ZORA'S POV
For what felt like the tenth time, I adjusted Finn's collar which was askew. He looked up at me, his big blue eyes wide with worry.
"Can't I stay back, today, Mama?" he asked and pouted. "I'm smart, you say that all the time. I can stay at home and you can teach me what I'll learn at school. It will be the same thing."
I hid a grin and sighed. My kids were a joy to me but they could be quite a handful sometimes.
"But I have to work, sweetheart. I can't be your teacher too. You have to go to school, learn and mix up with other kids."
Finn began to protest. "But Mama-"
"Shhh." I squatted and placed a finger on his lips. "You will do fine at school, Finn. It's not your first school, you know. I know that New York is a big city, but the kids here are the same as the other kids at your former school. They don't bite."
Freya giggled and Finn smiled a little.
"Mum, can we go now? I want to meet all my new friends." Freya said, shifting from one foot to the other like she wanted to go to the bathroom.
She had been the one to wake us all up this morning. She was eager and excited to go to school. Finn, however, was another matter. I could tell he was the one who wasn't so into this trip.
"We'll go soon, Freya," I told her. "Just give me a moment with your brother first."
Freya rolled her eyes -a trick she had no doubt learned from me- and resumed bouncing on the balls of her feet, her backpack jiggling with each movement. She stared out of the large glass window at the bright summer day, her face wreathed in smiles. I turned to Finn.
"Today is going to be a great day, kiddo. I mean, look how excited your sister is. And when you get back..." I let the silence lengthen, knowing it would capture their attention. It did.
Finn looked at me expectantly and Freya stopped moving, once more taking an interest in the conversation I was having with her twin. "You are going to talk to your Papa,"
The kids squealed excitedly.
"Pinky swear?" They said in unison.
"Promise," I said, linking my fingers with each of them.
"Let's go, Mum," Finn said, suddenly eager to go to school.
We went outside. The driver who was to take my kids to school was already waiting by the car. The kids greeted him politely and got in. I blew each of them a kiss as the driver drove off. They were running late already. When they were out of sight, I went into my car.
"The firm, Ms. Zora?" he asked.
"Yes, we are going to the firm," I replied.
In the car, I surveyed myself in my hand mirror. I applied some more mascara and lipstick and smoothed my clothes. We soon got to my firm. Cheryl was in the lobby, evidently waiting for me. She got to her feet as soon as she saw me.
"Good morning, Ms. Zoe," she said cheerfully. "Are the kids at school?"
"Yes. So, what are we doing this morning?"
"Well, the director is waiting for you in your office."
"What?" I glanced at my watch, confirming that it was still somewhat early in the morning. "He is there now?"
"Yes, Ms Zora."
I grimaced. I knew very well that New York would be stressful. Life here was extremely fast-paced. Coupled with that, I had two kids to look after, all alone. Now, it seemed that I was getting much more than I bargained for. I had not even been allowed to settle down properly before work had threatened to overwhelm me.
I stepped into the office to see the director, a tall, strapping young man with a full head of blonde hair which he was always experimenting on. Today, he was sporting a crew cut which outlined his perfect features. Cheryl was right behind me. The director, Trey, looked up as soon as I came in.
"Good morning, Ms. Zora," he greeted.
"Good morning," I responded.
While I was still talking, he began to speak. In his characteristic manner, he went straight to the point.
"I came to inform you that Signature Cosmetics, the brand you are modeling for, wants to terminate your contract."
Cheryl gasped. I sat down heavily in my chair, staring at him in shock. My mind whirled as I thought of what I could possibly have done wrong. I could think of nothing.
Signature Cosmetics was a very big company, one of the biggest I had ever worked for. Their termination of my contract could put a permanent dent in my career. I could almost see the scandalous headlines in bold, black type.
TOP MODEL ZORA WALTER'S CONTRACT WITH SIGNATURE COSMETICS TERMINATED.
"What is happening, Cheryl? Why would they terminate my contract just like that without telling me anything? Can someone please explain this to me?"
Cheryl seemed to be as surprised as I was.
"Why the f- why did they terminate the contract?" She turned to my director.
The director put out his hands in a placating gesture. "Please, calm down," he said. "I am not done yet. Another brand, Sleek and Chic, wants to sign a contract with you."
Cheryl squealed excitedly. I sat up straighter in my chair. Sleek and Chic was a much bigger company than Signature Cosmetics. The money I could make from signing a deal with them would be massive. It would also boost my image as working with the company was no mean feat.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Ms Zora," Cheryl said. "Please, accept this great offer. You just have to."
