Chapter Thirty Five

* Hey guys, this is the original chapter that was supposed to be posted yesterday🥲, sorry for the previous chapter😩😩 I think it was a system glitch but anyways have this one to cool your temper🤗.*

p.s: some really foul words are used.

 The next day, Elena was at the office, completely unaware of the evil that was being planned against her, but she would not have cared to know either, she was now familiar with some people at the office and waved hi to her colleagues here and there. She was also recognized by her colleagues as an upcoming model that had great talent and was in hot pursuit in the market, so they naturally befriended her,the office was somewhat chaotic on this day, as different friend groups were talking about the latest sex scandal of one Gregory Walker, a model from Sky fusion entertainment, one of the leading entertainment agencies that competed with LSC Entertainment, this scandal would have been received with gladness by the people in LSC, but sadly it was not so, because that model Gregory Walker had been involved in that sex scandal with another male model, who was one of LSC'S handsome models, so LSC was suffering the brunt of his actions. His contracts with different companies were revoked and that meant that a considerably large amount of money will be lost by LSC while trying to save his name and retaining some of his contracts.

"It is a shame, he always seemed like the kind of person to avoid trouble and scandals, I mean, he will lose a lot of money because of his actions." Somebody close to where Elena was getting her coffee commented.

"Well at least LSC will not lose much money from his gigs, I heard that most of his contracts and gigs has been handed over to Valerie Cole, The president's sister" Another person joined in the gossip lowering her voice so that no other person apart from the people in that were in that group could hear her, but Elena's ears had perked up and she had tactically moved closer to the group when she heard Valerie's name, that bad feeling she had whenever that name was mentioned returned to the pit of her stomach. As of the moment, Valerie Cole was not supposed to be in the country as she was shooting as a cover girl for an international magazine that was situated abroad, but if she was going to take over his gigs that would mean that she would come back really really soon, her heart dropped.

"Yes, she makes it pretty obvious that she is related to him, it's almost as if she is mocking the rest of us who are not even opportune and can not imagine standing twelve feet away from him" another put in, bitterly.

 "I agree, she is a top model, and she runs it in our faces, I heard she is landing tomorrow, we were free from her clutches when she was not around, now we are going go back to the former way of doing things around here" another added.

  Elena was perplexed, Valerie was coming back tomorrow, she wondered what the other woman meant when she said that they would be going back to the former way of doing things, but she would find out tomorrow anyway. She moved away from the group, she has been standing there long enough and could not afford being caught eavesdropping.

 she immediately made her way to Katie's office to relay the news. When she got to Katie's floor, she went straight to the office and opened the door slowly, Katie was making a call and cussing at the person on the other end that Elena herself winced. She was facing the window and therefore her back faced the door, so she did not see Elena entering.

   "Don't fucking give me that bull shit, I don't want to fucking hear it, how dare you tell her, I fucking hate you, I despise you, don't even try to cover yourself up, how could you do that you know exactly how I feel about it, then you just let the cat out of the bag like that, she will be so disappointed in me, I hate you, I seriously do" Her voice was breaking. Elena was still by the door, not knowing whether to go in or out. Katie began talking again and this time, the profanities ceased for a moment, Katie turned on impulse and found Elena standing by the door, looking lost, her heart dropped, how much did she hear.

  "I will call you back later" she said to the person on the other end of the line.

  Elena saw the despair on Katie's face and walked in nonchalantly as if she did not hear the string of foul words that the latter had vomited.

   "How long have you been standing there" The despair more evident than ever.

 "oh me, I just came in now, why do you look so flustered all of a sudden, did I do something wrong or am I not supposed to be here, I could just leave if you want me to." Elena played it cool, her face did not betray any knowledge, she looked completely innocent that the lines on Katie's face and the fear in her eyes dissipated completely.

  "No it's nothing like that, I am just being paranoid, sorry for making you uncomfortable." Katie apologized, remorse reflecting on her face.

"There is no need for you to apologize as no offense was taken, so you can be rest assured that I am not angry in any way. I do have a bit of news for you." Elena assured.

Katie looked skeptical, the last time that Elena had news for her in this very office, they became embroiled in a murder case, "Go ahead, I am all ears."

With that confirmation, Elena plunged right in and dived into the story, "So I found out that, Valerie is coming back tomorrow" she ended.

"Wait, you heard all this today, how do you get all this information without even trying." Katie mused.

"Well maybe it is because I do not lock myself up in a spacious office and think that I will get information, walk around , stretch your legs and you will see, or rather hear wonders." Elena narrated feeling proud of herself for being useful.

"Oh please, spare me that I don't even think the information was that beneficial, I mean what does it concern us that she is coming back, it was bound to happen anyway, she did not plan on living there you know, we just have to do our thing and she will do hers, there is a ten percent possibility that we would clash." She stated.

"But on a serious note, she would not notice me because she is higher up, I only hope that I do not become a target to her because I don't know how that would go." Elena contemplated.

"You are right, she would not notice you that much, she would notice me and when she finds out that I am managing you, it will only go downhill from there, so we only have to stay low and not be noticed." Katie offered.

 Elena did not think that would be the only solution, it was not really going to be easy like that,"Yeah right, you used to manage her, I almost forgot, but I guess I am really anticipating her arrival." 

"Yeah me too, it is going to be a bittersweet experience, more of the bitter though." She muttered sarcastically.

