EVA (Aviva and Changeling)
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Solos =&gt; Topic started by: Aviva on 17-07-2011, 01:47:42</h2>
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				Title: <strong>EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>17-07-2011, 01:47:42</strong>
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				Eva stared at her reflection as she gradually applied the pale pink lipstick to her upper lip. Her mouth opened into a large o as her hand moved slowly to make sure the application went perfectly. She currently wore a elegant pair of dark purple panties and matching bra which was covered by a simple black skirt that flared out at her knees but was cinched at the waist. She had a soft, woolen, pale cream top that came down to her mid arms. A matching jacket to the skirt hung on the door behind her. The reflection of her bathroom revealed the perfection and neatness of the medium sized room. She wore a natural pair of tights and low heeled smart shoe that made her just one and have inch taller than her five foot six frame.&nbsp; She had shoulder length pale brown hair that fell about her head in soft feminine layers.&nbsp; Her make up was light, natural and done perfectly, a light golden powder gently soothed over her eyebrows, alight blush touching her cheeks enhancing her cheek bones. <br><br>Once the application of the lipstick was done to her liking sheplaced the small tube in the dark blue purse she would use for the night next to a large black folder with the name Hol Scoble in the top right hand corner. As her gaze fell on the name she gave a reluctant have a smile. She was set to meet with him and his partners and associates in less than one hour. Her company and several others having been invited to a professional party to try and bid for his business. It was cheeky and daring all the same time. Most other businesses would have dealt with the bidding in private, this made it savage, brutal and blatant on who would secure his contract. Eva had to be sure it was her and her company that obtained that magical piece of paper. Brushing gentle fingers through her hair she then selected a simple set of single pearl earring andpressed them into place only moments before pulling on her jacket.<br><br>Only a few minutes later herself, herpurse and her folder were in the back of a yellow cab and on her way to Mr Scoble's offices where theparty was being held. She could imagine most of the women appearing in party dresses and she hoped they did. Severalwould be overly done with their make up and while Eva was not a bitchy female she did make it clear that in her line of business she felt no compassion for the so to speak enemy.&nbsp; She tapped her finger nails against the folder as the cab came to a crawl. Her thirty year old body feeling more alive than it had for a while. She had been preparing for this evening for the last six weeks and she hoped tonight would be the first night she would take those final few steps in her plans. <br><br>Eva had worked her way up from a lowly university graduate with nothing more than a few degrees in her mind and a few coins in her purse. She was hired by a man named Harrison Job when sheappeared for a interview at Dark Half advertising. A company that due to it's small statue at the time would take on any job it could and find ways to appease any that risked using them including adverts that would be seen by those that had a multi layered andoften hidden nature.<br><br>She moved in with a coworker and university friend Hannah, who later on when she got married due to Eva introducing her to Albert who she knew from art school. The pair unlucky in love until they had found each other, on their marriage Hannah left her the house they had lived in together for five years. She remembered the night that house had truly become her own and nothing until that point had pleased her more. She turned her gaze out of the window, her smile broadening as she began to recognise the streets despite the dimlylit stretches of land. She remembered the two years later when Hannah had begged to God to give her the ability to nurture a child in her womb. Eva offered her help once more and after two weeks of her aid Hannah found out one month later she was expecting her first of three babies. Each of them now Eva's god children. <br><br>Each of those moments and many others had led to this one but even know she knew she had to be careful, nothing was certain and humans were certainly fickle. She paid the cab driver her cab fare silently and got out in almost seemingly two smooth move. She approached the large glass door and smiled to the door man who opened it for her with a welcoming grin. "Welcome Ma'am, please make yourself know at the reception desk and someone shall have you upstairs as soon as possible. <br><br>She nodded to him in return and strode into the large reception room. Her skirt lightly bouncing around her knees to reveal a gentle curve of her calf as she approached the always clustered desk. Perhaps tonight would be the first night of many more. <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>18-07-2011, 18:42:07</strong>
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				Hol woke up, the stewardess tapped him gently on the shoulder. He had slept through the flight from New York to London on his private jet. It helped that he had a decent size bed on his plane in a very quiet cabin. The globe traveling lifestyle meant that he lived mostly out of suitcase, and the plane was his real home. Hol took a shower in the plane bathroom, and dressed in the dark grey hand stitched Italian suit. He spent a moment deciding between two different ties, and then eventually settled on the dark purple tie. He was just ready in time for the descent to start, and buckled himself into the seat as pilot turned on the seatbelt sign.<br><br>Hol always had a cushy life. There was no reason to not have one. After all he was the only son of the famous entrepreneur Dave Scoble. Dave started off as a pastor in a little known town in middle of America. To the ordinary eye, he was just a preacher, none too impressive at that. But the key difference was that he had realized how faith held an intense hold over the followers. And it was this hold, that would become the cornerstone of his business.<br><br>It all started when he started teaching holistic way to life to his followers. Adding exotic eastern concepts to his core teachings, he was able to attract a following which had turned away from the traditional religion. Slowly the people who used to come to listen to him for preaching, started buying the whole foods he sold. The mix of health and faith proved to be a winner, and thus ' Wellness Springs' was born.<br><br>What had started as a small garage operation grew into a multi billion dollar business in two decades mainly on basis of appeal that Dave held to his followers. And his legion of followers grew by leaps and bonds. While he was the public face of the company, the operations had slowly passed to a trusted circle of lieutenants. Dave was happy to evangelize the holistic lifestyle to public, and his family.<br><br>Hol grew under the watchful eyes of his father. He only knew the world that his father wanted him to see, he was home schooled to prevent any bad influences. He was raised to be the ideal example of his fathers philosophy. Being born and raised in a bubble, he never knew what existed outside his boundaries. The cushy life had provided enough of cushion that he never felt like venturing out to explore the world. Not that his father and his cohorts would have allowed him.<br><br>Hol grew up to be a striking young man. He was a strapping six footer, lean muscle constituted majority of his body. His grey eyes were his most distinctive feature on his face. All in all a very impressive looking young man. No one could ever guess that he had never been with a girl. He was merely thirteen when his father had caught him kissing a girl. The indoctrination that began him at that age that totally rendered him asexual. He never felt the urges that young boys felt, like a portion of his young mind had been switched off.<br><br>It was only two years ago, that his father passed away. Approaching his thirtieth birthday, he was the CEO of one of the fastest growing companies in the world. He was a mystery man to most of the world, but the real mystery that no one knew was that he was mostly a figurehead. The real power was in hands of some other people.<br><br>He was flying here to pick up the advertising agency for their first foray in Europe. It was a wild idea cooked up by one of the executives to have all of the short listed companies pitch them in public. Hol had gone through all the bids, and two in particular interested him, Roslyn and Dorf.<br><br>Hol walked into the room to take his seat. It was already filled with representatives of companies, and he motioned his assistant to start the proceedings
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>19-07-2011, 22:24:47</strong>
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				She walked in the receptionroom and stood in one corner while her gaze roamed over those that were set against her. Some of the women had as she expected arrived as if they had been invited to a party for a ward or simply a charity event. She noticed some came in anklelength dresses and tiny purses with no folders from what she could see. A mere handful of other women seemed to have the same gameplan as herself. They had arrived in casual but smart dress wear, had their folders and looked ready to kill those that looked at them wrong. Unsurprisingly. This was a huge account, the deal if securedwould set the company up for at least five years and if they produced the goods , other companies would snap them up from Hol Scobble's word.<br><br>Word has come that he already had a couple of companies in mind, too many grapevines having uttered the same words to make them false. Eva looked over to Roslyn Rosen as she entered the room. She came in dressed in a white trouser suite and with two co workers, both male and both dressed in contrasting black suites.Eva could only wince slightly as before Roslyn had even sat down she was already being approached by one of the receptionists to be taken upstairs. That was a good as sign as any that she certainly had a high chance of taking theprize. Without truly considering her actions Eva rose from her seat while the receptionists were busy registering a new load of representatives that were arriving, those that were coming down stairs from already taking a load up and those gathered with Roslyn. Eva could take some peace that Roslyn had not been taken upstairs alone. If she had, that would of been a sign that the deal was already set and won.<br><br>Waiting until no one was watching her she approached the stairs entrance, holding the door open for a maid who was dressed in black trousers and a delicate looking white top, the only indication of her job being the little badge on her left breast. Eva thenfollowed the woman upstairs. She knew which floor and part of the building this meeting was from the invitation. She knew she would have to walk all the way up which took her several minutes but despite the exertion no bead of sweat showed norwas she out of breath. She could hear the faint tunes of what seemed to be Mozart playing though music was not one of her excelling points.<br><br>She approached the door and opened itslowly, though she entered as if she belonged there there and then. She stood to her full height and walked proudly even though no receptionist followed beside her or ahead of her.
