"Today?!" A few of them chorused unevenly."Yes, here they come. Ssshh, you guys." Berry whispered.The girls stood in a horizontal line with their prettiest smiles and most presentable poses, ready to welcome the visitors.Brown walked In with some men and women accompanying him, he had his tablet in his hands.Everywhere was quite now. Brown looked up from his tablet, taking his shades off and handing it to one of the person who came with him, he started to look around."Good day everyone." He smiled as he greeted, everyone and everything around here seemed organized, maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought."I am Brown Carter. You can call me Brown, I was assigned here by my boss directly to recruit the finest of models, and that I shall do." He peered his eyes through the line of girls in front of him, he wanted to be sure she was here before he began.He looked at Victoria's picture on his tablet and looked at her again, where she stood besides Amber."This is her right?" H
"If your name wasn't mentioned, may I ask you leave." Brown requested amid the murmurs going on.Leaving the arena, some of the girls kept on looking at Victoria in a query manner."We would travel in the next five hours, kindly meet the young lady over there, sign your contract and if you wish not to, please do inform my team." Brown's phone rang as soon as he was done talking and Diane missed her chance of talking with him.The girls stood in a vertical line, in front of the arranged table where they were to sign their contract."I knew I was right when I said miss Diane had it out for you two." Amber heard Brie's voice from behind her.Surprised that Brie wasn't talking about Victoria getting picked without a walk earlier but the history between her mother and Miss Diane, she didn't want to talk about that but she had to reply."I don't think so, there must be a reason we weren't informed about today." "You think?" Brie asked."Well, yes." Amber nodded."Tori what do you think?" B
"Finally! You aren't mad at the old woman anymore.""It's not like I hate her, you know i don't right?" Victoria needed to clarify that."Of course I do." Amber knew she didn't. Her phone rang, it was her mother.Meanwhile on the other side of the Arena, Diane walked over to Brown again." I think I might have to cancel this whole thing, Mr Brown." Diane's smile was ungenuine."What do you mean?" Brown needed to hear her repeat her words, so he could be sure."My girls won't be leaving with you, this agreement is over,please don't take it the wrong way." She made to walk away."You do know you can't do this.""I can and I plan to. It's why I am informing you." Diane didn't care about the other girls now, as long as Amber wasn't getting this opportunity. "The girls signed the contract already, it's pretty much as complicated a legal matter now, you surely can't go against our contract." Brown's words were certain.Diane could barely hide her frustration. Her efforts were now futile.*
The plane had landed and the five selected models from Plaintwood stood together at a corner, with Browns team waiting for him, because he was on a call.Some cars were driving in and out of the Airport entrance. People with signs held them up, for those they waited for."Our bags have been checked, why are we still waiting?" Amber asked no one in particular."Maybe something was found in Allyson's luggage"Brie muttered. "why would you even carry that?" Brie asked Allyson."What?""We were ask to bring along just few important stuffs, and the rest would be taken care of, everyone's with a back pack and you brought a luggage.""Oh. These are all important stuffs." Allyson defended."Mhmmmn?" Brie replied sarcastically."Our cars are here." Brown came up to them, and began walking foward, they followed behind.Reaching outside, the girls saw three similar looking cars, that looked new; all black in colour."Please." Brown simply asked them to get Into the cars, when the drivers opene
"I got information that the government has been investigating the Tn group, not yet sure if it's authentic, I'm waiting for sure feedback." Hale answered and simpered. Gemma didn't smile back, so he went ahead to speak again."Come on Gemma, you know I won't do anything concerning the group, without your knowledge, I wasn't sure about the info I got, that's why you don't know about this, but since you asked, I can't lie to you.""Does Jake have any idea about this?" She asked."He doesn't. Like I said right now, I need to be sure before we think of doing anything." She sighed inwardly to his reply."I talked to Jake this morning, he's not willing to have a fake marriage." She went to the main reason she requested him here."Greg is gonna have a higher advantage with the board, if Jake isn't married in the next three months.""I know. He's just stubborn about this.""He never cared much about the company.""Don't say that!" She snapped at him." It's the truth.""Good evening." They bo
Jake laid on the bed in his room, his eyes shut. He was trying to get some rest. He soon heard a knock on his door. He didn't want want to answer it at first, he suspected it might be his mother.The knock came again and he opened his eyes. He was now sure it was his mother, because no one else dared to disturb him when he had retired to his room.Opening the door,it wasn't his mother. It was Felix. It had to be something important for Felix to disturb him; he thought. Felix was the oldest helper here at the mansion. He had served Jake's father and now he was serving Jake but all he did this days was to make sure things were in place.He had basically known Jake since he was younger."Sorry to disturb you master but the president wants you downstairs." Felix's voice was filled with apology."Is Hale still there?" Felix expected this question from Jake."Yes, he is." He could see the annoyance in Jake's eyes though he didn't show it, he had watched Jake grow so he knew he was annoyed
