Everything in Between

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

“It isn’t super big, it’s actually really small, but since it’s only you staying here I think it’ll do just fine.”

 Callie and I were standing in the entryway to a small apartment, or what she liked to call a flat.

She walked forward and put her purse on the counter while taking a glance around the room. “My sister was staying here through her first few months of University since she couldn’t afford anything bigger. She moved out about two months ago and still hasn’t gotten the lease out of her name, but I think she’ll be glad for you to take it off her hands.”

After she gave me a small tour of the place she quickly glanced at the clock on the wall and told me to get ready. “We’ll have to go back to the office soon so why don’t you go shower and I’ll find you some of my sister’s clothes. She left a few things here and you two look about the same size.” She left to go searching and I went to shower to clean myself off.

It was crazy how nice she was being to me and I just couldn’t believe all that had happened to me in the last couple of hours. My mind started to wander over everything that had just happened.

               

“Callista Jackson,” she stuck out her hand. “But I’d rather respond to Callie or CJ, or even Jackson would be fine! Just anything but Callista.”

 I gave her a small smile and shook her hand. “I’m Cassidy Tate.”

 “So Cass – is it okay if I call you that?”

I gave a slight nod. 

“Thanks – anyways, you’re familiar with the TV show The X Factor, yes?”

I processed the name in my mind for a couple of seconds before making the connection.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it before but I’ve never really watched it.”

“Well that’s okay because for this job you don’t need to. See, I’m Simon Cowell’s personal assistant. Anything he requires done, I see to it that it’s accomplished. Now it seems a little bit on the minor side but a job in show business is always what I’ve been after and if being a personal assistant is the first step in getting there, then so be it. And this is where you come in. Some of the small tasks required of me interfere with a lot of the more important ones and I can’t seem to find the time to do them all. Whatever I need done, you would do it, just like I do whatever Simon asks of me. There wouldn’t be anything too major, mainly bagel runs, filing – those sort of things, basically anything that takes a bit of the weight off of my own shoulders.”            

After she offered me the job I figured I had to come clean. I mean, it is kind of important that your employer knows you’re homeless and well, pretty much broke. I told her everything – well not everything, but everything that would make my situation make sense. I told her how I was fresh out of Canada, and how things had gone so wrong for me and that I just had to leave before I even had the chance to make any arrangements for myself here. What surprised me the most was how understanding she seemed to be. She knew of a place where I could stay and with my job she said that I’d be back on my feet in no time.

I was done showering by this point and walked into what would be my new bedroom. Callie had laid out clothes just like she said which I was extremely thankful for. For the past week I had been going back and forth between my old green jacket and Pat’s blue New York Rangers hoodie. It was nice to be all fresh and clean.

Meeting Simon Cowell in person was a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be. Once Calli explained the situation, she asked, or more like demanded, that I become her own personal assistant. Needless to say he was less than enthralled he’d need to give out another pay check but surprisingly Callista Jackson was one of his weaknesses. Most of the auditions had already been completed, and after the few left that still needed to be done, we would begin the boot camp sessions.