives.

"Hi, guys! Sorry I'm late, I've just been so busy today and I lost track of time and I didn't realise you were here and I just had to rush here from my office and I'm rambling, sorry," I laughed nervously. Way to make yourself look like a fool, I thought.

"No worries, we only just got here anyway," said the lead singer of the band who I immediately recognised from the K! Tour show all of those years ago. His sky blue eyes were fixated on me and I began to feel uncomfortable amongst his presence. God, he was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Oh, great then! I'm Natalia aka Talia aka whatever you want to call me, I don't mind! I'll be interviewing you today," The guys collectively gave me a warm, reassuring smile that instantly put me at ease. I had a good feeling about this interview. I set up the camera on the desk and quickly ran through what I'd be asking them, just so they could prepare their answers. James had always said that I was efficient and thoughtful when I asked band members questions beforehand.

"Hi, we're Young Guns and you're watching the Kerrang! Podcast!" The guys said in unison, like a perfect chorus.

"I'm Natalia and I'm here with Young Guns today! Introduce yourselves to the lovely people, guys!"

"I'm Ben, I bang the drums," said the man sat on the arm of the sofa, earning a few giggles from the guys (myself included).

"I'm Gustav, I sing in the band," The gorgeous singer shot a heart-stopping smile at the camera and for a second, I thought that I had stopped breathing. He was wearing a tight-fitting stripped t-shirt that showed off his body perfectly, jeans so tight that they could be mistaken for leggings and a studded leather jacket. Wow.

"I'm the guitarist called John," waved the lanky, sculpted man sat next to Gustav.

"Hi, I'm Siiiiimon. I play bass!" Sang the chubby, chipmunk-like man.

"And I'm Fraser, I play guitar too," said the calm, reserved guy next to Simon. There was something about him that made my heart skip a few beats. A beanie hat was perched on the back of his head, thick rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and colourful tattoos creeping out of the sleeves of his Deaf Havana t-shirt. He looked perfect.

"So guys, it's been a pretty crazy year for you! Tell us what's been like?" I asked.

"Crazy isn't even the word! We've played bigger festivals, bigger venues and toured with bigger bands. Not to mention, we released out second album 'Bones' here in the UK and is the US! We literally haven't stopped touring all year so we're kind of tired, but I guess that just comes with the thrill of being in a band!" The lead singer answered.

"Yeah, you've been all over the world this year! Any places in particular that you've enjoyed?" The boys all looked at each other, deep in thought until Simon finally came to the conclusion.

"Ummm...That's a difficult one! I guess I'd have to say Tokyo though. It was just so surreal to be there; on the other side of the world playing kids our music and having it sung back to us. It was phenomenal! I honestly never thought we've ever get the chance to go out there!"

"Young Guns have come a long way since the K! Tour, which is where I first saw you!" That earned a few cheers from John, Ben and Fraser. "Haha, what has been your favourite tour this year?" I asked. I was much more calm now, these guys were so easy to talk to.

"For me, definitely the UK shows that we've done with Your Demise, We Are The In Crowd and Marmozets on the Vans Music Night Tour. The venues that we played were our biggest ever for headline shows and the reception was just...unbelievable!" Fraser smiled as he said each word, evidently reminiscing on the shows he played.

I asked a few more questions about tour life, the album and upcoming singles. For the whole hour that I was interviewing them for, the smile I had on my face never left. I never usually got like this over a band, but there was something about them that just intrigued me. I wanted to know so much more about them.

"Thanks for coming down, guys! It's been so nice talking to you all!" I shot them a huge smile and it was gladly returned.

"No, thanks for having us! You've been so awesome!" Gustav exclaimed and before I knew it, he was pulling me in for a bone-crushing cuddle. I could feel myself melting against his toned body.

"Hey, I want hugs too!" Before Gustav loosened his grip on me, Ben came over and practically jumped on us both.

"GROUP HUG!" Cried Simon, Fraser and John, all coming over to join in.

By this point, I was finding it hard to breathe. They towered over my tiny frame.

"Guys...can't...breathe!" I managed to blurt out. They eventually got off me, all laughing at my flushed face; a mix of both embarrassment and a slight blush.

"Sorry, not sorry!" Fraser teased, which earned a pout from me.

"Awww!" The guys said in unison.

"Hey, you know, we're in Birmingham for a week or two. How would you feel about getting some drinks with us sometime...?" The confidence that Gustav usually had disappeared slightly, showing his vulnerability and shyness which was awfully attractive.

"Yeah, what do you say? C'mon, Talia!" Ben practically screamed.

"Sure, I don't see why not!" I replied, without hesitation. The smile on my face becoming uncontrollable.