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Chapter 2

Chapter 2

            “We are now approaching Los Angeles International Airport and will be on the ground in just under fifteen minutes. The temperature on the ground is a balmy 75 degrees, with light wind and sunny skies. I’d like to thank you for flying with United Airlines, and wish you an enjoyable visit to Los Angeles. If LA is your final destination, welcome home,” the pilot announced over the intercom as the plane began it’s descent to the runway below.

            Exactly fourteen minutes later the wheels hit the tarmac at LAX and the plane slowly rolled into the hub for gate 14. Taking advantage of one of the perks of flying first class, Caryss grabbed her carry-on bag and her purse as soon as the seatbelt light turned off and exited the plane before any of the economy class passengers were allowed to.

            As she entered the airport she saw a man dressed in a black suit and a driving hat holding a professionally laminated sign with her name on it. She walked towards him with a smile, and was relieved when he returned the gesture.

            “Ms. Martin, pleasure to meet you. I’m Derek and I will be your driver for the duration of your stay in Los Angeles. Allow me,” he said to her as he gently grabbed the carry-on from her hands, relieving her of its weight. “If you’re ready, we will proceed to the baggage claim,” he said, making a sweeping motion past Caryss. She nodded, and they walked side by side through the large airport until they reached their destination.

            She pointed to her two matching suitcases as they came around on the conveyor belt and Derek scooped them off in one fluent motion. Once her luggage was tucked securely into the trunk of the car and she was situated in the backseat, she grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and sent a short text message to her sister, letting her know she landed safely.

            Once that task was completed, she checked the voicemail on her phone. “I should have known she would call,” Caryss muttered under her breath as she listened to the message her boss left.

            “Caryss, its Maggie. I know you’re still in the air, but when you get this message give me a call. There’s something important I need to talk to you about before you get to the meeting this afternoon.”

            Caryss looked at her watch and panicked. It was 3:30 and she had to be at the meeting by 4:00. “Derek,” she stammered as an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy came upon her, “I’ll have to check into the hotel later. I have a meeting I have to be at by 4 so you better just take me straight there.”

            “Ms. Martin, I believe you forgot to set your watch back. It’s only 1:30.” Derek couldn’t help but chuckle at how upset and vulnerable Caryss had sounded as she spoke to him.

            “Oh my gosh, you’re right,” Caryss responded, turning a bright shade of crimson and shaking her head in disgust and embarrassment. “I feel so stupid.” She turned her watch back two hours to compensate for the time difference between Chicago and Los Angeles.

            “That’s what I’m here for; don’t worry about it,” Derek reassured her as he pulled up in front of Caryss’s hotel. He got out and scurried around the car to open Caryss’s door before she could and held out his hand for her to get out of the car. The bellhop removed her luggage from the trunk and informed Caryss that her luggage would be brought up to her room in a few minutes.

            “Ms. Martin, I’ll be downstairs at 3:30 to take you to your meeting,” Derek said with a smile as he tipped his hat to her.

            “Thank you Derek,” said Caryss, returning the smile. She turned and walked into the hotel to check in.

            After checking into her room and taking the fifteen floor elevator ride, she walked down the hall to her room and slid the credit card-style key into the lock, opening the door and walking into her enormous suite.

            “Why they got me such a huge room, I’ll never know,” she said to herself as she set her room key on the vanity and took a look around. When she heard the knock on the door she assumed it was the bellboy with her luggage and abruptly walked to the door and flung it open without hesitation.

            “You’re not the bellboy,” she said flatly as a woman holding a silver tray with a note on it stood before her.

            “No, Ms. Martin, I’m not. When you checked in I forgot to give you this note that was left for you. My apologies for interrupting you. Your luggage is on its way though,” the woman said as she handed Caryss the note and then excused herself and walked back down the hallway toward the elevator.

            “Dear Ms. Martin,” Caryss began to read the note aloud, but stopped after the introduction. “Why does everyone keep calling me that? I have an f-ing name!” She chuckled to herself then continued reading the note out loud. “Dear Ms. Martin: I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of upgrading you from the standard room your firm had booked for you. I am confident that the room will be to your liking, and if there is anything you require, the hotel staff has been instructed to cater to your every need. I’m sure you weren’t expecting this, but anyone who is going to be working for and with me deserves only the best. I am looking forward to meeting with you later today. –NC.”

            She put the note down next to her room key and collapsed onto the fluffy king sized bed that would be hers to sleep in for the next two weeks, at the least. She lay there for a minute, random thoughts and questions running through her head. Who is NC? Why would he or she go through so much trouble? I should wear my green pantsuit to the meeting. Should I be early? I need to paint my toenails. Well, the meeting is casual, so maybe I should wear something other than my green pantsuit. Where is my luggage? Shit, I need to call Maggie! Caryss shot up off the bed and fished around in her purse for her cell phone. She dialed Maggie’s office number and waited for her to pick up.

