and we chased

Chapter 9

ARIA

"Okay, walk me through", Lewis tells me as we're walking down the hallway. Well, he's walking and I'm following him. After pulling an all-nighter, I managed to get enough information on each of the six influencers on the team, even made a presentation with pictures, account statistics and key points.

I want to start talking as I notice he's not stopping to listen to me on the hallway but keeps heading to the conference room. With me. "Wait, I'm coming with you?"

"You're my assistant, Miss Grant. Where I go, you go", he replies serious.

The Sunshine in me can't help but make a joke at that. "You know, people would usually say Where you go, I go."

"That's what I said", he counters.

Cue the face slap.

"Anyway, first of all you have Sam Creighton. She's a lifestyle influencer. Born in the States, currently lives in New York. Her main focus points are adrenaline-filled experiences, like extreme sports or dangerous holidays. She got famous thanks to her blog about her time in Australia where she tried out a bunch of new experiences and started growing from then on."

Lewis nods, making me a sign to move on to the next one. "Then we have Charlotte Berg. Born in Belgium, she currently lives in London. She is most famous for fashion content, since she's also a model."

Lewis now turns to look at me, as if to ask me "Like you?". I let out a chuckle and shake my head. "Yes, our domains are similar, but our content is different. She tends to do more fashion for parties, a lot of glitter, while I focus on galas and casual."

He nods now, pointing that I should switch to the next person. "Next up we have Ledger Oswell. He used to be a famous basketball player, however he noticed he got more fans and fame from posting content about sports, so he moved to content creating. He posts, as said, mostly sports, many interviews or videos from different games. He started out with basketball, but now he covers all kind of events. If you'd ask me, he might be one of your strongest assets."

Lewis looks at me, acknowledging my advice. His gaze seems so focused, as if his head is doing some maths at the moment. "Who's left?"

"Wren Connelli. Half Italian, half Brit, she's a fashion and lifestyle influencer. Different than Charlotte, Wren covers mostly casual fashion, like clothes one would wear on a day-to-day basis. She is most known for her makeup videos, and people obsess over her big green eyes. Pinterest loves her."

"Next", Lewis tells me. I move to the next slide of the presentation on my iPad, to keep up with him.

"Next is Elijah Banks. He aspires to be a famous singer, found fame by posting videos of him covering popular songs and creating mashups. He is from the States, lives somewhere close to San Francisco. He started out as music only but he's also famous for his looks."

Lewis doesn't look too impressed. "And who's last?", he asks me.

I swallow hard, not wanting to talk about the last person. He's the one I didn't need Google or social media to look him up.

"Last is Domenic Chase."

My boss raises an eyebrow at me, expecting more detail. I take a deep breath and begin. "He is born in New York but currently lives in Paris, he covers men's fashion and all that has to do with the Parisian lifestyle."

"And why was that so hard?", he asks me, seeming bored.

I do not want to discuss my life choices with him. "It wasn't."

"You were basically forcing yourself to speak. That seemed to be hard", he counters.

Giving up, I tell him the truth. "He's my ex."

"You said he lived in Paris", Lewis replies, showing he actually paid attention to what I said.

"That's right", I answer. "He lives in Paris. As have I for one year."

"You lived in Paris?", he asks me surprised.

Here we go. "I did. For one year. When I was twenty."

"Why did you move to Paris?", he doesn't drop the topic.

"Don't we have a conference to attend to?", I try to end this talk.

He doesn't bite it. "Did you want a change of scenery?"

"Maybe. I also wanted to experience that lifestyle."

"And that's what Mr. Chase gave you?", he asks me skeptical. It takes some time for my brain to realize who he's talking about.

"I guess. It was surely something while it lasted. Mornings with croissants, walks down the Seine, car rides around town", I answer. "That fancy lifestyle."

"That's what you call fancy lifestyle?", he asks me, his tone telling me that's not at all what he envisions under the word "fancy".

"Well, Mr. Cunnan, as much as I appreciate your concern, we really have to go now."

"Why did you two break up?", he continues.

I think Lewis Cunnan woke up with a wish to torture me today. "It doesn't matter."

"Is he the reason you left Paris?"

"Amongst other things", I say, my tone showing I'm not going to speak any further of it.

Lewis finally gets it for once and after giving me a sharp look, he opens the door to the conference room, revealing the six people waiting inside.

"Good morning and welcome to APOLLO Cars", Lewis begins the meeting. He is walking to the front of the table where the lectern is. He offers me a quick glance pointing at a chair at the table, somewhere close to where he is standing, as if telling me to go sit down there. I am well aware of everyone's confused glances as I make my way to the front and take a sit at their table. Domenic looks at me even more intense than the other ones, piercing holes in my body with his gaze.

"Everyone can remain sitted, the meeting is about to begin", Lewis' voice catches their attention and frees me from their judging stares. "Everyone but Domenic Chase. Who is asked to leave this building. You're fired."

Wait, what?!

A round of chattering tones throughout the room, all stopped by Domenic's annoyed glance that he throws at me. Of course, he thinks I did that. He might think I want payback after I caught him cheating on me with my roomie. I don't want payback. Never wanted it. The event was soul-crashing but so were most of my days spent in Paris. I just put it on the list of lessons I learned there and tried to move on. Yoga helped. I got a new plushie. Spent some time thinking of who I am and who I want to be. Then I got fine.

I am fine. Much better now.

So, no harm feelings.

"You bitch", he yells at me, pointing with his finger straight at me.

Okay, maybe some harm feelings now.

I open my mouth to say something, yet it is Lewis' voice which can be hear first. "Wow, self-descriptive much?"

I can hear some of the people present letting out a laughter, and I also have to bite my tongue not to burst out loud.

"She made you do it", Domenic shouts, now at Lewis.

Who seems as disturbed about this whole thing as he were if someone would tell him the sky is blue. Namely not the slightest. "Here at APOLLO, we value respect. Something you clearly lack of. I can assure you Miss Grant had nothing to do with me firing you. Next time you search for someone to blame, make sure you take a look in a mirror first."

Lewis turns his gaze away from him, completely dismissing him. Some people are still gossiping as Domenic stands up, and after flipping me off once, he exists the room. As soon as the door closes behind him, Lewis continues his talk as if nothing happened. "Now that we moved past that inconvenience, let me introduce you to APOLLO."

My mouth is twitched as I turn my attention to the presentation now on the board, and start listening to Lewis give his talk.