Standing in front of the ominous building on the cool, April day in New York, Alec was glad he let his sister pick out his clothes for the day. He didn't really know why he needed to dress up this much to interview as a personal chef, but he'd went with it to make Isabelle happy. He was wearing dark, slate gray dress pants and blazer with a matching tie. His dress shirt was stark white - pressed and starched - and a royal blue cashmere sweater that his sister gave him this past Christmas, claiming it brought out the blue in Alec's eyes.

Alec had only been back from Paris for a month, and this was the first callback that he'd received for a job interview. Alec had spent the last ten years studying and working as a chef abroad. He'd worked with some of the best chefs in all of Europe and yet here he was, struggling to find a job so he could save enough money to open his own bistro.

As he looked back up at the building, he was glad that he went along with the suit Izzy picked out for him. He was standing in front of Bane Records, and the building itself looked rather out of place next to the older skyscrapers of Brooklyn. It was all glass, sleek and modern with bright LED signs. He'd have thought that this building would've been better placed in Times Square, not in the heart of Brooklyn's business district. Taking a moment to calm his nerves, Alec walked in.

The interior of the building was just as extravagant as the exterior. Stark white tiles on the floor, glass reception desk, and what seemed to be... glass chairs? The people milling around were wearing headsets, black button down shirts, and black slacks. All of the employees Alec could see looked like they could have been models. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Alec walked to the reception desk.

The woman at the desk had honey blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail, icy blue eyes, and was wearing the same style clothing as everyone else running around. She was typing away on her computer, not even bothering to look up at his arrival. Alec tried to be patient while she was typing, but this was getting ridiculous. Clearing this throat, Alec tried to speak up, but the woman held up a finger to indicate that he wait, continuing typing away as if he didn't matter.

After what felt like a lifetime, but was only two minutes - Alec kept checking his watch - the woman finally acknowledged Alec. "How may I help you?"

Alec couldn't help rolling his eyes at the detached tone the woman was using.

"My name is Alexander Lightwood. I have a ten thirty appointment with a Miss Catarina Loss." Alec gritted out, getting a little curt with the woman.

Ignoring Alec, the woman spoke into her headset, then instructed him to go and have a seat.

He made his way over to the glass chairs and sat down. With a frustrated sigh, he glanced at his watch once more and was thankful for the fact that he was still ten minutes early. One of his biggest pet peeves was being late. His parents made sure to instill punctuality in his upbringing. Pulling out his phone he noticed a text from his brothers. Both of them had texted to wish him luck on the interview. He quickly checked that his phone was in fact on silent, then sent his thanks in reply. First to Max, since he was supposed to be in school, then to Jace also asking why he was up so early.

Max was a junior in high school, with only a few weeks left before his final exams. Jace on the other hand, lived in Los Angeles as an actor, and there was a three hour time difference between New York and California. Jace quickly responded saying that he was currently on set working the first scene for the action movie he just started filming.

The elevator dinged, and Alec hastily put his phone back in his pocket with enough time to see a beautiful dark skinned woman with blue hair walk out and directly towards him. Alec couldn't help chuckling to himself because Catarina Loss looked exactly like she did in high school. She was two years older than him, and they never ran in the same social circle, but she always had a sweet, mother hen vibe to her.

"You must be Alexander Lightwood. My name is Catarina Loss, I'm Mister Bane's personal assistant." She put her hand out for Alec to shake with a sincere smile on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, and please, call me Alec." He returned the smile and shook her hand.

"Of course, Alec. Follow me, I have one of the conference rooms reserved for us. Can I get you anything? Water, soda, coffee, tea?" Alec shook his head 'no' and followed the woman in the room, taking the seat that Catarina motioned for him to sit in.

"Now, Mister Lightwood... er, Alec. I must say that I am quite impressed with your resume!" She looks back down at the papers laid out in front of her. "Degrees in Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris; working under some pretty big name chefs in Europe. Tell me, why did you leave?" She inquired.

"Well, Miss Loss, I grew up here in New York. All of my family is here, with the exception of one of my brother's, and I missed my family. My sister, Isabelle, she will be starting her last year of medical school in August, then once she graduates, who knows where she'll go for her residency. My youngest brother, Max, he's finishing up his junior year of high school, and even though he plans to stay local for university, he's going to become more and more busy as his assignments become harder. I just thought it was time for me to come back, spend time with my family, and save the money I'll need to open my own bistro in a couple of years."

