In the morning, I go to Jason's apartment, and wait outside the third floor of a complex. In my purse I have a 22 handgun and pepper spray. The area is a ran down street, cheap rent in Beverly Hills comes with a bummy environment. Grass growing out if concrete, broken glass, boarded up and abandoned buildings, littered trash all over the place. Life is tough...I keep my eye on three guys sitting in a car across the street, who puff smoke and chat while occasionally checking me out. I don't have on anything that's racy, dressing girly isn't my taste anyway...baggy clothes all the way. As of right now, I have a on loose fitting hoodie that covers my hands and joggers...a chill outfit.

Jason's at the gym and said he'll be back in a few, hopefully he will so I won't have to use my weapons. I twiddle my thumbs and tap my foot impatiently. A light platter of rain begins, the sky is a little cloudy but still bright. I watch the small rain fall, feeling nostalgic while taking in the scent of salty water.

A memory blooms before my eyes.

My 18 years of self entering the small condo for the first time, my eyes bright and hungry and overcompensated with expectations. My stride powerful and overly confident as I picture equipment in the empty, living and dining room. My hands framing the areas with the best angle, preparing for a let down, a slow but sure failure. Yet my old self beams with joy. So happy...so stupid.

I stare down at my covered hands, digging them deeper into the blanket of a sleeve. What will I do know? I doubt Jason's big plan will restructure and grow business in 2 days. I could always strip.

But seriously, what now?

The sound of heavy ass footsteps and heaving breaths alerts me that Jason is back. He practically drags his body up the stairs. "What's the emergency?" He says, breaking a sweat all over his tank top and lodging a duffle bag.

"The business is going under, same old same old." I crack.

Inside, a studio apartment that's literally 9x10 feet. A mini fridge sits cornered, a almost miniature stove, a bed of black sheets and a 40 inch flatscreen tv, and three bean bags...of course black. "Don't dog my place."

"Why should I, you have more than I do. That calls for a hate of envy." I flop onto a bean bag. "I'll have to sale everything."

"It can't be that bad..." Jason drops the duffel bag to the floor with a thud.

"Speak for yourself, you can apply for a market strategist...a real one with a corner office."

"Yeah in two years."

"I should've went to college...instead of relying on "daddy's money". I bitterly mock myself.

"Okay, stop with the suspense, what happened." He bends to open the mini fridge, tosses me a water, then caps open a red Gatorade, gulping as if lost in a desert.

"I got in contact with the investors, they're not funding this phase of the company because their isn't star quality in any of my low quality products. So I'm banking on your big ideal to change things."

Jason shakes his head as he damps away sweat from his face with his tank top. "Alright, I kind of have to where I want it, but better something than nothing. So." He walks to sit on a bean bag, huffing and gulping his drink.

"Today would be nice."

"I looked into hosting a free model audition at the mall...there's an abandoned Charlotte Russe that spacious enough, thing is the casting can only last five hours so, there's a tight window. I create this." He draws his phone from his pants, finger printing it to loads a video from his camera roll. "Now, know that this isn't the completed ad, it's just a rundown. A flyer banner has to be added as a frame template and of course the proper wording along with the company logo."

"Alright, I won't judge it...too harshly."

He presses the play button.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(CREDITS TO BrokenDove  THE EDIT QUEEN LOL)

My mouth drops at the video. "Umm..."

"Not too harsh remember?"

"No, no, I'm not going to troll you, it's just...I didn't think you could edit." He raises an eyebrow. "Well, video edit. The music is dreamy and glamorous and the clips are just the right pace." I stand up, feeling the smile untested of my 18 year old self spread my lips and a nostalgic drive fire my eyes. "How fast can you add the framing, wording, and so forth? Also, what mall? We need to think a weekday and time schedule, a peak time, of course."

"I can finish it by tonight, the location is the Beverly Mall on Friday between 4-8 pm. I've also set up an advertising campaign on Tiktok, crossing target audience with look alike audience, a reach of 33 thousand, linked traffic to our website subpage, Mall CatWalk, and white hat SEO. All is missing are the video captions."

"How about Snapchat and Tumblr, is the process set up on those platforms as well?"

"Yes, but TikTok is the highest growing social, so I prioritized."

"Girls only for the qualifications, ages 18-27 will do, instruct visitors to upload a selfie in a good or decent lighting, so they can feel non alienated, I can't think of anything else."

"Free drinks and snacks, this is the era of the free loaders, and will do, by the morning it'll be posted."

"Stand up, I actually want to hug you."

Jason chuckles as he obeys my order. genuinely, I embrace him, not leaning away from the hug nor scrunching my body away. This moment lingers but in a comforting way. "Let's prove these investors wrong."