Clear Off the Catwalk!

Auri let her hand rest on her side. She tried not to fidget as the power-suit lady looked her over from head to toe. The woman turned her gaze to then look at Nicolas and lifted her elegantly styled eyebrow.

"Her?" she asked as she pointed at Auri with a manicured finger.

"She's good for point," he said to the woman his voice low and assuring.

The woman looked at Auri her eyes scanning her.

"Okay," she said after a tense second and turned to Auri, "Show me what you've got."

Auri startled and she looked at the woman her mind blanking.

The woman turned sharply and faced the room that had been mostly watching them. Mostly except the models who were on the catwalk prancing up and down.

"Clear off the catwalk!" she called out and her command was obeyed immediately.

Without turning to Auri, she said over her shoulder, "Go on."

Auri nodded and walked past the woman and to the catwalk. With each step, she was aware of people watching her. These people had worked with Mara. Had they been her friends? Had they loved her as much as she had? What side of her had they been exposed to? She lifted her leg and stepped on the raised platform. She was a model now. She was no armature. She took another step on the platform and walked to the end.

She counted to three and began walking. Her face was fierce, like a goddess of vengeance. She made sure her shoulders were straight. She moved to the music in her head. Her hips slightly jutted from side to side. Her hair bounced behind her. Her skirt caressed her thighs every time she alternated legs. She reached the end of the runway and stopped with a hand on one hip and the other dangling behind her in a straight vertical line. She took two steps backwards without turning and then with a flip of her hair, turned and walked back the way she had come. When she reached the point where she had started, she turned and struck a pose. She took three seconds of no movement and then she straightened out and looked at the power suit lady. Waiting for evaluation.

She did not look at the other models and thus missed the various looks of admiration, envy, interest and curiosity. Everyone was paying attention. This made her more nervous. She hoped that she had not just embarrassed herself. She had put a lot into that one walk and she hoped that she would not face any hardships with the power suit lady. The power suit lady had a blank expression on her face. Nicolas had a pleased grin on his. Sharon gave Auri a discreet thumbs up and she looked like the parent of a child who just got the biggest academic prize.

Auri wondered what the power suit lady thought. She was the one in charge of this room. She would be the one directly working with Auri. Auri tried to get a read on that stern face but she could not get anything from it. Her shoulders stiffened as she wondered if she had not reached the standards this woman wanted.

"Not bad," the woman finally said and Auri let out a discreet breath of air.

She smiled and gave the woman a little bow as she said, "Thank you."

The power suit lady turned back to Nicolas and Auri walked over to join them. She stood behind the power suit lady and listened as she spoke to Nicolas.

"She can start with me tomorrow," the woman said.

"Thank you, Jean," Nicolas said to the woman and looked at Auri over Jean's shoulder.

"Come on, Aurelie," he said as he began to turn towards the exit behind him.

Auri smiled awkwardly at Jean as she hurried around her to catch up with Nicolas. She caught up with him as she opened the door. Sharon rubbed her arm and smiled at her.

"Good job," she mouthed and Auri felt herself flush.

They slipped past the door. Before the door was shut, they could hear Jean shout at the models.

"What are you standing around for?" her voice was impatient, "Get back to work! Move! Move!!!"

Nicolas snickered as Auri's eyes widened in panic. She did not think she could perform well with someone shouting at her.

"Don't worry," Nicolas said to her, "You'll get used to Jean."

Auri smiled at him nervously. She doubted that. Nicolas led her to the elevator where he pressed the up button.

"Little," he said as he glanced over at his personal assistant, "Give Ms Wilde the timetables and whatever she needs… Within reason."

Little nodded as the elevators dinged and the doors slid open. Sharon gave Nicolas a quizzical look. The elevator was empty and the four stepped in. Nicolas hit two buttons and Sharon gave him a quizzical look.

"Are we not all going on the same floor?" she asked.

Nicolas looked at his watch and said, "I have an appointment with my designers. You and Miss Engel can follow Little to my office to get what you need."

