THE IDOL'S GIRL

Jasmine's POV...  Jasmine above... My phone rang beside me on the night stand beside my bed and I groaned out loud in frustration, taking the pillow beside my head and placing it on top of my head to try and dampen the noise from my phone. I was slowly drifting back to sleep and released a deep sigh of relief when I heard the phone stop ringing. But that moment of peace was short-lived as again my phone began buzzing loudly. Groaning loudly once again, stretched my hand out and grabbed it, the pillow still above me. "JASMINE SIBUOR ARE YOU STILL ASLEEP?" A voice I was all too farmiliar with shouted from the other end of the call and I winced, pulling back as her loud voice made gave me a tiny headache. "Ahlum, it's too early in the morning to be shouting in my ear like a f*****g banshee." I cursed out at her . "Early? Girl, if you don't get up now, you'll be late." She said and I could hear some background noise from her end, and if I was to take a wild guess, she was busy making breakfast for her family. "I set an alarm. I know I'm not...." I began as I pulled the phone away from my ear and checked the time from the little clock icon on the left side of my screen and my eyes widened as I looked at the time. 7.30. s**t! "f**k I'm so late!" I cursed out loud as I threw the covers of my duvet away from my body and jumped out of the bed. I nearly fell down as I tripped in literal air but managed to save myself from the oncoming disaster just in time. I scrabbled to prepare myself, phone still tucked in between my neck and ear as I moved around my room in a frenzy trying to get everything in order and myself presentable for the conference. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?" I asked Ahlam as I struggled to put my pants on. Luckily for me, I had thought before hand and put out the clothes I was to wear the night before. "If you were to check your purple phone, you'll notice that I did in fact try to call you since six thirty. At intervals of ten minutes each. Youve literally turned me into an alarm clock." She said with a sigh and I could picture her rolling her eyes at me while sighing. I felt a slight tinge of guilt but my panic at the moment outdid the shame I was feeling. It wasn't the first time that Ahlam had played my alarm clock. In fact, the foundation of our friendship was based on the fact that she was my alarm clock and I was her muscle machine. Well I used to be anyways before she got happily married to the love of her life. I first met Ahlam when we were in university together ten years ago. We were both nineteen and young, fresh out of the nest, excited to fly into the world. We were both Media and communications majors students at the University of Sussex in the UK. Both of us scholarship students. And we ended up being roommates because the foundation made the accomodation arrangements. Our situations were, however, very different. Whereas we both got to be two out of ten scholarship students in the school, she actually didn't need the scholarship as she came from a rich family, whereas I came from a middle-class single mother home and the scholarship was the only option for me. And at first I hated her for getting the scholarship as I assumed that she took the spot of someone that actually needed it to study whereas she could afford to pay the entire tuition and living expenses without making a dent in her trust fund.But I came to understand that that was an unfair judgement on my part. Because she won the spot fair and square. She earned it and thus it was meant for her. And she wasn't mean. In fact she was one of the kindest people I knew and her easy, sweet, innocent looking, go lucky attitude was the reason I became her muscle machine because people took advantage of her kindness. We were complete opposites. Whereas she was like a ray of sunshine, always happy and bubbly lady, I was the complete opposite. On top of being a clumsy, quirky mess, I was also extremely, for lack of a better word, crazy. I always did things in extreme. Especially when pushed to the edge. We complemented each other. She was the ying to my yang and in a way, I felt like she was my platonic soulmate. Her sunshine personality rubbed off on me over the years. Her husband Amir always teased us that he was always the third wheel in the relationship. But despite he's cute complaints, we knew he enjoyed our company. Not that he had any other choice anyway.  Ahlam above... "How about I treat you to Joe's tonight after I get back?" I asked her in a way of apologizing for the guilt I felt. "Let's talk once you get to make it on time first." She said with teasing tone and this time it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Yeah yeah..." I said as I put the phone on loud speaker and placed it next to my bathroom sink while I freshened up. Thankfully I had showered the previous night and although I didn't like the fact that I couldn't shower that morning, I decided I could forgo it just for that day as I had to report for the conference before nine and knowing the traffic to the hotel where the conference was going to be held, it would be a miracle if I'm able to make it in time. We talked for a bit about other current gossip issues as I got ready until I was finally fully dressed and prepared. "Wishing you all the best Jazzy. I know you can do it." She said as we winded up our conversation. "Thanks A. I need all the encouragement I can get. " I told her as I walked into my livingroom and took my bag from the couch where I had placed it the previous night. "Kisses." She said from her end just as I heard Amir talk in the background. "Kisses. Kiss Zara for me." I told her before we ended the call. I checked my phone and noted that I had less than thirty minutes to get to the hotel. s**t! The only option I had was getting an Uber to the place. Taking the bus was definitely out of the question. With a deep sigh, I ordered an Uber, regretting how I had to dig into my monthly allowance, basically going a bit over budget but it had to be done. My phone pinged notifying me that my Uber was here. Sending a silent prayer to God above, I walked out of my small apartment, locking the door behind me, the entire time praying that I not only make it in time but also be able to get the contract I wanted so bad. ******* I thanked the Uber driver for getting me to the hotel on time as I paid him and got out of the small cab. Taking a deep sigh of the somewhat slightly humid summer Dubai air, I tried to calm my nerves as I walked up the steps to the entrance of the hotel. Le Grande was one of the most luxurious hotels in Dubai. From its decor, to it's staff and food, everything about it screamed money. It's no wonder even the guests currently walking around the lobby were just as classy and elegant. They practically fit the entire aesthetics of the hotel. I looked around in silent awe as I walked to the main reception area where four, two beautiful women and two handsome men currently stood behind the large desk, waiting on the guests. With a small polite smile on my face, I walked up