Author's Note:
Spotify song list for this chapter:
1. The saint motel- sisters
2. Oxford Comma- Vampire Weekend
3. High Hopes- Panic! At The Disco
Warnings:
cursing
___
Ivy's POV
Within a week I was able to settle the date of the meeting with Senior PR Social Media Specialist from Stark Industries, Rachel Tibson. When the day came I woke up early, feeling excited and very curious why this huge company, like Stark Industries, wanted to meet with me- a photography freelancer. Perhaps they needed someone to make pictures for their new eco project they've been recently announcing on their website. Yeah, that's probably it. But I was still wondering why they couldn't work with more known companies specializing in these specific eco areas. Not that I wasn't able to fulfill their expectations, because I knew I could do it with my thumb up in my ass. I know my worth and I trust my talent, but still I was feeling a little bit anxious and nervous. The anticipation of the unknown was driving me crazy.
I showered quickly, did my hair and put on makeup as usual. I always put my hair in a high, tight bun and when I started using makeup I was instantly drawn to neutral colors. I sat on my bed with a cup of freshly made coffee and stared at the open wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear for the meeting. Eventually giving up, I reached out for my phone and texted Minnie.
IVY
We have an emergency, help me
MINNIE
White blazer you bought last week and black pants I gave you on Christmas ;)
IVY
You're a witch, how did you know?
MINNIE
Ivy, sometimes you're so predictable that it is getting ridiculous..
IVY
Shut up. Thanks for the outfit tip :)
MINNIE
Are you getting to the office after the meeting?
IVY
Yep, I still have tons of work to do. See you there!
MINNIE
Good luck bitch! <3
IVY
Thanks <3
I pulled out the clothes from the wardrobe and matched it with the black high heels. I made myself a bowl of oatmeal]s with banana and chocolate flakes for breakfast. Slowly eating it I looked up through the kitchen window. I really love New York. In a weird way it made me calm and safe. After the accident I tried to find a new place, which would allow me to say 'That's my home'. I didn't know exactly why I'd decided on New York, it just happened. Now, I can happily say I have never regretted this decision.
After eating my breakfast, I collected all my necessary stuff and walked out of the building. Luckily, this time I called the cab before, so I waited only a couple of minutes before the car drove up to pick me up. During the drive I was still thinking about this meeting. I was crossing my fingers in my mind that everything will go smoothly and I would approach as a confident, independent woman ready for new work experience. The cab drove relatively quickly and soon I stood up by the entrance of the Stark Tower. I entered the lobby and walked to the reception desk.
"Good morning, my name is Ivy Jones. I have an appointment with Rachel Tibson." I said to the men, who was sitting by the desk.
"Good morning, Ms Jones. Please wait in the lounge area, I've already let know Mrs Tibson, she should be here any minute."
"Thank you." I smiled and walked over to the waiting area. I sat on the huge couch, which was surprisingly very comfortable. I looked over the lobby. The lobby was decorated in a modern way. Black tiles, grey couches, glass tables. Very clean and minimalistic. There were a couple of people sitting on couches and armchairs, minding their own business. Soon I heard the elevator ding and a tall woman approached me. She was very beautiful. She definitely had all the features to become a model. Tall, slim, glowy skin, big eyes, long brown hair.
"Good morning Ms Jones, Rachel Tibson, Senior PR Social Specialist." she extended her hand to me. I shook it vigorously.
"Hello, Ivy Jones." I smiled.
"I made a reservation in Berley's Brothers place for our meeting." she looked up at her phone. "Shall we go?"
"Sure!" I collected my stuff from the couch. "We shall."
We walked out of the building and I followed Rachel to the black suv, which was already waiting for us. When we got into the car, I was instantly amazed at how luxurious it looked inside. Very clean, nice leather smell.
"So Ms Jones..." Rachel started.
"Oh no, please call me Ivy." I interrupted her.
"Ivy" she smiled "Could you please tell me more about yourself?"
"Sure, no problem!" I smiled back "Well, my journey with photography started when I was 17. At the beginning it was just for fun, but later I saw the opportunity in it to make a living of it. That's why I created a website with my portfolio. I started with small jobs, like baby showers, weddings, birthdays. But now I usually work with companies for events or their projects."
"I see, well, I must say I was very impressed with your work. You are a great photographer. You can definitely capture the moment and the feeling in the pictures."
"Why thank you, I really appreciate your kind words." I blushed lightly. I knew that my pictures were good, but it's always nice to hear a compliment from another person.
"Mrs Tibson, we're here." the driver announced, stopping the car in front of the entrance to Berley's Brothers, one of the most popular and expensive cafe shops in New York, mostly visited by celebrities and business workers.
We got out of the car and walked into the place. I must admit, the decorations were very fancy and put out with a good taste. I really liked the greenery wall behind the counter. A polite waitress showed us our table and handed out the menu for us.
