Chapter Fifty Two.

Elena's Pov.

The lights turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees and focused on my face, 'fuck the control room' I thought, I wanted so badly to squint due to the brightness of the light, but I composed myself, I was walking the runway for the first time, I could not afford to make any mistakes.

 One foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other, and the sequence continued.

I walked along, what was I doing here? I was modeling for the latest line of jewelry, for Boss Jewelry, doing the opening catwalk, that means I was walking alone, the other girls behind the curtain were to come out immediately after I am done.

My heart went into a frenzy in my chest, but I immediately relaxed my features, I could not afford to look agitated when I was supposed to look flawless. In fact, I looked flawless, I knew that, from my perfectly angles eyebrows, to my head that was made in a round bun and secured with a glittering headband that was made out of specks of precious stones, my wrists were adorned with an equally sparkly bracelet and a diamond watch, my neck was bedecked with an aquamarine necklace and earrings, that went really well with my form fitting cyan blue dress that had a fishtail at the back, top it off with the anklet that I was wearing on my right foot that jiggled when I moved my leg and the glistening stringed purse that I was holding, I looked like Cinderella going fashionably to the ball to meet the prince, but then again, my prince charming was not here with me.

 RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT, SWIRL FASHIONABLY.

I turned back and walked towards the curtain and that was those other girls' cue to file out, doing the catwalk and showcasing the shiny jewelry on their neck, legs, hair, or hand.

Behind the curtain, Katie squealed as she saw me, and jumped on me, literally.

"You rock girl, you did really great, I am so proud of you, oh my gosh, they grow up so fast" she dabbed at her eyes dramatically as she hugged me and patted my back, I rolled my eyes at her, but inside, I felt really good about myself.

"Would you please release me, unless you want me to suffocate?" I said through gritted teeth, but my tone was light and jovial.

"oh sorry, you need to change, I forgot" she rubbed the back of her neck and laughed awkwardly.

I shook my head at her, hooked our arms, and dragged her along in the direction of the changing room.

"Did Lorenzo call?" I asked.

"No" she replied, and my face fell.

"oh" I replied with a low voice, I had expected him to call at least.

"How did I do though?" I smiled, all sadness erased from my mind.

"Ughhh, why are you such a praise lover?" she asked.

"Well, that's who I am, so just tickle my ego a little bit," I answered.

she rubbed her very smooth chin," well, for a first-timer, you did absolutely well, I mean you ate the whole thing and left no crumbs" she said, looking ecstatic, Katie was brighter these days.

Ever since she broke up with Josette, she had lightened up remarkably, it was as if someone had erased all the darkness in her life and left only light. Proving that I had been right all along, she should have never gotten embroiled with Josette, it had been only two weeks since they broke up and the change in Katie was drastic, in a positive way, as if the relationship had been the thing draining all her energy and liveliness.

"How is your mom," I asked, she smiled fondly, her mom had visited

"She left yesterday, man, I had a good time with her for the past one week, she said she wanted to stay more, but then she said that she needed a taste of her husband, so she had to go, whatever that meant" Katie responded, looking confused.

" She meant that she wants to get a TASTE of her husband because she misses it," I said, the expression on my face and the knowing smirk immediately revealing the meaning behind my words to her, her eyes widened and she let out a low chuckle.

" My mom, she.. that woman is really dirty-minded" she gasped.

" As she should be" I smiled, happy that she had migrated from calling her mom, 'ma', not that there was anything wrong with 'ma', just that the tone she used whenever she said the name was painfully cold and unloving.  And the name was said to have originated from around the time that Marie had stopped Katie from doing anything concerning music, though she had revoked that rule, so the name was not really that of fondness, I am glad that they have gotten over their problems, both mother and daughter loved each other very much, just that problems had been pulling them apart from each other. Now, she called her mother 'mom', and I could tell that their relationship was spiraling on the positive axis, I was happy for her, her break up with Josette was like a speck, it did not seem to touch her that much because she knew that she had her family's full support, and it was the best feeling, I knew because I had experienced it firsthand with Tyler, Annette, Caleb, and Azalea. 

When the editorial had been released six months ago, I had received a call from Annette, telling me that I had a lot of explaining to do. 

I had been so stressed, she told me that Tyler and his folks had been so upset that I had not dared to come out clean and say the truth to them, they had to read it from a magazine.

 I had decided to be honest and debunk the carefully planted rumors of me being a successor from a filthy rich family, like the carefully planted rumor, had made me out to be, that editorial was released six months ago, it had launched me into the spotlight, garnering a lot of love from the fans and a lot of criticism and hate along with it, according to the magazine, I was just plain old Elena from the block until I started making videos and LSC Entertainment took an interest in me, the story was quite shady, I know, but it was at least believable.

Annette had invited me over, to talk things through with Tyler and the rest, she was now engaged to Tyler, her kids loved him, her ex husband was in jail for harassing her, and in front of the kids, this happened around the time she was to move in with Tyler, turns out the ex-husband did not want her to move on, so he burst into her house, which was my apartment at that time and harassed her, in front of his two kids. Tyler, being the sensible man, immediately put him behind bars and also added a restraining order, now they were living together, all loved up.