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>28-07-2011, 06:30:47</strong>
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				Hol had settled comfortable in the conference room, and the assistants had asked the top three bidders to join them in the room. He spent some time going through the executive summaries of their bids. All were in the same ballpark, just small differences separately them. The bids were prepared very professionally, but something was lacking. There was no personality in them, just boilerplate corporate jargon, even the good numbers could not mask that. <br><br>Hol sighed a bit, he had expected better. It did not inspire much confidence, if the bidders were not even willing to put in extra effort. He looked at the feed of camera's coming in from the hallway. He was surprised to see that representatives of all the top three companies were women.<br><br>"We have come a long way towards gender equality", he thought to himself.<br><br>He was about to turn his attention back to the screen in room, when he saw another women emerge from the door at end of the hallway. She was alone, no one was escorting her. <br><br>"Who is she?", he wondered.<br><br>There was something different about her, the confidence in her walk, the grace in her movement, he could not pinpoint it, but she had an supreme air about her. He called one of his assitants and asked him to check on her. <br><br>"Let her in, if she is one of the bidders".<br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>28-07-2011, 09:47:21</strong>
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				Her gaze drifted over the crowd that mingled and battled in a broad circle around her. Some were exchanging ideas already, others were using the information sheets weekly if not daily received on the public opinion of their adverts. The business was ruthless, cut throat and Eva enjoyed it. She could hear low music meant to keep those that kept themselves to themselves entertained. A long buffet was being served to those who would remain their time here enjoying being able to take as much as they could. <br><br>For a moment as she caught the sight of one of the escort's coming towards her she wondered if she would be ordered to go back downstairs. Instead the woman nervously asked if she was alright and what she was doing here."I am Miss Eva Stone, I am also bidder number." She glanced at the little sheet she had been given though she remembered it. "453." Her tone blunt and business like making the woman nod rather than utter before pointing towards a closed off corridor."Mr Scobble will see you now." Eva's gaze locked on thelittle door now and a smile bloomed across herpale rose lips. If she had caught his attention then obviously those whispered favourites had either not been seen or had miserably failed.&nbsp; Either way this was certainly a help she had not expected but she would use to her advantage all the same.<br><br>The female opened the corridor door and pointed to the only door that was slightly ajar. She couldfeel the intense gaze of several cameras suddenly upon her but she pretended they were not there. "Thank you." She spoke gently to the woman before with confidence entering through the open door. Her gaze took in the small line of men at the long table. Though she could sense tension so she thought in the air her attention centred on the man who's face matched the small picture she had in her file. The picture itself in fact had done little to boost him up the top one hundred sexy males of the world. Obviously they were used to bad advertising and publicity. The two others and each side of him were older, far more seemingly reserved so she for now gave them a curtsy nod as she offered her hand to Hol Scobble. "Good evening Mr Scobble, I hope this affair has not disappointed you so far. My name is Miss Eva Stone and I represent Dark Half advertising. I have portfolio for you so you can see our previous work and the comments our clients have given with them. I also have three references from our clients some of which have been with us ten years and then if that helps your need to know if we can do the job I shall show you what I came up with for your expanding company."<br><br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>31-07-2011, 19:58:43</strong>
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				Hol looked up from the screen at the confident female, as she entered the room. He had been through the briefs of other companies, but there was nothing interesting so far. The numbers were definately better than all other bidders, but excitement was missing.<br><br>He offer his hand to her, and the handshake was suprisingly confident, not the limp hand that most women offered. He listened to her introduce herself. <br><br>"Dark Half", he remembered the name, he had seen their bid while perusing through the briefs earlier. The bid had been rejected by his staff in the preliminary review, because of some of the racy stuff they had done in past. But the name had stuck in his mind, it was different, no body will name their ad agency like that. It almost hinted to a darker devilish side, and that was not good for his business. He instantly knew even if she had a great idea, it was going to be a tough sell to others in his company.<br><br>"Thats sounds great", he responded. " I am more interested in what you have planned for our entry in your country". <br><br>Hol took back his seat, giving Eva the stage to show her plans for his company.
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>31-07-2011, 22:23:50</strong>
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				Eva knew with his cool response to hearing her company name that this was going to be a hard sell. In fact probably impossible but that did not deter her. She realized that if he managed to sell it to him that was not enough. The men at his flanks had without knowing facially reacted to the name as well. One sneered slightly and the other had revealed a tic in his eye. <br><br>She slid the three copies of the portfolio to each man and then stepped back, taking out of her folder a small compact disc. "First of all I wouldlike to say that all of this was done above board and legal. No contracts were broken in the creation of this andplease ignore the model that appears in the middle of the advert the one we wished to use called in sick on the day so we had to use a replacement on short notice. <br><br>She slipped the disc into the dvd player and picked up the remote. Pointing it to the dvd player the light flashed and suddenly on the television screen in front of them there was a grey haze that would look like thick clouds.The clouds were heavy and hinted at heavy rain mostlikely a thunderstorm. A woman's voice confident and assured sounded from the speakers before a five second film of a woman drunk on the floor appeared. "I sought peace of mind by driving myself into hell." The next voice was a masculine and thick yet again the voice sounded certain and happy. "I tried every pill to try and ease my heart after my daughters death...." On screen for another five seconds appeared a man probably the owner of the male voice only seconds before he was sat in a corner of a room shaking a selection of capsules in front of him in a arc.&nbsp; The storm cloud returned on the screen as another voice filled the room, this one was African American. "I used to think weed would bring me calm and peace...I did not know then how wrong I was." Seconds later the woman appeared, smiling lips wrapped around a reefer but that smile did not reach her eyes at all.&nbsp; It was then that Eva herself appeared in the screen, behind her in silence played visual foot age of as Hol would recognise teachers and mentors at his spiritual home as it were. "Peace of mind only comes with peace of the soul." Eva rapidly disappeared from the screen. Her face contorted slightly obviously disliking her own image up there.&nbsp; The dark cloud was suddenly broken through by sun shower and a warm shower. Another film filled the screen this time. The woman that filled the screen next was in fact the first person in the start of the showing. She was clean, smartly dressed, she was sober, her skin radiating a glow that alcohol could not and her eyes were warm. "I found peace of the heart with the aid of Dave Scoble and Wellness Springs." The second to appear was the man who had been takingpills, his old picture and the new man rested side by side. "I found health of body with help of Wellness Springs." The man was like the woman afore, smiling broadly, his skin now a healthy colour, his eyes bright and normally sized.&nbsp; In the next was the African American woman. She wore a lovely red dress that came down to her ankles, her eyes smiling for once. "It was hard work finding faith...finding peace of the soul finding belief in a element far stronger than anything found on earth. but help can be found at Wellness Springs."<br><br>Eva pressed stop on the dvd player and turned to the three men. The video had not been light or airy fairy as some might of been. Instead it was based in reality, showing the truth of howpeople tried to find peace in many dangerous ways. Now she realised she had to deal with theproblem of what her company did.<br><br>"I know you may question whether we are the right company to go with, especially with the contradictory natures our business have but I think that I have three points for you to consider before making a decision. Firstly you can not ignore the demons and hope they go away. If you want to reach the public here you have to know what burdens them and be open about it. Secondly if the company I run which I will admit is not scared to deal with the darker side of human nature can believe enough in this company to advertise then you will be making two statements about your business while only voicing one at the time. We showed this advert to friends and families of those that were in it and after wards each of them went to Wellness Spring website to find out more information. They could see the change int heir loved ones more drastically than they had in the time that had passed for one to go from one weakness and find their strengths, which your campany helped in. All of them did go to Wellness Springs for help, advice and leading. Nothing has been falsified and you will find the details of each of these people and their families on the last page in the portfolios I gave you. Thank you for your time. I shall nowlet you get on with your task." She approached the table once more to pick up her folder and shake her hand with each of them this time.
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>02-08-2011, 19:22:33</strong>
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				Hol was impressed by her confident mannerisms as she introduced herself and her company to them. There was something he could not place thought, a certain sense of aloofness in her. There was something different which separated her from the other people who had presented before.<br><br>Soon his thoughts were taken over by the video she was playing. It was a long form ad, not like the 30 second spots that other guys had played before. Hol had a feeling that this will suit their business much better than a wham bam quick ad. The video touched all the right points, bringing out the pain that humanity was suffering. But when the world was being engulfed by dark clouds, there was Wellness Springs, providing light. <br><br>It did look a tad manipulative to him, but that was the business they were in. There was always a fine line between being outright manipulative and tugging at the right emotions, and this ad definitely was flirting with the thin line. <br><br>Hol was still struggling with his thoughts, when Eva closed the presentation with an effective monologue. Especially her point about confronting your demons struck with her. None of the competition had bought up this point. The bubbly frothy stuff presented by other folks sure looked happier on screen, but that will not reach their audience. This was what they needed.<br><br>He looked around at his team. People seemed a little more receptive than before, but he knew they needed more convincing.<br><br>" Thank you Miss Eva", he said as shook hands with everyone and was about to leave.<br><br>" It was one of the more interesting presentations today", he paused for a while. " We are very interested in the online component of our business. By when you can give us a presentation on that component of your strategy. Also you will have access to everybody's numbers as well. We would like to see some competitive numbers from you."
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>03-08-2011, 03:12:35</strong>
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				She smiled to Hol Scobble slightly. "I forgot to mention in the folder is a disc which shall show you the advert again if you wish to scrutinize it more closely. It also has a second disc which shall contains a small website that we would create should you pick us. There is also a few ideas for news paper and magazine adverts in there."<br><br>She took a step back and a amused nod. "If I understand the procedure of the party tonight you shall know mayhaps only a few minutes before myself as to how well the advert itself will do but if you wish me to come back once I have the numbers and discuss matters further then I am at your beck and call until you reach your decision."<br><br>She knew it was a long shot but his compliment had her hopeful, She even had the curtesy to force a innocent blush to cross her cheeks. "I am glad it struck a cord in you Mr Scobble."<br><br>With a brief nod she turned and walked from the room, she did not look back nor did she appear to be wasting time in seeking food should they have observed the cameras at all. She walked to the bar and ordered what appeared to be a lemonade and lime with extra ice while she reached into her purse and pulled out a small mobile phone.<br><br>She hoped she did not have to wait long. She had been informed that in another part of the building or possibly else where to prevent tampering a collection of people possibly in the thousands were being paid to sit and watch each advert brought in and then give their rating. Whether that was utter truth or mere garbage no one had been willing or able to confirm. The dice though was being rolled and she was glad she had not waited until her invitation was given.
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>04-08-2011, 00:13:17</strong>
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				Hol nodded a 'Thank you' to Eva as she delivered her final words and left the room. He had found her presentation to be most interesting, and innovative. He asked his assistant to pop in the disc for the website and walk every body through it.<br><br>The ad had raised his hopes, and he assumed that the website will be a blowout too. This could be a great opportunity to convince others to his side, because none of the competitors had bothered to come out with a web strategy.<br><br>The demo website turned out to be as great as the ad. The page layout was neat and clean with soothing colors, explanatory text, and most importantly very clear call to action. Hol was impressed by their vision, and as expected the rest of the team was also. Most of younger staff were vocally in favor of Eva's campaign. <br><br>The discussion was long and protracted, bit one thing emerged clearly from it. Eva's agency was the winner creatively, only issue standing in front of it was the higher rates. If Hol could have taken the decision alone, he would have paid the premium, but no convincing www enough for the two older stalwarts, Harry and Teddy. Hol tried his best to convince them, but to no avail.<br><br>He wanted to get Dark half to do their campaign, but it will depend on their ability to lose their numbers. At least Eva seemed very reasonable to him. He adjourned the meeting for half an hour, and told everyone that they will take a decision after the break. <br><br>He went back to his office and grabbed a glass of hot milk. In his eyes, there was only one winner in the whole crowd. But how to make sure, the winner really wins?<br><br>It was a small breakdown from protocol, but he called in his assistant and ordered her to get Eva to meet him. He was going to help her just a little.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>09-08-2011, 15:56:33</strong>
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				Hours had passed since she had left the room. Eva had been casually watching each bidder walk in and out of the same door as she had done. The night had grown from loud and boisterous to at one point having loud rock music fill the room. Eva could not be sure how much of that was purposeful or simply timing. Then gradually it had become quieter and quieter. People began to loose interest and near midnight to one am some had started to leave. If they had won they would happily answer a call from the comfort of their beds rather than remain with the vultures. Eva herself preferred getting the news face to face. She drank her twelth lemonade when the female assistant approached her claiming she had a phone&nbsp; call. Eva glanced at her phone more used to being called on that than by any other means. She had not missed a text nor a call but she followed the woman none theless. Expecting her to lead her to the bar she was mildly surprised when thewoman led her tot he elevator and up three floors. "Your call is in that room." The assistant stated before leaving her to it in the long corridor. The door had a name on though she took no interest in it and walked in, obviously it was a business room they were using for such emergencies rather than having people travel all over the hotel to answer the calls.<br><br>When she opened the door she found Mr Scobble stood in the middle of the room. Raising a eyebrow slightly Eva walked in and kept the smile from her face, keeping that surprised look in place. "My apologies Mr Scobble, the assistant must of directed me to the wrong room."<br><br>She was quite sure that was not the case but she was not going to appear over confident in front of him. 
