Nicholas walked tiredly to Ethan's office.
"I'm tired. You need to employ a new secretary. I can't do the work of an assistant and a secretary at the same time, it's honestly so tiring." He complained.
"I'll double your pay," Ethan said without looking up.
"It's not about the money bro. Don't forget I have a pregnant wife at home. I've been going home all tired and worn out for the past five days. When she needs me, I'm never there, it makes no sense at all." Nicholas said.
Ethan thought for a while. Nicholas was right because he had been working overtime. But, he couldn't just employ a new secretary at once.
"Okay, just two more days and you won't have to do this again. The event is tomorrow. I don't want to make any mistakes because you're the one I trust the most." Ethan said.
"Where is your please?" Nicholas asked.
"Alright, please," Ethan said.
"Fine," Nicholas said and went out of the office again.
He was also in charge of sorting the models out, he couldn't let Ethan do it because he knew all the ladies amongst them would back out.
They already had the different clothes they were going to display.
Those clothes had not been bought for two months, and Ethan needed to sell them off before launching his new designs.
All the staff of Fashion Frenzy Homes were excited. They loved events like this because the boss always added a huge tip to their salaries. Despite being very strict with them, he was generous so it was quite even after all a boss was meant to be strict.
So, apart from Nicholas, who was his childhood friend, no one knew a thing about Ethan.
Both Ethan and Nicholas worked till 11 pm before finally going home.
***************
Isla was at the venue as early as 6 am.
Luckily for her, Melissa was there too.
Her boss, Madison had gone for a makeover, she wanted to look good just in case she came in contact with Ethan.
Isla felt she was stupid but then, who cares?
The rest of the photography team weren't there as Madison had fired them all.
Melissa was happy to be a volunteer just to help her friend.
By 10 am, people started arriving in bits.
Isla and Melissa were at different spots taking shots.
Madison hadn't even arrived yet.
Isla noticed some strange people and she had a bad feeling, but she just shrugged it off.
Nicholas arrived at 12 pm with his wife who was ever smiling.
Melissa rushed to take photos of them and Nicholas's wife gladly posed for the camera, before blowing Melissa a kiss.
Melissa liked her at once, as she was free-spirited.
By 1 pm, Ethan wasn't there yet, but the event still kicked with Nicholas being the host.
All the models started displaying one after the other and the people cheered.
Because most of the people were of average wealth, the price of the clothes were slashed so they could afford it, and in no time almost all the clothes were bought.
But, where was Ethan?
******************
Amber pulled up the corset dress. It was well-fitted and brought out her perfect shape.
She found out late about Ethan's event and was going to grace the occasion as his woman.
Her makeup artist was waiting for her in the living room, so she went to meet her.
The make-up artist got to work immediately.
"Ma'am, you shouldn't have worn the dress before your makeup." The makeup artist said.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Just concentrate on your work." Amber responded.
The make-up artist quietly did her thing and after an hour, she was done.
She gave Amber a mirror to look at the results.
"Oh, my goodness. This is so pretty." Amber said and the makeup artist smiled.
"You look like a literal goddess ma'am. From your head to your toes. Your body is fire, and you're extremely pretty too." The makeup artist praised.
"Let me help with your jewellery and your hair." The makeup artist said.
She helped Amber select matching pieces of jewellery and also helped her style her hair.
After she was done, Amber was set to go.
She called Mrs George's chauffeur to drive her to the event because she was going as Ethan George's woman.
*************
Ethan finally arrived at the venue. Isla tried to take a photo of him, but he declined, and when she said hi, he ignored her.
"Girl, he's so handsome, I'm glad we got to see him from close range," Melissa said excitedly.
"Yeah, whatever. He ignored me." Isla complained.
At that moment, Melissa saw Madison go backstage after Ethan and she smirked.
"No wonder she was heavily made up." She remarked.
"Huh?" Isla asked.
"That boss of yours got her eyes on. Ethan George." Melissa said.
"Oh, that. I know." Isla said.
"So, why are you letting her? Put up a fight for your man!"
"He's not mine, dummy," Isla said.
Amber walked into the place looking dazzling, everyone ignored the models and stared at her, even Ethan.
She liked the attention she was getting and proudly walked to the front to sit on the chair reserved for Ethan. Ethan saw what she did, but he just looked away.
"I know that face. I've seen her before, I just can't...Amber?" Isla said with a frown.
"You know her?" Melissa asked.
"I'll be right back," Isla said.
She went closer to Amber to get a shot of her.
"No doubt, she's the one."
She walked back to Melissa.
"She really is the one. Remember that lady I told you about? That paid for my mum's stuff? That's her." Isla said.
"She's so pretty. But why is she sitting on Ethan George's chair? Is she...."
"No way," Isla said.
"No wonder, she had a lot of money," Melissa added.
"She sure is lucky."
"Well, I like the look on Madison's face. I'm sure Ethan George had given her a fair share of being ignored. Damn, her makeup is hideous. She should learn from....what did you call her?"
"Amber."
"Yeah, Madison's make up artist should learn from Amber's. Her makeup is flawless."
"Ethan George is no longer backstage. I need to go take some shots of the models backstage." Isla said and went to the backstage.
She took the pictures of the models and went to a corner to look at them, her side eye caught a glimpse of one of those strange people she had seen earlier and she heard the click of a gun.....