Chapter 3

I removed the crust from my eyes and headed to the bathroom to carry out my morning routine: wash my face, brush my teeth, take a long, refreshing shower and style my hair for the day. Chris was fast asleep in bed with his back turned to me. He came home last night after I did, drunk as usual. On Thursdays, he attends his weekly lodge meetings then goes to have a drink after with his friends after. Ella-Mae spent the night at my mom's house, seeing that neither her father nor I would be home before her bed time.

It was a blissful Friday morning and I had a deep tissue massage appointment at midday that I've been anticipating all week. After that's done, I'll go pick my daughter up from school and probably take her to the movies or something. I've been yearning for my daughter's company. It's been a little while since we've had some mother and daughter time. Once I was through with enhancing my curls, I jumped into a bodycon denim dress that hugged my one hundred and twenty pound body, along with my floral heels and out the door I went.

1:30pm

I sat in the parking lot of my daughter's pre-school, waiting for the clock to strike two so I could finally see my baby. I had planned to do whatever her little heart desires for the rest of the afternoon. I began smiling to myself as I daydreamed about all the fun things she'd possibly want to do; my phone buzzed and brought me back to reality.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Nicole, darling! Brad here. I've got some matters to discuss with you. What time can you come to my office?" He asked.

"I don't know if I can come in today, Brad. I'm picking up my daughter from school right now and I've got plans to spend the rest of the evening with her. Could I come in tomorrow instead?" I inquired impatiently.

"That's not an option, sugar cakes. I need you in here for this one. It's very important. Come in as soon as you can please." He said.

I slouched agonizingly in my seat. "Ummm, ok. What time are you leaving the office?"

"I'll be leaving my office at 6. My sister-in-law has gotten engaged and she's having a dinner party to celebrate with her fiancé." He stated.

"I'll drop by as soon as I can then." I mumbled, gently putting my forehead down on the staring wheel. All I wanted was just a few hours with my daughter. Is that too much to ask?

"Okay, darling! I'll see you in a bit. Bye!" He finished in his usual preppy, upbeat tone.

The next half an hour flew by pretty quickly and my daughter's preschool had concluded for the day. I went inside to get her and our time together commenced.

"I've got some free time on my hands until 6pm today baby. What would you like to do?" I questioned her intriguingly.

"I wanna get nuggets and a slushy and then I wanna go to Sally's birthday party!" She answered, bursting with excitement.

Oh my god. I completely forgot she was invited to her classmate's birthday party today. Anxiety surged through my body. My mind began scrambling for a solution. I decided to call Chris.

"What do you want, Nicole?" He grumbled.

"Are you free by any chance this evening?" I queried.

"No. I'm not. I'm at the brewery right now taking care of some stuff." He remarked dryly.

"Ok. Enjoy the rest of your day." I hung up.

I adjusted my rear view mirror so I could see Ella-Mae, who was busy playing a game on her tablet.

"Ella, sweetie. Do you mind if grandma takes you to the party today?" I asked.

"No, mommy! I want you to take me!" She snapped. "Why can't you?"

"Mommy has an important meeting that just popped up on me. I'll make it up to you tomorrow, okay, we can do anything you wanna do. You'll have me to yourself all day." I promised trying to calm her down.

Ella-Mae went silent and returned to her game. I know what that silence meant. She was perturbed and I better stay true to my word. It tore me apart a little more inside knowing that I let my daughter down. But she has no clue that I want to be with her just the way she wants to be with me. Instead of nagging her and trying to get her to talk to me, I called my mom and explained my situation and thankfully, she agreed to babysit.

Within an hour, I arrived at The Azan Modelling Agency.

"Hi there, I'm Nicole Manccini. I'm here to see Brad. He has called me in for a meeting." I said to Brad's secretary.

"He's expecting you so you may proceed to his office." She smiled politely.

I knocked before entering.

"Yes, come in!"

"Hi, Brad." I let myself in.

"Nicole! Good to see you! Take a seat, please." He grinned as he retrieved a folder from his desk. "So, sugar cakes, I called you here because of what I had to tell you. Drumroll for me please!" He performed a quick drumroll on his desk. "You, my darling, have been recruited to model for Chanel!"