They continued their discussion and left the subject of Valerie, deeming it not important, little did they know the turmoil she was going to bring.

"You know I have been thinking" Elena started.

Katie smirked, "you are always thinking, if it's not about this, then it's about that, thinking is your thing, there isn't a day that you don't overthink then blame your large eyebags  and wrinkles on lack of sleep."

"What no! I don't have eyebags and definitely do not have a single wrinkle on my face, leave that for  the older population, like you, but, I have been thinking and I feel like I have not been a good daughter, I think I will need to see my mother one of these days, but I cannot ask Lorenzo, so I thought you might be of help to me, couldyoupleaseaskhimforme" Elena jumbled the last part and made it incomprehensible.

"What?, Take a deep breath and just repeat the last part" Katie was lost.

" Could you please ask him for me?" She fluttered her eye lashes once then twice.

Katie let out a snort, " who me? I don't think so. I will definitely not be able to help you with that, you will have to talk to him yourself , there is nothing I can do to help you."

Elena made cute puppy eyes but there is no way Katie could have seen her as Katie herself was looking anywhere but her, "please, pretty please, I don't have enough courage to ask him."

"So what, take an energy drink, you have a large mirror in your dressing room, use it, stand in front of the mirror and rehearse what you will say to him, it works for many people, you might be lucky and it will work for you" Katie gave back and Elena looked lost for words for a minute.

"I am literally begging you to help me, and that is what you suggest?" She scoffed.

"Well that is what works for most people, just trying to help you out" Katie shrugged.

"What am I asking him, on a date?" Elena retorted sarcastically.

"Well you could do that, if it works for you, just ask him on a date, then you just tell him coyly that you miss your mom and would like to see her, he'll understand and you never know, Voila! Everything works out." Katie encouraged.

"You know that is harder than the real task at hand, you know what, forget it,  I will just text him and tell him, at least that would not need face to face communication" Elena decided.

 Katie shrugged again,"Yeah whatever, but the date part of it would have made everything sweeter and more romantic." She looked almost sad.

"You are just a romance fanatic that is trying to use me to fulfill her fantasies." Elena declared and they both laughed at that.

Sometime later, Elena was stretched on the sofa, her favorite spot in the office when she heard a yelp from Katie, she turned to see her doing a sort of weird victory dance around the office, Elena was perplexed, what could be wrong with this woman now.

"Why in the world are you dancing." Elena finally found the voice to ask, but her effort was in vain as the woman kept dancing, completely ignoring her or maybe she did not hear her.

"Why the hell are you dancing Ms." Elena asked again, more forcefully this time.

Katie stopped, smiled, then carried on again. After doing the weird movements to her fulfilment, she finally stopped and sat down, sighed in happiness and started explaining to an already fed up Elena.

"You see, you just received an offer by Beam magazine to cover for this month's editorial release." Katie explained.

Elena was speechless, Beam magazine was a national magazine that was expanding it's branches, being the cover girl for them would mean more widespread fame and recognition, her tongue was tied and she felt a need to stand up and jump for joy, she could now relate with what Katie was doing earlier.

Beam magazine was not child's play especially for her that was a new person in the business, they could have gone for a better candidate, but they chose her, this was more than she ever expected to happen in a such short period of time.

She stood up and did her own share of the weird dance movements that seemed to be a victory dance.

_________________________________

TWO FLOORS AWAY.

"Hello are you still there." The voice repeated.

The phone fell from her hand, this one was a new device as the other one had been destroyed in a fit of rage, now this one clattered to the ground and her knees gave way, she slid to the floor.

Amelie sat on the floor, her head was swimming, Elena had gotten the gig,how was that possible, she was the one that slaved last night under that smelly pig's dirty sweaty body, but she was the one that got the gig? She thought. Her eyes welled with unshed tears, she was holding her tears back since the idiot that called her told her the news. 

She had done unspeakable things just to get this role and what happens, they carry it and give it to Elena, where did she go wrong, did she not offer her body for that exact role?, was she not more beautiful than that plain Elena? Then why did she not get the role?. That man had used her for his pleasure in that cheapskate hotel, she had not even been able to step her feet in the bathroom as it was filled with all kinds of insects, so when he was done, she had to go home all sweaty and smelling of him, but what was the result?, They gave the role to Elena. Her fist shook, she was going to deal with Elena once and for all, she had done everything to bring her down but she did not succeed, she was finally going to deal with her, how dare she?.

She could not control herself anymore and burst out crying, she had been degraded, no, she had degraded herself with her own actions, had she not approached that man and asked him what she could do to get the role? Did she not see him looking at her like some raw meat and had she not utilized the opportunity? She had herself to blame for offering her body, but she had those mongrels to blame for giving that role to Elena on a silver platter. The bitch must be enjoying herself and thanking her stars for a golden opportunity, well, it would not be a golden opportunity anymore when she was done with her, that was a promise.

"Ready or not Elena, here I come." She stood up from the ground and wiped her tears. Eve burst in at just this moment and went in for a hug, but was surprised to be pushed away forcefully.

"What did I do" She was scared, she knew what this woman could do in a fit of rage.

Amelie looked at her with red rimmed eyes, "I don't need any sympathy, all I need right now is revenge.".

Oh no no no, Eve thought, this woman was going to get herself in a lot of trouble.