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>09-08-2011, 22:55:17</strong>
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				"No, it is not a mistake. I wanted to see you. Please have a seat."<br><br>He worded it as professionally as possible, les it be misconstrued from something else. She still has that quietly confident look on her face. Though he had already spent sometime listening to her, that look knocked the socks out of him, everytime he put his eyes on her.<br><br>"I will get straight to the point. This is strictly confidential, no one should get to know that this meeting took place", he paused for emphasis.<br><br>"I believe that your pitch was the best out of all the competitors and you should be awarded the contract", he was looking straight into her eyes. There was a look of sincerity on his face. Though what he was doing was underhanded, it was for the best of his company.<br><br>"But I cannot approve this on my own. According to our bylaws we need majority approval from our operating council. There are two other members, Paul and Harry. The major stumbling blocks are your cost quotes and the past history of your company."<br><br>Hol pushed a paper envelope over the table to her side.<br><br>" These are the numbers from the other top contender. If you can beat these and convince the other members to ignore the past campaigns of your company, the contract is yours."<br><br>He again paused for a while. " I am not sure how you will do this, but seem to have the confidence", he smiled at her lightly. " If you will like, my assistant can setup the meetings with other guys."
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				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>09-08-2011, 23:52:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She raised one eyebrow slightly in surprise to him but none the less she sat down on the seat. She listened to him quietly and nodded her head once to show she understood his point. <br><br>She allowed him to speak freely without interuption. Her hand rose and settled on the envelope , her fingers brushing against his briefly but she did not take the envelope. Instead she left it on the table. Her gaze drifted down to it and a look of temptation crossed her eyes. She seemed to quarrel with herself. <br><br>Despite such she shook her head and then smiled. "I shall admit I am tempted to take a peek but the details is not mine to peek at. I may be able to negotiate a cut in the costs but not by much more than five percent. You wish to haggle then feel free to do so. Arrange a meeting between the top contender and your men and then myself and you three. I shall have all the details within the hour. If I am going to get this contract I wish it to be done fairly."<br><br>She tilted her head to the side a moment."I would not be able to try and ask them to forget the campaigns done previously and then cheat to win the contract."<br><br>She rose to her feet andoffered her hand. "Thank you but this is not the way I would wish to win this. I have my arguments in place ready when you are. I am sure you shall be able to find me when everything is in place on your side."<br><br>Once their hands were shook she left him to arrange his business. A smileforming on her lips. She knew he was a honest man and she hoped he refusal of his offer would work in her favour.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 02:28:22</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol took a deep breath and shook her hand. He was annoyed by her reaction, but did not want to show it to her. He had gone out of his way to help her, but she had just rejected it out of hand. He was having his own self doubts, if it was worth all the trouble. He would not have done all this, if it was possible to win this fairly. He took the envelope and shredded its contents.<br><br>He felt somewhat belittled by her attitude. The preaching of fairness values did not go down well with him, especially coming from the ad agency, that was betting on exploiting human emotions to make money. Atleast that was what his company did, if you took off all the veneer from it.<br><br>He thought of calling his assistant, and ask her to deliver the message to Eva, that her bid had had been rejected. He almost made the call, but something stopped him. He was still seething with anger, she had shot him down in two curt sentences. At least she should hear the refusal straight from the horse's mouth. There was a reason he was trying this underhanded approach.<br><br>Hol called his assistant and asked her to schedule an immediate meeting between him, Paul and Harry, and get Miss Eva to give her final bid. He wanted to see the look on her face, when he offer was rejected out of hand by those surly old men, just like his offer had been rejected. <br><br>Even though he was CEO of Wellness Springs and knew she had acted out of genuine honesty, he was not above these petty human traits.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 09:19:52</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Eva found a quiet corner as soon as she had left the room, moving back down to the party. Making two swift phone calls she only felt a shiver of relief. So far her advert had been gaining the most reaction by a two percent margin but even with the five percent discount on costs it would be a close call for Wellness Springs to actually see that small margin make the agreement worth while. She was also unsure her honesty had won or lost Hol Scobble's support. She bought a single vodka and coke with extra ice as she waited.<br><br>The only sign of nervousness showing being the fact that she tapped her nails gently on the bar and swirled the ice around in her glass with the mixer. Had her honesty gone over wrong? She had learned humans could be petty and prideful in particular males but the chips had already dropped. Right or wrong, gain or lost she would not regret refusing that envelope. If she had she could of lost far much more than one contract.<br><br>She saw what she felt to be her biggest rival slip down the corridor and into the interview room. ice seemed to roll down her throat when minutes later the woman emerged. No look of victory across her face. The woman's teeth practically bared at Eva but as Eva was approached by the assistant exactly one hour after she had left Hol Scobble she chewed her bottom lip gently.<br><br>Before the door had even closed fully Eva was already attempting to press her bid. The longer it took, the tireder they got and the harder it would be to make the sell.<br><br>"Nice to see you three gentlemen again. I hope the time has been pleasant enough for you to be able to look over the other details I gave you."<br><br>One of the older gentleman nodded their head slightly and began to speak. "Time certainly did and while we are in agreement that your bid certainly is the most thought out and would reach the audience we are aiming for the costs itself would be far higher than the other bids due to advert length."<br><br>Eva nodded her head slightly that smile back on her face. "I have been doing some research in the time we saw each other also and I have been able to reduce your costs by approximately seven percent but that would be the maximum. As a business I am sure you understand we can not afford to work beyond what we earn or we would not have survived this long."<br><br>The two men nodded their heads gently. "Your advert only gained a two percent higher rating than our other nearest bidder do you think you could increase that percentage?" Eva nodded her head gently. "That I do. This advert is based on what we know at the moment about you, they can be changed if you wish though I would suggest you do not .&nbsp; If the advert reached more people on any level then it is worth it and is doing what you wish it to do.&nbsp; You wish company to reach people and it is, I wonder if you look more closely at those numbers would you notice a pattern to reveal that the advert is reaching those that actually need the help rather than those who are hoping to see a advert they see every twenty seconds telling them how easy it is to be mentally and spiritually well. It is as hard as hell for many in this country to fight their way back from depression, from giving up hope after being destroyed time and time again after loss or not being able to have children, losing children. Those that genuinely seek help are not looking for a instant cure in a bottle they are looking for genuine help not airy fairy promises that would put many off as they have seen it time and time again."<br><br>Silence filled the room once more. "As you know we are a little cautious with your bid&nbsp; because of some of the work you have done in the past, we do not wish to be tarred with a brush that suggests on the side we are stripping down and being caned for a hobby."<br><br>The barest flicker of a smile crept into Eva's eyes and quickly faded from view. "The sins of the father...." She said quietly but clearly. "If you go over the last few years work you shall notice we have reduced our work in those areas but we have not removed it utterly. Humans are animals, they have desires I am paid to cater for just as you are humans that desire to help people if I won this contract that would be what I wish to strife and do.&nbsp; You would also found our adverts would reach those that do enjoy such due to inner pain and they could come to your company for help, you offering this bid to my company would show your open mindedness to those in such situations. Show they are just as accepted as the mother who works nine to five and considers pain to be being accidentally nipped too hard by her husband during sex. As I stated before the demons won't go away because you ignore them. They only gain more power because you ignore them. That extra two percent margin could reach hundred of thousands more than the nearest advert you said yourself. You wish to help people, those numbers should speak loudly enough for themselves."<br><br>She finished her speech and waited patiently, merely having to follow the exchange of glances. Her gaze finally resting on Hol Scobbles eyes. <em>"If he believes that my advert is going to reach the most people will he let the people down for being honest?"</em> The thought crossed her mind unspoken.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 18:09:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol was so angered by his meeting with Eva, that he could not concentrate on whatever the female from the other company was saying in her final presentation. He had never been shot down by a women before, though he did not realize that most of women he interacted with were his employees, and they will not go against his ideas for fear of losing their job. He could see the other guys responding positively to the points being made the presenter, but his mind was lost somewhere else. At end of the meeting, Paul and Harry were in mood to cancel the last presentation by Dark Half, and just award the contract to the current bidder. Uncharacteristically, Hol snapped back at them, ripping apart the ads show by the current company. He poured out all his anger from the previous meeting on the hapless ads shown by this company.<br><br>With Paul and Harry, still reeling from his onslaught, he asked his assistant to call Eva for the presentation. He was feeling surprisingly light weight after his outburst. His anger started melting away further after Eva entered the room with same confidence and smile on her face.<br><br>Hol was mostly quiet in the presentation, letting Paul and Harry question her. After all he was already sold, and those were the guys who needed to be convinced.<br><br>The point she made about reaching the right set of people was something no one else had made. Most of them were targeting the generic demograph, but targeting the right set of people was what was important for them. After all they were not selling some breakfast cereal, it was the people in emotional turmoil that needed their help. He looked deeper into the target audience test reports and she was right. The ads tested just two percent better with general population, but they tested upto fifteen percent better with people who had seen a psychiatrist in last two years. That was a very important point everyone had missed before. He circled the statistic on report, and passed it to Paul and Harry.<br><br>Hol listened to rest of her presentation, and the interesting discussion about their past work. He knew it won't be hard to convince them now, based on the selective testing numbers.<br><br>Hol saw her looking at him, after the end of presentation. He smiled back at her.<br><br>"Miss Eva, can you please wait outside for few minutes. We will make the final decision in few minutes and let you know", he said with a warm smile. He did not even remember he was seething with anger a few minutes ago.<br><br>As he had hoped, the new discovery had turned the tide in favor of Dark Half. Only issue was the past work, but Hol turned it around with a new spin.<br><br>"It is actually an advantage for us. These guys know a lot about a group of people who are deep in depravity, and need our help. We can actually reach out to them using the knowledge these guys have".<br><br>Thats reasoning was enough to seal the deal for them. He thanked both Paul and Harry for the long day, and told them he will convey the decision.<br><br>Hol took a long deep breath, it had been a long day. He asked his assistant to let Miss Eva in.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 18:33:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She had nodded her head to Hol Scobble before leaving the room quickly. Her heels tapping the floor lightly along the corridor and she closed the door behind her. Hol Scobble's smile had been reassuring but she was not going to place all her eggs in one look. He could still plan to bring her crashing down because of a female refusal. She glanced at the nearly empty room now. A group of hotel staff had already began theprocess of cleaning up and only a handful of the hundreds of bidders that had arrived wereleft. She lightly tapped her chin thoughtfully until she heard the door open behind her. The woman ushered her in one more time. "<em></em>Well this is it."She thought to herself, it was make or break time.<br><br>She could not this time hide the surprise on her face as she entered the room to find only Hol Scobble present. <em>"Well this is not a good sign."</em> She thought to herself as she recalled the fact it took a majority vote for the contract to be cast. Surely all three of them would be here if she won the bid? None the less she approached his table one more time. Her foot steps onlypausing a moment in caution. "Before you give me the news please let me say thank you for your patience and time. I may have pushed my luck."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 19:05:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol noticed the surprised look on her face. He smiled a little enjoying the fact that this was the first time he had seem something else apart for the ultra confident look on her face. After all, she was human.<br><br>"No, thank you for taking the time to come up with the best plan of the day. And saving my faith in the ad industry", he smiled again at her, as he got up from his chair. Hol walked over the the cabinet to the side, and poured two glasses of wine.<br><br>He came back to her and offered her a glass. " You did push your luck a little, but I should have never pushed you into that situation. This is for the long day, and our partnership in future. The contract is yours", he smiled warmly at her handing her glass.<br><br>"We have a lot of work ahead, but lets take a moment to savor the success".
