Chasing Eden Ch. 04-06

"I really don't care who wins... I hardly even know who's playing."

"You're watching pretty astutely for someone who doesn't care."

"I guess it's just nice to see people doing something they're so passionate about, even if it's just a meaningless game."

"That's pretty interesting," Camilla pointed out, taking a big sip of her first drink. "Do you watch all sports with that same perspective?"

"Miss Camilla... no more questions, please."

"Oh, right... Sorry..."

***

A few hours later, after Camilla had fallen asleep, Peter looked over at her and tapped on her shoulder. "Miss Camilla... it's time to go."

Realizing they were still at the bar, Camilla looked around before responding, "Sorry... I'll go pay for my drinks."

"I already picked up the tab."

"Oh... thank you."

As they started walking back together, the tired woman noticed how much she was stumbling. Grabbing onto Peter's shoulder, she expressed, "Sorry... I guess I didn't realize how many drinks I had."

"Just make sure you set your alarm and get some rest," Peter explained, leading the drunk woman to her door.

"Right..." Camilla explained, looking down like she was a bit ashamed of herself. Then, staring up into Peter's eyes, she said, "Thank you for walking me to my room."

"No problem," the man replied, handing over her heels.

"Oh! I didn't even realize you were carrying these... Thanks..."

"You took them off before you fell asleep and then you tried to walk off without them."

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess," Camilla said, opening her door.

"Goodnight, Miss Camilla."

Before Peter could walk off, Camilla called him one last time. "Hey, Peter..."

"Yes?"

"What if I need help getting to my bed?"

Staring at the intoxicated woman with a blank face, Peter turned his back before answering, "Then I'll get the female hotel concierge to help you."

With a little smirk, Camilla looked down before facing her coworker once again. "Good answer. I was just testing you."

"Goodnight, Miss Camilla."

"Goodnight, Peter."

***

A few days later, Camilla found herself in the conference room downstairs again, speaking to the mysterious agent. "I think that's everyone that has called me in the past week," she explained, looking at her notes. "Marco, Greg Hawthorne, Sasha, and Jane."

"Thank you, Miss Camilla," Agent Parks said, looking satisfied with all the information she presented him. "That's all I needed to know."

Feeling relieved, Camilla said her goodbyes before heading to the door. However, before she could leave, the man called her once more.

"Miss Camilla... may I ask you a random question?"

"Oh, sure..."

"This isn't important or anything, but... when you hung out with Peter that night, how did you get back to your room?"

"He walked me," the woman answered, before getting a little red in the face. "And since I'm being honest with you, I drunkenly invited him into my room... but of course, he didn't accept."

"How did he respond?" the agent asked, raising his eyebrows.

"He just said if I needed help, he would get a female from the staff to help me."

"Thanks for explaining that," he replied, before sending Camilla off with no further questions.

After watching Camilla leave, Agent Parks closed the door so he could have some privacy. Now that no one was watching, he took a moment to think about the blonde woman's story. Unable to hide his smile, he whispered to himself, "You really picked a good one, Irene."

**

Chapter 5

With only ten days left of their trip, Camilla had already met with almost all the modeling agents that had scheduled to see her. However, before she and her two coworkers traveled back to New York, they wanted to give the agents one last opportunity to schedule a meeting, in case they found out about the event later on.

Similar to the first day they arrived, the team set up a meet-and-greet to introduce themselves to modeling agents. This time, however, Peter wasn't there, so Eddie had to take his place as the lead of the operation.

Just like the first time, Eddie addressed the crowd by giving them the same speech Peter did, except with his own warning. "Thank you all for showing up," he said, bringing the smaller group to a silence. "For those of you who are unaware, Miss Camilla is our one and only advisor. If I were you, I would use this time wisely to schedule a meeting with her. And since we're pretty short on time now, if she can't fit you into her schedule, I would at least try to arrange a phone consultation with her."

As the modeling agents in the room sat quietly, giving their full attention, a smile came over Eddie's face before he continued his speech. "I don't know if any of you heard, but we had to remove an agent during our previous meet-and-greet because he couldn't keep his inappropriate comments to himself. Perhaps some of you are considering trying that since I'm viewed as a nice guy compared to Peter, but I can assure you, that would be a big mistake. Remember, I'm the one that ruined that guy's career."

