Chapter 9

• "So wait, you're meeting with him today?" Poppy asks me as we walk down the corridor towards our lecture hall. I nod my head, having just finished giving her a play by play of my meeting with Mr Whitlock last night. "That's moving quite fast, you really like him then?"
• I shrug and nod my head. "I guess, I just think that this might be the best solution to my situation. He's not a creep, he has money to burn and if it turns out that I don't really like him then it's fine because he travels so much" even though the circumstances seem to be in my favour so far, it doesn't mean that my luck won't change during negotiation.
• "Has he told you how much he's going to offer you?" She asks, speaking in a quieter tone now that we are surrounded by fellow students. I'm not exactly eager for them to hear how far I've fallen in terms of my self-respect, even if I don't really know any of them.
• "Not yet, but he told me to quit my jobs so that I would be more available to him. So if I don't need to work then it must be good" we enter the lecture hall and take two seats in the back row. Ambrose is apparently picking me up as soon as the class finishes and although I'm so nervous about going to the meeting, I don't want to keep anyone waiting.
• "Wow" Poppy says as she leans back in her seat. "He sounds kind of intense" I nod my head at her statement, he is pretty intense. Watching him treat his staff around him as me especially nervous, I don't want to sign a contract allowing him to brush me off and treat me like I work for him.
• "He is, but at least he's not a creep" Not at appearance level, he could be harbouring some dark twisted fantasies underneath. I'll be reading the fine print very carefully to make sure I'm not agreeing to allow him to sacrifice me or tie me up anywhere.
• Poppy looks like she wants to say more but the professor has started his presentation, a wall of silence descends over the hall. I try and focus on the material at hand and keep up with the notes I need to make but it's very difficult to stop my mind from wandering off. Last night went better than I thought it was going to go, it almost felt like a real date. But that's not what it was, not to him at least. It was a business meeting and I need to begin to think of it like that.
• Sooner than I had thought, the professor wraps up his presentation and people around us start to pack up their belongings and leave the theatre. Poppy and I trail out behind them and walk outside, I scan the road and find Ambrose standing outside the car he brought me to the hotel in last night. He's dressed in a smart black suit with a pair of dark glasses sitting on his nose. I gesture over to him.
• "My rides here" I give Poppy a smile before her mouth drops open slightly.
• "Damn girl, you're moving up in the world" she wraps her arms around me in a hug and squeezes tightly. It's like I'm going off to war and she'll never see me again, it unsettles me more than it comforts me.
• "Good luck, don't agree to anything you aren't comfortable with" I nod and mumble goodbye as I start to walk towards Ambrose, I smile gently at him as I approach.
• "Good afternoon Miss Kendrick" he greets me and opens the back door for me to climb in, I can see a few people wandering around have stopped to watch. I ignore them, god knows what they think is going on here.
• "Afternoon Ambrose, Thank you for picking me up" I reply as I climb into the car and settle into the seat. The drive to the office is done so with the faint sound of piano playing throughout the car, I take the time to make myself slightly more presentable. I take my hair out of my ponytail and brush it through gently to get out all the tangles. I then use my front facing camera on my phone to apply a faint layer of mascara and lip gloss.
• I haven't exactly dressed for a business meeting, but I have come from class to be here so hopefully they will be appreciative of that fact. My blue checkered summer dress hangs just above my knees that are slightly too pale, I'll need to get a bit of sun soon if possible. But they aren't quite as white as my converse, which are still quite white despite their desperate need for a wash. I lean down and neatly eerie the laces as we pull up outside of the offices.
• "Have a good meeting ma'am" Ambrose tells me as he opens the back door and I slide out, placing the straps of my tan tote bag onto my shoulder and tucking my hair behind my ear.
• "Thank you Ambrose, have a good day" I smile at him before walking into the building over to the bank of elevators.
• The receptionist stands as soon as she sees me entire, I don't even have to tell her my name or that I have an appointment as she types on her office phone.
• "She's here...yes ma'am" she talks down the phone before walking around the desk.
• "Right this way Miss Kendrick" I follow her down a long corridor and enter the room through the door she has opened for me. There's a large table with at least a dozen chairs scattered around it, it's dimly lit with only two other people inside; Lory and Mr Whitlock.
• "Amelia darling" Lory widens her hands and takes a gentle hold of my shoulders, kissing me on both cheeks and tucking some loose hair behind my ear. "You look lovely, you of course remember Mr Whitlock" She breaks our embrace and gestures to Mr Whitlock, who is standing off to the side with his hands clasped behind his back.