"Good morning, welcome in Berley's Brothers. I'm Emma and I will be serving you today." the waitress introduced herself with a big smile. "What can I get you today?"
"Ivy?" Rachel looked at me patiently.
"Yes, of course." I quickly looked up on the menu. "Can I have black coffee with hazelnut syrup?"
Emma, the waitress, nodded and wrote my order in her notebook. "And for you?"
"I'll have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and one of those strawberry muffins. Muffin on the go, please."
"No problem, I'll be right back with your orders." Emma said and walked back to the coffee station to prepare our beverages. Within a couple of minutes our drinks were brought to our table and Rachel started explaining the point of our meeting.
"Ok, Ivy, I invited you for this meeting, because we would like to offer you a contract on our future project that we're working on for a couple of months now. Since we know now about your past and your experience, we would like you to be a part of it."
"I'm sorry, I'm a little bit confused." I frowned. "How could my past be in any way related to your new eco Stark Industries project?"
"Oh no, my apologies. I should've been more specific. We don't want you to work with Stark Industries. We would like you to work on the Avengers project."
I stared at Rachel shocked. I immediately felt my heart beating a lot faster. With my sweated palm I smoothed out the napkin on the table. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to look bothered and definitely not scared. Thousands of thoughts were running through my mind. What was she talking about? How would she know about my past? S.H.I.E.L.D. were very careful about hiding my parents true identity. And my parents were also very cautious about covering all my training and preparations to become a spy. Yes, I was taught to be a spy and the only people who knew about it were my parents. So how is it possible that Rachel knew about it? How would she find out about it? Why would the Avengers want me to be part of it? Was this meeting a cover to get me recruited? I cleared my throat.
"What do you mean by 'The Avengers project'?" I asked hesitantly.
"Well, my PR Social Media department is currently working on creating a new project for The Avengers. Since the whole Project Insight and Sokovia situation appeared, people have mixed feelings about the Avengers. Half of them are grateful for saving their lives and the world but the other half hate them and wish they were gone. We, as a department, want to find a happy medium between these two groups. We would like to create a website, where people can read true information about all of the members. This would be a place where anyone can comment on about anything related to the Avengers. To those, who love the Avengers, we want to create a PO box, where they can write a letter to the whole group or to the individual member. And for those, who are upset or have been hurt or lost something or someone as a collateral damage in those incidents, we want to reach out to them and help them. We don't want to approach as people who only care about their image, but we genuinely want to help them, to get them back on their feet. We want to create The Avengers Foundation, parallel existing with the website, so we all can make the world better, after all what happened. And that's where your past and experience will come handy. We would like you to take care of the website part, specifically the image of the Avengers. We would like to create a website section about each of the members, where we put all the information about them and we want you to take care of the photos. Individual pictures, group pictures, from casual situations or anything that you could come up with."
The more I was hearing about the project, the less I felt stressed out. So this was not about my true past, but it was actually about working for them as a photographer. I quietly breathed a sigh of relief. I took a couple of sips of coffee, since my mouth was so dry because of the sudden panic attack. Rachel took out the file from her bag and handed it to me.
"This is the contract." she stated. "Consider it calmly for a few days."
"Sure, no problem. I'll let you know in a couple of days about my decision."
"Perfect!" She looked at her phone. "On that note, if you don't mind, I would like to end the meeting here."
She stood up and collected her purse and the muffin bag. I stood up and extended my hand to her. She took my hand and shook it.
"Talk to you later." I watched her walking out of the cafe.
I sat up and opened the file with the contract document in it. I was sipping my coffee while reading it. Suddenly I choked up on my drink, when I reached the payment section. 'Damn', I thought, 'I could definitely spoil myself with this amount of money'. It was a good contract, good for both of the suitors. For me, it would open so many doors to my career. I would be finally able to travel around the world- so I could expand my photo portfolio, maybe find new clients. And to have information that I worked with the Avengers on my resume? It would definitely help me a lot in the future. But there was this little concern thought on the back of my mind. What if they find out about me? Since the accident I promised myself that I won't pursue my parents plan, it would be just too painful. Now, there was a risk that someone, somehow might find out about me, which I don't want. I just want to be Ivy Jones, a freelance photographer. Not Ivy Jones, a spy. I collected the file with the contract in it and my purse. I walked up to the counter, where Emma, the waitress, was making an order.
"Hi, I would like to pay for my coffee." I asked.
"Oh, no worries, the tab was already handled." she smiled at me.
"Well, here's a tip for you." I put 20 dollars to the tip jar.
"Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" she grinned at me.
"No problem." I said and walked out of the cafe. I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled, as I saw a cab nearby. I got into the car and said my destination, to my office. With a grin on my face, I was thinking how shocked Minnie will be, when I'll tell her about the contract.