Then, taking his seat, the smile disappeared from his face as he gave one final warning. "I hope you all have a great time meeting Miss Camilla. You and your models' careers are riding on it. Just don't make me go into attorney mode. "

With a face of utter shock, Camilla stared at Eddie until he looked over at her. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Where the hell did that come from?"

Returning to his more pleasant demeanor, Eddie explained, "Sometimes you need to play the role that's necessary, not the role you want."

Camilla nodded her head, impressed with her coworker's ability to switch his seriousness on and off. "That makes sense... Is that why Peter is the way he is?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, does he just act that cold because it fits his position?"

"Perhaps you could say that," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. "That's not necessarily how I would describe it, but we can discuss that later. There are plenty of people here who want to talk to you, so I'd rather not keep you from them."

Though she wanted to dig deeper, the platinum blonde realized Eddie was right. There was already a line of agents forming in front, dying to get an opportunity to speak with her. But before shifting her attention to the task at hand, she stated to herself, I'm going to keep a note of what he said about Peter... not just for Agent Parks, but for myself as well.

***

Back at the hotel lobby, there was tension in the air as two men stared at each other, standing only a few feet apart. Peter stood there with his arms folded, looking intensely right into Agent Parks' eyes.

After a few seconds, there was suddenly a smile on the FBI agent's face. Breaking character, he approached Peter and gave him a hug. "How are you doing, Brother?"

Without unfolding his arms, Peter took the embrace before asking, "What are you doing here, Kenny?"

"I was just in the neighborhood, so I figured I'd pay you a visit," the agent answered, taking a step back.

"This neighborhood is awfully far away from where you live."

"Okay, I guess I'm here on some business."

"Is this official business or is it personal?"

"Come on, Peter. You know I can't tell you that. But I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own. After all, you're probably the smartest person I've ever met. Well, aside from my sister."

"What kind of personal business do you have in Los Angeles?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's just interesting that you keep having business in whatever city I'm in, even when I'm on the other side of the country."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Agent Parks suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "But while I'm here, I might as well stop by and ask how you're doing."

"I'm doing fine. "

"No, seriously... How are you doing, Peter?"

After staring at the agent for a second, the mysterious man answered, "I'm fine... How are you?"

"Things could be better, but you know I always worry about you."

"I know... but I'm fine. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Chuckling to himself, the FBI agent asked, "So... what do you know about Miss Camilla?"

Staring at the man intensely, Peter took a moment before answering, "She's a good worker."

"And?"

"And... she's watching me... Did you set that up, or was it them?"

"I can't tell you that either," the agent said with a smile on his face. "But just know I'm worried about you."

"Is that all you need from me?"

As he began walking away, Kenny answered, "That's all I needed. But until next time, take care of yourself, Brother."

"Hey, Kenny," Peter called, stopping the man in his tracks. "You know we're not brothers anymore, right?"

With a smirk, Agent Parks replied, "You'll always be my brother, Peter. Just know that."

***

After several short meetings, Camilla realized she was much more comfortable than the first go-around. Feeling confident in herself in her new position, she walked around with her head held high, making sure she didn't miss anyone. It was almost like a victory lap for her.

The boys were right to hire me, she said to herself, looking at the different groups mingling with each other. No matter what I was going through personally, I was still the best woman for the job.

As she continued walking around, she noticed Leah on the other side of the room. However, unlike the previous times when she would see the self-proclaimed agent, Camilla wasn't fazed.

That chick is here again? the blonde thought, feeling even more proud of herself. She must have snuck in when I wasn't looking. Damn, she really wants to be like me, doesn't she?

Taking a moment to appreciate all her hard work, Camilla looked at the crowd full of people who came just to meet her as she continued pondering, Who wouldn't want to meet me? I'm such a badass bitch.