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 19:18:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She tilted her head to the side curiously as he rose from the table andmoved away from her. She watched him starting to open the bottle of wine and pouring the bubbling liquid into the pair of glasses. "Well I can merely hope that I continue to keep your faith in the ad industry. We have not all sold our souls." She accepted the glass of wine with a nod of the head and a broad smile as he informed her on the victory of the bidding. Unlike some who may have squealed with excitement she brought the glass up to meet his in a toast. "I would of made the same decision time and time again.&nbsp; Though I was extremely tempted I have to admit. To out partnership, may it be a fulfilling and healing time."<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 19:35:10</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				His glass touched her and he took a sip of the wine. The confident look was back on her face, as it glowed in the victory. Hol was very impressed with her poise, even after such a huge win. He took another sip, and motioned her to take a seat, and then walked back to his chair.<br><br>"The joy of winning something fair and square is something else", he concurred with her last statement. He was feeling a little ashamed of himself for having tried that tactic. He should have kept faith in her abilities to convince everyone of their value. But anyways it was in the past and he did not want to dwell on that.<br><br>"We will have our lawyers draw up the contract tommorow."<br><br>He took another sip of the wine, and thought a bit about the topic creeping into his mind. He was not sure if it was an appropriate thing to bring up. He mulled over it for a moment, and decided it should be fine as long as it related to their business.<br><br>"Eva, there was a lot of talk about some of the past work you guys have done. I have not seen any of that or actually know what exactly it entailed". Though it was hard to beleive, he had been shielded all his life from exactly these kind of things.<br><br>"From what I understand, it involved promoting some kind of depraved acts. As depraved acts are signs of a troubled mind, I would like to see if we can help those people. Can you fill me up on more details about that work, the demograhics involved, and how we can get our message across them". There was a sincerity in his voice, he really wanted to help as many people as he could. What he thought as depraved was someone's idea of fun, but he had been brainwashed since his childhood into divinding everything into black and white. Even though age had jaded it somewhat, the core of that belief was still there.<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 20:07:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Her gaze followed his indicating hand and she moved to the offered seat once their glasses had clinked together in unison. "Indeed it is." She remarked at his comment in regards to winning fair and square. " I look forward to reading those papers." She added in a playful tone knowing no contract that would be set in stone for five years would be easy to settle on both sides.<br><br>She shifted in her chair a look of curiosity crossing her face as he spoke of the companies contracts in the past and some still current. Taking a small sip of the wine she contemplated him a moment. A eyebrow raising into her hairline at the notion of his utter innocence. Had he not ever seen the top shelf in a magazine shop?&nbsp; The fact that it would appear so intrigued her. "That would depend on what you mean by depraved acts Mr Scobble." He may have been ready to talk on first name terms but she would remain a little cautious for a little longer. "As I said to yourself and your representatives anything can be considered to be depraved. Some people would consider a playful spank to the rear as depraved...others would go far deeper than that. When Dark Half was first born it was a tine of financial struggle and a few years ago when I joined Dark Half was weeks away from being closed down due to keeping to a moralcode. The company did Christian adverts, adverts for medical companies and the like. Though the business was constant it was also very small. My boss at that time had created Dark Half from the ground up. It was his baby after his daughter had died at a mere seven years old. Everything went into he company, his time, his money, his marriage.....everything. He was approached by a adult magazine to produce some adverts for new toys that were coming out that were used in sexual acts. The pay was better than he had been getting from his other clients and in a act of desperation he accepted. Dark Half started to live up to it's name."<br><br>She took a pause in talking as she took a sip of the wine. "You wish to reach people, you have to see what they see, understand how they think and feel or at least why they think or feel that way. If you wish to do that you need not look further than the top shelf of any reasonable magazine stockist here while your in the city. Though I would suggest you request someone other than yourself to purchase them. You are the face of your company...to be seen purchasing such in the middle of a expansion would be..unwise to say the least. I could go into some finer..." She blushed slightly at the idea but shook the image away.. "some finer details but I do not think you would appreciate that."<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 20:35:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol felt bad the instant she started detailing the history of Dark Half. He figured out the using the word 'depraved' had put her on defensive, and she felt the need to defend her company. He watched her in awe as she passionately and eloquently defended her company. He wanted to stop her in middle and apologize for his words. He did not intent to demean her work, but he was so lost in her monolgue, that he let her continue. She was mesmerizing when she spoke like that.<br><br>A hint of embarassment came onto his face, when she suggested him to take a look at some of the magazines on the top shelf. He had never felt left out before because of his lack of knowledge in these areas, but then he had not talked to anybody about these things. His lineage and position as CEO of Wellness Springs, meant that most of people will hesitate to talk to him about these things. And more curiously he had kept himself away from these things to keep himself pure.<br><br>But now he wanted to purify other people also. As she had said before ignoring demons did not make them go away.<br><br>"First of all I am sorry for belittling your work like that. That was not my intention", he paused after offering his apology.<br><br>"I know that I can find out about these things from magazines or internet, but that is not the point I am making". He knew he could find a lot of stuff, he was kind of afraid of getting tainted by it. He was fine if it was in context of work, but looking at those things alone seemed like corruption of soul to him.<br><br>"I cannot distill that information to the finer details like which demograph likes what, why do they like it, how can we divert them towards us?", he was careful to not sound judgemental towards people who indulged in such things. " As you guys have done bunch of work on that, you must have detailed audience outreach and effect data, more insight into the mindset".<br><br>"I think it can be a big market for us", somehow the idea had got stuck in his mind and he wanted to reach out to everyone he thought needed their help.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 20:55:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She tilted her head once more to the side and then smiled. "Oh I did not and do not feel belittled I felt perhaps it would be best if you knew why what has been done has been. Should your other representatives have questions later you shall have much more detail to give them." She let him speak until he had finished without question and then shook her head slightly. "I am aware you was not and as I said that is a way for you to truly see what depths people have been drawn to. I could tell you much about what has been done and why but without seeing it yourself it would be like explaining to a man who has never seen any colours what red looks like. I can give you data, statistics and numbers but if you wish to know about the people you need to read about them. I can bring you the impersonal details that shall reveal how many you can get to but you need to find out how."<br><br>She took another sip of the wine and allowed the cool liquid to run over her tongue a few times.&nbsp; "Each person shall have a different reason for going to such depths and each person shall be reached in a different way.." She rose to her feet andpicked up Hol's file opening it up and taking out some sheets of papers androlled them over so the plain paper was facing her. She began to draw a umbrella on the paper. In the shelter of the umbrella she wrote the word demons and then began to draw rain drops around the umbrella. Filling each rain drop with a cause. Depression, loss, longing, disabilities, misunderstanding and the list went on. "That is what you have to fight against as you know now can you tell me how much you understand any of these?" She wondered if he had not even seen the top shelf of a magazine shop how he was going to connect with the public. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 21:38:41</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol was glad to hear that she was not offended by his comments. He concentrated on what she was saying, as all this was an unknown to him. It was just like a teacher was explaining some new theorum to him.<br><br>He was finding himself to be in agreement with her, that he could not understand the people by looking at numbers, he had to know about them at a personal level. Though he was not sure how reading about them in an impersonal article or website will help him understand their mindset.<br><br>"I agree with you, Eve. If we have to target these people, we have to got to know them better. Is there a way you can arrange a meeting with some them? I think it will be better if I can hear things at a personal level, talk to them, see what drives them to it".<br><br>He was amazed at how clearly the picture drawn by her explained the point she was making. And she had hit him at the exact point. Only thing he knew a little was about loss. He felt a big hole in his life when his father passed away, but it was the people around him who seemed even more devastated with the loss. He was not sure if it was a bigger loss for him or people who followed his father.<br><br>He never had to interact with the people who came to them. He had grown up in lap of luxury, and the by the time he took ownership of company, it was running on autopilot. He had never realized this, but this small nugget from Eva made him realize his shortcomings. If he had to take the business to next level, he really needed to understand the people they were dealing with. And there was no one better than Eva to guide him. She was not a company employee, and she had high moral code. If he went through anyone in company, there will be doubts about his leadership abilities, and the hawks will pounce upon him. With her, he could trust it to stay secret.<br><br>His face reddened with the realization. " To be honest, I don't know squat about these things. As I said earlier , I need some education, and I think the best way will be to meet some people directly who are going to be part of our target market".<br><br>He had just put himself out on the line, and hoped that he was right about her integrity and moral code.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>10-08-2011, 23:32:44</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She watched him a moment as he spoke and sat back on her chair. She tapped the pen carefully against the doodled piece of paper. "That is a possibility but at the moment I am not sure how many would be comfortable in talking to you directly. Some would be too fearful that you would wish to cleanse them or tell them if they do not change their ways they are heading straight to hell but there may be a way I can help you though I am not sure where that matter could be handled. I have some videos while I was researching into what style advert I thought would sell your company. It may help if you watched them. In the mean time I shall talk to the people I know and see if any would be willing to meet you face to face. "<br><br>She watched him silently as he admitted and even blushed at the fact he seemingly had little to no experience of what was ahead of him. She smiled to him genuinely. "I shall help where I can but I only know so much. I know how people work in general terms but I also try and avoid sterotyping people. Each one reacts slightly different even if life patterns are exactly the same. "<br><br>She paused again and glanced around the room a moment. "Do you have a place where we could meet up? I doubt me coming here with a stack of DVDs or videos would be wise nor can you come to my apartment. "<br><br>She at least appeared to be ready and willing to help him though whether she would keep it truly quiet only time would tell.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>11-08-2011, 00:26:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol listened to her intently as he had been doing the whole time during this meeting. He had just invited her to convey the news about the contract, and it had evolved into quite an eye opener for him.<br><br>"You are right people will be hesitant to meet me, knowing what I do for living. I think we will have to find out a way where we meet anonymously. I don't get to know their real identities, and they don't get to know mine".<br><br>He hesitated a bit about the videos, he did not had any inkling of what kind of content will be there in those videos. But he also knew he had to take the first step. He can't go and hold any kind of meaningful conversation with anyone, if he did not have the right context, if he did not knew what kind of things they were involved in.