TRAGIC: Rook and Ronin, #1 (4 page)

That's why he's famous. It's not the body or face, it's the emotion. The emotion
I
make them feel.

I want to touch her right now but I hold back with Elise as Antoine starts shooting. The noise of the shutter snaps her out of her daze and I expect her to say something.

Anything—like
Am I doing it right? Is this what you want?

But she says nothing. Antoine whispers to her, giving her small directions. She tilts her head when he asks, letting the light from the window fall across her face. It's late afternoon now, so the light is low and hazy. It bounces off her raven hair and her head turns in just the right way to catch some dying rays of sun, making her eyes sparkle. And that's how she's burned into my mind. The blackness of her hair, contrasting with the gray light behind her, and her bright blue eyes.

She catches me staring and I hold my breath. But neither of us turns away. We stare, unabashed, until Antoine's direction pulls her back into the shoot and she's lost again—guarded and unhappy, frowning and resigned. She's a blackbird sitting in a tree staring out at the world, daring the wind to come and knock her off the swaying bough.

She is wrecked, Elise is right. But she's not down yet. The look on her face is defiant.

When I look over at the clock it's well past five. Antoine has been shooting her for almost two hours. Elise left a while back but whether she's still here in the studio or up in her apartment, I have no idea. I lost track of her because my eyes are only on the girl.

Antoine does pretty well until the end. It's clear he's finished shooting and the girl is starting to look uncomfortable when he asks her what she was thinking about during the shoot.

I cringe.
No, you don't ask them! You make them want to tell you, you idiot!
I want to pull him aside and stop the crash and burn that's coming, but it's too late. She snaps at him and he pulls back when he realizes his mistake.

He turns the conversation to business and this is where it really gets interesting. She tells him she's not a model and has no portfolio. I'm just about to laugh when she starts yelling about pictures as payment.

I look back towards Elise's station and realize she forgot to explain the terms to her.

We are so off our game today. One tragic girl has disrupted all the carefully laid plans and protocols we've had in place for years.

The tragic girl storms off yelling. Antoine walks over to me and we wait together as she rants to Elise.

"You better fix this, Antoine," I say calmly, but inside I'm screaming too. "Pay the fucking girl, she needs the money."

He snorts like a fucking Frenchman. "I do not pay for test shoots."

"This," I say, turning to face him, "was no test shoot and you know it. You've got hundreds of shots in that camera. Pay her and make sure she comes back or I won't do the contract. I want her. I've put up with hundreds of stupid girls over the years for you and I've never asked you for a favor like this. I want this one, or I won't do it."

He fishes through his pocket and pulls out the cash that Clare never earned.

The studio door slams and we are all reminded that two models have walked out on us today.

"Elise!" Antoine calls, thrusting the bills out at her. "Catch her, pay her, and invite her back on Monday."

Elise grabs the money and flies out the door.

"We're in trouble, Ronin. She is trouble." He turns a little to look me in the eye, something he rarely does unless he's serious and wants me to consider his advice. "You should stay away from her, keep it professional. Or it might get messy."

I shrug. "I'll do what I want. And staying away from her isn't even in the top million things I want to do with that girl."

"Elise will hurt you if you ruin this one, Ronin. She won't tolerate another Mardee."

Fuck you
, is what I think. But I don't say it, I just sigh and we wait in silence for Elise to come back.

Chapter Six - ROOK

My crying is not pretty, in fact, it borders on blubbering. It's a sobbing ugly cry, except I'm trying to be discreet so it comes out in weird half-silent gasps, in between hiccups and long draws of air.

When I hear footsteps I pull myself together, wipe the tears, and scoot over so whoever it is can get by. Instead they sit down next to me.

I look over at Elise and she holds out some money. "Here. He really doesn't pay for test shoots, Rook, but he likes your look and would like to extend another invitation." I take the bills and see that on top there is another little white card. I know I shouldn't, but I count the money as I sit there. Four hundred dollars in twenties. One hundred dollars for every hour I spent here today.

I look at her and start to cry again.

I know I should get up and just bolt out the door with my money, just make a quick getaway and leave this day behind, but Elise grabs my arm before I can stand up and I just don't have it in me to fight. I collapse back against the stairs and wipe my face frantically.

"Do you need help?" Elise asks after giving me a few moments to stop the tears.

I do. I mean, I really do. But I'm ashamed to have to ask for it. "No," comes out automatically.

She rubs my arm and lets out a small laugh. "OK. Well, would you believe that I am actually looking for someone to help
me
in the studio salon?"

I raise my tired and burning eyes up to her in surprise.

"Yes," she nods at me. "I am desperate, Rook. And I realize this is forward of me, but you did say you got fired today, so I was wondering if you'd like the job?"

"A job?"

"Shampoo girl. It's not much and it pays very little, but it does come with a small apartment out on the roof terrace."

"An apartment?"

"I know what you're thinking. Is the apartment nice? But I'm afraid, no, it's not. It's tiny really, and filled with old furniture. You'll probably hate it and I'm embarrassed to even offer it, but I figured you might take pity on me and accept the position and the apartment."

I just stare at her.

"What do you say?"

I cry.

She wraps her arm around me and laughs. "Just say yes, Rook. And we'll go back upstairs and you can go settle in that terribly ugly and small living space and try to forget this whole day." She stands and takes me with her and we begin to climb the stairs. "Except for the part where you got your hands on that invitation card and met us, of course. Because maybe tomorrow you'll see this was a stroke of luck for you."

