"what is this?"

i slam a magazine down on the table in the meeting room, along with three others. each of them have different variations of the same scene on the cover - me and dan at the cafe, smiling nervously through the window. it was only yesterday, but it feels like an event that happened a long time ago.

"isn't it amazing?" carol says, looking confused as to why i'm not ecstatic over this - whatever this was, anyways. "it took a few calls, but i'm glad we could get your faces into the media this quickly!"

i turn to dan, giving him an 'are you serious' face, expecting him to be as mad as i am. but no, he's returned back to his shy, awkward self.

carol turns to him, her smile a little less enthusiastic than it was a few seconds ago. "dan, sweety, you love this, don't you?"

dan's gaze is fixed on the floor, his hands in his pockets. carol and i look at him expectantly.

"i-i mean... it was a nice gesture and all, i just wish w-we'd had some sort of warning. it kind of took me by surprise, especially w-when we saw our faces on every magazine in every store we passed by."

carol nods in understanding - a gesture that i'm almost positive is insincere. "well boys, you're just going to have to get used to how things are done here. this was only step one in a very long, thought out plan."

dan turns to me. "there's a plan?"

"what's step two?" i ask, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"oh, you'll definitely love step two," carol says, rifling through the papers in front of her and handing us a sealed envelope with our names on it. "step two: networking. there's an awards ceremony next month, and we got you two an invitation. there's going to be tons of celebrities there, and all you have to do is make some friends, find people we can use for future connections."

dan nods, turning to face me. "that doesn't sound too bad."

carol smiles. "in the meantime, we're going to be getting you prepared for the awards. etiquette, wardrobe, things like that. is that okay with you, phil?" she asks, turning towards me.

"y-yeah," i say, caught off guard by the question. 

"good." and with that, she gathers her things and walks to the door, her way of ending the brief meeting and dismissing us. before she can open it, i stop her.

"what about the magazines? and the photographers? can you not give us any more surprises like that?"

when she turns around, she has a look of concern on her face that i know is directed towards me. everything carol says is to me, as she know dan will agree to anything. 

"phil, if you couldn't even handle the photographers, i'm afraid you're nowhere near prepared for what's in store for you."

before i can say anything else she rushes out the door, leaving me and dan alone in the empty room.