to one of the men. "Hello. How can I help you today Miss?" He asked politely. "Hello. I'm looking for hall 21?" I asked. "Thank Goodness. We have been waiting for you for a long time." A feminine voice with an American accent said from beside me and I turned to see who it belonged to. A beautiful Asian woman stood beside me, a small polite smile on her face. Her eyes however held no emotion, which matched her persona. She was dressed in an expensive black pant suit with a cream blouse underneath and small heeled black shoes which made me think she worked under someone extremely important seeing as she not only dressed the part but also gave off this semi powerful aura. Her ebony silly black hair was up in a tight bun and apart from the red matte lipstick she had on, her face had barely any make up. Not that she needed it as she was already beautiful anyway. And for a moment I was slightly jealous of how perfectly smooth her milky skin glowed. I wondered, for a minute ,how old she was. She looked like she was in her mid twenties. But I could be wrong. As I was busy looking at her, what she had said hit me. She was waiting for me? What for? I came for a conference and last I checked, attendees were not exactly being welcomed by chaperones. Or were they? If so then it must be more important than I had first thought. "Excuse me? What do you mean waiting for me?" I asked her. "No time to waste. The conference is about to begin and we are already late as is. Please follow me." She said and began walking towards the elevators. I stood there trying to register everything for a few seconds when she turned back to look at me, raising one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows questioningly as if silently asking why I wasn't following her. Shaking my head internally, I followed her blindly like a puppy to where she was leading me. She could probably be leading me to a slaughter house for all I knew. Yes I tend to be overly imaginative. In fact my mum often said that I was a bit too vivid with my imaginations but in all honesty one of us had to at least be delulu. We got into one of the elevators with a few other people and I noted that we were going to the second floor. Despite the ride being short, it felt like hours till we reached our floor. We got off and again she led the way as I followed diligently a few steps behind her. She suddenly stopped and turned to face me, getting me off guard and I stopped abruptly, nearly tripping on my feet. "Why are you walking so far behind me? I might look intimidating but I promise I don't bite. " She teased with a small smile and once again her eyes still held no emotion. I smiled back at her and walked to where she was and she resumed walking, this time we walked side by side. "I didn't get your name?" She asked politely. "It's Jasmine. Jasmine Sibuor." I said. "Hmmm...that's weird. I thought you were called Anna something. Anyway semantics right?" She said and I just nodded with an awkward smile. Weird. I don't remember registering under Anna. "I'm Yeji. Park Yeji. But you can just call me Yeji. Since I have a feeling we will be working alongside each other for a while. And I hate being formal with my people." She said and once again her statement made me confused but I just nodded and decided to go with the flow. "Nice to meet you Yeji." I said politely. "Nice to meet you too Jasmine." She said back with a small polite smile. "You can just call me Jaz. I hate formalities too." I said trying to be a bit friendly. "Well Jaz. I have a feeling you and I will get along perfectly. " She said "Just hoping that gorilla doesn't do something stupid again."she added lowly that I nearly missed it and I had a feeling I wasn't supposed to hear that so I decided to play dumb and ignore her. "Okay. So we have like twenty minutes before the conference begins. And since I like you, I'll give you some tips." She started and I nodded as I listened to her keenly. "Don't be intimidated. No matter how prickly he might be. It's all an act to try and scare anyone that he doesn't know. Since we couldn't meet before, this will be the determining factor on whether you make it or not. So be yourself and try your best. Honesty is the best approach." She said hurriedly and as I noted her instructions in my mind, some things about what she was saying still made me confused. And I wanted to ask, but I figured that my Spidey senses weren't ringing yet so I was still in the clear about everything. "Got it." I said nodding diligently. "Good." She said stopping outside a door and I noted that two bulky guards stood outside the door as if they were guarding someone important. I was confused for a few seconds then remembered that the conference was going to be having important guests attending. Some ambassadors and important business people. So it would explain the guards. It was the main reason I was attending the conference in the first place. To network with some of the people there in the hopes of getting a PR contract for my barely standing company that I started two months ago. My intention was to wow them with a pitch after the conference was over and exchange business cards in the hopes that at least one would be impressed by my take and reach out to me. Basically my entire life depended on this. And the fact that my friend Novel had managed to get me a spot last minute was all the sign I needed that this was my one and only chance. "Remember, Honesty and be yourself. That buffoon needs it more than anything so he doesn't end up messing up everything." She said and this time my Spidey senses kicked in. Who was this "him" she kept referring to? Did Nigel manage to get me a one on one with one of the guests? Despite the warning bells ringing in my head, I chose to be delulu and made a mental note to call him and thank him with a promise to take him out for dinner when he got back into the country from his overseas assignment. Yeji nodded at the guards in silent greeting as they opened the door of what looked like a hotel room, which sounded like it was bustling with activity inside and I followed her. The small hallway from the door opened up to a huge livingroom space that had plenty of sunlight coming in from its large windows that allowed the natural light in. There were like a dozen people moving up and about hastly and I nearly bumped into one of them but managed to avoid that disaster just in time. "Everyone! Kindly leave the room. " Yeji shouted and at once the random people began to leave the room just as another door on the side opened. I let out a small gasp as my widened eyes landed on the person leaving the room. I must be dreaming. I must be dreaming. This had to be some wild dream. Ain't no way I was in the same room as Him. "Minjun-ah! Perfect. Just in time for me to introduce you both. This is Jasmine. She is going to be your new PR manager. Jasmine. This is Kim Minjun." Yeji introduced with a smile on her face as I stared, dry mouthed at Minjun and he stared back at me with a cold expression, not even bothered to smile warmly at me. What the hell is happening?