When I observed Natalie from a distance I couldn't help but admire her 'beauty.'

It was a conventional beauty you see in magazines, but there was also something unique about her. To a point where you couldn't take your eyes off of her...

After the first day of the shoot, Natalie left as soon as she wrapped up her 'modeling duties.'

Nathan and I left shortly after, and when I got home I was greeted by Apollo. I hadn't seen him in a while since I had been busy.

*

Later that night I thought about how the next few days would go by.

The photo shoots only lasted a few hours at a time but they were a little intense. Especially considering Natalie didn't really like me. Or at least it seemed like she didn't and was just tolerating me? I sighed again before attempting to fall asleep... thinking about how tomorrow would go...

And before I knew it I was on set again.

I watched the crew bustle around me to make things perfect before Natalie arrived. I yawned a little and then drank a bit more of the latte I got earlier this morning. I was a little tired because I didn't get enough sleep last night.

When Natalie arrived I saw her complaining endlessly in the distance to her assistant and manager. She was making a scene about not having the correct purified water brand she requested. Or that the hand-held fan they bought for her was too small. When she continued complaining about the smallest of details well... details I thought was insignificant, someone else joined her. And I couldn't believe my eyes... it was Luca.

I turned around and started to walk away. Maybe I could hide somewhere for the time being? What was he doing here? When I found a random prop room to hang out in I decided to read one of the books Nathan gave me for understanding to 101's of Marketing.

But... Julia came rushing in shortly after.

"Found you!"

"What's the matter?!" I stood up, nervously.

"The director wants to see you... you're being asked to stand in."

"For what?" Julia pulled me forward and I didn't know what she meant by that...

So when I came to the front I saw the director and head photographer looking solemn. When I approached them I asked them what was wrong. The director took the lead in responding.

"Hazel... we have a request," I wondered where Nathan was all of a sudden.

"What... kind of request?"

"Natalie... refuses to complete the shoot unless another model stands in with her."

"Alright, then I'll collaborate with Nathan and find a solution."

"She already has one..."

"Which is..."

"For you to stand in..."

"Excuse me?" I stared at him bewildered. This was getting a bit out of hand. "I'm not a model."

"Well, today you will be," the photographer stepped into the conversation. He had a heavy French accent. He looked like even he was getting impatient about the model's obvious ridiculous request.

"I know this is unusual, but she refuses to work anymore unless this is done. She won't continue working without her new 'conditions' being met."

Where was Nathan when I needed him?

"This is just... where is Nathan?"

"He left when Kai suddenly called him," I looked at my phone. I didn't realize Nathan was trying to contact me... I sighed.

"We cannot delay any more. I have a flight to catch in a few hours," The French photographer stormed off and the director looked at me pleadingly.

"The finished product... I promise we won't include your shots for your privacy, but we're in a predicament now..." I glared towards the side until I saw Natalie, who had been watching us all along. She was smiling. If only I could cut that expression in half... I saw her go further into the backstage area, which I was confused by...

She was doing this on purpose. And for what? To outshine me? To make some sort of point?

"Alright..." the director sighed in relief and then waved over a few people. I was being scooped away to go to another dressing room. Within 15 minutes I was 'ready,' to make my debut. I couldn't believe the situations I was being put in...

When I walked out on stage I could hear some 'wow's' from the crowd. I suppose a little makeup and expensive clothing can change everything about your appearance...

When I stood next to Natalie she even seemed uncomfortable. I could tell she was thinking this was a mistake? I watched Luca appear from the sidelines and he jogged up next to us.

"What a beauty," he smiled at me and then looked over at Natalie and added, "of course, you too cuzz..." I swore I could see a blood vessel pop out from her forehead when he said that.

"We meet again..." Natalie gawked a little at what Luca had said.

"How do you two know each other?" Natalie asked.

"I guess you could say we are new friends?"

I glared at him and Luca smiled.

"I suppose everything in the world happened when I was in Prague," Natalie added.

"Ready in 2!" the director shouted aloud.

Natalie walked away from me. I didn't know what to do at this point. None of these pictures would turn out naturally and we would have to re-shoot. Is this what she wanted? For me to fail? To prove I don't belong at the company? I didn't want to read too much into it but she had an attachment to Ravenwolf.

