I Give you Love Baby, not Romance

"Where were you last night?" Liv pouted when her boyfriend finally returned home.

"Sorry babe, I had to work late and ended up crashing on a colleague's couch"

The truth was, Joey and Dawn had barely been able to tear themselves away from each other from the moment they reached her apartment, and he would probably still be fucking her now if she hadn't had an appointment with her new agent to get to. Joey wondered if he'd ever be good enough at his job to need one of those.

It didn't seem like Charlie was around at the moment. She tended to come and go as she pleased, and he figured there was next to no point asking where she went. If there was one thing that girl was open about, it was how secretive she was.

"I feel like you've been neglecting me lately" Liv complained, folding her arms "Ever since we got here, you're either at work or hanging out with Charlie. And by the way, I don't like how close up she sits to you when you're watching TV together"

"I'm sorry, I'm just finding my feet in a new job, and catching up with an old friend I hadn't seen in a long time. We're just buddies though. And, apart from yesterday, you and I hang out quite a bit don't we?"

"Only if your definition of 'hanging out' is fucking" Liv retorted angrily "I'm not just your fuck toy, Joey. I want you to start treating me like a proper girlfriend, and for us to do things as a couple. I can't even wear clothes in this stupid fucking apartment you've brought me to, so I need us to get out of it as often as I can"

There was a time when a knockout beautiful woman demanding Joey date her would have been a problem he'd be happy to have, but he was juggling a lot of balls in the air as it was. As bad as it made him feel now, he realised how convenient it had been before, when Liv had seemingly been content to be a fuck toy.

Joey could have made her believe she was happy that way now, of course, but she had enough mind manipulation to deal with from Charlie already. On top of that, she wasn't some anonymous hot girl in a bar he was testing his powers on anymore. Joey had developed genuine affection for Liv and, even if Charlie hadn't insisted on her sticking around, he didn't like the idea of losing her.

"We'll spend more time together from now on, I promise" he told his girlfriend, already wondering how he was going to make that work.

"We'd better" she warned him, before her expression quickly switched from grumpy to mischievous "Actually, I had a hot idea for us to try on our next date night"

"Oh, what was that?" Joey perked up, suddenly a lot more enthusiastic about where this conversation was going.

"I want us to fuck in public. You know, like we do in our fantasies, but really do it this time!"

"Have you gone crazy, Liv?" Joey asked in disbelief "That's all kinds of illegal, not to mention you're the daughter of a Senator. The entire point of making it a fantasy is that kind of thing is a complete no go in real life"

"I know, but you can make me imagine like I'm somewhere else, right?"

"Yeah"

"So can't you make other people think they are somewhere else where they can't see us? Or that we're not there? Or they think it's normal for us to fuck in public?"

Joey pondered that for a moment. Technically, it ought to be possible, but the risks would be immense

"I'm really not sure that's a good idea, Liv"

"Please, Joey. If you can make it happen, I'll let you do anything you want to me..." she promised, in a cute little girl voice he doubted ever got refused by any guy, even without that offer attached to it.

Joey hesitated, but not for long. He hated how weak he was sometimes.

"Give me a couple of days, Liv. I'll see if I can figure something out"

His phone was buzzing now. It was Kayleigh.

"Shit, I'd better take that" he excused himself as he walked into the next room "Hey Preston, what's up?"

"Dammit Jones, don't you answer your phone anymore?" Kayleigh asked, her annoyance quickly turning to frenzied excitement "I can't believe you took out that motherfucker Howard White. I don't even care how you did it, I'm so proud of you I could almost cry. You and me are spending the rest of the day together and that's not even a request, it's an order!"

"Ah, my favourite client - step into my office!" Charlie announced with gusto, as she ushered Dawn into the space she had rented for the afternoon "I apologise for the vulgar display of wealth you can see here in my decor. I did ask them to keep my surroundings humble, but they insisted 'nothing but the best for our star performer!' It's embarrassing really"

"Wow, this place is practically palatial!" Dawn gushed as she took in the almost empty and largely featureless grey unit she was currently standing in "You must be the best in the business to be given something like this!"

"I'm just lucky to have a job I love!"

"Remind me, Charlie, why can't I tell anyone this is what you do for a living, or that we're meeting?"

"Because I'm a secret talent agent"

"Huh?"

"Just kidding. I need to keep this whole thing on the down low because Joey absolutely hates all forms of entertainment agent"

"Really?" Dawn wrinkled her nose in bewilderment.

"Oh yeah, with a passion. I think maybe he had childhood dreams of stardom that went unfulfilled or something - I'd strongly recommend you never raise the subject with him. Anyway, the point is, he'd completely disown me if he ever found out this is my profession, so I'd rather you not mention it to anyone"

"Noted. That's so weird of him though" Dawn shook her head, perplexed "Anyway, your secret is safe with me. So, what was it you called me here for? You know I've never done any TV work, right?"

"Yes, but this isn't just any TV work, my friend" Charlie grinned widely "What we're going to do will completely change the news industry forever!"