Immersion Playground
Book #2: Arena
Epilogue
Charlie and Katherine Thompson, Charlie's longtime friend and one of the models she manages, sit in Charlie's office discussing an upcoming show that Kate is schedule to attend, when Todd bursts into the room. "Hey Charlie! Guess who just... oops! Sorry. I'll come back. Hey Kate," he says, backing out. "I didn't know you were here."
"Come on in," Charlie invites, waving her arm. "We were talking about Kate's gig at the auto show. We're almost done. Guess who what?"
He steps back into the office. "Guess who pinged just now. Do you remember Tony McMillan from high school? His family owns that big place out by the old Calhoun farm."
"Yeah, I remember him, why?" Charlie asks.
"Well, guess who wants to meet for dinner this week. He's in town and saw our names on the company letterhead."
"
Really?
" Charlie asks, drawing the word out.
Kate, who has been sitting quietly, her head moving like she is watching a tennis match as Todd and Charlie speak, pipes up. "Old friend of yours?" she asks Charlie.
"Yeah. He's a little older than we are. What was he, Todd—one year or two ahead of us?"
"Two I think," he replies. "Went off to West Point while I was a junior if I remember right."
"Anyway, a couple of grades ahead of us. Someone we went to high school with." Charlie pauses with a big smile. "Big as a house. He must have been nearly seven feet tall. My God, was he good looking!"
"Hey!" Todd exclaims in mock indignation, moving his hands, palms up, gesturing to himself.
Charlie laughs lightly at Todd's antics. "But not as good looking as you, dear," she responds brightly before giving him an air kiss.
"Okay... that's better," Todd says with a smile. "Come see me when you're done. I told Tony I'd ping him back and let him know what day works for us."
"Okay," Charlie says. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
Todd gives a quick nod and backs out, shutting the door, but immediately reopens it. "Oh! And good to see you again, Kate," he adds, before closing the door once more.
As he returns to his office, he realizes how long it has been since he and Charlie have been home. Now that
Arena
is complete, maybe they can think about going home and seeing their parents again. They need a break after the grueling ordeal of producing
Arena.
Giselle and Rick help out when and where they can, but the day-to-day operations and the resulting headaches, those all fall on him and Charlie. He really needs to do something nice for her, for both of them. He grins, wondering what Charlie's parents will think of him now that he and Charlie are half-owners of one of the most talked about companies going at the moment. And just wait until
Arena
comes out...
He heaves a sigh as he turns into his office, preparing to go through the remaining invoices so Rick can pay them when he gets back from AIN.
***
Rick opens the door to the Adult Industry News offices. "May I help you, sir?" a perky dark-haired girl behind the reception desk asks. For at least the fiftieth time, he makes a mental note to hire a receptionist for Immersion Playground. In just over a week,
Arena
is going to launch, and if the immersion is as a big a hit as they all think it'll be, they're going to be swamped with pings and visitors.
"Yes, Rick Chamfer here to see Jocelyn White."
"Yes sir, Mr. Chamfer. Jocelyn is expecting you and asked that you be shown through. First door on your left, sir," the girl says as the door clicks.
Rick steps into the hall and Jocelyn immediately greets him. "Rick! So good to see you again," she says.
Jocelyn White, also known as Lady J, or her actual name of Jocelyn Lindsey, put Immersion Playground on the map when she was the first to review
The Proposal
. Her review led to many more reviews from other companies, which finally led to them breaking large. She is a straight-shooting, no nonsense reporter and reviewer, and he likes her. He's done two interviews with her, his first ever interview right after the review of
The Proposal
, and then another interview later, after
The Proposal
went on to become the leading, and thus far,
only
title in the fledgling Hedonistic category, a category created whole cloth by Immersion Playground to distance them from the typical pornographic industry fair. AIN has been championing the cause for them, and the idea seemed to be sticking, though it's too early to tell for sure. Today he's here to make good on a promise.
He hands a small memory chip to her. "I need to take that with me because officially it doesn't exist. We are standing by our policy of no review copies," he says, pointing to the chip in her hand, "With the exception of AIN."
"An exclusive?" Jocelyn asks, excitement in her voice.
He nods. "I can also tell you that
Arena—
that's the name of the immersion—will launch at six pm next Friday. The immersion is one hour, fifty-six minutes, so if your review were to appear at say, I don't know, eight o'clock sharp, I don't know that anyone would be the wiser."
She smiles a nasty smile. "I do like the way you think. Okay. I assume since we blocked off four hours, you want me to experience the immersion now and then interview you afterwards."
"That's what I'm thinking, but there's a condition. I want your honest feedback when you come out of the immersion. I know you'll write an honest review, but I am shitting bricks over this, and I have to know."
She laughs. "Have you experienced it?"
"Yeah."
"And?"
"Giselle and I fucked like bunnies afterwards, but I need an unbiased opinion."
Jocelyn laughs again. "I think you worry too much, but okay. Am I going to need a cold shower after this?"
His lips twist into a slow, easy, smile. "That makes Giselle and I look like we're playing doctor."
She stares at him for a moment, trying to decide if he's kidding. "Are you serious?"
"Jocelyn, Venus and Mars—the only names I'll give you—are unbelievable. It's been three weeks since the capture and no one has seen them since. I sent a ping to Mars and got a response back that all is well, that Venus is with him, but that's all. I can only imagine what they are doing to each other."
"Can I get an interview with them?"
"If they come back, and they agree, then yes, but otherwise I'll protect their identity."
She fumes for a second, the relents. "I guess you'll have to do, then," she says with a giggle. "You want to wait or come back?"