“It’s made of body-safe silicone. It’s smooth. The silicone heats up to your body temperature.” Ivy took the toy in her hand, running her fingertips over the midpoint of the plug. “On the inside, the hollow plug is ribbed, adding texture. You might want to use some desensitizing lube with it.”
“Good,” Julien nodded.
“Julien, I’m not a sex educator. I don’t know if I am the person you’re looking for. I don’t know how comfortable I am with this.”
“You don’t need to be a sex educator. Just comfortable with the subject, and I need to know if you have familiarity with different toys. What about this?” He handed her a small square pillow.
“It’s a pillow,” Ivy said. “A wedge. To put wherever you need support. You could just use pillows, but this is firm and small.”
“Ivy, I would love for you to consider this position. If you’re not getting traction in your field, maybe it’s a sign you need to pivot. Sometimes we have to make lemonade out of unexpected lemons. You have a week to decide.”
“That’s it?” Ivy ran her fingers through her hair.
“That’s it.” Julien smiled.
“Wow. Okay, thank you. Nice to meet you.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Julien waited for her to step in front of him and led her out of the rooftop garden down the stairs to the street level.
“Thanks for meeting with me,” Ivy said.
“Thank you for considering the position. You’ll be great.” Julien gave her a wave and disappeared back into the office.
Ivy waved and jumped as she heard breaks squeal and a flash of silver turning left. Yikes, that was close to her.
Taking a deep breath, Ivy started walking through the neighbourhood, stopping at a ramen noodle place for takeout. She took her lunch over to a bench by the port and called Alice.
“Ivy! How are you?”
“I’m good. I just left an interview. How’s Josh?”
“He’s good. Getting bigger. Are you coming home for your mom’s birthday?”
Ivy swallowed. She was due for a trip home. “I’m going to try. What’s up?”
“So I asked a friend of mine if there was anything in your field. She works as an event planner, and she heard that the Stadium Agency is hiring. I have contact details. I’m going to text you over.”
“But that’s in Calgary.” She hadn’t considered leaving Vancouver, no matter what she told her mom.
“Yes, but Calgary is a city too, and you would be closer to your parents. Closer to me,” Alice said. “We miss you, Ivy.”
For a moment, her head swam with homesickness. Ever since she had left home for university, she had kept going. Kept achieving, determined to leave her childhood home on the berry farm behind.
“I’ll think about it,” Ivy said.
“Good. I’m about to take Josh in for an appointment. Let me know what you decide.”
Ivy hung up and sighed, her stomach a mess of knots. She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed from having one erratic client to barely making rent to having two potential jobs. Having Gabe in her life was better, and he was the only person she wanted to talk to about this.
But did she have to talk to him about this sex show? He hadn’t been the most supportive of her last promotion at Metric. He didn’t always like the hours she worked. Ivy bit her lip, but she had a hard time with him in the army, not always knowing when he would call. And when he left to work with Axis Management, she never knew the details of his job.
He never asked her what she thought about him being a private security operative. Determination ran through her fingers. She loved him, but the last half of the year taught her she had to look after herself.
Steeling herself, she took out her cell phone.
“Well, Miss Powell, that was fast.”
“Yes.” Ivy looked across at the docks and sighed. She couldn’t leave this city.
