Chapter Twenty four.

Elena's Pov.

The day's flew by and the day for the shoot arrived. I was dressed in a simple high waisted jean trouser and a corresponding cropped top, my face was completely make up free and was half covered by the fez cap that I wore, as I looked at myself in the mirror I realized for the upteenth time that I was not exactly bad looking.

This time, I was completely prepared to take over, Katie would be meeting me up at the building, speaking about, I had asked her to get a private investigator to find out more about the case, it might prove to be useful information in the future, I mused.

Looking back at my reflection,  my casual outfit looked peng. I immediately left the room, picked up my phone and left hurriedly.

The drive was slow and I tuned into a famous radio station that played really nice songs. I wetted my lips as they were dry and contemplated if I should apply some lip gloss.

I pulled over when I arrived at the building and quickly jumped out of the vehicle, I pulled my sun shade out of my pocket and put it on stylishly the flash of a camera alerted me and I immediately composed myself, keeping a straight posture and raising my chin, I walked int the building.

Katie was already waiting for me in the waiting area and together we made our way to the supposed spot for the shoot. 

We entered the studio together and saw that the crew were setting up the lighting and every other thing needed to put the place in good condition for a photo shoot.

After a few minutes of watching them at work, I was ushered by a staff into the dressing room where there were different types of clothing on a rack, I was supposed to wear each and every one of them for the shoot.

I tried on the first, it was a typical casual wear, denim boyfriend jeans and a corresponding crop top with a denim jacket, the combination themes out better than I expected and I was beyond impressed.

I exited the drawing room after doing a few dust ups with my hair, tying it in a high pony tail and putting on a little amount of lip gloss.

The shoot went on without any hitch for the first part of the hour, I tried on the different outfit combos and took different pictures with exotic poses which I had practised in from of the mirror in my bed room. 

Katie was hyping me up from the back, giving me the thumbs up and helping to boost my confidence in the process, the director seemed impressed and I was battling to calm my nerves, this could not go wrong in any way, I assured myself, but little did I know the surprise that was waiting for me.

After I had tried on about half of the  clothes on the rack, the director announced that we would be taking a break. I immediately obliged thankful for his decision, I was getting really fatigued from striking poses from different angles and needed to take a rest. I walked to the cafeteria after taking directions from one of the crew members and ordered a hot cup of coffee, my body needed it to keep me agile and wide eyed. Returning from the cafeteria I caught a glimpse of a familiar figure, it was none other than the  one and only Rosette, the woman that had thrown a tantrum because I (Katie) had declined a party invitation from her,  I was about to walk up to her and say hi, but she was talking to someone, seeing the person she was talking to, I stopped in my tracks immediately, what could Amelie Banks be doing here in Drip Apparels, I asked myself in utter bewilderment.

I passed them by, drawing my fez cap down to cover my face, hoping fervently that I do not get noticed by either of them. I met up with Katie and notified her of what I'd seen, her countenance changed immediately and I could tell that she didn not exactly cherish the memory she had of Rosette and that dearest Amelie Banks left a bad taste in her mouth, owing to our most recent discovery of the murder conspiracy, that had her a s the main culprit, her looks were definitely decieving, she looked like an innocent girl but she did not act in accordance with her looks.

Soon the director signalled that the second half of the shoot would be starting in ten minutes and we were supposed to head over to another photo studio, as there were some minor complications in this one, we agreed as we did not have any choice.

Arriving at the second studio, my question was immediately answered as I saw Amelie Banks already dressed up showing off  the Drip Apparels batch which was present in all the clothes I had worn, definitely for my benefit. I sneered inwardly and turned to look at Katie who in turn was looking at the director to explain what was going on.

"Let's begin" The director announced not glancing our way.

"Uhm, hello, what is going on here, you never informed us that she would be posing with another model" Katie asked the representative that was standing in place of the manager.

"We are sorry, the secretary made a mistake and sent the email to the wrong address, please continue as before so that we can get this over with." She said without remorse.

"Go get dressed we will sort this out later" Katie whispered and I nodded obediently.

 I got dressed in a long gown that hugged my body, it wrapped comfortably around my body, I finished up and immediately set for action we started the shoot, I sat down on a little woven square chair, she sat on the ground, with her head on my laps and her hands delicately draping my legs, she was wearing a jean trouser with a crop top, the director looked satisfied with our poses and expressions and Katie  seemed impressed too. 

After that we changed into another pair of trousers and sat with our heads thrown back in laughter and our knees touching, next we found ourselves in body fitting jumpsuits, she was in a green jumpsuit while I was in a black coloured one,  we held hands and kept one foot in front of the other as if we were catwalking, the whole thing did not last up to an hour and we were done, the poses were fire and the whole crew erupted in applause when we were done.

Katie looked at me like a proud mother and I in turn had an expression of joy at having gotten over with the whole photo shoot thing.

"You've really made me proud, and at your first try, I'm sure someone else will be proud too" she wiggled her eyebrows and I smacked her on the shoulder. I didn't need a soothsayer to tell me who the "someone else" is, it was really clear that she was talking about Lorenzo.

"But how did she do" I asked, gesturing towards Amelie.

"Well I must say she is not bad at all, but you were definitely better" she remarked.

"You know you are only saying that to make me feel good about myself, but I agree with one thing, she is not remotely bad" I concurred the proceeded to punch her shoulder playfully.

"You did great by the way, but you definitely won't outshine me" A voice from behind told me. I did not need to turn around to know who it was, why did she always have to be annoying.

"You better run and hide, people will soon discover that you don't have any shine, I don't need to OUTSHINE something that does not even have a shine in the first place, and yes, you did your best too, but it is just not good enough." I clapped back.

She looked speechless for some seconds then turned around and left.

I wanted to shout at her retreating back, but decided against it and instead, dragged Katie out if the room.

"How did she even get the gig anyway" I asked.

"I know for sure that she did something or someone is backing her, helping her to get the same gig as you, she's probably trying to prove that she is as good as you are or something like that." She explained.

"Forget about her, how do you think HE will feel when he sees the photos" it asked, eager to hear her answer.

"I think he will feel that he mad e the right choice with chosing you, I mean who wouldn't be proud of you" she said sweetly, pinching my cheeks".

I smiled, pushing Amelie to the bottom of my mind.

Author's Note:

Hey guys your update is here ☺️. I hope you enjoyed it❣️❣️❣️.