Arena Ch. 11

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?"

"I'll wait. I'll flirt with the receptionist or something."

"Jesus! Don't do that! Ever woman in the place already lusts after you. She won't be worth a shit the rest of the week if you sit out there and flirt with her for two hours," she says with a grin.

"That'll only last until this comes out. After that, I'll be nothing but a forgotten memory."

"I think you are selling yourself short, again."

He laughs. "Tell me that again after you experience it," he challenges.

A bit more than two hours later Jocelyn pings the receptionist—Yoshiko, as Rick has learned—and asks that Rick be sent back. He walks into Jocelyn's office to see a slightly disheveled Jocelyn sitting in a chair.

"Well?" he asks.

Jocelyn clears her throat. "It's intense."

"That's it?" he asks in surprise.

"You want the whole thing?" she snaps in annoyance. "You want me to tell you I came out with my panties soaked and I had to go to the restroom and masturbate before I could have a coherent thought? Is that what you want to hear?"

He laughs. "Yeah. That's what I want to hear."

"Well, you heard it here first. Goddammit Rick, it isn't fair you did this to me! You should have let me experience this on my own time so I could deal with the... aftermath," she says, actually sounding pissed.

"I'm sorry. Are you really upset?"

She stares at him a moment, then softens. "No, not really. I'm just a little embarrassed is all."

"But you liked it?"

"Rick, to perfectly honest, I don't know yet. I'm still trying to sort out how I feel. I will say it's the most... intense... immersion I've experienced, including yours."

"Told you."

"You ready to do the interview?"

"If you are. Are we going to do vid or text?"

Jocelyn hands the chip back to Rick. "Text. I'll work it into the review. I'm still too hormone-sopped to be on camera right now."

He laughs again at her obvious plight, delighting at her reaction. The same reaction that he and Giselle, as well as Charlie and Todd had. "Ready when you are."

Arena hits the Immersion Playground store at six pm sharp, with AIN's review following a bit more than two and a half hours later. Where The Proposal languished in obscurity for months during its release, Arena is an instant success, selling thousands of copies in the first few hours with the rate of take increasing daily. When it becomes obvious to all that Arena is going to be a bigger hit than The Proposal, Rick talks with the other owners and, after receiving their agreement, quietly transfers another fifty thousand dollars each to the accounts of Sierra Pederson and Coy Bell. A few days after the deed is done, a text ping from Coy arrives in the mailboxes of Charlie, Todd, Giselle and Rick, thanking them profusely for the additional funds, and promising to get in touch with them personally when they return. Return from where, they don't know, though Rick is able to determine from the header record of the ping it came from somewhere in Thailand.

Rick and Todd are sitting in Rick office, discussing what Immersion Playground is going to do for an encore to Arena. Now that Kate is handling the pings for the office, they actually have time to sit and think.

"Here's what I'm thinking," Rick says. "It has been a rough few months, especially for you and Charlie. How about a vacation in Italy?"

"Sound wonderful. I'm sure Charlie would have a blast, but how does that help with the next project?"

"This is a no strings attached offer, but what do you think of the idea of you and Charlie being in an immersion? Think of this. Italian wine country... two Italian supercars... and a race to a villa..."

"Charlie in one car, I'm in the other?" Todd asks.

"That's right."

"And when we get to the villa, we...?"

Rick smiles. "Right again. But I'm thinking the capture is not only of what happens in the villa, but the chase through the countryside also. Think of it as gasoline-powered foreplay."

"And it would be just Charlie and me?" Todd asks.

"For the capture, yes. I'm thinking of taking Giselle too, but for another reason... a wine-tasting trip I sort of promised. But I want it to be a surprise for her."

Todd smiles. "I remember that. But in that case, we'll have to keep this a secret from Charlie too. You know how those two are. What one knows, the other finds out." Todd pauses, mulling the idea over. "No strings attached, in case Charlie doesn't want to go through with the immersion?"

"None whatsoever."

"If we don't do the capture, how can Immersion Playground pay for the trip?"

"I plan on doing a capture... of Giselle on the wine tasting tour. Our first hedonistic immersion that doesn't involve sex."

"Oh..." Todd said, drawing the word out. "I see you have already given this some thought."

"I have. What do you think?"

Todd is quite for a moment, thinking over the idea. "I think we should do it. With no strings attached, it's a win win for Charlie and me. I'll talk to her about it when we break the news, to see if we can double our chances for another hit by doing the capture of us. If she wants to be wowed before her immersion, it isn't going to get much wowier than this."

Rick chuckles. "No, it won't. Giselle and I, I'm sure, will have a capture too, just for the memories."

"I think we have a plan. Now, about The Proposal," Todd says, changing the subject. "You've seen how the sales for The Propsal have started to rise again after the release of Arena. What I think we should do is..."