Chapter 6

  Emilia

Sitting in the general room, it took quite a lot to forget about my encounter with Zach.

I was watching the 1 minute reel I had done overnight, it was about hockey but unlike before, this wasn’t personal.

This was about the rink, I had taken one of the memory cards home by mistake and since two hockey men kept me from sleeping, I decided to put my time to good use.

“God, I wish I could capture Alpha… He’s accepted one advert for this season and the only prayer I have for this year is that I get to accompany him…”

“God, I wish I get to cover the rink footage this season, not watching him live feels like I’m watching the pirated copy of him.” Two ladies beside me chattered.

I rolled my eyes, wondering what was so special about Zach, sure he was handsome… more handsome than more than 80% of the men in this world but it doesn’t make him less of a human like every fucking person out there.

“Wow, did you do this?” I was jolted out of my thoughts by Josh, he was standing behind me, a huge grin spread across his face as he replayed the video.

I tried to shut my computer but he was quick to stop me. “What? Did you do this? It’s fucking brilliant, you should show this to the Athena, she’s going to love it… I see you’re still inspired by her, your editing is so similar to the first video…”

“No, it’s nothing, forget it.” I slammed my laptop, biting my lips to stop myself from screaming that Athena would never inspire me, not in this world, not in the next billion worlds to come.

Josh shook his head as he took a seat beside me, shaking his head. “No, I refuse to let this talent get buried. Unique talents like you are what we need, if you show that video to Athena, you have a chance of editing the season’s shots.” He explained, wondering why I was hellbent on keeping this.

I felt nothing within me, previously I’d have been overjoyed by this opportunity, a thousand thoughts about the angles to capture with Blake being the star in my head but now, I felt empty

“It’s nothing, what do we have today…” I replied and he shook his head, pulling my laptop out of my grasp.

I rose immediately and like the heavens were against me, at that moment, Athena stepped inside, making Josh smile.

“Athena, there’s a beautiful piece I’d like to show you.” He muttered, pulling my hand as he walked to the front desk that was unoccupied.

He placed my laptop on the desk while I wanted the ground to swallow me. 

“Emilia edited this from yesterday’s clip, it’s so creative and even better, her style is similar to that of yours…”

Athena didn’t even spare me a glance, all she did was stare at the screen for twenty seconds, probably thinking of how horrible to describe my video.

“Take it away, it’s mediocre.” Her words were like a slithered through my heart, I let out a sob, pressing my lips together to stop myself from breaking down.

The lips that had always praised my edits now called it mediocre, it was laughable and painful.

“Imitating my style doesn’t mean she’ll deliver as well as I do. Rookie, we want authenticity, uniqueness, if you’re going to be a plagiarist, you’re free to use the door because you won’t last here.” She snapped loud enough for everyone to hear.

I nodded, bowing my head. “You’ll be working with Josh outside of the rink today, we need footage of the new site. You better not play with these clips, I wouldn’t want your first strike to be on your second day of work.” She threatened.

I nodded. “Is that clear?” She gritted out.

“Yes, it is.” I swallowed, ignoring the murmurs that filled the room as I went to grab my bag. 

“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have…” Josh stared at me with pitiful eyes, I hated it, I hated everyone staring at me like I was some fragile piece of vase that would break down at any moment.

I swallowed, I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction they wanted, especially Athena. I’m going to show everyone that I’m not as fragile as they think.

“It’s fine, Josh. Honestly, that was nothing.” I replied with a smile and we grabbed all the cameras needed before heading out.

Arriving at the new site, it was a messy sight to behold, so many workers, a massive but beautiful incomplete building in a circle, were obviously going for the shape of a puck but the center would be open.

“It’s magnificent.” I mumbled, looking around and Josh groaned.

“Gosh I hate this place, so much gravel and dust, not to talk about both the shots, we're going to take a billion clips and what we actually need is 5 or 7 for an actual video.” He complained and I smiled softly.

“This is what you get when you choose to ignore my words.” I muttered and he sighed heavily.

“I need you to go over those bushes, check if there’s a good clearing, I want us to have a shot starting from the forest to reveal the building.” He suggested and I nodded.

A huge forest was not very far away, I’m sure at the end of the day, they’d fence it off or clear it out.

I was looking in between the trees, trying to find a perfect spot when I heard a loud growl.

I paused, it was terrifyingly clear and it seemed like it came from a wild animal, maybe a bear or if possible, a lion.

The growl came again and in between were pants of agony, maybe it was injured.

I should run… What if it comes out to attack me? But the series of low growls that came after was enough hint that it was badly injured.

My heart was pounding, maybe I should find where it is then call the team to rescue the animal… Our wild animals are all endangered species, maybe someone was hunting illegally.

With that thought, I began walking into the forest, cautiously looking around even though I was terrified of the unknown.

I glanced ahead after walking for almost five minutes and my jaw dropped when I found Zach sitting on the ground.

Blood covered his shirt. His breathing was ragged, and one arm was badly bruised, with several deep marks running across his skin.

I froze.

What the hell happened to him?

Ignoring the hate I had for him, I rushed over immediately. “Are you okay?” I demanded, my brows furrowed.

His head snapped toward me and for a moment, neither of us spoke, his eyes weren’t the same.

They were darker. Almost animalistic and a  low growl rumbled from his chest, I froze.

“Zach?” He stared at me like he couldn’t believe I was standing there.

“What are you doing here?”