Heels And Feels

Chapter 5

Harvey looked at her like she was crazy and the look made her crazy.

"I'm telling you! I know what I heard, what I saw."

"But you didn't see any dead bodies." Harvey pointed out.

She groaned a little louder than she intended. "Somebody was killed and..."

"And, you didn't see anything, simple." Harvey rolled her eyes. "What's the big deal?" When

Markyla just looked at her in silence, she resumed. "Okay, I know you won't just walk in here and

say everything you just did without being sure but I want you to act like you didn't hear anything.

The way you're going, you're going to find yourself at the police station telling them and believe

me, I don't think it's a good idea."

"It's a good idea to shut up and act dumb?" She stared wide-eyed at Harvey. "You know, you're

the last person I expected to hear that from."

"Listen, you may have heard wrong. Something else could have happened, and you're just

misinterpreting. Even if you call the police, what are you going to say? Who are you going to point

as a suspect? Don't drag yourself into something you're not involved in. You'll put on your clothes,

and go to work like nothing happened." She was ready to call it a night but Markyla pushed on.

"How about the person who saw me?" She asked.

"It's a big building. If you're certain it was on the top floor, that’s a long way to see clearly at

night. Let it go."

They laid quietly in bed. Markyla shook violently. She was scared for her life, she had a feeling

she had gotten herself into something terrible and as she finally drifted off to sleep, she prayed

she would wake up realizing it was all a dream.

It wasn't a dream but work seemed peaceful the next morning. It was windy, and that brought a

feeling of calm to the atmosphere. If she hadn't witnessed the events of the night before, she

would have had a good day.

She resisted the urge to look in the direction of the block bend when she arrived that morning

and went straight to the changing room, and then the practice room.

"You're late " she heard the words before she was completely through the door.

"I'm sorry, bad traffic." Markyla said as she stole a glance at the wall clock. She was seven minutes

late. Technically, she wasn't even late. She had to change and there was a long line at every

elevator.

"CEO asked for you to see him once you got here." Judith said. "You better have a better excuse

than traffic when you're standing in front of him."

Her heart skipped a beat as a hundred questions flooded her brain. Why would he ask to see her?

Was he the one at the window?

She caught herself before she let fear consumed her. She had been in training and heard a lot of

girls being called by superiors and her case could be one of those cases.

She couldn't tell if that was the room she had seen a face from the night before, her nervousness

was getting the better of her so she took a deep breath, and tried to focus on the beauty of the

place.

Blaze was a mansion, and she thought she had seen the most beautiful parts when they had taken

the new models on a tour but she was wrong. This wing of the building was iconic, it had artificial

models plated in gold lined at every corridor, all dressed in the brand’s attire. They were

gorgeous, Markyla was lost.

This area was serene too, it didn’t have many people walking by or screaming orders, and there

were no girls with oil glazed skin, walking half naked

She waited, and every once in a while, she saw someone step out. Every second caused her

stomach to ache. There was no other model in that wing, every one who passed her was an

executive, or a board member and she felt so out of place.

Winifred called one more time. “Markyla George, sir.”

He heaved in a deep breath as he contemplated whether to let her in or not. He wasn’t ready for

this, not yet at least, and if Bryan hadn’t been so careless, he wouldn’t even have to think about

that.

There was something about that model that he couldn’t specify. She reminded him of someone

he had tried so hard to forget. The moment she had stepped on that runway, he knew he was

damned. The bangs, the gap tooth reveal when she smiled, he hated that it revived things he had

kept buried for a long time and he intended to keep it that way. The board members had spent

a lot of time deliberating on her case for the top twenty; the competition was tough, and

modeling was way beyond beauty alone. All one hundred girls who stood before them were

gorgeous, and had great skills but some had pushed her case and she had made it finally. He was

happy.

It was his brand, and whoever stepped out there was a representation of him. Blaze had been

that girl, the only one he ever wanted, and if he couldn’t have her, he would settle for a

camouflage, and maybe, just maybe, he would teach her the lesson he never got to teach Blaze.

When he stepped out for his rounds, he had done so with intentions, and they had been fulfilled.

What wasn’t part of his plan though was getting her in the midst of the mess he was constantly

in. They say big men have big problems, only Logan Wood understood that perfectly.

The doors came apart and she stepped in, one foot after the other. Logan sat in his executive

chair, pretending to be so focused on his screen but he could see her. She had a bright yellow

sundress on, its silk fabric clung to her skin, and he wondered whether those bangs clouded her

vision. She was staring, at the furniture, the windows. He tried to not laugh; she was smart.

He noticed her shyness as his eyes met hers. “Have a seat.” He nodded towards the sofa in the

room, getting up from his, just as she sat. “You’re Markyla?” He kept a reasonable distance

between them but she still shivered in her seat.

Her head moved in agreement before she spoke “Yes, Markyla George.”

He knew what he was to do, he knew the agreement but his mind thought different, thought of

all the other things he could do to her, all the things he wanted to do to her since she stepped on

that runway.

“How’s your first week at Blaze going?” he asked.

“Is this leading to the question of where I was at a particular time last night?” she asked. That

question came out of fear, and she regretted it as soon as it left her lips.

The question hit him unexpectedly but his amazement didn’t reach his face. “I’m sorry, what are

you talking about?”

Her mouth formed an “o” as she looked away. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I asked that.” Great!

She thought, the first time I try proving I’m not a coward, I end up looking stupid.

“You do not speak unless I ask you to.” He was not smiling.

She nodded and then whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Her thoughts took another turn. Harvey had mentioned that he sleeps with all his employees.

Maybe this was what this was leading to, maybe she was just the first out of the new flock. Her

nervousness increased over a hundred percent. A day before, she would have been unbothered

about that, she would have even looked forward to it but as she sat there thinking of the girl

whose life had been taken from her in the same building, she wasn’t pleased at all. What if that

girl had been called in yesterday just like she was today?

“I was displeased when I saw you train, there was no energy, you seemed dead.” He spat out the

words without regarding her feelings. Markyla looked terrified but he pressed on “I need fire, I

need strength. You have been placed on probation, I need you to step up, look at the girls around

you, ask questions, do what they’re doing, and bring your best game. Two weeks, if the panel do

not see potential at our next show, Blaze will bid you goodbye. Have a good day.”

Have a good day? He had to be kidding. Who has a good day after being told she wasn’t good at

her work? She walked out without saying a word, but only because he didn’t seem like he was

interested in whatever she had to say.

He watched her make her way out and he knew he had to do something. It might not be what his

crew was expecting but it would be something that will soothe him enough.

He grabbed his phone and made a call. “She’s clear, she didn’t see anything.”

The disappointment in Haden’s voice was so pronounced “She didn’t have to; you just have to

do what you were asked to. Don’t push me, Logan.”

He sighed, no way did he expect Haden to take it easy. “Leave her to me.”

Last night’s mistake was something he would fix, but he would fix something else. He would kill

two birds with one stone.