Aurelie felt a pang. He was done with the tour? Already? She hated to admit that she had been having fun. She felt a little guilt at that but it immediately dissipated. Mara was the one who would encourage her to have more fun. She had wanted her to stay with modelling but she had not found it scintillating. Mara had been the life of every party Auri had been in. She had been the one who had brightened Auri's life. Sadness made Auri's heart ache.

The elevator came to a stop and the bell chimed as the doors slid open. Little stepped off and Sharon and Auri followed him. They were walking off when Nicolas stopped them

"Aurelie," he called out and she stopped and turned around.

She was aware of Sharon and Little stopping too.

"Welcome to the team," he said and released the hold button.

The doors began to close and Auri smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said to him.

He smiled back. They stood like that gazing into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds and then the doors were shut between them. Auri's eyes frosted over and her smile turned brittle hard. Just for a second and then it was all sugar and spice again. She turned around and resumed following Little to Nicolas' office with Sharon. Nicolas would not be happy she was here one day. She would make sure of it. For Mara.

***

The door opened and Nicolas stepped into the long corridor. His face was decisively blank. The designers had shown him what they had for the next season. He hated that he had to push them this much for anything of good value. They were doing their best but their best was not hitting the mark. He wanted the current project to be over so that he could fully immerse himself in helping them figure out where they were going wrong.

He walked to the elevator and pressed a button he stood around waiting for the doors to open. Two female designers joined him and he smiled at them. He nodded at them and faced forward. In his mind, he was wondering why Jean wanted to talk to him alone. She had been pleased with Aurelie so he hoped she had been truthful when she had approved of her. She was not the type to lie.

The elevator doors slid open and he stepped on. The designers stepped in after him. He pressed the button to go on his floor and one of the girls pressed the button to the ground floor. He ignored the glances they threw at each other and the grins they suppressed by biting their lower lips. He glanced at his watch and wondered how much time he could spare with Jean if he wanted to have lunch before his next appointment.

The elevator came to a stop and a chime rang out as the doors slid open. He stepped out. He walked past the smiling receptionist. He turned a corner and he was faced with Jean sitting in the receiving area of his office. Dani was sitting behind her desk.

"Come in, Jean," he said impatiently as he opened the door to his office.

He held the door open and waited for her to get on. She walked past him as he looked at Dani and said,

"No one disturbs us unless there's a fire somewhere."

He shut the door and turned to Jean. She was making herself at home in his sitting area. He rolled his eyes and went to sit opposite her. She was perched on a couch and had her legs crossed at the ankles and her hands folded on her lap.

"Okay," he went straight to business, "What is this about?"

"When are we having Mara back?" she asked.

"I do not know," he said as he sat back in his chair.

"She would do better on this line than the girl, Hope."

Nicolas frowned at that why was she complaining to him?

"You know I have no control over that side," he said, "You need to talk to Oliver about that."

"He won't talk about her," Jean said in frustration, "He has taken a good model with great potential and replaced her with this one useless girl. Mara would be a great pair with the girl you brought in."

"Her name is Aurelie," Nicolas told her casually as he sat back, "Try again." 

Jean losing her cool was interesting.

"I tried," Jean threw her hands in the air, "Oliver is not cooperating!"

"So," Nicolas suspected he knew the response to what he was about to ask her, "Why are you here?"

"I thought since you are his friend," Jean said it slowly.

Nicolas wanted no part of this so he immediately said, "No."

"But we need her for this next line!" She cried.

"No," Nicolas said again.

Jean made a frustrated sound but he was not budging.

"This is business," Nicolas told her, "If Oliver thinks Mara Ross is not up to the challenge, then she is not."

"Aren't you close with Mara?" Jean asked.

Nicolas tensed. He did not want to talk about whatever relationship he might or might not have had with Mara Ross.

"No," he said stiffly, "I am not close with the woman."

Jean looked like she wanted to argue with him but she saw the look at his face and seemed to think better of it.

"Fine," she said as she shot up from her seat, "Thank you for your time."