We will meet again

Chapter 21

The elevator ride to the 15th floor felt like an eternity. What did Simon have to do with that job offer? Why should he be in need of a choreographer? Too many questions and an incredibly impatient Aly was a bad combination.

When the elevator stopped I stormed out and towards Simon's secretary who was busy doing crosswords at her front desk.

"Hi. I'm here for a meeting with Mr. Cowell." I kept my gaze on the heavy mahogany door.

"Aly, why the rush? You're not meeting Simon right away. Just Martin, the guy who emailed you." Becky said out of breath.

The front desk lady cleared her throat and pointed to the door. "Miss Miller you may now enter."

I entered Simon's office to find a guy, probably this Martin, sitting on his desk. He looked up and shot me a million dollar smile. He stood up and came over to me.

"You must be Aly." He shook my hand. "I'm Martin. Simon's PR assistant. I emailed you on behalf of Simon." He said and pointed to one of the two couches in the back of the room.

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you. So I guess Simon won't be around?" If he was the one who wanted to hire me he could at least attend the meeting.

"Oh no, he's on his way. Just got held up at the airport. He should be here very soon." 

Why was that guy making such a big deal out of this meeting? He might as well just tell me what it is they want to hire me for so I can go back to Harry's house, pack my bags and head back to the airport. I was already done with London.

Just as I was about to ask him if he knew what that ominous job was all about, the door flung open and in came Simon, totally unaware of my presence.

"Simon, there you are! We've been waiting for you." Martin said and that's when Simon turned around to see the other person who was in his office.

"Aly!" He walked towards me and hugged me. Needless to say I was more than confused. I only met him once, more than a year ago. Why was he so affectionate?

"Mr. Cowell..." I stammered.

"Call me Simon. Tell me, how was the flight? Did you fly in yesterday?" 

"I flew in this morning." I said slightly confused. Did we really have time for chitchat?

"So, what have you been up to since the X Factor job? Anything exciting?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "A lot of exciting things actually, but I still don't know what I'm here for." I answered and Martin chuckled. 

"Ok, I see you're eager to find out why you're here so I won't put you off any longer."

I sat up straight on the couch and put my poker face on. Whatever this offer was about, judging from Simon's face, it must be an extremely good one.

"We're setting up a UK & Ireland promo tour for one of our bands. A girl group, they actually won the X Factor last year. Little Mix. You may have heard of them." He asked.

I shook my head no.

"Anyway. I want this to be big. I want this to be a success and that's why I'm looking for the best people who'll work with me. Your job, if you accept, is to be their dance coach during rehearsals here in London AAAAAND also be with them on their promo tour. Aly, it may sound like an awful lot of responsibility but I've been following your career and I know you're capable of doing a good job on this. And it is a great opportunity too. Not many choreographers your age can say they ever got an offer as remotely big as this. Now, I know this is all too much. Martin here will give you some material, tour dates, X Factor footage and some song samples and you will have a good look at it, sleep on it and you will come back here tomorrow, same time and hopefully say yes to this offer." Simon concluded and smiled.