Catarina nodded. "Well, family is important. I'm sure they're all proud of you and your accomplishments. Again, this resume is very impressive." She stopped and started looking at him. Alec was becoming rather self conscious under her gaze. "I do wonder, why become a personal chef? Why not work in one of the high end restaurants here?"

Alec huffed out a laugh, debating on making up some bullshit about why he'd be working as a personal chef and not working in an actual kitchen, but he decided to be honest. "Well," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I've been back in New York for a month now, and I've been staying in my sisters spare bedroom. You're honestly the first person whose called me for an interview."

Catarina gave him an impressed look, "Well, there is that." They both laughed at Alec's blatant honesty, "So you're going with the first come, first serve mentality on finding a job?"

Smiling, Alec nodded. "Pretty much. As much as I love my sister and brother-in-law, there's no way that I can live with them forever." He paused, thinking on what to say next, "It will also give me a better chance to come up with my own system while working in a kitchen. If I'm hired, I can use this as a learning opportunity."

They went back and forth for a little while longer, Catarina asking questions, Alec answering them; then she paused.

"Alec, I like you. You don't seem to be the type of person to exploit working for the CEO of Bane Records. You're also right about this position giving you the room to create - whether that be new dishes, or coming up with your own system - as you say. Mister Bane isn't a picky eater, but there are things that he does and does not eat. I would like to start you on Monday if that's okay?" It was currently Tuesday, Alec would have started the next day if she'd asked.

"Monday is fine," he said. She smiled and gave an improving look.

"Good!" She clapped her hands, then handed him a sheet of paper that looked like a list. "That will give me enough time to get you a company credit card, a key, and Mister Bane's schedule in order for you. Now the credit card is strictly for grocery shopping and anything you may need for the kitchen. You will work Monday through Friday, unless Mister Bane hosts dinner parties on the weekends. If that's the case, I will adjust your schedule accordingly. Mister Bane is a very busy man. There's a chance that you will only run into him about once a week. On Friday's he likes to go into the office late, so he may come into the kitchen to eat his breakfast instead of Helen, his maid, bringing it out to him on his balcony. Of course, I'll go more in detail about his habits on Monday morning."

"That seems reasonable," Alec said.

"The last thing I need to go over with you is the Non-Disclosure Agreement." That surprised Alec. Why would Asmodeus Bane care about NDA's?

"Mister Bane likes keeping his personal life separate from his professional life. This NDA will state that you're not even allowed to give out the name of your employer. He's dealt with too many mishaps in the past due to his staff not being able to keep their mouths shut. It's purely for his protection." She said.

"That's reasonable, I guess. I'm not sure that I understand it, but I can respect his wishes." That statement seemed to please Catarina.

They continued on for a few more minutes negotiating his pay. Once all of that was settled she handed Alec a contract to go over, her phone number if he had any further questions, as well as the address to Mister Bane's home.

"Well, Alec. It's been a pleasure. I'm looking forward to working with you." She said, gently ushering him out of the conference room.

"You too, Miss Loss. I'll see you Monday morning." He replied with a smile.

~oOo~

Thirty minutes later, Alec was back at Izzy's apartment. Once he was out of his suit, and back in his comfortable baggy jeans and holey sweater, he looked up the address to his new employers house. Luckily for him, the house seemed to be closer to Izzy's place than the record company. Next he sent a text to Jace and Max letting them know he got the job. Max responded right away using a bunch of emojis that Alec couldn't decipher, but knowing that Jace was on set, he wasn't expecting a response any time soon, if at all. When Jace was working, he tended to forget to return calls or texts unless they were from his long time girlfriend, Clary. He had just put his phone on the bedside table when Isabelle barged in his room.

"Hey big brother, how'd it go?" She asked, coming up to him and pulling him into a hug. She then looked around the room and sighed. "When are you going to unpack all of these boxes?"

"I only unpacked the ones that I knew I would use the most. What's the point in unpacking all of this stuff if I'm just going to box it all up again once I finally find my own place?" He asked, laughing.

"I thought that was what all of that stuff in your storage unit was for." She grumbled.

"The stuff in storage is full of shit that I won't use until I'm moved in, these are full of clothes that I know if or when I'll be wearing, and things that I wasn't sure if I would need or not. I'm not opening them until the time comes," Alec argued. Izzy stuck her tongue out at him as he started walking towards the kitchen, her following close on his heels.

"Well, tell me. How'd it go?" She asked again.

"I got the job." He stated simply, cringing at her squealing.

"That's amazing Alec! I want all of the details, don't leave anything out!" she exclaimed. Alec massaged his temple due to the volume Izzy was speaking at.