Morning.The Topher mansion.Felix nodded as the helpers brought in breakfast for Gemma. She sat at one end of the dining table, which had two chairs in each side and one at each end of the table.Jake walked down the stairs in his usual aura but his mother noticed something different about him this morning; he seemed happy."Good morning." She smiled when he greeted.The table was quiet as they both ate and soon, Jake stood to leave."Is that all you will be having?" She asked, because he ate just little."Yes, excuse me." He said and left for the car waiting for him out front at the entrance of the mansion.*******A mini bus was sent to the grande hotel to transport the girls to the Tn studio.The bus didn't go the same way they had taken from the airport, so the girls had a look at another part of the city.Victoria and Amber sat next to each other this time. The city was more beautiful than it was yesterday,now in daylight. The bus stopped in front of a tall building. It's entr
"Nahh, some here are actually high class, some are professionals, you'll know them when you see them, trust me."Kim said."What do you mean high class?""Well, the models with rich parents and all that.""If they have rich parents and stuff, why are they here then? Show off." Victoria scoffed and Kim chuckled at her question."Now that's one thing I love about Brown, everyone's equal here, whether you're affluent or not, a trainer or a paid model, Brown makes sure everyone gets a chance to audition for these companies.""How long have you been part of the brand, it's like you know everything around here.""Just a year, don't mind me I frain a lot." Kim smiled and Victoria could see her dimples dotted on both sides of her cheeks."Tori, just found out there's an audition scheduled." Amber came up to them."She just told me." Victoria said referring to Kim."So do you know if we're going to be part of it?"Amber asked both girls in front of her."C'mon Amber,we don't even know what the a
"Do you think you can use any of these?" Felix asked when she came to where he stood and looked into the pan full of vegetables."Is there any reason I can't use them?" She asked still peering into the pan because they all looked fresh and okay."Not really, it's just that we don't use these things after they become a day old, the chefs get new and fresh vegetables every day.""Every day? It doesn't look bad?" Victoria took one of the red and round tomatoes, looking at it."Maybe I could ask someone to go get you fresh ones...""No," She refused immediately."they look pretty fresh to me. Thanks." She said and Felix smiled, happy that he had tried his best to please her before he left.When he walked out of the kitchen he saw Jake arrive downstairs. Jake was about to retire to bed after his extra time spent at his home office when he noticed that the kitchen lights were on and someone had to be there, it was the only place with bright light downstairs."Why are you still awake?" Jake a
"Dinner is ready, Mrs Topher." He said to her."Is Jake downstairs?" "Yes, Mrs Topher.""He is, huh?" Felix nodded to the second question."He was the one who had me come get you, after the helper I sent returned without you.""I see," She said, her mind thinking of what to do, she needed to show Jake that she was angry about what happened so he didn't repeat it."I'll be there soon."Going down the stairs, she saw Jake seated at the head of the table and as usual, she went all the way to the other end and took a seat, his eyes on her the whole time. He saw that she wasn't all smiley with the helpers when her dinner was brought, it was obvious she was displeased with what he did earlier, she wasn't even looking at him.Don't look, Tori. Don't look. She told herself as she forked some salad into her mouth, she suddenly didn't want to be angry anymore now that she was here seated at the same table with him. She was avoiding looking at him, hoping she could pull it off; pretending like
Taking her lower lip first, he kissed her, pecking her chin region right below her lips before kissing her full lips again. He had closed his eyes the moment his lips touched hers and so couldn't see the bewilderment on Victoria's face. She wouldn't admit it to herself but it felt good, maybe it was because she hadn't kissed someone for a long time but she had kissed him before and she was feeling like she felt back then. He was a good kisser, he took his time to explore every part of her lips and his tongue wasn't rough in her mouth, he was so gentle that she didn't know when she had her eyes closed too. She wasn't kissing back but she let him continue. He would have stopped but when he noticed that she wasn't stopping him, he continued, stealing her breath as he kissed her more. When he finally separated his lips from hers, he met her eyes again they still looked confused. "Am I gay?" He asked her in his usual low deep voice and she shook her head slowly. She was lookin
