Chapter 2

"Is Sophie Parker the chief editor of TVZoom?" Nicholas asked incredulously, looking at Ryan Montana, Ian Brown, and Brad Ford, the owners of RIB Editora, which had placed a major bet on the TVZoom magazine.

"Yes... do you know her?" Ian asked, confused, while Brad and Ryan were by her side, more concerned about her health.

"Um... yeah... I do know her, but we hadn't seen each other in many years," Nicholas replied awkwardly.

"She's waking up," Brad observed.

"Sophie, my dear, are you alright? Maybe it's better to see a doctor," Ryan commented, worried.

"No, no... it's not necessary," she assured, getting up with the help of her bosses and adjusting herself. "It was just a sudden drop in blood pressure," she said, meeting the eyes of the person who was the real cause of her fainting spell, staring at her.

"Are you feeling well enough to work? We can always reschedule the meeting," another man, whom she hadn't met yet, suggested, and she saw Nicholas shoot him a look that perfectly conveyed his disapproval of the comment.

"As I said, it was just a drop in blood pressure," she smiled politely. "I came here for a meeting, and we can start it right now."

"Very well, then," the man smiled as well. "William Golden... but you can call me Will," he extended his hand to the girl, who shook it immediately. "Nice to meet you, Miss Parker. I've heard great things about your work."

"Likewise, Will. Please call me Sophie," she replied formally.

"John Brener," another guy she didn't know, younger than the first one and probably around her age, introduced himself. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Sophie replied again, following the protocol. She still didn't exactly know what kind of business RIB had with Will, John, and Nicholas, but there was certainly something, and she was a professional. She knew her employers expected her to behave at least politely, and possibly friendly, in such situations.

"It seems you already know Mr. Pierce?" Ryan chimed in, noticing that Sophie and Nicholas hadn't greeted each other, despite him claiming to know her, and that he had returned to his seat at the head of the table.

"Um... Pierce?" she asked, confused.

"I added my father's surname to my name a few years ago," he explained curtly.

"Your father?" she asked, surprised, but he looked serious, indicating he didn't want to chat about it like two old friends who've just met and are catching up. This wasn't that—it was a business meeting. "Well, that's... great, I presume," she said awkwardly, and he simply nodded in agreement.

"Sophie, we're here because Ryan, Brad, and Ian have signed a contract with Mr. Pierce..." Ryan began, trying to steer the conversation back to business, noticing that the atmosphere between Sophie and Nicholas wasn't great, and pulled out a chair for her. "...to exclusively feature behind-the-scenes content of GHShow's new show on TVZoom."

Sophie wasn't quite sure what Nicholas had to do with GHShow, one of the country's biggest TV networks, and she couldn't dwell on that at the moment. She needed to pay attention to the six men around her who were there to discuss what seemed to be a promising business opportunity for both companies. She took out her iPad from her bag to make notes, as she did in every meeting she attended.

The young woman had stayed in the United States after traveling to her grandmother's sad funeral, specifically to be the chief editor of RIB's new magazine, TVZoom, which focused exclusively on television programs and TV-related celebrities. The invitation had come from RIB's President, Ryan, who had met Sophie in England some time before. She couldn't even consider disappointing one of her greatest idols in journalism.

"Will is the producer of the new show, and John is the director, so they're here to tell us about the program details, so we can plan our coverage, probably on a daily basis," Ian added.

"And Mr. Pierce?" she took the opportunity to ask.

"It's quite clear you've been out of the country for many years..." Brad chuckled at her.

"And not paying much attention to what's been happening around here!" Ryan laughed as well. "Pierce is the major shareholder and president of GHShow, Sophie," he said, and her jaw dropped as Nicholas smiled, satisfied. If he had to deal with that girl he wouldn't wish to have met again, at least it was a good thing that he was on top.

"But I'm not here for that. After all, my role as president has already been fulfilled. We've already signed the contract," he observed.

"That's true. He's here because he conceptualized the program and will also be its star. And maybe only he can answer certain questions that may arise," Will added.

Parker was increasingly surprised and confused, but she chose to let the men talk about the program as planned and only ask something when it was relevant to her role as editor. It didn't matter that the all-powerful Mr. Pierce, the network owner, program ideator, and also the star, was the same person she had met as Nicholas Rosemont when she was thirteen.

"Would you like to talk about the reality show format to Sophie, Nicholas?" John asked, but knowing his friend well, he could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't in the best mood. He decided to go with another option. "Or maybe I should introduce the program myself since I'm better at presenting."

He stood up, starting a PowerPoint presentation on a large TV while everyone watched and a secretary appeared, dimming the lights, and a server offered coffee and water to the attendees.

"Well, the program aims to find a future wife for a bachelor who's tired of his inconvenient single status... despite my attempts to dissuade him, I must say," he joked, but couldn't help noticing that Nicholas wasn't finding anything amusing, which honestly worried him, but there was nothing he could do about it now. "As everyone already knows, the bachelor is Nicholas Rosemont Pierce, and fourteen girls will make up the rest of the cast. The girls will be chosen in the first episode during a cocktail party, where fifty pre-selected women will be present, and he'll be able to talk to them