<br><br>He thought about it a little more.<br><br>"I think the signing of contracts should be done by noon tomorrow. Let's meet for lunch after that, and then we can use one of the private conference room in the hotel I am staying for watching the videos". Thats soundeded like a reasonable plan to him. He was a little nervous and fidegty. It had been a long day, and he was not sure about what he was getting himself into.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>11-08-2011, 00:38:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She nodded her head slightly. "I agree. That should do for now. You can give me the details of the arrangements tomorrow during the contract finalizing." She watched him start to fidget in his chair as if he was a young boy waiting to see the head master. The idea making her smile inwardly. "You must be tired." She spoke gently and placed the glass and paper down on the table. "I shall see you tomorrow Mr Scobble. Nice and early I am sure. It has been a pleasure meeting you and I hope each meeting ends as well as this. You have my numbers if you need to call me."<br><br>She rose to her feet but did not move to leave the room yet, watching him intently rather than rushing off as she had before. "Thank you for giving me this chance Mr Scobble. I am sure it shall be worth it just stick to your guns. Your representatives are only that. They have the power you give them."<br><br>She had seemingly had a deeper insight into what was happening in the business by his revelations tonight.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>11-08-2011, 01:06:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				He was about to say good night to her, but her last sentences shook him. A stunned look came on his face, he had not told her anything about the state of politics in his company, but that was an eerily astute observation. He had felt so restrained in this job, but it was difficult for him to figure a way out. He had barely any real life experience which will help him run this company, so he had been merely reduced to stamping the decision made by other.<br><br>But she was right, this was first time in a long long while that he had stuck with his gut, and it did turn out to be positive. The candidate he thought was the best won the bid, and he had gained a real critic in the process.<br><br>He rose to this feet and shook her hand.<br><br>"Thank you Eva, for all the advice and your perspective on the things. It is very imortant to me. Have a good night". He did not respond directly to statement in last sentence, but his tone suggested that he appreciated her honest comments.<br><br>He waved bye to Eva, and then checked his email. The contract signing was scheduled for 11 am tommorow, but the lawyers will meet at 7:30 to start hashing out the details. He shutdown his laptop, and asked his driver to drive him to his hotel. It had been a long day, but he was satisfied by what they had acheived during the day. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>11-08-2011, 22:00:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Eva left the room, practically flying on air along the corridor. The party room was already empty bar the staff. She got in the elevator and went down to the ground floor with a smile on her face. She hailed a cab and got to her apartment for about three am. She took a quick shower and fell into bed after setting her alarm clock for nine am. It would be a line in for her to be sure she was ready for the important morning. She wondered if Mr Scobble felt relieved that the matter had been handled so successfully. Eva smiled as she snuggled down into the bed, wrapping the warm quilt around her. She had hoped she would be successful in the application but the tense evening had tired her out. The victory now the adrenaline had subsided was equally exhausting and she fell asleep with plans for the following days to come falling into the abyss of sleep.<br><br>The following morning she woke earlier thanplanned. Her body and mind too excited to wait for the alarm clock to announce it was time to stir. She went for a morning jog at eight am, showered on her return and dressed in a simple grey trouser and jacket suit. A lavender blouse and grey heeled shoes. She wore herhair free like the night before and minimal make up but star earsings.<br><br>She went to her office to collect a couple of folders and announce the good news to the colleagues who had not already been informed. She arrived at the appointment for quarter to eleven. Her stomach slightly nervous that the ironing out of the contracts were going to be a train crash as it sometimes went.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>15-08-2011, 16:49:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol slipped into a blissful sleep as soon as he hit the bed. He was physically and mentally tired after a long day. His mind was still filled with the thoughts of the day, and most of them came back to Eva. Her words and actions had woken up something in him, even though he had met her for first time, it felt to him that she had tapped something deep in him.<br><br>Hol woke up groggy eyed the next morning. His sleep had been dotted with some dreams, which he did not remember full. Only thing he remembered being in some kind of mortal danger, and someone engulfed in white light saving him. He would have dwelled on it for some time, but he had lot of pending meetings today. Hol quickly took a shower, and dressed in a three piece suit, with a striped lavendar tie.<br><br>He checked his email on the way to office, and saw the note from head lawyer that he negotiations were going well. It helped that they did not have a previous presence in country, no previous contracts to interfere, it was always easier to start from a clean slate. Hol reached office at ten, and finished some of the work related to his US office. He knew he had to fly out tomorrow morning, but he had a feeling he will be back here sooner than later.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>15-08-2011, 23:06:28</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Eva watched as the solicitors came out of the office at exactly eleven o'clock on the button. They waved in her in with a smile and six firm shakes of the hand later she finally managed topass the thresh hold. It was often said the bigger the company the more solicitors they had. The six were a mixture of men and women all dressed in similar blue attire and tense shoulders.<br><br>She sat in the only chair that had no paper work in front of it. Though she had noted there were still a couple of empty chairs prepared for late arrival.s "Are you the only one here to represent Dark Half?" One of the pin stripped males asked making Eva smile. "That I am Sir, I have been given full reign of the company until my boss recovers. I have signed letters and agreements to that effect if you wish to see them. " The three headed machine glanced at each other a moment. "Wish to no, need to yes."<br><br>Eva reached into her file and took out the first selection of paper work she had in a slippery folder and slid it across the table to them. "Everything you need is there even contact details so you can have confirmation from my boss." One solicitor took the details and left the room. Eva could only sit back and wait patiently while they checked her words were true. Her eyes scanned the table. She had hoped to see Mr Scobble here but either matters had been settled on his behalf or he was running late. She felt a slight twinge of disappointment but did not let it show.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>17-08-2011, 03:48:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol reached the office, and asked his assistant to update him on the progress rightaway. He got to know that the progress was good. The Dark Half representative, Miss Eva, was already working the lawyers. They had checked the power of attorney, giving her the powers to sign the contract, and everything was looking good. The papers were ready for their signature, and the lawyers were waiting for him in the conference room.<br><br>The mention of Eva's name put a sparkle in his eyes. He had given his lawyers carte blanche for the deal and did not expect any hiccups.<br><br>Hol walked to the conference room, and saw Eva sitting in front of battery of his lawyers. He smiled at the picture it painted, a confident woman taking on bunch of grown men. He entered the room.<br><br>"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen".<br><br>He walked over to Eva, and extended his hand. "Good Morning, Miss Eva. I hope my lawyers did not trouble you much", he said with a warm smile on his face. She was as confident as ever, looking dapper in her sharp formal clothes. He wondered if she was always like that, if she let down her hair at all.<br><br>He took the seat after shaking hands with her, as the lawyers placed the final copies of the contract in front of them, explaining the salient points to both of them. There was nothing that seemed out of place, apart the unusually long term of the contract. Hol pulled out his father's pen, and smiled at Eva.<br><br>"Here we go", as he penned down his name to the contract. It was a new phase in history of their company, but he was all smiles die to something else, a torch bearer of changed that had walked into his life.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>17-08-2011, 10:43:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She looked to him with a smile as Mr Scobble offered her his hand. She accepted it and gave his hand that familiar firm shake in return. The process had so far been far smoother than she had anticipated. She managed to prevent any nervousness show itself in her features as they grew gradually closer and closer to finalizing everything with a lengthy process of signatures for both sides.<br><br>She smiled to him. "They have been as sociable as ever." She finally retorted to his question on his solicitors as he started the first stage of signingthe paper work. Each one was followed by her signature and so on for what felt to be a hour back and forth. By the end there was at least four duplicates of the same contract. One for him, one for her and two for their own companies and probably another few for their solicitors. <br><br>She rose to her feet as the business matters came to a end. Thesolicitors rapidly leaving the room with less than a by your leave obviously eager to go and find fresh blood to bring in their money.<br><br>She slipped her two contracts into her folder before reaching for a glass to drink down the blissfully cold water.<br><br>"I often wonder if solicitors enjoy dragging the process out as long as possible as they enjoy making people suffer."<br><br>She gave a playful smile to him showing she was not being serious.<br><br>By the end of the process her fingers were aching and she had to massage the palm of her hand to ease the ache.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>17-08-2011, 19:40:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol signed and initialized every dot and line that the lawyers asked for. He had to stretch his arms few times, squeezing his hand to get the blood flowing again. He smiled when he saw Eva rubbing her palm at end of it.<br><br>" I have seriously thought about hiring someone to sign everything for me", he retorted back to her joke about the lawyers.<br><br>"I do think they like to prolong the agony, just to watch people squirm", he winked at her. " You need to be little sadistic to be a lawyer."<br><br>Lawyers had taken all his documents, and he watched Eva put her neatly in the folder. Even as tried not to stare at her, he could not help but notice the feline grace in her movements. He managed to take his eyes away before she looked back at him.<br><br>" Now we are officially partners. It calls for a celebration", he smiled at her. There was a little time before their lunch reservation, but he did not mind spending more time with her.<br><br>" are you ready for our lunch appointment?", he asked her sounding all business.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>17-08-2011, 19:57:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She chuckled faintly at the idea of him hiring a person simply to sign hispaper work. "Though that could be time saving I am not sure I would risk a person learning my signature just in case temptation got the better of them one day." A broader smile touched her lips as they easily bantered between them. "You have to be a little sadistic ...or would that be masochistic to work in the design industry...I guess there has to be balance in the world."<br><br>She rose to her feet once the room was empty all bar him and began to walk around the table though it was quite clear by the way that she moved she was actually easing any strain or tension along her legs from being in the same position for so long. She moved back and forth across one side of the room, at times pausing to stretch out her ankles.<br><br>"I am ready when you are. Due to the long day yesterday I am free from right about...." She glanced down at the delicate watch around her wrist. "now in fact. Are you ready?"<br><br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>17-08-2011, 21:47:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol stayed seated in his chair, as Eva got up to walk around the table. His eyes glanced at her body, as she stretched her tired limbs. Hol had spent an inordinate amount of time with her since yesterday, but had not seen her from so close. Mostly his eyes had been focused on her face, or he had glanced at her from far. The formal suit that she was wearing fitted her to perfection. She had a womanly figure which was accentuated by her dress and poise. She was not like the waifs he had gotten used to seeing on tv.<br><br>" Yes, I am also ready for lunch. This was the only thing scheduled for this visit. And thanks to you, we have been able to finalize it well ahead of the time", Hol got up from his seat and complemented Eva once again for all the work she had put over the past day or so.