"She's a little over the top, right?"

"Who?" Luca pointed towards Natalie and I shook my head.

"Don't worry... just be yourself. Think of things that make you happy, things that makes you laugh, or times when you needed to be serious. It will work out," he smiled at me, and I felt a little bit more encouraged. He then leaned in to whisper, "don't think about her. Just focus on yourself...you can do it..." Luca then slowly walked away. I watched him a little taken aback.

When I joined Natalie I decided to just be as natural as possible. While working with her we took dozens of photos together. The more I heard the shutter flicker, the more I felt a little anxious. However, when I thought about what Luca said, and the fact that I had nothing to lose, I just followed the photographer's guidelines.

When we took a short break I could tell Natalie was getting visibly frustrated. She found something else to complain about --the lighting. They were too hot. It wasn't like I could disagree with that statement...

I started waving my hand towards my face. I then sat down on a stool nearby... when I did I couldn't help but feel a little weird. Natalie kept staring at me from the side and when I caught her she looked away.

I sat there thinking about what I would say to Nathan and Kai when they find out about my participation...

Before I got up I heard a crashing noise from above.

When I stood up to move away because I figured the noise was coming from overhead, I turned to see a body colliding into mine. The person wrapped their arms around me protectively.

When I looked up I saw that a rope, that was supposed to be suspending a prop in the air, had fallen.

There were gasps around the set...

I froze in place... I could only imagine how painful the impact of the rope hitting this person's arm would be...

I pushed him away from me softly and noticed it was Luca. He winced in pain. I was shocked to see how quickly he reacted to the rope falling.

People around me were running to the source of the problem. But some were obviously rushing over to help Luca. Someone called the on-staff nurse for help. I turned around briefly to see Natalie glaring at me... I felt my entire body stiffen up. There was something off about this.

"Luca... let me help you..." I escorted him to the station where the nurse was. Luca refused to have an ambulance come. The others decided to put a hold on the shoot and I offered to stay with Luca.

The nurse took off his jacket and shirt. I saw the wound. It looked like a rope burn but because of the way it hit his arm at full force... there was already bruising showing. There was also some blood because of the pressure...

I was sure he would have difficulty moving his arm around for a while...

"It's alright..." he kept reassuring me. But I didn't know what else to say. I was at a loss for words. So I sat there until the nurse bandaged him up. They left and I sat there feeling guilty he got hurt in place of me.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"Don't say that. You could have gotten seriously injured."

"More than this?"

"I mean..." he chuckled while I spoke and then winced again. I leaned over instinctively to hold onto his arm and I looked up at him.

"Why did you do that? You could have pushed us both to the side."

"I'm sure there was a better course of action but I just had to respond."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to see you get hurt," I stared at him briefly before suddenly realizing he was still shirtless. He then lifted his hand up and leaned in towards me. I didn't know what he was doing until he told me he had just taken a tiny 'fluff' out of my hair. He was a mysterious character for sure...

Moments later the door flew open.

I wondered who was storming inside. It was Kai. He looked a little disheveled. He walked over to me and grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. He held onto my arms and looked at me.

"Are you hurt? What happened?" I couldn't help but feel my heart flutter. I was staring at him now in disbelief at how much he seemed to be worried about me... I shook my head and then motioned over towards Luca. He waved at Kai.

Kai then pulled me behind him and pointed at Luca.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I stepped away from Kai and stood in front of Luca.

"He got hurt because of me."

"The rope fell from the ceiling. It wasn't her fault," I turned to look at Luca who was now standing up. His half-naked body was glistening underneath the light in the room. He looked like an Adonis figure. I don't know how long I had been staring but Kai pushed me lightly aside to get closer to Luca.

"You didn't answer my question. Why are you here?"

"Well... it is my mother's magazine you're doing business with."

"And not you."

"But I still work for her..." they were glaring at each other now.

"Mr. Ravenwolf..." I said and it seemed to amuse Luca.

"Hazel..." Luca said softly. "I'm alright... you can go and check in with the director... it seems I'll be reuniting with an old friend sooner rather than later..." I stared at Kai and he nodded for me to leave.

When I did I really wanted to eavesdrop... but it didn't seem appropriate. Instead, I just sighed and decided to walk away from it...