Forever and Ever ∞ K. Jacobs

Chapter 2

So 2020 didn't go as well as we expected it to go. A few weeks after my 21st birthday covid hit and forced us all to make a lot of hard decisions and it really effected all of us at the company. 2020 came and went and despite everything happened I'd never been happier. I mean, hell I was doing what I loved for a company I'd always dreamed of working for. Today is February 26th aka my 22nd birthday and of course like every year since I had my first job in high school I was working on my birthday. I walked through the front doors like I did every morning and waved to Christina before making my way into editing Bay 1 to get my assignment for the day. However when I walked up to the door and found a pink 'birthday girl' sash tapped to it I felt my heart flutter.

I cautiously pushed the door open only to have the once dark room light up revealing various people around the sparsely decorated room, all of which were the other editors. "oh you guys didn't have to!" I exclaimed setting my purse down on my desk and walking up to the first person I saw who was Bailey. Her and I had become very good friends in the last year as our desks were facing each other and after one too many accidental games of footsie you get to knew someone. I pulled her into a hug before movie onto Ethan and the other 3 games editors. The games editors quickly went back to their room to start their assignments for the day while the 3 of us sat down at our desks. "I'm kinda sad Sive isn't in, he loves office parties." I frowned slightly, looking at the one empty desk in the room.

Before anyone else could say anything the door behind me flew open, almost hitting the wall causing me to jump. Before I could turn to see who it was I felt 2 arms wrap around the back of my chair, encasing me in a hug while the person placed their cheek onto of my head. I don't knew what gave it away first, weather it be the painted nail, the tuft of fluffy brown hair hanging in front of my eyes or the unmistakable cologne but I instantly knew it was Karl. Once he released me I spun in my chair and stood up, pulling him into a proper hug. "oh my God, I didn't know you'd be back from LA this early, how was working with 100 thieves?!" exclaimed holding him at arms length, all he was able to get out was that it was good before we were interrupted. "happy birthday Dani!" Chandler exclaimed from behind me, walking through the door with a small cake in hand, one lit candle sticking out the middle.

He sat it down on my desk and I pulled away from Karl's grasp, pulling Chandler into a quick hug before turning to blow the candles out. "you guys didn't have to! None of you, you're all insane." I said gesturing to the cake then the banner on the wall which was surrounded by balloons. "well no, but we wanted to." Karl laughed, throwing his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into his side. Ever since that first day over a year ago Karl has been my best friend in the office, he just had such a friendly aura to him I couldn't resist. "what time are you guys leaving to film?" I asked, taking the knife, forks and paper plates from bailey who'd left the room when she saw the cake to retrieve things from the kitchen. "we don't leave till 1 so we have time to sit for cake." Chandler said, taking the plate from my hand and sitting at Sive's empty desk.

I cut and handed out the rest before taking a piece for myself and hopping up onto my desk seeing as Karl took my chair. We ate our cake and talked for about 10 minutes before Chris came in and immediately pulled me into a hug before picking up the knife and a plate. "happy birthday Dani, oh by the way, Jimmy sent me to get you, he wanted to talk." he said, cutting into the cake. My cake caught in my throat and I started choking, Karl patting me on the back till I caught my breath. "about what?" I asked, my voice hoarse from coughing. "nothing bad, don't worry." he said, wincing after seeing the panic he caused. I nodded, putting my plate down and cutting a slice for Jimmy before starting the long walk to his office. On the way to the office I had a couple other people say hi or happy birthday to me but I couldn't focus on anything but what Jimmy wanted to talk to me about.

I knocked on the door, entering a moment later when he called for me to do so. He looked up from his computer and smiled. "happy birthday Dani, thanks for the cake, why don't you sit?" he said, taking the plate from my hand and gesturing to the seat across from him. I hesitantly lowered myself into the seat, feeling my chest tighten instantly, I wouldn't be surprised if he could hear my heartbeat from across the desk. I must admit, I don't come in here often and when I do it's usually good but there's just something about sitting in your bosses office that tends to pull the worst out of you. "listen Dani, you've been with us for over a year now and we've all loved working with you, you've done some amazing work for us and I can't thank you enough for that but..." he paused and I could hear my pulse in my ears. I swear if I get fired on my birthday I will first cry, then I will go punch Chris for lying to me.

"I can't mess with you like that, you look like you're going to cry. Dani I'm not firing you." he said with a slight chuckle, a look of guilt flashed before his eyes briefly. I let out a long sigh and slumped back into my chair. "oh thank God." I whispered before sitting up properly. "I was actually going to do the opposite, as you know Katie had to leave this company this year and the video coordination department has been suffering for it. I was wondering if you wanted to step up and take her place as an assistant video coordinator. I know you don't have much of a background in it but I've seen how you analyze the sets when you watch filming and I know you have a great eye for detail. So what do you say?" he raised an eyebrow, awaiting my answer. A smile instantly spread across my face and I nodded vigorously, "yes, 100 times yes. I've always wanted to go to that side of production I just didn't know it was an option." I laughed nervously, running my fingers through my hair.

"well usually we wouldn't but we're in kind of a tough spot and we all have a lot of faith in you. We'll give you a month to try it out, if we think it's a good fit and you like it you can stay and if not you'll still have your editing position to go back too and we'll just hire someone." he explained and I nodded along, thankful that he was giving me that experience. He told me that in half an hour we'd be having a meeting for my first video we'd be shooting in a few weeks, it was a big one so it quite a lot more plan. After that he sent me back to the office to get ready for the meeting. I practically ran back, crashing through the door which startled everyone. "you're back! What happened." Karl asked, patting the surface of my desk. I picked up my cake again before sitting down on the desk and turning to talk to everyone.

"you guys know how Katie quite, right? Well he asked me if I'd like to try out video coordinator for a month to take her stop and if I liked it, the position was mine." I explained slowly letting the smile take over my face. "what the heck Dani, that's amazing!" Karl exclaimed, raising his arms in the air to give him a double high five which I did. The reaction was mixed for the most part, it was everything from pure excitement to sadness I'd be leaving my editor position to concern for how I'd handle this new job. By the time we finished our cake it was time for the meeting so I waved bye to Bailey and Ethan and made my way to the conference room with the 3 boys, "Sierra is going to lose her mind when I tell her." I said, not looking up from the cryptic 'I've got to tell you something when I get home' text I was sending her and trying to contain my excitement as best as I could causing the boys to laugh at me.

"good morning everyone, before we start I'd like to introduce you all to the newest assistant video coordinator, Dani." Jimmy smiled, pointing to me as I took my normal seat on the far left beside Karl. Everyone clapped and I smiled widely, trying to contain the deep blush that had creeped its way onto my cheeks, I never did like being the center of attention in a room of people. "this meeting is for a video were going to shoot in 2 weeks but it's pretty intense and is going to require a lot of planning. I am going to be doing a 50 hour challenge where I'll be buried alive... Kinda. So we're going to need to set up ventilation and air conditioning to run into the coffin, so we're going to need out video coordinators on set for both days to make sure everything runs smoothly." he said, shooting me a brief smile before continuing. My first video and I get to be there for the filming, this is so exciting!

A/N this chapter is a little short, sorry about that but these first few chapters are just setting stuff up and it gets better I promise 🙂