<br><br>Hol asked his driver to pull out the car to go to the hotel where he was staying. He was hoping that the restaurant will turn out to be good. He had heard lot of good things about it, but had never eaten there.<br><br>" Let's walk to my car", as he opened the door for Eva.<br><br>As they were walking, something that she had said moments ago came back to his mind.<br><br>" Why would you think that one needs to be masochistic to work in fashion industry?", the statement had aroused his curiosity.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>17-08-2011, 23:26:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She smiled her thanks to him as he opened the door for her. She moved through the archway but waited for him to close the door so that they walked along the hall way and towards the out side side by side. <br><br>"Well I was referring to my line of work in designing adverts..but I think when working in fashion you would actually need that more."<br><br>She half turned to face him a moment , waling backwards with surprising ease. "Would you like to try and design a advert or a out fit...?" She then smiled faintly. "Actually do not even try. Knowing my luck you would be a natural at the former and decide to design your own adverts instead of continuing with my company. "<br><br>She walked along his side once more after half turning again and following him to his car. "It must be quite hard following in your fathers foot steps...." She added faintly as she lifted one hand up to pull back a free strand of her hair. <br><br>"I am sorry about his death."<br><br>She knew the conversation was taking a morbid turn and they were meant to be celebrating but it felt wrong celebrating her success in the wake of a man death without showing some respect to him.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>18-08-2011, 18:51:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Ah, that what you meant", a light bulb went on in his head. He looked at her with a embarrassed look, he was about to apologize for the misunderstanding, when she did that amazing half turn. His eyes widened looking at her physical dexterity, she was walking backwards just effortlessly.<br><br>He was not sure if he caught all of what she said, but a faint smile came to his face when she joked about him designing the adverts.<br><br>" I don't think I can even design a mud house, leave alone an advert. So your business is safe from me. Though I would love to get involved in the whole design process, how you come up with ideas, how you nurture them or reject them". It all sounded very exciting to him. He had got this business on a plater, he never had to build anything from a scratch.<br><br>The question about his father came as a shocker to him. He was not expecting it. Hop went quiet as the driver started the car. A lot of reporters had asked him about following in footsteps of his father. He had never thought deeply about it, it was the easiest path in front of him. It was like a marked trail compared to wild jungle of the world.<br><br>Somehow he felt it easier to open up to her, even though he had known her for a day only. " My relationship with him was more of respect and deference than of love", his voice was serious and deep.<br><br>" Actually following in his footsteps is very easy, they are very well marked. What is difficult is to forge you own way, write your own story". He was talking as much to himself, as he was to her.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>18-08-2011, 19:11:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Well I do work a lot with my clients. Keeping them up to date on theprogress and if they wish to add to the adverts I take their ideas into account also. Perhaps at some point once you have more of a handle on the company we could discuss that."<br><br>She settled into the car with ease. Shekept a sensible distance between them so that it was clearly a business arrangement to the out side world as well as those within. She did not break the silence as Hol went quiet. Instead she reached over and grasped his hand, giving it a faint squeeze. "I am sorry I did not mean to upset you."<br><br>She could not fathom where or even how to remark to his comment about deference and respect rather than love."Sometimes the two are so close it is hard to tell the difference." She finally settled on saying.<br><br>"Your father left you a wonderful path to follow but to also change and make your own when you are ready. There is no rush, you can not conquer the world in a day. Besides I think once you are ready you shall be able to set your very own foot prints for others to follow in there wake."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>18-08-2011, 22:55:42</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol was still lost in introspection when he felt her hand squeeze his. He felt a wave of relaxation run through his body. It was just like magic, the anxiety was gone in a second.<br><br>" You are right, I cannot do it all in one day", a smile formed on corners of his lips. " I don't want to leave a trail for other or something like that", he continued. " It is just that I feel my world view has been boxed in by virtue of my birth. I always have this nagging feeling that the world around me is very different from the real world. Sometimes I feel my whole life has been a setup."<br><br>He had no one to pour out his heart to. Even a hint of such thinking, and he will be automatically branded a traitor to his father's legacy. He did not knew what prompted him to say it all to her, but he was not able to stop himself. There had always been a struggle between two parts of his mind, one which believed everything that was taught to him, and one which wanted to learn on its own. More and more doubts were creeping into his mind as he was seeing more of this world. He held on to her with a little more force than he intended.<br><br>His chain of thought was broken by the car gliding to a halt, they had reached the restaurant. He smiled at her with a hint of embarrassment as they got out of the car.<br><br>" I am so sorry for boring you with all that history of mine. It is a beautiful day and we should be celebrating", as he led her to the restaurant. The server led them to the window seat overlooking the beautiful lily garden.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>19-08-2011, 02:06:43</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"The world is very different to what many people believe or know of it. Now you have the chance to find out what the world is truly like. How the world truly looks and I mus admit I think part of me envies the fact that you have been kept...so..." She paused for a moment trying to find the right word...."innocent for so long in respect.&nbsp; At least you shall be mentally mature enough for when the truth comes....not everyone gets that in life."<br><br>Her gaze came away from him as she felt the car slow and then stop. His words making her smile.<br><br>"There is no need to apologize at all and you did not bore me. I just hope I have been of some aid rather than making you feel worse but yes I think it is not time to celebrate."<br><br>She climbed out of the car with a warm smile and kept to his side as they walked through the restaurant. She did not cling to him as if he were a partner but merely walked beside him like equals.<br><br>Her gaze over looked the lily garden. One of her loved flowers and she smiled to him over the table.<br><br>"I wish I had time to nurture a garden such as that."<br><br>She brought one hand up against the thin pane of glass. One lily and grown along the windowsill , thepale petals lightly touching the glass. Her fingers moved along the petal as if she were actually able to touch it.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>19-08-2011, 03:17:22</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol had the menu in his hands, but his eyes were following her interaction with the lily petals. It amused him the way she was gently touching the glass plane, as if she was able to get through to the petal. The look on her face was so soft, totally different from her usual ultra confident demeanor. He followed the graceful moments of her hand to the soft look in her eyes. It was the server who broke him out of his reverie.<br><br>He quickly scanned the menu and ordered the seasonal soup, along with the garden salad. One of the principles of Wellness Springs was to eat only as much as the body needed, food was not something to indulge in.<br><br>" You have to make time for the things you like to do, don't you?". Now it was her turn to dispense some life knowledge after she had ordered her lunch.<br><br>" I grew up on a farm, so I understand the love for plants. By the way farm is a perfect place to shield someone from outside world. You can control the entire environment", he said with a smile on his face, making light of his growing up years.<br><br>" Where did you grow up? And more importantly how did you get this confidence of yours?", he turned the conversation. His mood had been considerably lightened by the ambience of the place.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>19-08-2011, 15:52:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She was certain that his eyes were on her as she stroked the window pane but she pretended to be either too enthralled with the lily or to not actually notice. She smiled to the server and glanced at the menu with a smile. Shelistened to his order and smiled inwardly having expected him to do such.&nbsp; In turn she ordered the same soup but with extra bread, thee egg and cress salad and then for the dessert she paused a moment and added a fruit salad to follow after with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. <br><br>"You do though only there was a way to do that as often as one would like. I have a small garden at home which I work on at the weekends if I am not working but I have not got the time yet to dedicate the effort it would take to make it how I would like."<br><br>She smiled as he revealed his upbringing and gave her more details of his youth. "I would of thought that could be done any where if enough control is mustered."<br><br>She paused slightly when he turned the questions onto her. "I grew up here actually though in the suburbs. My mother and father worked for the police, him a officer and her a secretary until they retired a few years back. Now they do what they have always wished and are currently travelling and seeing as much of the world as they can. As for my confidence." She gave slight thought to the question as if she had never been asked that before or considered where it came from. "My mother and father supported and still support me through everything I do and when you enter a mans world as this was when I started the climb up the working ladder you had to at least appear confident or men quickly assumed you were looking for a spouse or merely waiting for a model offer to came along. I guess the saying"act like it until your like it" or how ever it goes worked for me."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>19-08-2011, 18:47:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol smiled a little when Eva ordered her food. She would have been immediately castigated if she had ordered food like this in one of the WS communes. He listened intently as she talked about her busy life, her love of gardens. His eyes gently tracing the features of her face, the movement of her hands as she talked.<br><br>It was her point about how she had to look confident if she wanted to rise in the man's world, struck a chord with him. His early mindset about women had been defined by his father's teaching. Women were to be treated with respect, protected against the world. Their right place was in the house, carrying forward the human race, taking care of men and children in their lives. He had never questioned this philosophy while growing up, for that was all he saw and the womenfolk looked happy to him. It was only when he took charge of the company that doubts began to grow in his mind. Most of the partners they dealt with had a fair sprinkling of women in important positions and they always bought a different perspective. But his company did not even had a single woman in a decision making process, and they were definitely missing out on balanced views.<br><br>" That is something that I have been thinking about quite a bit lately. Our company has negligible number of females in important positions. I guess that is more due to the culture imposed by the old guard at company, but we are missing out on a big chunk of talent. Someone like you will be of immense value to our company, but the culture will probably stifle you."<br><br>The soup was really tasty, though the salad was not as good as he had expected.<br><br>" I would really love to start a program to hire and promote more female employees, but I think there are lot of battles to be fought for that. I guess i have to start by fighting my own viewpoints, broadening my own views before i go and try to convince someone", he looked at her with sincerity. <br><br>He was counting on her to help open up his mind, provide counter arguments to his views. Even though he knew a lot of what was embedded in his mind was wrong, it was not going to be easy to change life long views.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>19-08-2011, 23:22:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She watched him cautiously. Trying to read each expression that crossed his face and eyes. She could not tell if it had been surprise or shock that had entered them upon hearing her order but he did not question it nor did he try and lecture her so she did not mention it. The soup was quite sensational though the bread had been as thin as a wafer. The salad had been a little heavy on the vinaigrette but it had a nice and spicy tang to it. The dessert though was lovely, the fruit extremely fresh and firm rather than shrivelled and looking dry.<br><br>She paused a moment as she thought over his concerns with the lack of female employees within his company and a smile came to her lips. "Well I am quite sure I could give you some very strong fire power in opening the minds up of the older keepers of the realm so to speak. Actually..."<br><br>She turned slightly and bent forward to reach under the table and pick up her folder. For a moment as she was bent low just a little more cleavage was on show but only just the slight swell of her breasts with the highly fastened top. She obviously was not one that tried to use her gender to gain influence. She pulled out a couple of sheets of paper and slid them along the table. In front of him he would see a collection of charts that coincidentally were the averages of women and men rations in varies branches of work from modelling to priests and CEOs. The next sheet revealed a survey on what over a thousand people looked at before accepting a job or even trusting a company. He would note that a lot of the female participants desired to see equality in the work place.<br><br>"If your company wishes to settle here and make a sure fire start then you are going to have to be more open minded. Sexism here is more sinful than the seven deadly sins. Women expect to be treated fairly in life, work and wages. If your company reveals it self to have not moved on from the biblical era your going to fail before you even get a proper step in the door. "
