Stars of the day - a modelling show

Chapter 19

Eric has arranged a meeting with Sebastian and his team in the evening. Rosie is less than thrilled. Alana had her change out of the fancy gown into a plain blue dress before the meeting. She is grateful now. The tension in the room could lift the roof. They have gathered in Rosie's apartment. Rosie keeps looking at her bedroom door. Just two days ago Sebastian had come to surprise her. They day after, they broke up. Eventually, Rosie decides it is too much. "Sebastian can I talk to you under four eyes?" she asks and gets up from her position on the couch. Sebastian is surprised but follows her. Rosie leads him into her room. She turns on the light to erase the memories. "This doesn't have to be awkward and yet it is," Rosie says kind of accusingly but Sebastian agrees. "What do you propose?" he asks in a formal voice. Rosie has begun to hate that formal tone. "Well, I sort of took the initiative to the conversation so it is kind of your turn to be the better one," Rosie answers. She has no idea how to move forward which is the reason she puts the responsibility onto Sebastian's shoulders. Sebastian raises his eyebrow. "Be the better one? Rose, it's been 24 hours!" he says thinking that she is being unfair. "So?" Rosie demands to know. "Well, for starters, we didn't really leave each other on good terms, now did we?" Sebastian answers frustrated. They try to keep their voices down so that the others do not hear them argue. "We didn't, we start there then?" she proposes calmly. Sebastian is intrigued by her determination to make this work but would never admit it to her. This is probably why he opposes her. "Well, you were right - about the pretending. The longer it went on, the more real it seemed to be. We pretended to hate each other. I think we might have ended up with some genuine feelings that were never intended. Don't we start by dissolving those misplaced feelings?" Sebastian answers slowly. Rosie stares at him. "That's the problem," she says. Sebastian does not quite understand. "My feelings are not misplaced. It's true that you can be annoying as hell and you have a worse attitude problem that most, but underneath all of that there is a sweet carrying man. So why am I the only one allowed to see that?" Rosie says. She has been turning and turning her problems with Sebastian's attitude over and over in her head and now she has finally found the core to all her dislikes. Sebastian seems overwhelmed and surprised. "Are you accusing me of being a jerk on purpose?" he asks confused. Rosie knows how that sounds. "No. Yes. I don't know. Look, Sebastian all I know is that you act differently around me when we are alone rather than when we are not. I'm not sure how I feel about that," Rosie says. Sebastian does not want Rosie to dislike him, but he knows that getting back together right now, in the wake of everything that has happened, is a were bad idea which is close to impossible. "Rosie, you know who I am. You just don't want to see it. I am scheming and cunning and all other things. I'm not going to change. I just want you to accept that so we can move on," he says killing every emotion in his voice. Rosie feels it in her heart that it is not all true but instead of speaking up she keeps quiet. "I accept who you are. I just question if you do," Rosie says quietly. Sebastian grabs her hand to stop her from leaving. Rosie is paralyzed by his touch. "Sebastian," she says to make him let go but he does not. "I don't want us fighting. Someone from our teams are going to be kidnapped. And it's not just someone. Rose, it's you," he says in a carrying tone of voice. Rosie notices that he is still calling her Rose even though they are not together anymore. Then again, he did so even before they got together. Is he still affectionate? "You sound certain," Rosie says still not looking at him. Sebastian sighs. "It's all too obvious. You are the one who's most dangerous and when you can't do anything you don't really pose a threat. It's what I would do," Sebastian explains. Rosie tries to follow his logic but it seems unrealistic that someone would be after her when they would have a much easier target going for Flora or Florian. "Let's say you're right. What do we then do?" Rosie says turning towards him meeting his eyes. Sebastian seems pleased. "Let's give them hell," he smiles cunningly. Rosie cannot help but feel attracted to that bad boy attitude.

Eric is not very pleased with Sebastian's observations but he is relieved that Rosie and Sebastian can talk without fighting or biting at each other. "Say Sebastian is right. How do we prevent an opposing team from getting Rosie?" Florian asks. Barry seems busy calculating something out on a piece of paper. Sebastian's team is not very helpful. His manager does not even seem to care. "We could be wrong and then every preparation would be a waste of time," Alana says. Barry lets a pen fall on the table. "That's why we are inventing a buddy-system. Each of us will be responsible for another person. This way if anyone goes missing we'll now instantly. Now we need to pair people up fittingly taking into account that some are driven by strong spontaneous impulses and others by duty," Barry explains. He mostly speaks of Rosie when it comes to the impulses. "What do you suggest?" Flora asks. Barry smiles. "Well, considering that the most difficult person we are dealing is Rose, I'd suggest that you, Flora, are Rosie's buddy. Eric will be mine, Alana and Florian, Sebastian and his... Maybe we should reconsider that, considering how much time you actually spend with us... Eric and Sebastian's manager and then I'll be responsible for my doppelgänger. This way confusion is avoided. Then I guess Sebastian's specialists will be responsible for each other," Barry dictates. No one seems to disagree with his pairing. "When will this event start?" Flora asks practically. "When we get a text telling which team we have to kidnap," Sebastian answers. Just then all the phones blip at the same time. 'Greer DiNovo and Julian Martin'. Rosie stares at the names. "Anyone who knows who that is?" she asks. "Greer's a blond girl and Julian has light brown hair. I think they live on the 3th floor," Sebastian says without being completely sure. "Well, it's the best lead we have," Alana says. Rosie's phone blips. 'Hey, wanna meet on the ice rink? Got big news!'. It is Brianna. "I have to go guys," Rosie says and gets up. Sebastian and Barry exchange glances and block the way for her. "We can't let you go," they say simultaneously both crossing their arms. Rosie sighs. "I'm meeting up with Brianna. That's harmless," she argues. "How do we know Brianna isn't assigned to kidnap you?" Sebastian asks. Rosie sends him an annoyed glance. "Brianna wouldn't do that. I trust her. And I sincerely hope that you two trust me," Rosie says. "It's just too risky," Barry says in a mild voice. "I know. But since there's cameras everywhere won't you be able to follow my every move?" Rosie argues knowing that they have no counter response. "Yes," Barry says unwillingly. "Good, then let me pass," Rosie says and heads out the door. As soon as the door is closed Barry turns to Sebastian. "Follow her. Shadow her. And report back on the phone every fifth minute. No response and we know where to look," he says. Sebastian nods and follows Rosie.