𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐒 | 𝐍𝐞𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐉𝐫

Car Talks

If I told that the days after Leo's training ground went smoothly yesterday, I'd be lying to myself. On the contrary, I had gotten a great deal that I had wanted to avoid. For example, the suspicious stares I earned from both Juan and my brother - in which case my effort to hide from him backfired.

Not long after I stopped watching them play, we met each other's gaze. The jersey plus the cap I was wearing to disguise my face gave me the impression that I was doing a wonderful job of hiding myself. But, I underestimated how good my brother's eyesight was. Actually, I didn't think it was such a good idea. Because, really, who was I kidding? How cleverly I hid myself-I was actually in my brother's nest. A spot he regularly visited, which I figured was his second home. Of course, he would run across other people he didn't see very often.

And, as if that wasn't horrible enough, Juan added it and turned it into a big fireball. On the way home, he couldn't stop talking about how beautifully the boys played football, as if I wasn't watching with him. Juan would sometimes drop the name of a Brazilian soccer player, which I could tell by his tone if he did it on purpose.

I had a feeling he wouldn't quit until he had the answer. Because the signature above my hand and how Neymar, who at that time never missed a few seconds to check on me, was enough to make Juan fidget with interest. Ironically, while I was born with the skills to ignore his questions, I was also born with the ability to make smooth lies.

"All right, Arabella, show me how you do that walk." Noah's voice suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts.

All eyes were on me, notably Erin. She was behind me, and I could feel the knife passing through her eyes on the back of my head. I stood up from my seat and went Noah with reluctance.

He withdrew his eyes for a moment from the paper he was holding and then looked at me with tired eyes and black eye bags. His hair, which was normally soft and fell over his temples, was now dry and a little tangled. Even though that didn't seem to be enough to ruin his appearance, I thought he looked rather decent for someone on the verge of going insane.

Noah had been suffering with various problems over the last few days, which made him feel crazy. Starting from the moment he knew there were models who weren't careful with themselves and crushed their legs at some point because of driving under the influence. That would be fine if they were amateur or average models, but they were the main models Noah chose to open the show later.

And now he needed to find a replacement as soon as possible. However, it appeared that Erin alone was not enough to satisfy him and fill the gap; this would be likely that he was the one who drank three Starbucks glasses on the table.

"Do I need to change my clothes first?"

Noah extended his hand toward me. "No need. I don't want to be disappointed any longer today. Just walk, and you're done."

I said nothing else and simply nodded in answer. I cleared my mind and calmed any uneasiness I had as I prepared myself. All of the tactics and lessons I learned from Jean and Isla were imprinted in my mind, and all I had to do now was put the theory into practice.

I walked over, quietly staring straight ahead.

Because the distance mentioned wasn't too vast, it was only an easy cat walk. But I made the most of it and didn't let anything get in my way. As I approached towards Noah, I was able to straighten my legs while simultaneously keeping them from becoming stiff.

He looked once, then gave a little nod - so slight that I couldn't believe it was a nod. As I walked away from him, he wrote whatever was on the paper.

I walked back and saw Jean and Isla waiting for me. They were giving me that annoying smile while nudging me with their elbows. I rolled my eyes, trying not to smile back.