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>22-08-2011, 22:43:43</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol knew she will come up with some great ideas, and a small smile came on his face, as she started talking about the firepower to rile the old guard. She talked about it as it was a war, and it really was. Hol's concentration was broken for a moment when she bent down to pick up the papers. His eyes slipped from her face to her bosoms, where a hint of cleavage formed while she was down. He quickly took his eyes off her, silently chastising himself for partaking in forbidden pleasures.<br><br>He quickly recovered and started looking at charts that Eva gave him. The first chart was something that he had expected. The ratio of women was improving, though he could clearly see a pattern where the growth for them stopped after a certain level. There sure seemed to be some kind of glass ceiling.<br><br>The second chart was of much more interest to him. It directly addressed the issues they will have to fix in their company. Equality was the biggest issue and he was not sure how he will go about ensuring that.<br><br>He looked up, when Eva started talking. She was speaking the raw truth, though the word biblical did hurt him a little. He almost blurted out that bible was not something bad.<br><br>" I think the chart gives a good idea about some of the hot button issues. But what I need more is some practical advice. Some concrete things that I can do to change the mindset. Or even before that, how can I make myself aware about certain things that will scare away women from our company". There was a hint of slight hurt in his voice, something had touched a raw nerve inside him.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>23-08-2011, 00:37:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She watched him closely, seemingly unaware that for a moment or two he had given in to the&nbsp; sin of lust. Her gaze not wavering from his as he glanced down at the two sheets she had produced for him. Yet as he spoke she was quite certain she detected either a tone of annoyance or had hurt him. She thought over what she had last said and winced slightly upon realizing what she felt had upset him. Reaching a hand over she placed it over his but did not give his hand a squeeze as she had in the car. The touch was light as a apologetic look crossed her face and reached her eyes. "Sorry I did not mean to cause offence....I did not mean that word in a bad sense I was just referring to some mindset being old fashioned. It was insensitive of me."<br><br>She glanced down at the papers in front of him and gave a very faint shadow of a smile obviously upset that she had managed to offend him.<br><br>"I have ideas but perhaps you should not try and blast them out of the water too soon. I think that the possibility of the company failing due to the...opinion that females do not have a place in the career world will be at least enough of a nudge for them to reconsider their opinions, even if at first they only hire females to be able to improve the chances of the companies success. If the right women are selected in time it should become quite apparent that females can work just as well as men. It may also help that they shall be able to reach female clients on a level some men can not."<br><br>She paused a moment and frowned slightly. <br><br>"You wished to see some interviews I have later...well in those interviews some of the women were hurt harshly by men in various ways and means and so...the idea of ..being around a man is practically impossible for them to do. Perhaps at first you could appoint some women already known in the company as councillors if they have such degrees and qualifications to be able to do that.Your going to be entering a new territory here and I think it would help much if I knew what you are used to and what the company is also used to based on what happens in your country. "
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>24-08-2011, 03:28:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol felt a slight tingle run down his arm, when she place her hand on it. He glanced back at her, appreciating that she had noticed the hurt in his voice. Hold kept his hand steady, he was enjoying having her hand over his, and he did not want to give her any reason.<br><br>"There are somethings, that I am sensitive to. It is very difficult to change at this point", a small smile had formed on his lips, letting her know that was a thing of past. A part of him was actually happy with her hand touching his, while the other one was crying out hypocrite. There was the classic good dog, bad dog fight going on within him.<br><br>He listened to both her ideas with an open mind, not judging them pre-maturely as she had asked for. He mulled over them for a while after she had finished, she was bringing out very interesting points.<br><br>"I think the second idea is the low hanging fruit. It has low risk associated with it, and the upside can be huge. Even if it does not work out, we can always play the card of new business, new country", there was an excitement in his voice. <br><br>"But it works out, we can slowly start move the top employees from that division to other parts. Might be I can engineer something based on your first suggestion, so that it is easy to see this division as the top runner. When you have solid numbers to back up, no body can raise objections to the promotions". His tone was filled with glee, even when he was talking about sabotaging some of his own divisions. But it was all for the long run, and it was going to pay out.<br><br>He had finished off his lunch by this time. <br><br>"I am ready to see those interviews and videos, that you were talking about yesterday". He was feeling giddy like a kid at candy shop, though a little nervous also, because he had no idea what she was going to show him.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>24-08-2011, 18:45:15</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She seemed to come to ease as he smiled to her seeming to suggest the comment had been forgiven and forgotten. She finished her food at the same time as he had despite having ordered pudding. Her hand came free from his and she picked up her folder to bring it back upon the table before rising to her feet. "I shall need a television and obviously a DVD player or a computer will do. You do have to promise though as much as you can that you are not going to judge the people you see on these DVDs they have had enough of that to last them a life time and besides it would be wrong to. None of them could help what has happened to them only what they did afterwards."<br><br>She rose to her feet and waited for him to finish being ready himelf. "I shall go and pay for the meal while you finish getting ready." She walked away from the table and walked towards the bar to make her payment. Her folder lightly tapping against her knee as she walked away from him. The happiness in his voice at being able to change things for the better was making her smile and she hoped that once he had left he would be able to stick by them rather than feeling like the ungrateful child who kept asking for more.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>24-08-2011, 19:15:36</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol replied to her with a smile. She had gotten to know him pretty well.<br><br>" I promise I will not judge anyone in the videos or interviews. I will try to keep my mind open. Only one thing you will have to remember that, most of my questions will be out of curiosity and having no knowledge. So please let me know if I say something offensive."<br><br>He was about to get up and pay for the lunch, when Eva told him and went to pay for the lunch. Normally he would have insisted, but he respected her independent streak and there was no point offering to pay. He asked the restaurant to put his share on his room tab.<br><br>"The executive conference room has a computer and a TV. I think that will work out well", he smiled as he led the way to the elevator. The conference room was part of the suite he was staying in. Throughout the way he was reminding himself to stay open minded and not jump to any conclusions.<br><br>He opened the door and let her in. "This is it".<br><br>The room had a big wide screen tv on one of the walls and the computer connected to it was on the old style wooden table in front of it. There were four cushioned leather chairs surrounding the table. Hol let her setup the system, as he pulled out two bottles of water from the mini fridge and kept them on the table.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>24-08-2011, 19:57:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Once she had paid her share she returned to his side and followed him until they reached&nbsp; the room he was able to book. She took a glance around the room after they had entered it. "I think the computer screen shall be big enough rather than using the huge screen for just the pair of us. That would feel a little over done. <br><br>She walked tot he computer and switched it on before slipping the disk into the drive and entering the first disk she had. The screen came to live after a few minutes in a flash of blue before she drew the mouse over the screen and clicked a small icon. A second screen appeared to play the film. She clicked play before sitting down on the nearest couch to it. "The first one is a young woman about twenty five years in age. I shall not share with you her name or anything. She asked for such restrictions yet was happy to have this done.<br><br>A young woman appeared seconds later. Her hair was honey gold and her upper body was covered in a heavy grey jumper that seemed to be three sizes too large for her. She had large brown eyes and was extremelypale in the face as well as seeming almost as fragile as a flower stem.<br><br>"My father first came into my room one night when I had just turned sixteen years old.....he told me I was old enough now to learn what pleased a man...." She continued to talk while Eva looked down at her paper work, not actually looking at the screen as the woman went on to describe what her father had done to her, at the age of eighteen he became her pimp. Got her hooked onto drugs...at twenty one she was finally helped by the police but she pulled up her long sleeves to reveal the number of scars along her forearms which came totalling to over fifty scars on such skinny arms.<br><br>"Thankfully not all of them are as....severe as hers is.." <br><br>Eva finallyspoke though refused still to look at the screen. While ti may have been her job to watch the showing once she it seemed was not going to watch it again unless she had to. Listening to it seemed to be bad enough. "I thought God had forgotten about me or hated me for the lies I had told as a child...that, that had been his way of punishing me."<br><br>At that point she quickly rose up and paused it a moment glancing to him briefly. "Before I continue this I am going to say try and take no offense to what is said, this is how they felt then in the darkest of their times and in some cases people may come to you feeling just like she did when she first got helped and you can not take offense to it. You shall put them off rather than feel they can approach you or the company."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>25-08-2011, 21:04:16</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				He listened silently to the girl on the computer screen, paying attention to each of her words. He could hear the hurt in her voice, see the helplessness in her eyes. There was a severe sense of abandonment in her body language. He winced when the camera focused on the cuts on her skeleton thin arms. How desperate she must have been.<br><br>Now his company worked with drug addicts, victims of rape, but he was always at a distance. And from distance they were like numbers to him. How many people were in the program, how many were paying in advance, how many will work for them after treatment. But this was the first time he heard from someone at her lowest point, the poignancy in her voice overwhelmed him.<br><br>His chain of thought was broken by Eva.<br><br>" I think anybody in situation cannot be held responsible for saying anything against god. The thing that stands out is that she still believes in existence of god. If she did not believe in him, she won't blame god. That is where her salvation lies, where we can come in."<br><br>He thought for a moment more.<br><br>"But we do need women councilors for helping cases like this, might be a facility with only women. What happened to her? Did she make it out of this?", there was pain in his eyes. Eva was opening his mind to a different world, a real world, a world he had only heard about, but never experienced. Even if he was just watching it on video, he shuddered to think how will he feel, if he had to go through any of this. His own resentment and frustrations seemed nothing in front of what that girl had gone through.