I was a bundle of nerves when I arrived at their front porch on the appointed date, for dinner, my legs were shaky for reasons I did not know of, knowing that Caleb and Azalea would be there made my heart pound even faster before I could even think of turning back and escaping to my condo, Annette was already ushering me inside, closing the door and sealing my only hope of escape, I was dressed moderately for the occasion, nothing too flashy, just a flared gown and a trench coat, which was collected by Annette's daughter, such a nice kid.

The dinner itself had gone remarkably well until Tyler cleared his throat and started asking me questions, I answered as truthfully as I could, without divulging anything that was connected to Lorenzo, they had been quite supportive with Tyler being all accepting and Azalea squealing and shuffling in her seat for happiness of seeing me once again, Caleb alone had been quiet through the dinner, smiling a bit here and there but not saying anything significant, Annette too had been very supportive, I found a friend in her, a kind of solace.

 She told me that she had me to thank for bringing her and Tyler together, but I refused to listen to her, they were fated to be together, I just did my part, the rest of the dinner had gone well, until Azalea had released the bomb and asked me whether my leaving and then becoming a model had anything to do with the mystery man I had told her about, I was shocked that she still remembered and I was also bound by a contract to not tell her, I did not want to lie to her after telling her a bunch of half truths, so I just kept quiet and smiled, telling her to stop teasing me, the rest of the evening had passed really quickly and I had to leave, they told me to keep in touch as they took me like family, I was glad, I had arrived like a bunch of nerves, but had left the house really confident that I had people supporting me and that had worked wonders for me, I decided to work harder now because I knew that there were people back there watching my developments and praying for me to go higher. That was six months ago and now, I was one of the national sensations, one of the most sought B list models of the country, my hard work had gotten me here, it will take me even farther, occasionally I would go for dinner at the Tyler's and have a lot of fun, Caleb has warmed up to me again, said he felt betrayed by me at the initial point, that was all in the past now, I had something very close to family now, I would not risk it for the world, my mom's health was improving significantly, though my schedule has been somewhat packed that I did not have time to visit her often, but the first day I visited her, well, I flooded the whole place with my tears, she needed care and attention, and she had it, unlike Amelie Banks, I still remember her, probably because I do not have any rival that has really opposed me since her. 

She was now in a nursing home, her parents put her there, I had visited her once or twice and then stopped, stuck in an immobile body, her conscience must be blaming her really badly and all the questions of 'what ifs'. She must be going through a lot of internal battles, but she brought it upon herself, no one else was to blame for her mistakes, it was all her doing, though I do feel bad for her once in a while.

"Elena, what are you even thinking about, you seem to be zoning out" Katie poked me on the shoulder.

" Hey, I am thinking about how painstakingly stupid you are, it's been two weeks since you broke up with Josette right?" I asked.

Katie groaned, obviously knowing where the conversation was headed," You do not have to rub it in that I am stupid, I know that already, my actions have made it clear to me how stupid I am" she did a facepalm while pulling at the strands of her hair.

" But I do because I warned you Katie, but no! you were all about second chances, where did that get you? in a rickety relationship, and I am sure you will give her another chance if she comes running to you with red rimmed eyes."

"I would never, I have learned my lesson now, she is already begging me to get back together, but I am not going to pay her any heed, she could leave as many messages and voice mails as she wants, but she will not get another chance, I allowed my heart to be broken once, I will not make that mistake a second time, so you can be rest assured that there will be no third chances," she said and I smiled.

"That's the mentality you were supposed to use since the beginning, you would not have faced this heart break if you had listened to my advice, so in a way, it serves you right" I declared unapologetically.

" You are so mean, you know that?" she asked.

" I know, that is the only way to knock some sense into you, so that next time you use your brains, or you let me use them for you" I let out.

" I think I am fine just watching you, do all the romantic stuff with you know who, I am taking a break from relationships, for now, thank you very much for your concern." she ended.

" You must still be heartbroken, let's have a karaoke night, to heal your heart" I suggested.

" Just say that you want to hear my voice as you cannot get enough of it and stop using my heart as an excuse" she folded her arms and lifted her eyebrows on mock anger.

"I lifted my hands in surrender, " oops, caught! I confess to being guilty as charged, I mean, your voice is so melodic, who would not be addicted, and the way you play with it, doing all those loops and high notes, I am hooked for it" I flattered, though it was the truth, but also because I knew Katie to be a sucker for flattery.

She laughed, completely flattered, therefore suiting my agenda, "For that, you will have your desired karaoke night".

"Oof and you accuse ME of being the praise lover, I mean, just look at you!" I said shaking my head in amazement.

" Yeah, whatever, let's hurry up and go" she said.

" Yeah the show is almost over" I replied, putting back all the pieces of jewelry on their respective mannequins, I stood up, having changed into jean trousers and a too with a black blazer to match.

We both made our way out of the dressing room, to go have a good Karaoke time, featuring Katie's melodic voice.

Author's Note:

👀To anyone thinking I ghosted you guys, they must be so ashamed right now. Anyways guys, I am back (after a short break, I was I'll, but I am okay now) and I have given you your first update of the month 🎊🎊🎊, I really do hope you enjoyed this one. And to state the blatantly obvious, there has been a time warp, everything in this chapter is six months after the previous chapter, but I am sure you already knew this, anyways, I hope you liked this one, love you guys so friggin much (you know this already) xoxo ♥️❣️❣️.