Chapter Nine.

Gabrielle 

  "I'm on my way mom, I'm almost there." I reply in a hurry, before hanging up in frustration.

 I've been driving for almost two hours just to finally meet the man my mom hasn't stop talking about and according to her, he's the co-judge for Eliana Guitarra's fashion challenge which makes him the second in command after Eliana and apparently a good friend of my mother. 

 I arrive at the hotel address given to me by my mom who had been the mastermind behind this meeting. I drop my keys with the valet not even bothering to look around since I was already running late and I don't plan on squandering this opportunity for anything. 

"Hey mom, I just arrived but I don't know the room number." I say to my mom as soon as she picks up and she tells me the room number and also explains what I should and should not do. 

"Okay, I get it mom, thanks." I reply her and hang up before heading to the reception.

 I heave a sigh of relief when the receptionist says he already dropped my name as his expected guest.

 I walk into the elevator and hurriedly fix my hair and pull my dress further down to expose my breasts more and redo my makeup before I get to my stop.

  I walk out confidently, wearing a fake smile but couldn't help the feeling of disgust that kept crawling under my skin but I knew that if I wanted to make it in this industry, I would need to do things I would have never imagined doing and sleeping with this old bag of barf was exactly one of them. 

I enter the room and let out a shaky breath that I didn't even know I was holding till I walked in. I still can't believe I need to do this in order to prove my point of being the better twin.

  When I heard from Mia that Ella's dress was going to be the grand finale, I knew I had to secure my win and if it's by sleeping with this old fart, then it's worth it. Don't judge me, cause all is fair in love and war. 

  You can turn back now Elle, go home so you won't have to put yourself on this pervert's list of desperate women.

The little voice in my head kept warning but I already made up my mind and they was no turning back for me.

 "You are late miss Johansson." He speaks up after what seemed like hours of him staring at me like he had just seen the last slice of pizza on earth. 

"I'm sorry, it took me a while to find this place." I reply politely, walking up to the bed, sitting beside him and exposing my breasts even more on purpose. 

  "You are one hell of a beauty, just like your mother." He whispers whilst rubbing my bare chest slowly but I stop him before his hands get to my boobs. 

"Let's talk business first Mr..." I reply but he interrupts.

"Call me Sandler." He whispers seductively in my ears, making me feel even more irritated. 

"As you wish Sandler. Now here are my conditions. Firstly, this is a one time thing, I don't want you to think I'll be on your list of call girls. Secondly, you have to make sure my company wins that challenge no matter what and thirdly, you can't tell a soul about this because I wouldn't want either one of us to get into any trouble. Do you understand Sandler?" I state out my simple conditions and he nods his head to show he had agreed. 

I slowly pull down my dress down, exposing my skin to the warmth of the room and earning a gasp of surprise from the barf brain in front of me. 

"You are truly magnificent Gabrielle." He compliments and I chuckle before getting down on my knees to undress him and running my hands seductively over his flappy skin whilst he just kept staring at my body like his life depended on it.

  "Where were you when I was looking for a wife?" He whispers and I respond harshly and bluntly.

 "I was underage and out of your league." I tell him. 

  He kisses my lips slowly and all I felt was disgust but I held myself back and tried to go with the flow. 

He removes my bra, although it took him almost ten minutes to snap a bra hook off and I made no effort to help him.

  Slowly, we are both naked and he kept trailing wet and disgusting kisses all over my body and I felt a tear escape my eye although I shrug it off and try to fake a moan to seem like I actually enjoyed his thrust and his disgusting kisses.

******

   I get dressed quickly as soon as the idiot had reached his climax and couldn't go any further.

   He'd insisted I stayed to take a shower with him but I politely declined and made an excuse about having a schedule meeting when all I wanted to do was get away from him and soak myself in a bath for hours, hoping it would wipe his stench off me. 

I drive in tears, remembering how he'd moaned like he was having the best time of his life while I just  practically lay there like a frozen turkey whimpering. I pull out my phone to see several missed calls from my mother but I ignore her calls since I can already guess what she wanted to know. 

  I walk into the house and I spot my mother in the study pacing around like she just heard bad news. 

 "What's up with you, mom?" I unintentionally yell at her and she immediately runs out of the study to engulf me in a hug.

 "Gabrielle, sweetie I was so worried." She says sounding worried but I was too disgusted with myself to give a darn about her.

"I'm just fine mom and I did what you asked." I reply harshly fighting back the tears but to no avail. 

"Why are you crying sweetheart? You should be happy, we're definitely going to win." She answers back and I snap.

   

"So that's all you care about? I just slept with the most disgusting man in the world and you expect me to be happy. I'm the one who made the sacrifice mom not you! He kept panting like an old dog every ten seconds and I had to bear it without punching his face and knocking his teeth out but where were you when I was enduring all that? Where!" 

 

 "It's better you don't talk to me about winning or any other bullshit because what I did is no different from what prostitutes do but the difference is they do it for money and I did it for the power. Excuse me." I yell furiously at her and walk straight into my room, ignoring her stunned expression. 

♤♤♤♤ 

  "Elle, are you okay?" My mom asks when she finally found the spare keys to my bedroom that has been locked for over two hours with me sitting in the tub.

 "Listen to me Gabrielle, sitting in the tub for hours won't wash away the memories. I know how you feel and believe it or not I've been there and out of frustration I did exactly what you're doing right now but you know what that did?" She asks rhetorically. 

 "Nothing. It did absolutely nothing but make me feel worse but you know what made me feel better, success and fame did. Elle, if you succeed in this, you will finally get the respect you deserve and you will no longer be seen as my shadow. Isn't that what you've always wanted?" She rants on and I think about what she said for a while, seeing an iota of truth in it.

   If I win this challenge, it will be a slap on the face for Gabriella and a golden opportunity for me to stop being mommy's girl.

 "Don't worry mom. If this is what I have to do to succeed, I'll do it without hesitation but promise me you won't ever leave me. I won't be able to do this without your help." I tell her with tears streaming down my face and she pulls me in for a hug and I remember that I was actually naked and wet which made me self conscious and I flinch a little. 

  "I'm your mother, young lady! I gave birth to you naked!" She snaps and I chuckle lightly. 

"I love you my sweet girl." She assures me and pecks my forehead, using her free hand to stroke my wet hair. 

"I love you to mom." I reply calmly, leaning in to hug her tighter.