Public Relations

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Elizabeth

Elizabeth stood rooted to the spot for a moment, fighting two clear thought paths in her head. She could admit defeat, and leave, or try her luck and follow Mr Chamberlain through the doors. "Deep breath Eli," She muttered to herself. She took one deep breath in and released it, her decision was made. With shaking hands, she turned to Delilah, "Delilah, go change. We will be leaving shortly, I will be right back. Do not let anyone else touch you." 

Her green heels clicked against the floor as she strode toward the doors, her mission was clear. She wanted compensation for this shoot, not a callback, or a political answer. No one was harming her business and certainly not her models. She'd worked too hard for today to end it. She didn't want to entertain the idea of what would happen if they lost this contract. 

Palms on the cool wooden door, she pushed through and walked down the sleek, white-walled corridor following the sound of other voices further ahead. With the clicking of her heels echoing off the marbled tiles, Elizabeth took notice of the artwork on the walls she hadn't noticed before. All bland and void of any colour. The only colour in the hallway was the green of her shoes and jumper. She thought how horrid it'd be to work in a colourless place. 

A sign appeared at the end of the hall saying what could be found on each level. The building that housed Artemis magazine was very large compared to others as it housed the entire publishing company. The sublevel of the building housed the photography studios, the ground floor seemed to be not much more than a few offices, probably accounting and legal. The upper floors housed the authors, the editors, and the big bosses.

 Elizabeth rounded the corner where she had heard the voices and found two elevators, one with closing doors. Panicking she'd miss her chance, she lurched forward and jammed the button, causing the doors to reopen. The two men inside turned their heads up from the paper in the shorter man's hands. Mr. Chamberlain huffed out a frustrated breath. "Miss Bellamy, I'm sure we had finished this conversation." 

She narrowed her eyes at the tall man, raising her arms slightly as she spoke. "This conversation is far from finished. You have shaved my model and tried to dismiss this whole situation, which will not be happening." Elizabeth stepped closer to the lift, her feet meeting the threshold of the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest, knowing what she was doing was a risky move. He was an intimating man, unflinching at the confrontation with more power than she possessed. He lulled his head to the side as he listened to her talk as if he was sizing her up. His eyes danced over her body before landing back on her eyes. If she wasn't so enraged at him, she might've found herself distracted by them. 

"Today's stunt will cost her months' worth of work, costing not just her, but myself and our company thousands of pounds. We can have a civil meeting to correct the mistakes made or I will be taking legal action and no matter how big and scary your lawyers may be, we both know you'll have a large payout to myself and my client."

Silence fell over the small space as they stared at each other. The other man's eyes grew wide as he processed the situation they were somehow in. He slowly closed the folder in his hand and turned his head to Mr. Chamberlain, his eyes flickering back to look at Elizabeth. "Bennet?" The small man whispered as if he was urging for something to be said. "Bennet?" Elizabeth puzzled. She had never seen or heard the first name of the famous heir, but she had seen the many headlines about his evening antics. Neither Elizabeth nor Bennet Chamberlain moved. 

Elizabeth stared into the golden eyes that stared back at her. She was uncomfortable holding anyone's gaze for too long, no matter how mesmerizing she found them but it felt like she'd been staring at him for hours. If she was the first to break contact, would he see it as her defeat?