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>27-08-2011, 00:48:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She nodded her head slightly to him as he spoke a smile of relief crossing her lips as she relaxed. Thankful that he was that understanding at least. She started the DVD to play again before sitting next to him once more. Her eyes focused on his and noticed the look in his eyes. For a moment he seemed to lose some of the innocence he had there not long ago. She appeared pained by the thought but as he asked his question she smiled. "Just watch." For a moment the screen turned to a simple blue. Moments later the same girl appeared. "This is six months later.&nbsp; She did actually try and approach Wellness Springs but when she saw the number of males there she sought a female refuge."<br><br>The girl looked far different to how she had in the first. Her hair gleamed brightly, she had put on a little weight that added to her beauty rather than took from it. The circles under her eyes had gone but her eyes still appeared far older than they should of been. She was wearing a silver cross that hung against her neck. She wore a light pink top that fell around her sleeve in see through lace that looked almost like flower petals. "I have been at Woman's Heart for nearly six months now. The women there have been helping me through my nightmares...at first I had a warden who would practically live in my room for those times I felt the need to cut myself...or when I woke up screaming. They arranged for councillors and put me through some college lessons they hold here. I am improving my skills. We also have DIY classes to be able to look after ourselves when I get my own place but that is a time off. They also have a small church in the grounds and I attend daily..I understand now that my father did what he did because he wished to and could. God gave us free will but not everyone uses it for good...but I do not wish to be like that..I want to help people."<br><br>The woman broke out in a smile, seeming far more at ease than she had in the first. "I know I shall have bed days but I feel as if I have the support to help me now.I know I am not alone any more."<br><br>The screen turned to blue once more. "Are you sure you want to see any more Hol?"Eva asked quietly.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>29-08-2011, 17:27:08</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Hol was quiet for a few more moments after the video ended. He was trying hard to fight his eyes from getting wet, but atleast the end was happy for the girl. Someone had stepped in, and helped her restore her life. He sipped some water from the bottle, to relax himself.<br><br>"Thanks god, she was able to make some progress. I have not heard about Woman's heart in states. Do you know anything about these guys?", he was curious about the organization. From the name, it seemed like solely focused on women, it might be a good acquisition target, he thought to himself.<br><br>He turned back to Eva. " Yes, I want to see more. This is something I am not exposed to on daily basis, so it is very helpful to see. I admit, it is bit difficult, but still. What are some other scenarios you think woman councillors will be really helpful or let's say only women councillors will be able to help?"<br><br>There was a nagging question in his head about what happened to the abusive father, but he decided to let it go, to concentrate only on the positives.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>31-08-2011, 20:02:28</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Eva had rose to her feet to pause the DVD that was running so she could answer any questions he had without running over the next or his questions being spoke over. She had noticed a faint shimmer of water dampen his eyes but did not mention it nor refer to it any way. <br><br>"Women's Heart is a&nbsp; church ran charity that helps women or women with children recover from abusive relationships. alcohol or drug addictions. They have hostels running up and down the country but they keep very hush, hush. Their safe houses are in secret locations to prevent any that they care for being found out. They do not use advertising but I have worked with them to help raise awareness of them and to also advertise events they do though obviously those events are by invitation only."<br><br>Eva paused a moment at his next question and gave a quiet sigh. "Well you see ..sadly in most cases I have done research in..almost ninety percent of abuse to women or children are by men and so women only companies or at least centers are badly needed. Sadly there is very few of them that can afford to keep running in the current economy. With budget cuts every where no one is not being hurt or affected by the lack of money. Charity organizations are being hit especially hard. Getting less help from above and less help from the people who can normally donate to them but can't.&nbsp; There are plenty of reasons why these women that need help and their children only feel comfortable right now being helped by women. Some of the children will have sen their fathers hit their mothers...some shall as they grow older need a male influence to show them how women are meant to be treated rather than what their fathers or step fathers tried to teach them. It is a hard world out there."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>01-09-2011, 20:39:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Eva had a knack of surprising him. She had come across as a hard charging business woman to him, but now as she talked about these people, another side of her was coming to fore. She felt passionately for these people, understood their problems deeply, and was willing to go the extra mile to help them. He could not help, but look at her with awe and admiration.<br><br>"The charity model is not scalable. That is what we used to do, but then you are always dependent on goodwill. And the goodwill changes with seasons, economy, news cycles and what not. You just cannot plan the future then. Somebody has to pay for it."<br><br>He knew he was sounding very hard nosed, but that was the reality of business. They had to recover the money.<br><br>" You probably already know that we used deferred payment model. The patients are responsible for paying us back, when they get well. And usually we help them get work. It has worked out very well for us."<br><br>" I think we should either acquire these guys or partner with them. They are doing great work, and we can help them scale it. Also it will be great to have women running an independent division. Can you pass on some contact information for them?"<br><br>Hol leaned back on his chair, stretching his arms.<br><br>" so that was all the serious stuff you guys did. Do you even do some lighter stuff or you only deal with stuffy companies like us?". Even though he meant the reference to his company as a joke, he knew it was mostly true. They needed to build a more hip image.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>02-09-2011, 01:50:06</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She nodded her head slightly. She was always very thorough with any research she did and onlythe blind of heart would be able to not see what happened to charity companies more than any other business. "Yes but those they help often come pennyless and it could be years before they gain their first job and even then they can not always afford to pay back what costs they may have swallowed up from the charity."<br><br>She paused a moment contemplating how much knowledge she could reveal and nodded her head faintly. "I shall pass your numbers and details on but I can make no promises that they shall contact you, though I am sure they will have heard of you. or at least your company."<br><br>A faint smile tugged at herlips at his next question. "I am very often dealing in serious and as said before very rarely get time to relax but for light work we do advertising for far less complicated stores and companies but I enjoy having to push myself. Doing adverts for sweets stores can lose it's simplicity appeal after a while."<br><br>She pressed play on the DVD menu once more and after a few seconds the dark screen turned blue again. This time a young man perhaps of Hol's age was looking at the camera. <br><br>"I started to take drugs when I was fourteen years old..my mother died when I was thirteen from cancer and while everything in my life spread out of control I found something I could hang onto,something I could control." The man had narrowed eyes, his pupils looking far too tiny even in the bright light that was directed onto him. He had thin, dark brown hair but the sheen of sweat on his skin under the thinning air showed.He had a thick stubble along his lips and chin which made his skin look pale. His hands kept moving along each other as if he were nervous and tense. <br><br>"At first it was merely weed at weekends..I could escape..nothing could hurt me..but then the drugs would run out of my systems and everything seemed the blacker. It took me a long time to realize that I could not escape for ever though I certainly tried. After a couple of years on weed..I moved onto happy pills, E..LSD..anything to make me fly..make the hurt fade...and then I found heroin..the first time I chased the dragon I felt as if I had fallen onto a cloud and was merely rising high above the world..nothing could touch me...of course the drugs left my system and I wanted more and more and more....wanted to pretend she had not died." He paused a moment to lift a finger to his nose. "I stopped working, started drinking to ease the time between hits..I lost everything and yet none of that was important...my father stopped talking to me, my sister got fed up of me taking her money with or without permission. I struck my girlfriend in a rage when she tried to force me going cold turkey..It was when I saw the black eye the following day that I knew I had a problem. It was as if I had been blind I had not seen the marks on my arms...felt the needles go in..nothing."<br><br>He paused a moment.<br><br>"I stopped believing in God when my mother died..I could not understand how if he existed why he would take my mother...she was a good,loving woman but he took her from me and I hated him for it..then I fell into..disbelief..when people say the good die young they know what they are saying..."<br><br><br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Changeling</strong> on <strong>05-09-2011, 23:34:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I know it looks very implausible on paper, that someone will be able to recover the money from helping these people. But we have years of experience and data to show that we are good at that. The important thing is to get people quickly to a job, it helps with their self confidence and they don't have idle time at their hands."<br><br>Hol glanced at he as she made it abundantly clear that she was not very fond of the lighter work they were doing. He decided not to interrupt her, the passion for helping people, dealing with the dark side was clearly visible on her face.<br><br>He watched the video intently, and a look of recognition started to dawn on his face. As the guy was talking about the drug use, how he felt when he was high, surprisingly he could relate to him. He slowly realized that religiously fervor was very alike the highs the guy was talking about. That is how religion was, unexplained experiences, feeling safe and guarded as you are serving the lord, forgetting the real world outside, closeting with other like minded individuals, everybody walks on the same railway track, no questions, no dissensions.<br><br>Suddenly, it struck him. They are just replacing other addictions with a different one, but a very powerful one.<br><br>" Do you believe in God?", he asked Eva totally out of the blue. He knew this was a very personal question, but somehow he felt the urge to ask it.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: EVA (Aviva and Changeling)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Aviva</strong> on <strong>06-09-2011, 19:02:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				2Well as long as they wish the details and help I am sure they shall call you soon but I can not give my word on it as it is not my word to give to you."<br><br>She watched him out of the corner of her eyes while at the same time paying mute attention to the man before them. Sadly not everyone got a happy life, she had learned that early on but she tried to help in any way she could. She almost jumped as he suddenly spoke aloud and asked her the question she had actually been expecting for a while now.<br><br>"Yes I do Hol. I go to church as often as I can though not as often as I would like. I do also do free advertising for my local church when they have charity events or table top sales and pay for that myself. I do have to admit , I did not always do so in my youth when I heard and saw what humans are capeable of but later I learned that what people did was of their own accord and not Gods. "<br><br>She turned her attention back to the screen and sighed quietly. She knew what was coming up next but she was not going to prepare Hol for it.<br><br>"I am now on methadone and trying to rid myself of my past. Yet it is hard, when I get stressed I want to feel the peace I had, methadone does not equal that at all. Not close but it takes the edge off. I am hoping in time to come I shall no longer lust after that feeling by drugs but being a good man, working hard and having a family around me."<br><br>The screen turned a empty blue once more as it had with the young girl but this time a frozen image of the man returned smiling. Words coming up on the screen below his hopeful face.<br><br>"Sadly when we returned to see how" the words had been blurred out to obscure his name. "was dealing with his rehabilitation we could not find him at the last known address. When we located him he had been put in jail for breaking and entering and stealing. A ounce of heroin had been found on him when he had been arrested."<br><br>Eva did not say anything for a moment."Sometimes temptation is merely too strong."
			</dd>
		</dl>
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