            “Maggie, hi. It’s Caryss. I just got your message.” Lie! “What’s up?”

            “Caryss, I’m so glad you called, I was getting worried. I wanted to give you a heads up that one of the main supporters you’re going to be working with directly is of a high profile nature so don’t appear too shocked or thrown off by it, okay? You usually work so well under pressure and I would hate for you to blow this because you got star-struck or something.”

            Man, she can be a cold, heinous bitch when she wants to be. “Of course Maggie, I wouldn’t want to blow it either. Thanks for the heads up.” Caryss paused for a minute, wondering whether she should tell Maggie that the “high profile supporter” she was going to be working with had upgraded her to suite and had ordered the hotel staff to be at her beck and call. Nah, she doesn’t need to know that. “Well, I’m going to get unpacked and freshen up before the meeting. I’ll talk to you soon.” Caryss flipped her phone shut before Maggie had a chance to interject anything else and threw it back in her clutch.

 

            Just then there was another knock on the door, and exercising a little more caution than last time, she peered through the peep hole to see who it was. She opened the door to find the bellboy standing there with a luggage cart, and she motioned for him to set her luggage by the bed. When he was finished she tipped him and closed the door behind him. She glanced at her watch and saw it was now quarter after two.

            “That leaves me a little over an hour to unpack and get myself ready for this meeting,” she said, still talking to herself out loud as she tended to do when no one was around to hear her. She threw her suitcases on the bed and began putting her clothing in the drawers and on hangers, setting her heath and beauty aids neatly in the bathroom, and then going back through and organizing everything in her room until it was to her liking. When she was satisfied with the job she had done and she was convinced it would work for the time she was here, she moved on to deciding the appropriate outfit to wear to the casual “get acquainted” meeting for the committee she would be heading up.

            After much deliberation she decided on a pair of pale yellow Capri pants that hugged her hips and butt perfectly and a matching sleeveless blouse with a deep V-neck to accentuate her full chest. I might as well look hot if I’m going to be meeting a celebrity, she candidly thought to herself as she dressed.
           
            After applying some additional makeup and making sure her hair was the way she wanted it she took one final glance in the mirror. Her fresh complexion and natural glow made the need for foundation or bronzer non-existent. She emphasized her exotically green eyes with purple eyeliner and brownish hues of eye shadow. She pumped up her long eye lashes by applying mascara and topped her look off with a light, glossy shade of lipstick.

            Her full, curly locks fell just below her shoulders, but if her hair had been straightened it would have ended at the small of her back. Her curls were like springs; she could pull one down and as soon as she let it go it would bounce right back up to where it started. Her natural hair color was deep chestnut, but she had tried to keep some fun and funkiness to her hair by periodically applying blond and red streaks in it.

            As she moved her focus in the mirror from her face and hair down to her body, she smiled. Up until the summer before her senior year of High School she had always been on the chunky side. Then that summer, it was as if God decided she had received enough ridicule and had built enough character and just like that, the chunkiness went away and what remained were shapely hips, a heart-shaped bum, and firm, round breasts that created cleavage most girls would kill for, or pay insane amounts of money for.

            She was now a solid size eleven, which to some people would not be something to brag about, but on Caryss, it was. She filled out a pair of jeans like nobody’s business and she brought new meaning to the word curvaceous. Most importantly, she found comfort in her own skin, something that most women struggle to find until they day they die.

            “Look of hotness—mission accomplished,” she said into the mirror with a smile. She again glanced at her watch—it was almost 3:30. She quickly transferred her belongings from the clutch she was using earlier to one that matched her outfit and then was out the door.

            Well NC, soon your identity will be revealed, she thought to herself with excitement as she watched the traffic whizzing by her on the way to the restaurant where the meeting was taking place. And I’ll get to see my girls again, she told herself, feeling very happy that she would be working with the friends she had made at her firm’s sister company based out of Los Angeles. She had worked with these girls twice before and had kept in constant communication with them personally. She also knew they were infamous for planning outrageous, themed outings, especially since the last two times she had been to LA to work with them they had done so.

            The first time was a cowgirl themed party where Caryss had to dress in country/western clothing and all of the girls went bar hopping and trying to get free drinks. The second time they had rented Caryss an apple costume and they all went out dressed like the Fruit of the Loom characters. She had never had so much fun in her life as she had those two nights, but this time, she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that more would come of it than just a girls’ night out on the town, but what she didn’t know was why.