Trouble in Paradise.

18. Pride.

Chapter 18: Pride.

"Beautiful." Becca says as I pose beside Zachary.

Sabrina is watching us from the couch, she is taking videos of Zachary.

"I need a little more chemistry. Valarie, you're looking a little stiff there." Becca tells me and I lean on Zachary. She clicks the camera rapidly, taking pictures.

"Good job guys. Next and final location is Paris. I can't wait for you guys to see what we've set up for you over there. It's going to be a fun shoot and I'm going to enjoy every bit of it." Becca says with a smile on her face.

"Finally, that's over. Valarie, you have a meeting at nine...with the president." Sarah tells me and I stare at her.

"I thought everything on my itinerary was canceled for this Pepsi thing." I ask her.

"Yeah, it was. But this meeting wasn't on your schedule. It's impromptu and you are going." She tells me.

"Am I going too?" Zachary asks and Sarah shakes her head.

"Nope. The president requested to see just Valarie." She tells him before she walks away.

Sabrina walks to where Zachary and I are standing and she kisses him.

"You promised me a date, don't be late Mr. Henderson." She says before she walks away.

I turn on my heel and I walk to the couch Sabrina was sitting on. I grab my bag and I turn around seeing Zachary beside me.

"What?" I ask him and he shakes his head.

"Nothing." He tells me. I walk past him and I go outside. Sarah hailed a cab for me, it's waiting for me beside the sidewalk. I get in and relax in the backseat.

Within minutes, I am back at the house. I quickly change into the outfit that Sarah picked out for me and I call her.

"I'm ready." I inform her.

"There's a white car parked out front, the president sent it himself." She tells me.

"Okay, see you when I get back." I tell her before I hang up.

Walking outside the house, I see a white car waiting for me. I get in the car and I greet the driver. He starts the car and tries to make small talk. I indulge him. He tells me about how the president hasn't had a woman over at his house ever since his wife's death two years ago. The pressure that I was already feeling intensifies after I heard that.

We arrive at a white mansion minutes later, a middle aged man in a suit is standing by the porch steps with bodyguards by each side. The car comes to a halt and I take a deep breath.

Getting out of the car, I watch my step making sure I don't fall. I walk up the porch steps and I stand in front of the middle aged man. He just smiles at me without saying a word.

"Hey, I'm Valarie. I'm here to see the president." I tell him.

"He told me you would be coming. I'm going to show you around the house until he gets here." The man tells me.

"Okay, and you are?" I ask, probing for his name.

"Let's keep my name a secret for now."  He tells me and I smile.

"Mr. Mysterious, I like it. Let's start the mansion tour, shall we?" I ask him and he sends me a small smile.

"Yeah." He says, turning around and I trail behind him.

He walks into the house and his bodyguards wait for me to follow him. They walk behind me and for the first time I actually feel safe. I don't have security, so I'm not used to being guarded. But I could get used to this.