Scanning the room one final time, her eyes locked on to a tall and beautiful woman she hadn't seen before. Who is this? she asked herself, scratching her chin. Is she an agent? No, she's too young. And she's really pretty... and has big boobs... She must be a model, but I'm not talking to her unless she has an agent with her.

As Camilla stood there, just observing the woman from afar, she suddenly noticed she had caught her attention. As the woman smiled, the talent evaluator almost blushed. Even this girl admires me, she told herself, brushing her hair to the side. I guess that's just where I am in life. All the men want to talk to me and all the women want to be like me.

Despite being done with all her meetings, Camilla decided to introduce herself to the new mystery woman, who was smiling at her. Extending her hand to the girl, she greeted, "Welcome. I bet you were just dying to meet me."

The woman shook her hand and smiled even harder. However, she didn't say a word. She just continued to look at Camilla, grinning from ear to ear.

Thinking the woman didn't hear her, Camilla repeated herself. She then established even deeper eye contact, hoping to engage the woman to speak.

What the hell is wrong with this girl?! Camilla thought, as she took a step back. Is she deaf? No, she would have been able to read my lips. Maybe she doesn't speak English...

Speaking slowly, the blonde asked, "Do you speak English?"

The woman stared at her for a second with a blank face. Then, with a really strong accent, she repeated the word English while making an X with her fingers.

Oh, God... Camilla thought to herself, groaning in frustration. We have a model here and I can't even tell her she needs representation because she doesn't speak English.

Out of desperation, the Latina tried in Spanish, Portuguese, and what little of Italian she knew. However, each attempt was returned with the same blank stare.

As if Camilla didn't have enough on her plate, Leah tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump. "Don't scare me like that!" she said, turning her head as she made eye contact with her new acquaintance. "Can't you see I'm dealing with someone right now?"

"I can see that," Leah responded, observing the conversation astutely. "Sorry for interrupting."

Growing frustrated, Camilla admitted, "I just can't figure out how to communicate with her... She doesn't speak English."

Immediately, Leah began speaking to the girl in a different language. Like a candle, the woman lit up, finally getting to explain herself to someone that could understand her.

"You speak her language?!" Camilla asked as her eyes shot wide open.

"Yeah, I speak Chinese," Leah explained nonchalantly. "I'm Americanized, but I speak a few different Asian languages."

"I'm so lucky to have you here! Can you tell me what she's doing here?"

After speaking with the woman, Leah looked back at Camilla and explained, "Her name is Fang and she's a pretty popular model in China. I've actually heard about her before. I didn't expect her to come here, though."

"Can you tell her that she needs an agent if she's going to work with us?"

"She said she had an agent," Leah responded before speaking with the mystery woman again. Then, after gaining all the information, she rolled her eyes before explaining, "Apparently, her agent was the man that got kicked out of the first meet-and-greet. Since he got in trouble, he can't represent her anymore."

"Oh, shit..." Camilla groaned. "How could this backfire on me? More importantly, why would a popular model work with some creep like him?"

Leah spoke with the oddly excited Fang for a moment before rolling her eyes again. She then explained, "She said he contacted her while she was in China, and promised he had a special tool to translate for her... I'm pretty sure that tool was Google Translate..."

Fang happily explained more about her story, leading Leah to translate. "She also thinks he was a very nice man for inviting her to stay at his house."

After a moment of utter shock and disgust, Camilla slapped herself on the forehead before letting out, "Oh God... It's a good thing we got to her before he did..."

"What do you want me to tell her?"

"Uhh... I don't know! You said she's a pretty popular model, right? What do you think I should do?"

"You're seriously asking me for advice?" Leah replied, looking back and forth between the two women. "I'm not the talent evaluator here."

"But you speak Chinese," Camilla pointed out, looking desperate. "You're the only one that can talk to her. And you said she was popular in China... How much does that carry over here?"

After pulling out her phone to look at Fang's Chinese modeling pages, Leah took a deep breath before proposing her idea. "I don't mean to overstep my boundaries, but I really think you should find a way to work with her... China is really different when it comes to social media. If she got popular over here... it could be huge."

