Book 1: Echoes Of The Past

Chapter 2 - The Meeting

Ivy caught a taxi from her office to Downtown LA where Jess's office was located and made her way inside the building, catching the lift up to the fifth floor. She was still thinking about her mortifying encounter with Nick a few moments ago where he'd overheard her talking about his dick size. To top things off both she and him had heard Jess's shrill voice ring through the phone asking if she was currently with 'Mr Tiny Dick'.

Her cheeks flushed once more at the awkward situation and the fact that she would have to face him again tomorrow. Did she pretend it hadn't happened? Did she apologise profusely? Her thoughts were interrupted by the chiming sound of the lift announcing its arrival to the fifth floor.

The doors slid open to reveal a plush red carpet and a very extensive corridor that expanded off to both the left and the right. Ivy pulled out her phone to read Jess's last message to her with the directions and the whereabouts to where her office was located, so Ivy went off in search of it.

Jess's office was the last on the left and as Ivy reached it, she saw that Jess had screwed a brass plaque with her name engraved on it onto the door. She smiled to herself. Jess was such a diva sometimes.

Knocking on the door Ivy heard some footsteps making their way over to the door and then it clicked open and Jess's perky face appeared and her smile grew wider when she saw Ivy standing there.

"Ivy! You came! After our chat on the phone, I didn't think you'd come."

"Ah I couldn't let you down could I Jess?" Ivy shrugged.

Jess closed her office door behind her and joined Ivy in the corridor.

"Did you not want-"

"We need to go to the Board Room." Jess told Ivy, clutching a load of papers and a photo to her chest.

"Oh. OK."

Jess led her down the corridor to a set of double doors and pushed them open. There were a couple of people sat around a conference table there. Two men and a woman.

"Hey Mark. I told you I'd sort out the problem." Jess told a man who Ivy presumed was Jess's boss.

Jess ushered Ivy into the room and motioned to one of the chairs surrounding the table, across from the two men. Ivy turned to look at Jess.

"W-What? Jess. I-I did-"

"This is my best friend, Ivy. I thought she could stand in for Britney for the video shoot."

"Ah wonderful." Mark stood up and made his way over the Ivy and held out his hand for her to shake. "Please sit down." He gestured for her to sit down in a chair at the table, which Ivy did, not taking off her coat and placing her handbag on the table. She didn't plan to be there long; this was not what she had signed up for.

"I-I haven't said I'd do this yet you know." Ivy told them looking around the table at everyone.

"You'll be fine Iv. You've just got to have a hot make out session with a really hot guy."

"WHAT!" Ivy exclaimed. "Nope. No way. Jess, I'm not doing that." She protested.

"Look. What if I told you you'd be getting paid $3000 to do it?" Mark suddenly chipped in, placing his hands on the table and clasping them together in front of him.

"Come on Iv. A day's work for $3k, making out with a hot guy. You'd never even make that in a month. You hate your job."

Ivy chewed her bottom lip contemplating what was being laid out in front of her.

"Please. I won't ask for anything from you again. It would just be a day, no more."

Ivy sighed deeply. "Look. I'll see if I can get the day off work, OK? I-I'll do it, but you're going to owe me bigtime."