Post by teri on Apr 27, 2006 9:25:08 GMT -5
Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 1. Hope you like this chapter as well. Once we're through Chapter 2 there will be much more interaction between Apolo and Katrina.
Business or Pleasure – Chapter 2
Apolo rose to greet Katrina. She forced a smile but he could see it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Katrina, it’s been a long time. How are you?” he said softly. “I’m fine, Apolo,” Katrina replied coldly as she took the seat next to him.
Katrina could feel herself shaking inside and she forced herself to sit very still. How was it possible that just seeing Apolo again, hearing his voice again could bring back all the hurt and pain so quickly? She had learned to build a wall against the memories and thought that if they ever met again she would be able to feel—well, nothing. It hurt her to know how wrong she had been.
“So Nicky, what did you want to discuss,” asked Katrina.
“Well Apolo has been unhappy with the agent we assigned to him and he would like to make a change,” explained Nicky.
“I thought you had assigned Steve to work with Apolo. He is one of our best field agents.”
“We did, but Apolo insists he be changed before the Olympics begin. I’ve told him that we will have some difficulty switching agents at this point,” Nicky continued, “but Apolo has very definite ideas about how he wants us to handle his management and promotions this time around.”
Katrina looked over at Apolo and found him quietly studying her with a small smile on his lips. Don’t look at his lips, Katrina thought and tried to focus on his eyes.
“So Apolo, what is the problem with Steve?”
“The problem is Steve seems to expect me to do whatever he suggests and I have been unhappy with some of the opportunities he has presented.” Apolo continued, “every time we disagree I have to wait for him to contact your office and get clearance from someone here to rework the agenda. This just isn’t working for me. You know this will be my last Olympics, at least as a skater, and this time I won’t be forced into situations I’m not comfortable with.”
“Well I assume you two have discussed other options.” “How do you suggest we fix this so that you’re comfortable?” Katrina said with just a tiny bit of sarcasm sneaking into her voice.
Nicky, sat leaning one elbow against the arm of his chair with his fingertips pressed against his temple. Katrina knew him well and knew that meant he wasn’t happy.
“Nicky, what is it?” Katrina asked.
“Katrina, Apolo wants you to work directly as his agent. I’ve explained to him that you no longer work in that capacity but he insists. He says he has also convinced the rest of the short track team to use our firm and wants you assigned to handle all the skaters as a group.”
“That’s impossible,” Katrina blurted out. “Even if I were willing to go back to acting as an agent, I couldn’t handle the entire group on my own. Anyway, Apolo, I seem to remember that the last time I worked as your agent you weren’t happy with me either. Didn’t you say I was forcing you into events and situations you didn’t want to be involved with, a lifestyle you didn’t want,” Katrina said bitterly.
Katrina was breathing a little quickly and her face was flushed. Apolo could see that she was upset and his eyes softened as he looked at her.
“I was still young when we last worked together and hadn’t made a lot of my own decisions. I handled things badly, only because I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life going forward. I’m older now and I know what I want to do after the Olympics and that should make our choices regarding promotions and events a lot easier.”
“Apolo, why don’t you let Katrina and I hash out the details and get back to you,” said Nicky. “We will give you a call tomorrow.”
Apolo rose and shook Nicky’s hand. Katrina was so shocked that she stayed planted in her chair. Apolo turned to her, took her hand and said “I’ll talk with you tomorrow Katrina. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Katrina turned in the chair to watch Apolo walk out the door. That had been her last memory of him, watching him walk away. She slumped a little in the chair. She felt like her heart was breaking all over again. She turned back to Nicky.
“Before you say no Katrina, please listen to me. Apolo has basically told us that if you aren’t assigned to him as agent he will cancel our contract and go to another agency. If he does that our reputation for the next round of athletes will suffer. We’ve built him up over the years and you know his star couldn’t be higher than it is now. We need you to do this.”
“Nick, I haven’t been an agent in the field since Apolo had me replaced. How do you expect me to work with him again? Anyway, there is no way I can handle a whole team at once.”
“I’ve given that some thought. We can place several agents to work with the team using you as their supervisor. You can handle Apolo and oversee the handling of the team with the agents reporting directly to you. This way when you are all booking and managing events from the Olympics and afterwards the decisions won’t be delayed by having to get clearance through the office. You would have full control”
“Katrina, you have to do this. Frankly if you refuse and Apolo goes to another agency, the partners will probably have you fired. It won’t matter how good you are at your job if you lose a contract of this size.”
Katrina was stunned. It didn’t matter how long she had been at the company, how much time and effort she put into her job, if she didn’t do this she would be out of work. And what were the chances of her being hired by another management firm once they heard the reason why she was fired.
Just when she thought she had her life under control everything was shattering apart. Apolo seemed to keep walking in and out of her life. She was going to have to find a way to push the past aside and work with Apolo on a strictly businesslike basis. She would be sure that this time she didn’t let herself get hurt.
“Alright, you know I won’t do anything to hurt the firm. We will have to reassign my current projects, review the plans for Apolo’s management and write up plans for the other members of the team,” Katrina said wearily. “I’m calling it a night. How about we start over breakfast tomorrow?”
“Thank you Katrina. I know you don’t want to do this but I also know you will give it your best. Go home and get a good nights rest and I’ll meet you at 8:30 tomorrow.”