"All I can say is that I'm going to be the personal chef of a big time CEO. I can't talk about who I'm working for, or where that is exactly because of the NDA I'm signing. But it pays well and I can pretty much cook what I want." Alec said as he pulled out the steaks he was planning on pan searing for their dinner. Izzy pulled out the potatoes and everything else he would need to make a salad.

"Well that sucks," she whined."I was hoping you and I could gossip tonight about the new job!" Alec was in the process of getting out the pan, olive oil, and the steak rub that he'd made the day before when he noticed Izzy grabbing a knife.

Quickly putting everything down, Alec reached over and took the knife away from his sister. "As much as I love you, Iz, I am not planning on a trip to the hospital tonight. Sit and keep me company while I do all the work."

"Hey! I'm not that bad! Simon lets me cut the vegetables all the time!" She said, sitting down on top of the counter pouting.

"Yes, and does Simon stand beside you, watching your every move?" He questioned.

"Maybe." She drew the word out, twirling her hair. Alec huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. Isabelle used to do that to him when they were children. It was her way of trying to get out of trouble and it usually worked on Alec, Jace and Robert. She had them all wrapped around her little finger back then.

"You," Alec pointed his finger in her direction, "Are an adult. That won't work on me anymore. You are not going to chop or do anything else in this kitchen unless I'm right beside you supervising."

"Fine!" She said exasperatedly, "Can I at least make myself a drink?"

Putting the pan on the stove, Alec turned towards the vegetables and cutting board. "Knock yourself out."

"So is there anything else you can tell me about this job?" Izzy asked as she pulled out a bottle of red wine.

"Well... I'm getting paid more as a personal chef than I would if I was working in a kitchen, which will help me find a better place to live. That way I can afford a great apartment, and save up for my restaurant faster. I will have freedom to create new dishes, and I was told that my employer isn't very picky." He shrugged and continued preparing their salad.

Izzy came up beside him, setting his glass of wine down on the counter and hugged him. "I'm so happy for you! When are your days off?"

"I work Monday through Friday unless I have a party to work." He said with a shrug.

"Good! We can have Max over on Sundays!" She exclaimed, getting her phone out of her pocket and sending off a text.

Alec had finished making the salad, then handed the bowl to his sister for her to place it back in the refrigerator until dinner time.

"Who were you texting?" He asked as he moved over to put the dry rub on the steaks.

Izzy moved next to him, stuck her finger out trying to taste the rub, but Alec smacked her hand out of the way. Rolling her eyes, she replied. "Max to let him know about our weekly sibling day."

Looking at the clock, Alec realized that it was only three thirty in the afternoon. "I'm really going to have to talk to him about texting while he's in class." Alec moved to wash his hands in the sink, "So how was your day? What classes did you have?"

He looked over at his sister when she didn't speak. She wore a soft smile, then shook her head.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." When he gave her a questioning look, she continued. "I've just missed this. You and me talking about our days. It's good to have you home big brother."

She then turned and hugged him again. "It's good to be home, Iz. I really have missed you guys."

"Well today we had lab for my pathology class. I won't go into any details because I know when I talk about my labs, you tend to get queasy." She chuckled and he joined her, agreeing with that statement.

Simon came home from work shortly after Alec started cooking the steaks. He explained to his brother-in-law what details he could give about his job.

"Oh! One thing I can tell you guys, the person I'm going to be answering to is Catarina Loss." Alec told them. Noticing their blank faces, Alec explained. "She went to St. Xavier's, two years ahead of me. I only remember her because she was really the nicest one out of the group of people she hung out with."

St. Xavier's was the posh private school they all went to, and Max currently attended. Jace and Izzy loved the school, each of them finding their significant others while attending, whereas after Alec came out, had a hard time in school and was happy when he finally graduated.

"What clique was she in?" Simon questioned.

"She hung out with the asshole's of the school; Ragnor Fell, Raphael Santiago, and the biggest asshole, Magnus Bane and whatever flavor of the week he had at the time." Alec said with disgust at Magnus. Simon and Izzy know why he doesn't care for Magnus, but Alec refused to think about it and changed the subject. "So, Simon how was your day?"

Apart from being married to his sister, Simon was an aerospace engineer for a major company in New York. Alec's brother-in-law has always had a brilliant mind. Simon spoke about a project that he was currently working on, and tried - and failed - to explain things that Alec could not understand. Their conversations continued to flow all throughout dinner.

After dinner, Simon and Izzy insisted on cleaning up since Alec cooked, so Alec took that time to relax with a book for the rest of the night.