Victoria watched Amber smile weirdly when she saw Jake. She hoped her friend didn't say anything embarrassing as they walked towards where he stood.Jake left the garden before they could get to him, he didn't want to be close to Amber by any means so he left. He came back early, he planned to still return to the office but he thought to get some rest first. He could do that at the office but he most importantly wanted to see Victoria, that was his primary reason for returning home not to rest. When he asked of Victoria, Felix informed him that she was in the garden with a friend and he knew it was Amber, her blonde-haired friend, it had to be her, she was the only person he knew Victoria trusted with their secret marriage.Victoria didn't see him when she walked out of the garden with Amber, it was like he disappeared because he just left when they were about to get to where he was so they should have seen him when they left the garden. ‘he must have gone inside.’ Victoria thought
"I'm Max, your brother-in-law.""I figured," Victoria said."You both have look alike.""Let me apologize for what I said during the meeting, it's just that I couldn't find it true that this union between you two is genuine, I mean there hasn't been a woman with a romantic interest in his life before now and suddenly he is married, I hope you understand." Max went on despite the dangerous eyes Jake had on him while he spoke."We were actually in a...uhm, a quiet relationship before we decided to go ahead and get married," Victoria said hoping she was doing a good job at defending their sudden secret marriage but thinking about it after she spoke, it occurred to her that if what she said was actually true then he(Max) would know about her."Really, Jake didn't even bother to introduce me to the love of his life." Max sounded like he knew she just lied and he did but was only giving a snide reply."I didn't bother introducing my wife to you because I figured you already knew about her,"
Gemma smiled after the man spoke, she understood that he had just been calculative at that point, he was in support of her stepping down and Jake taking over. He was one of the oldest members of the board, he was there when Jack Topher was still in charge and just like every other person seated at that table he was after the position Gemma held but he was smarter than most of them were. He had long realized that trying to overrun Gemma off her position was impossible and it would be harder with Jake so he lowered his ambition, he knew that once Gemma wasn't the head anymore, Jake would become the member with the highest share and he had a chance to buy more shares to become the second highest.Gregory's plan was different, he mostly didn't care at this point, he knew Gemma didn't trust him and Jake didn't either so he was direct like Max whenever he wanted to oppose any decisions made by them(Jake and his mother).He(Gregory) has been after the position of president since Jake's fath
Drew knocked on the door before he came in, he quickly analyzed Jake's glare the moment he entered, noticing Jake was not as much in a sour mood as earlier but decided to go on with what he came to tell him to avoid bringing it back "Sir, the president is here and is on her way to your office."As soon as he finished that sentence of his, he opened the door when he heard footsteps approaching the office. Gemma walked in with Edward; her assistant holding her bag for her. Victoria saw her in a different look for the first time. She wasn't in one of her usual and similar white apparel, she looked more bossy than Victoria had seen before in the white suit she had on. T"Is she here yet?" Gemma asked Jake who still sat comfortably in his chair."Mhmnn." Jake nodded looking in Victoria's direction.Victoria stood with everyone in the office looking at her. Gemma smiled but she(Victoria) couldn't tell if she was smiling at her or just smiling after knowing she was there already."We can s
Evan walked into the mansion and after a whispered chat with Felix, he went outside and stood waiting while Felix came up to let her know that Evan was going to be the one driving her."Mr Topher wants him to drive you." Felix said approaching the table after Victoria was done eating.Cora immediately stood up when she heard him, thinking she was in trouble for sitting with Victoria and so did Emily but Felix knew Victoria must have asked them to."Oh okay." She said getting up and waving at both helpers while she left but only Emily waved back.Sitting in the back of the car, she watched Evan drive, he caught her staring when he looked at the rear view mirror. "Any problem ma'am?" He thought he should asked because of how she was staring."No." She lied at first not really wanting to tell him that she thought he took a wrong turn but after some seconds she said her mind. "This is not the road to the studio." She told him because even if she didn't know her way around, she knew what
"Was your day shitty too?" "Yes, but I think I'm used to it, unlike you, it's obviously affecting your mood so maybe you could tell me, maybe I can help?" He started on the road."No, you can't help." She shook her head."What are you going to do, I mean she already said it, others are also going to say what they want to say, you can't stop people from saying what they want.""Who said what?""Never mind." She said not finding the need to tell him about the things Brie said."Tell me, if you do so, I'm sure you'll not think much about it anymore." She didn't say anything more concerning how her day was till after a while she asked him something she just thought about."Must we stay together?" He paused the car at the red light and turned his attention to her when she asked that, she was staring outside the window, something she did often while in the car with him. "Must we? It's a fake marriage isn't it? I don't have to stay at the mansion, I could stay at the hotel till you want me t