"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I screamed.

"Shhhh! Keep it down, honeybun! And yes, I'm one hundred percent serious. You are expected to be in Paris for a catwalk show and photoshoots within three weeks. A number of models here are signed with that brand so you'll have some company over there. And of course, all your expenses will be covered by the company and you'll be flying first class." He winked.

"I'm so overwhelmed right now, Brad. I don't even know what to say!" I exclaimed.

"Oh darling, I'm thrilled about your success too. Now, before we do anything, there's a contract that you absolutely must sign. You can take your time and read through it, no rush. And if you like, I can create a copy to have you review it with a lawyer. But it has to be signed before you can be officially signed. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about the contract." He assured.

"Thank you so much, Brad!" I interjected, taking the folder from him.

"The other papers in the folder consists of info detailing the perks you get being signed to Chanel and magazines with their designs and stuff. You can look through those as well. But congratulations, Nicole! I'm so proud of you. I knew you'd get something soon. Now what do I do about the contract?" He asked.

"I'll take a copy to go." I replied

"Ok, darling. I'll have my secretary give you a copy when you're leaving. After the contract is signed, take it back to me and I'll put it together with the professional photos that you took yesterday and I'll send them off. When they review your portfolio, they will send me the details about your flight and accommodation info and we go from there. Now do you have any questions for me?" He asked.

"No, not right now. I just wanna say thanks again, Brad. This means so much to me. You're awesome!" I praised him.

"Oh sugar cakes, stop thanking me. This was all you. Alan came to me about you saying you've got the face and physique that's fit to be on a magazine cover, baby! But he says your catwalk demo wasn't the best so you're gonna need some work there but no worries! You'll have training before the show when you get there and my agency has classes every Saturday at 2pm. You can sign up with the secretary if you're interested." He offered.

"Oh yeah, Johnny had told me about that." I blurted, as the memory of him speaking about it last night came back to me.

"Johnny, huh?" He smirked with a devilish grin. "I saw you two cuties chatting it up last night at the party. He's my favourite among all the male models I have currently. He's such a gentleman and he's humble. Between you and I, if I weren't married I'd be knocking on his back door!"

"BRAD!" I laughed heartily.

"What? He's a doll, baby girl. A freaking doll. Those high cheekbones, that defined jawline, those pearly whites and his dark brown eyes. Not to mention that beautiful caramel skin. He is finger lickin' sexy! But he's into women. And I think he may be into you, cutie patootie." He winked at me, reaching for a cigarette in his pocket.

"You're funny, Brad. I'm married." I held up my left hand, displaying my wedding ring.

"I know, darling. But if he's not treating you right, just know you got options under your belt. I can tell Johnny's got a thing for you, just by the way he smiles at you. I saw everything at the party." He mentioned with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Wow, Brad," my face flushed as I giggled. "You're something else. Anyways, if we're done here, I should probably get going. I wanna be with my daughter. I'll see you soon with the contract." I said, rising from my seat.

"Okay, darling! I'll see you around. And remember, if you have any questions, give me a call. I look forward to seeing you soon." Brad waved goodbye.

I made my way to the secretary to obtain the copy of my contract. After receiving it, I headed out the door, I started digging around in my handbag for my car key when I bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I looked up to see a familiar figure.

"Hey, Nicole." Johnny's eyes twinkled.

"Johnny! Good to see you. What's up with you?" I smiled, clearly happy to see him.

"I'm here to get a bag I left here yesterday. How about you?" He asked.

"I got that contract with Chanel!" I beamed with joy. "I came in for a meeting with Brad because of it."

"Congratulations, Nicole! I knew you'd win over Alan. I'm really happy for you. Will you be going to the catwalk show in three weeks?" He questioned.

"I will be! I'm so excited, Johnny. Thank you for introducing him to me. This wouldn't have happened without you. I would never have the courage to go over to him and talk to him by myself." I pulled him in for a friendly hug.

"You're welcome, Nicole. But this a big deal. We should celebrate. Are you free tomorrow?" He asked curiously.

"No, I'm sorry. But I'll be free on Sunday. How about that?" I suggested.

"Sunday is perfect. I'll text you the details of our plan. My treat." He proposed.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you then." I blushed.