Stars of the day - a modelling show

Chapter 12

Rosie is conflicted on her way back to the apartment. As she is leaving the 6th floor, someone gets in the way. "In a hurry, huh?" Rosie turns just to see that it is only Stefan. "What do you want?" she asks rather hostile. Stefan seems amused. "What I want? Well, darling that is not important. What is important, on the other hand, is discovering what the hell you are up to. You know... At first, I thought you being inexperienced wouldn't matter to much but now I see that it does. You're messing with things. You don't follow orders. You don't listen to anyone. So tell me this: In all your planning and messing around is there a point? Or don't you have a clue about what you are doing?" he asks. Rosie feel uneasy by his presence. She might be able to outsmart Sebastian but how does she outsmart this guy? "I promise you there's a point to everything that I do. You just don't know what it is until it smacks you in the face like a shovel," Rosie says trying not to be intimidated by Stefan. He tries to figure her out. "I can't read you. It seems like nobody can. You suffered a terrible tragedy when you were younger. I am sorry for that, but you haven't made peace with it. Until you do, it'll hunt you down... and everybody that you care for is in danger because of it. Now you might see me as the villain but I'm not. So many things about your mother's case is off. So many things. Why is that? And who is responsible for it? That is the questions you should be asking yourself," Stefan says. Rosie is surprised by his way of seeing things. "Why should I listen to you?" she asks but she already knows the answer to that. "You should listen because you know I'm right. Think about it. I know you'll find a solution. Until then... keep Sebastian out of it. He doesn't deserve to be dragged into this - willingly or not," Stefan says and walks towards his room. Then he is gone. Rosie keeps turning it over in her head. The way Stefan acted, it seemed as if he had followed the case. Did he know about Robert? She pushes the thoughts aside for now and hurries back to the apartment before she encounters any more of the other contestants.

Eric is waiting for her. "Where the hell have you been?" he asks tired first thing he sees her. Rosie looks annoyed at him. "I talked to Hope. Now, will you help me or should attempt to do something foolish myself?" she asks. A hopeless expression glides over Eric's face. "Guess, it'll turn out better if I helped," he says. Rosie quickly fills him in on everything that has happened with the dinner yesterday, Sebastian, Hope, Barry and Stefan. She is unsure whether or not she should have told Eric about the last part but he seems to be glad that he knows. "We should keep a close eye on this Stefan-guy. He seems to know more than he is telling. Either that or he is just hell good at scaring people to death," Eric say and smiles. "But why bathing clothes? Couldn't it just be something... simpler?" he adds. Rosie shakes her head. "We have to trick Sebastian. It can't be coincidental - any of it. We must have a solid plan with no way of risking it to backfire. We have to be sure," Rosie says. Eric is thrown back in time. He sees the scared girl who had to enter the court room for the first time. This is almost what she said back then. "What do you fear could go wrong?" Eric asks. Rosie stops her doing. "Nothing... nothing can go wrong," she tries to convince herself. Eric is not buying it. "Rosie, what's going on?" he asks softly. Rosie is quiet. "Eric, there's something the whole team needs to know," Barry says. He has entered the room and was listening before exposing himself. He watches as the disapproval grows in Rosie's eyes. But there is no going back.

Eric assembles the other team members but does not explain much. He leaves that part for Barry. Rosie stares at him with cold eyes. Barry smiles vaguely in an effort of trying to cheer himself up. He feels like a cliff has grown between him and Rosie just overnight. Like she is trying to dissociate herself with everybody in order to keep them safe. He did almost get his head shot off because of his associations with her. But then why this cold? Barry takes a deep breath. "I think, now, it is safe to say that you all know what went down at the second photo shooting. Rosie's ex came and threatened that he would blow off... yeah, well, my head. He didn't thanks to the doppelgänger issue... But Robert coming here can't be coincidental or just an ordinary quest of revenge. No, we believe that it was planned. Rosie's mother was murdered 15 years ago in front of her daughter. The murderer didn't work alone because her research disappeared but the murderer was found with a bullet through his skull not far from the crime scene. Rosie's parents worked for different rivaling companies and back then Rosie's father was tied to the murder of Linda Blackwell. Recently, my father, a detective, re-opened the case and another technical expert viewed that the angle of impact of the bullet isn't matching a bullet through one's own skull. Therefore another must have shot him and that person is likely the one who organized everything with Robert. That was a warning - to us. So that we wouldn't talk about it. Now, the criminal can't be happy about a re-opened case and will try everything to avoid us from talking furthermore about it. However, we have a choice. Either we shut up and all the attention goes to my father... or we could talk about it but draw the attention here to us. I can't ask anything from any of you but I'm giving you the choice to do something. You just have to decide what," Barry says. Alana, Flora and Florian seems shocked at first but their thoughts quickly comes to Rosie. "This is why you're pushing Barry away. Because he was almost shot because of you," Flora says in a low voice. Rosie does not answer. "It's not just that. She is planning to do the same to Sebastian," Barry says surprising everyone. Rosie is surprised most of all. She has forgotten how fast Barry is able to see through her. "But what about the double date?" Eric asks confused. "That's when she had planned to end things," Barry says looking at Rosie. She avoids his eyes. Then she changes strategy. "Yes! Yes, you're right Barry. But what does that help? Someone is still out there. Someone is still going to hurt all the people that I come to care about. It's better for everyone if I just... If I just isolate myself," Rosie says trying to sound reasonable. "No, it's not," Barry says coming over to her. They are in the living room. He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Rose, you can't just give up everything like this," Barry says trying to get through to her. Then she gets a text. "Hold on," she says and checks the phone. 'Come to the hall, 8th floor. All of you now'. "It's Sebastian. He says that we should meet him in the hall on the 8th floor. I think it's urgent," Rosie says showing Barry the text. He nods. "Come on everybody!" he says and leads people out the door.