8 WEEKS LATER

She was doing it again…biting her bottom lip, and messing with her outfit once more. It was her anxiety playing with her again. Vivienne smoothed out the black velvet skirt, pulled up her tank top more, so as not to reveal a lot of cleavage, and buttoned up her blouse, except for the last button.

She had put on natural-looking makeup earlier, and added cherry red lipstick for more effect. She knew there was no reason to worry…it was just the fact that she didn't want to meet with Arthur Tressler.

Her reasons for this were her own, and she swore she would not speak of those reasons unless they were deemed necessary. For now, though, she was more concerned about making a memorable impression in front of the face of Tressler Insurance.

Daniel had scheduled a meeting with Mr. Tressler around three weeks ago, before they finally got back to the five magicians two days ago.

Merritt and Henley suggested Vivienne go with Daniel to meet Tressler, this was mostly because the two were worried Daniel would get too cocky and end up pissing off Mr. Tressler, instead of getting his support.

They were to meet with Tressler in his office at three o'clock sharp, just before he went home for the day, of course after he did nothing of utter importance, besides sitting in his chair and calling back insurance owners, claiming they had not a thing to worry about. These were all lies, of course, and the illusionists knew this.

Don't ask, otherwise the magic would be ruined. Not everybody likes spoilers to a good magic trick.

"Quit fidgeting, Vivienne!" Atlas suddenly exclaimed, stopping his pacing for a hot minute.

Vivienne jumped at his voice, breaking through her own thoughts.

He seemed to have noticed this, and quickly added, "You're stressing me out."

She nodded, and quickly shifted her legs on the kitchen stool, her left on top of her right, suddenly feeling insecure due to Daniel's outburst.

The front door to the apartment opened revealing Merritt and Jack, both in tuxedos. It took the group two weeks to finally settle on an apartment to live in together, since they all lived in different cities, excluding Vivienne and Jack.

The apartment was certainly big enough for all five of them to live in, with three master bedrooms, one of the masters had a bathroom all to its own, and two smaller rooms. There was small living room space, two small bathrooms, and a medium-sized kitchen with an island. It certainly felt like a home to Vivienne.

"What are we waiting on? Car's parked outside," Jack told the two, while pointing behind him out the door.

"Henley," Atlas and Vivienne said together.

With that said, Henley walked out of her room, one of the masters, and approached the four crowding around the door now. She wore a black sheath dress with a black jacket, black pantyhose, polished ebony three-inch heels, simple jewelry, and a black purse that hung on her shoulder. Natural makeup had been applied with coral colored lipstick.

Without more words exchanged, the five locked up the apartment and headed for the black 2008 Nissan Rogue. It didn't take long to arrive at the insurance company and park in the garage, their only issue was worrying about how long the line would be outside of Tressler's office.

The line would most likely be filled with people trying to sell their products or trying to obtain endorsements, whereas the five magicians wanted to seek an audience with Mr. Tressler to support them with their show.

Once they made it to the higher levels, they found themselves in an empty waiting room. Daniel turned to the others with a confused look resting on his face before Vivienne and Merritt shrugged at him.

The ringleader of the five, Atlas, went to the secretary's desk and spoke, "Excuse me, ma'am. We're here to see Mr. Tressler."

The woman continued typing up on her computer as she responded, "Name?"

"Atlas. Daniel Atlas."

Henley elbowed him in the ribs, making him clear his throat before continuing, "And, uh, Vivienne Gordon."

She looked down at her clipboard, and nodded before pressing a button on her phone machine.

"Yes?" a voice on the other end asked.

"Mr. Tressler, you have a Daniel Atlas and a Vivienne Gordon here to see you."

"Ah yes, please send them in."

With a "yes sir", the secretary allowed Daniel and Vivienne into the office ahead, while Henley, Jack, and Merritt sat down on the couch in the waiting room.

When Vivienne turned her head to take a quick glance at them, Merritt casually gave her a thumbs up, Jack nodded his head as if to say "You got this", and Henley gave her the brightest smile.

Vivienne spun back around to see Mr. Tressler in his chair with a fake smile on his face. The blond did the same as she shook the older man's hand and sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

She crossed her legs, professionally before Daniel began, "Thank you for meeting with us, Mr. Tressler."

"Now, from what I heard, you want my support in creating a magic show?" Mr. Tressler went directly to the issue at hand, rather urgently.

"Yes sir. There are five of us, and we would like to just bring a little magic to some cities-" Daniel started before Vivienne interrupted.

"What he means to say, sir, is that bringing together five solo acts to create a magic show production would be very profitable."

His interest piqued and Vivienne knew he was almost biting on the bait, but was still a little hesitant, so she continued.

"Don't you think a magic show of five, not to brag, talented magicians would bring in an incredible amount of people? And the more people there are, the more money they'll have in their back pockets. Just give us a chance, please."

TWO HOURS LATER

"Are the other members here?" Mr. Tressler questioned as he handed a pen to Vivienne.

"Yes sir, they're sitting outside," she responded.

"Marcy?" Tressler called on his desk phone.

"Yes, Mr. Tressler?"

"Send in the others that came with Mr. Atlas and Ms. Gordon. "

"Right away, sir."

Within a couple minutes, Henley, Jack, and Merritt entered the office calmly and collectively. They introduced themselves professionally to Arthur Tressler while Daniel changed the ink cartridge of Tressler's pen secretly.

Daniel quickly wrote down his name on the contract, then Vivienne. When the others joined them, they had all signed and handed the contract to Mr. Tressler.

They shook hands with the older man before heading out, however, Vivienne noticed Daniel still holding the pen, switching the cartridge back. He screwed it all the way before the blond grasped the pen from his hands and made her way back to the desk.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Tressler. I forgot your pen. Here you go," she said as she placed the pen in the pencil and pen cup sitting neatly on his desk.

"Thank you, my dear," the old man smiled.

"No, thank you, Mr. Tressler," the blond winked as she made her way out the door.

"Oh, and Ms. Gordon?"

The blond turned back to the white-haired British man.

"What is the name of this group of magicians performing?" he questioned, a pen in hand to write it down on the contract.

With a smug smirk, Vivienne answered, "The Five Horsemen."

On the way to the garage to grab the car, Daniel asked rather rudely, "What the hell was that?"

Vivienne stopped in her tracks and spun around, sass filling her posture with a hand on her hip.

"What the hell was what?" she questioned back innocently, her eyebrow raised and lips pursed.

"Let's see if you remember correctly, um, oh yes. I was supposed to be the one talking to Tressler, not you," Atlas pointed accusingly.

"If I recall correctly, I'm not your assistant, Atlas. So don't expect me to act like one," Vivienne shot back.

His mouth was wide open to retort when Vivienne spoke, "Shut up, and get in the car, Daniel."

With that said, she walked quickly to the car and took her seat on the passenger side next to Merritt, who was trying to hold back his laughter, along with Jack, who was sure to face Daniel's wrath, since the youngest was in the back of the car. Merritt started up the Nissan while holding out his fist, which Vivienne gladly fist-bumped back as Daniel finally made his way into the backseat, his face deep red from embarrassment.