"Okay, that sounds good!" the Latina exclaimed, huffing and puffing from the adrenaline. Then, after checking her watch, she continued, "Just get her information for me and make sure she's squared away. Does she even have a place to stay, or did she just get off the plane?"

"I'll make sure you two can reconnect. She doesn't have a phone right now, but she does have a place to stay."

"Okay, great!" Camilla said, giving her new acquaintance a hug out of pure gratitude. "You're a real lifesaver!"

Then, as Camilla started to run off, Fang giggled before pointing something out. After hearing it, Leah called out, "Hey, Camilla! One more thing!"

"What is it?"

"Fang said you have a big piece of pepper stuck in your teeth... Maybe you should floss before going to any more meetings."

As her eyes shot wide-open, Camilla screamed, "That's why she was smiling at me so hard?!"

Now giggling with Fang, Leah expressed, "It is pretty bad!"

"Ugh!" the blonde groaned, before checking her teeth in a small pocket mirror. "How embarrassing... Can you tell her I'm usually much cooler than this?"

"You want me to tell her you're cool...?"

"Ugh, nevermind!"

***

"I have a question," Camilla prompted, as she jumped into the back of a taxi with her coworker, Eddie. "Is your wife really okay with you working at a company like Moonlight where you might be surrounded by attractive models?"

"She's happy about the money," Eddie answered, chuckling to himself. "But for the most part, it's rare that I actually deal with the models. Peter and I are more in the financial realm of things. You're actually the first woman we've spent a significant amount of time with."

"Does she have any issues with me?"

"Absolutely not. She trusts me. The only issues she has is that I'm gone a lot. Even before we were part of this outreach team, Peter and I would get sent to other financial projects all across the country."

"Is it hard for you being away from her?"

"Of course it is," Eddie explained, making a bitter face. "I think what hurts the most is being away from my daughter. But I keep telling myself that I'll be able to provide her a great future and plenty of opportunities in life with the money I'm making right now."

Now smiling, Camilla showed her appreciation for her coworker. "I knew you were a hard worker, but I guess I didn't appreciate how much of the family man you are."

"Thank you. I'm extremely loyal to everyone who shows they deserve it."

"I can see that," the blonde said, nodding her head. "So where was Peter, by the way? You said he had some kind of emergency meeting?"

"Yeah, he has a lot of meetings that pop up," her coworker explained. "He's a pretty important figure for us, financially."

"Well, if this means anything to you at all, I thought you did a great job leading the event today."

"I really appreciate that, Miss Camilla. I'd like to think I could step in and play any role I need to."

"Speaking of that," the blonde said, as she was reminded of her previous conversation. "You never explained why Peter acts the way that he does."

Looking down into his lap, Camilla noticed the concentration on Eddie's face before he started to explain their mysterious coworker's behavior. "I guess he's always been a little odd... but lately he's been even colder."

"Do you have any idea why that is?"

"I do, but I don't think this is the appropriate time to talk about it," Eddie said, looking around as the car suddenly came to a stop. "I actually have my own meeting to attent but maybe we can discuss this later."

Looking around outside, Camilla raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Oh... I didn't know you had a separate meeting..."

"Yeah, it was kind of last minute for me as well," he explained, exiting the car. "Just head back to the hotel without me. I'll meet you there later!"

"Okay... See you later..."

As the car pulled off, Camilla couldn't stop looking back, trying to figure out where Eddie was going. None of the buildings around look like offices, she thought, still thrown off by the sudden meeting that hadn't been mentioned before. Pulling out her phone, she thought, I guess I'll just make a note of that. This will be useful to Sasha or Mister Hawthorne... or maybe even Agent Parks...

Placing her head in her hands, she groaned loudly. And here I thought Eddie was the one guy I understood...

Standing right in front of a building he had no care for, Eddie watched as the taxi cab eventually vanished into the distance. Now that he knew Camilla couldn't possibly have sight of him, he began his journey, walking several blocks. Eventually, he found the building he was looking for, with the words, "Adventure Law Firm," written on the front door.

After making his way in, the receptionist asked, "How may I help you, Sir?"

With a serious look on his face, Eddie explained, "I'm the big client with the special meeting today."