I was not as moved as Cheryl was. My curiosity had been aroused.
"Tell me, why did Signature Cosmetics suddenly terminate my contract which we just signed a little while ago? I mean, who does that?"
"I er- don't really know. I can't tell," The man said. "But who cares, right? A deal with Sleek and Chic...whew! That's really something if you ask me."
"Hmm. I hope you remember they will have to pay for the abrupt termination since I fulfilled my own end of the bargain. I carefully went through the contract. That clause was clearly written there."
"Yes, yes. I remembered that. I told them that as well. They said that they regretted any inconvenience to us and are willing to pay."
"Wow! That's something," Cheryl said, her face wreathed in smiles.
I was taken aback by the fact that they were willing to part with their money so easily. It almost felt too good to be true. I shrugged. It was their loss anyway.
Perhaps I was just overthinking everything. Cheryl and the director did not seem to see anything odd about all this. In fact, Cheryl was looking at me as though I was crazy to still be asking these questions.
"Alright then, since everything seems to have fallen in place so nicely, Cheryl, please get me all necessary details about Sleek and Chic. Also, tell me the date and time when I can meet with their representatives."
"Oh, that has already been taken care of," the director said. "The CEO of the company called very early this morning. He said that he will meet with you here by 3 o'clock today."
"Today?" I echoed.
I blinked. That was really fast. I had been offered a contract today and was to meet with the company's CEO on the same day. It was as though they were in a hurry or something.
"I do not think that will be possible. I have a whole lot of other work to do. No matter how much I want to sign a contract with them, I cannot just alter my schedule at the drop of a hat."
"But you have nothing to do at 3, Ms. Zora," Cheryl said after briefly consulting her notebook. "Your schedule is cleared at that time. I think it is good to meet with them as soon as possible." She looked to the director for support.
"I agree. Cheryl is right," the director said.
I sighed. "You two seemed to have had it all figured out. Alright, go ahead and tell the CEO that I agree to the meeting."
Cheryl and the director exchanged a look and grinned, pleased. I did the hundreds of things I had to do in the office.
Three had me sitting in my office, having already prepared for the meeting. At that moment, Cheryl rapped on my door and came in. She looked flushed and excited.
"The CEO has just arrived," she informed me. "Can I tell him to come in now?"
She left. I caught a glimpse of strong, long fingers around the door. Then the door opened to its fullest extent. I was shocked to see that the CEO was none other than Elliot. I was transfixed as I watched him look around my office and walk toward me.
ZORA'S POVMy body worked automatically, propelling me to my feet. I must have looked stupid to him as I gawked, hardly believing the evidence of my eyes. It annoyed me to see that Elliot seemed completely unaffected. He walked casually, his hands in his trouser pockets, like he owned the place. He came to a stop in front of my desk. There was a half smile on his face as eyes began to roam over me appreciatively. I felt myself flushing, in anger or embarrassment at his scrutiny, I couldn't tell which. The telltale blush I felt sure was creeping up my cheeks prompted me to say waspishly, "What the hell are you doing in my office, Elliot?"He swept his hand through his carefully gelled back hair- a gesture which I was achingly familiar with- and shrugged. "Well, I am here for a meeting with Zora Walter. But I am guessing you already knew that. Didn't you?"It was then the dime fully dropped. I could not believe that my deal with Sleek and Chic was going to have to fall through consid
ZORA'S POVI got into the car and slammed the door, purposely not leaving it open for Trey who was right beside me. It was a signal for him to drop the issue he had raised. He got to my side of the car and noticed that I made a move to scoot over. He went to the other side of the car and got in, slamming the door a little too hard and making the driver jump a little. I peered into the depths of the shopping bag which contained things I had been gifted for doing a commercial. "Zora-" Trent began.Exasperated, I let the bag fall to the floor of the car. "Drop it, will you?" I snapped. He sighed. "How can I in good conscience drop the issue? I would not be doing my job properly if I did that. Seriously though, how can you make such a decision without consulting me first? The deal with Sleek and Chic is like- is like..." He paused for a moment to find the right words. "It's like the biggest thing to happen to someone in your line of work.""I told you to drop it."Trey went on as tho
ELLIOT'S POVOnce more, I clicked on the folder where her pictures were cached on Instagram. I looked at each one, studying the expressions on her face, the background, and everything. Seldom had I seen a more beautiful woman than Zora. Her features were almost too perfect. It wasn't a wonder she was one of the top models in the world. There was a picture of her in a sundress, at the beach, with a straw hat on. The picture spoke to me. It was obviously taken with a phone camera. It was not professionally edited, but it was beautiful nonetheless. In the picture, the sun fell on her delicate porcelain skin. Her cheeks were flushed either with heat or exertion.Her long, dark hair fell in waves down her back. Her pink lips were curved into a half smile. What struck me most were those big brown eyes. There was an expression in them that seemed to say that they defied the world. I zoomed the picture. Her eyes were warm here. They had definitely not been warm when they had been looking a