Katrina walked out of Nicky’s office and sighed. She was exhausted, depressed and she doubted very much that she would get any sleep tonight.
Business or Pleasure – Chapter 2
Apolo rose to greet Katrina. She forced a smile but he could see it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Katrina, it’s been a long time. How are you?” he said softly. “I’m fine, Apolo,” Katrina replied coldly as she took the seat next to him.
Katrina could feel herself shaking inside and she forced herself to sit very still. How was it possible that just seeing Apolo again, hearing his voice again could bring back all the hurt and pain so quickly? She had learned to build a wall against the memories and thought that if they ever met again she would be able to feel—well, nothing. It hurt her to know how wrong she had been.
“So Nicky, what did you want to discuss,” asked Katrina.
“Well Apolo has been unhappy with the agent we assigned to him and he would like to make a change,” explained Nicky.
“I thought you had assigned Steve to work with Apolo. He is one of our best field agents.”
“We did, but Apolo insists he be changed before the Olympics begin. I’ve told him that we will have some difficulty switching agents at this point,” Nicky continued, “but Apolo has very definite ideas about how he wants us to handle his management and promotions this time around.”
Katrina looked over at Apolo and found him quietly studying her with a small smile on his lips. Don’t look at his lips, Katrina thought and tried to focus on his eyes.
“So Apolo, what is the problem with Steve?”
“The problem is Steve seems to expect me to do whatever he suggests and I have been unhappy with some of the opportunities he has presented.” Apolo continued, “every time we disagree I have to wait for him to contact your office and get clearance from someone here to rework the agenda. This just isn’t working for me. You know this will be my last Olympics, at least as a skater, and this time I won’t be forced into situations I’m not comfortable with.”
“Well I assume you two have discussed other options.” “How do you suggest we fix this so that you’re comfortable?” Katrina said with just a tiny bit of sarcasm sneaking into her voice.
Nicky, sat leaning one elbow against the arm of his chair with his fingertips pressed against his temple. Katrina knew him well and knew that meant he wasn’t happy.
“Nicky, what is it?” Katrina asked.
“Katrina, Apolo wants you to work directly as his agent. I’ve explained to him that you no longer work in that capacity but he insists. He says he has also convinced the rest of the short track team to use our firm and wants you assigned to handle all the skaters as a group.”
“That’s impossible,” Katrina blurted out. “Even if I were willing to go back to acting as an agent, I couldn’t handle the entire group on my own. Anyway, Apolo, I seem to remember that the last time I worked as your agent you weren’t happy with me either. Didn’t you say I was forcing you into events and situations you didn’t want to be involved with, a lifestyle you didn’t want,” Katrina said bitterly.
Katrina was breathing a little quickly and her face was flushed. Apolo could see that she was upset and his eyes softened as he looked at her.
“I was still young when we last worked together and hadn’t made a lot of my own decisions. I handled things badly, only because I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life going forward. I’m older now and I know what I want to do after the Olympics and that should make our choices regarding promotions and events a lot easier.”
“Apolo, why don’t you let Katrina and I hash out the details and get back to you,” said Nicky. “We will give you a call tomorrow.”
Apolo rose and shook Nicky’s hand. Katrina was so shocked that she stayed planted in her chair. Apolo turned to her, took her hand and said “I’ll talk with you tomorrow Katrina. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Katrina turned in the chair to watch Apolo walk out the door. That had been her last memory of him, watching him walk away. She slumped a little in the chair. She felt like her heart was breaking all over again. She turned back to Nicky.
“Before you say no Katrina, please listen to me. Apolo has basically told us that if you aren’t assigned to him as agent he will cancel our contract and go to another agency. If he does that our reputation for the next round of athletes will suffer. We’ve built him up over the years and you know his star couldn’t be higher than it is now. We need you to do this.”
“Nick, I haven’t been an agent in the field since Apolo had me replaced. How do you expect me to work with him again? Anyway, there is no way I can handle a whole team at once.”
“I’ve given that some thought. We can place several agents to work with the team using you as their supervisor. You can handle Apolo and oversee the handling of the team with the agents reporting directly to you. This way when you are all booking and managing events from the Olympics and afterwards the decisions won’t be delayed by having to get clearance through the office. You would have full control”
“Katrina, you have to do this. Frankly if you refuse and Apolo goes to another agency, the partners will probably have you fired. It won’t matter how good you are at your job if you lose a contract of this size.”
Katrina was stunned. It didn’t matter how long she had been at the company, how much time and effort she put into her job, if she didn’t do this she would be out of work. And what were the chances of her being hired by another management firm once they heard the reason why she was fired.
Just when she thought she had her life under control everything was shattering apart. Apolo seemed to keep walking in and out of her life. She was going to have to find a way to push the past aside and work with Apolo on a strictly businesslike basis. She would be sure that this time she didn’t let herself get hurt.
“Alright, you know I won’t do anything to hurt the firm. We will have to reassign my current projects, review the plans for Apolo’s management and write up plans for the other members of the team,” Katrina said wearily. “I’m calling it a night. How about we start over breakfast tomorrow?”
“Thank you Katrina. I know you don’t want to do this but I also know you will give it your best. Go home and get a good nights rest and I’ll meet you at 8:30 tomorrow.”
Katrina walked out of Nicky’s office and sighed. She was exhausted, depressed and she doubted very much that she would get any sleep tonight.