She knew all along that wasn't my invitation, yet she pretended to remember me when I gave her my name. "Why are you doing this? I mean, I'm grateful and I want the job and the apartment, I really do. But you don't even know me."

"I've been you, Rook. I don't know the details, but we've all needed a twist of fate at one time or another and Antoine was mine. More than twelve years ago now. So today, I'll pay it back and be yours."

"Thank you."

"And one day, you'll be in my position and you'll stumble upon a lost girl, and you can help change her fate. And when you do, and she asks you why, you'll tell her about me."

We walk up the rest of the stairs in silence after that and when she takes me through the studio door we come face to face with Antoine and that Ronin guy again. Elise says something in French, and then they are all talking in French. But Elise does not wait for them, because she walks me around the other side of the salon wall and takes me through the massive glass doors that lead out onto the terrace.

It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Somehow, even though this is a rooftop terrace, there are two small groves of blooming cherry trees on either side. There's even grass on the ground under the trees. "How is there grass up here?" I ask as we walk past the trees and head towards a small brick building on the far side of the terrace.

"My Antoine is clever," she snickers. "It used to be a lap pool on one side," she points to the east where the sky is already getting dark, "and a family pool on the other." She points west now, towards the mountains and the setting sun. "Some developers bought this building from the city and made it into apartments back in the Seventies, but when we bought it more than a decade ago, the pools were a disaster, so instead of filling them in with concrete, we filled them in with dirt and planted those cherry trees and grass. We add something to the landscaping every year, usually another fruit tree."

It's like Mary Lennox's Secret Garden. Except it's on a rooftop in a trendy Denver neighborhood instead of the English countryside. I feel a little sad for a moment, because of all the people living in this city, only a handful of them will ever get a chance to walk through an orchard four stories up on the top of an old building.

Elise stops at the small apartment and punches in a number on the keypad. "All our doors have keyed locks. I'll bring you a code to use for the outside building after hours, but the garden studio apartment is all ones. Just five ones."

"OK." It sounds very fancy, but I can deal with five ones.

"And I might've lied a bit about the apartment."

"Oh," I say, the disappointment coming out.

"It's actually very cute. Not big, I didn't lie about that, but—" She opens the door and waves me inside.

It's the most darling place I've ever seen. The walls are painted a sunny yellow, the furniture is older, that wasn't a lie, but it's got a pretty flower pattern on it and it looks very comfortable. There's a couch, an overstuffed chair in the same pattern, a coffee table made out of oak, and two end tables. The kitchen is small, just one long counter against the far wall. There's a fridge and a small apartment-sized stove. When I look down the hallway I can see a bed dressed up in the same pattern as the living room furniture.

"It's not really a studio because it has a bedroom, but there's no door. So it's like a loft, I guess. The bathroom has a giant claw-foot tub."

I moan with happiness. "This cannot come with the shampoo girl's job."

Elise laughs. "No, I lied about that too. But if you play your cards right, Antoine and Ronin will choose you for the TRAGIC campaign and you'll be wanting to move out and get a penthouse apartment in New York like the last girl who lived here before you know it."

"The last girl?"

Elise nods. "She's the one who decorated the place, just secondhand stuff from consignment shops on the west side of town. But it's cute, right?"

It is, so I nod. There are many windows so even in the approaching darkness I can see how much light comes in.

"I don't even know what to say, Elise. I mean—" I'm truly at a loss for words. "I'm not sure how this happened. I didn't steal that invitation, I was just minding my own business over at Starbucks and these girls flipped the card away, and it hit me in the head, and—"

"It doesn't matter, Rook. That girl was never going to get asked back after her test shoot. She got an invitation as a favor to her agency. Antoine does not mess around with the models he uses. I told you he'd like your look and I was right. Now, my brother Ronin—"

Oh, I say to myself, blocking out her words but still smiling politely as she talks. Ronin is her
brother
. That's interesting.

"—so he's the one you'll want to worry about after Antoine makes his decision."

"Worry about?" I missed that. I hope she repeats it.

"Never mind him for now. Just stay out of his way, do what you're told, and don't act like the girl you watched storm out of here earlier."

"Clare?"

Elise rolls her eyes. "Yes, Clare. She's talented and has a long list of clients who want her for glamour and fashion contracts, but she's crossing lines with all of us, making Antoine very angry."

"And Ronin?"

"No, Ronin rarely gets angry with the girls. Now, I hate to do this to you, but Antoine and I are going up to the mountains for the weekend, so I have to rush out. But make yourself at home and I'll leave the building code with Ronin. I'm sure he'll be partying all weekend but Cookie's Diner down the street has a tab for our girls so you can go eat there. Just tell the hostess you belong to Ronin and it will be taken care of."

Oh, that makes my face blush! I wonder if I could even force those words to come out of my mouth?
I belong to Ronin
. It's sexy and sexist at the same time. Do I like that? I'm not sure. I'm definitely not Ronin's, that I know. I might like to look at his half-naked body, but I'm nowhere close to wanting him near me. He's one of those over-confident players, I can just tell.

And I'm not a player or even slightly confident, so I'd probably make my life a lot easier if I take Elise's advice and stay out of his way.

Before I can pull myself back to reality to keep the conversation going, Elise is making for the door and shouting out, "See you Monday."

And then I stand there. Alone.

Feeling very much like Cinder-freaking-ella.