ZORA'S POVI was dressing up the kids. Dressing up in my household involved laying out different articles of clothing, assisting the kids to dress, and then spending the rest of the time trying to keep their clothes properly on. They both could decide to use the restroom multiple times and in the process wrongly button up their shirts, leave their zippers half closed and in the case of Freya, muss the hair I had so painstakingly combed and styled. I was currently at the first stage now, that of laying out the clothes they were to wear. It was another weekend. Finn and Freya were the ones who had woken me up this morning, all giddy with excitement. Not content with shaking me awake, Finn had climbed on a stool and thrown the curtains open, letting in the bright, morning sunlight. During the week, Finn had made me promise to take him and his twin out. I had had a hectic week, hectic in more ways than one, what with meeting up with my modeling appointments and the whole contract canc
ZORA'S POV"Ms. Walters? Could you please respond to the questions?" asked the first reporter. There was a note of impatience in his voice and I could not resist shooting a glare at him. The nerve of these people! To act like I owed them anything. But I had long since learned that it was the way of the world and the price I had to pay for fame. That did not mean I liked it though. I felt hands clutch my trousers and at first I was startled, thinking one of these news hawks had gotten the audacity to physically restrain me. But it was only Freya, who looked so small and frightened. She met my eyes and held me even tighter. A camera went off with a flash right in her eyes. She slunk back and tried her best to hide her face in my shirt. Finn stood beside me, staring at the people expressionlessly. Apparently, he was unmoved by the whole scene. I knew he was affected by it as we all were, by the way he grasped my hand. As I got over my surprise, I began to look for a means of escape.
ZORA'S POVI walked into my office with Cheryl close behind me. I settled down before turning to her. "So, what am I to do today?" I inquired. After a glance at her iPad, she said, "There isn't very much to do today. All you have on your schedule is two commercials. That's all.""That's all?" I echoed, both relieved and surprised. Cheryl nodded. Since I had moved here, today was the least tasking day I had had. Coming to work these days almost literally meant working non-stop with little breaks in between. Having just two commercials meant I could go home on time, spend time with my kids, and also rest a little, considering the fact that my Saturday was stressful in more ways than one. "When exactly am I due for the commercials?" I asked Cheryl. "You have one by noon and the other...they requested that you tell them when it would be convenient for you."I thought for a moment. "Tell them I will be free by... 1 pm I should be done with the first commercial before that time."Havi
ZORA'S POVAfter a wait of about fifteen minutes, the petite secretary of Sleek and Chic who had ushered us in, made a second appearance. I was almost half out of my seat, thinking it was Elliot. Seeing it was only her, I gave a disappointed sigh and sat back down. "Is he going to be much longer?" I asked tersely with a pointed stare at my watch. She smiled apologetically. "I am so sorry about the delay, Ms Walter. I just came to tell you that he said he would be with you shortly. So, please exercise a little more patience."I turned away with a disgruntled sniff. The wait was already fraying my already-stretched nerves. "Can I get you both something while you wait?" she asked. I made no reply. I shifted uneasily in my seat."Nothing, thanks," Cheryl replied. The girl nodded and left. I looked at the gleaming leather desk, in front of which Elliot was to sit in a few minutes. I caught sight of my face on its surface and realized that I was frowning. I quickly did my best to scho
ZORA'S POVFinn held unusually still while I brushed his hair. He was better this morning, but I could still see the terror of last night lurking in his eyes. "Off you go now," I said as cheerfully as I could. "The driver will drop you off at school but I promise to come pick you up myself. Freya will join you at school tomorrow. Is that okay?"He nodded and glanced briefly at Freya who sat on the living room sofa looking a bit pale and wan. "Off you go, Finn," she said and waved her hand imperiously in the direction of the door. Finn rolled his eyes and shouldered his backpack. "Bye, Mum."I bent and he planted a kiss on my cheek. He was almost out the door when he hesitated, turned back, ruffled Freya's neatly combed hair, and ran outside before she could react. Freya smiled and looked fondly after him. It felt as though she wanted to go after him but couldn't. I was still worried about her and that was why I did not want her to go to school today. I wanted to take her to the