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Helen sat quietly for a second, thinking. Mark was leaning against the counter examining her expression and waiting for her reply.
It was going to tear her apart to say ‘good-bye’ to him, but she couldn’t stop thinking about their relationship. It always felt like he liked Vera far more than Helen, and she couldn’t tie him down if the one he liked wasn’t her true self. She had always thought he was more than she could handle. Why would a guy like him want to be with a plain-Jane girl like her?“Mark,” she said quietly. “It sounds like a great opportunity. I think you should probably take it.”“You don’t want me to stay?” he asked as he turned around and started scrambling the eggs crossly.“Of course I want you to stay, but I also don’t want to hold you back. You know, it’s a delicate balance, but…”“But what?”“But,” Helen swalRelated chapters
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Devilish LaughThe photoshoot in the subway was pretty fun. After the previous photoshoot, Helen didn’t believe Trevor could have more poses up his sleeve, but miraculously, he did. He did these crazy shots with Helen standing on one platform while Mark stood on the opposite one and the train sped between them. At least, that was what Trevor said they would look like once he was finished with them.Helen and Mark spoke briefly before Trevor started taking pictures.“How are you feeling?” Mark asked gently.Helen looked him up and down. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn for the shoot the day before. So was she. He still looked absolutely mouth-watering and Helen was positive she was right to do what she could to try to win Mark even though her shoulders ached. Essentially, she’d worked from early morning and all day to try to make herself ready—not for the photoshoot—for him. He couldn't even see everything she'd done
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“Goody for you,” Helen said sarcastically. She didn’t care two straws if Dominic owed Laura favors. “When’s the wedding?”“It was yesterday. I think they’ll announce it at your wrap-up party.”“Oh? Really? And why are you here now? Is Alexander bummed about missing out on the shoot?”“Why would he be bummed about that? Like he cares if he blows off Capier! In his mind he was only doing it as a favor to Laura.”“And in your mind?” Helen asked, thinking of Dominic’s face when Alexander walked off the set.“They were important clients,” he admitted wearily. “Any paycheck is better than none, which is where he’s headed.”“And you?” Helen asked suspiciously. “Did you decide to blow him off?”“Soon, Vera, soon. It won’t be long now before he isn’t offered anything new. He ran off the set.
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Breaking it up“How did it go?” Mindy asked Helen when she stepped into their apartment very late that night.“Badly,” Helen said as she dropped her keys, bag and shoes in the entryway. She came into the living room and threw herself into Mindy’s recliner. “I hate everyone,” Helen said expressionlessly, even though that wasn’t how she was feeling.“Well, I warned you,” Mindy said, shrugging in her more-experienced-than-you manner. She leaned forward and asked, “So, what’s the verdict? Do you get Mark, like you wanted?”“I’m not sure I want him anymore. Did I tell you that he got offered a job in London?”“No,” Mindy gasped. “Bloody Hell! Is that what this is about? You were trying to get him to stay?”“Not exactly. I was trying to get him to like me properly, but you were right about that, too. He’s never going to like me t
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After Mindy was finished, the two girls went and put on their clubbing gear. Mindy wore a gold-colored top and black pants. She looked like a panther. Helen wore a light green dress that gathered over one shoulder and hung loosely over the other. Little beads were sewn artfully across it like a fairy had lost her balance over Helen’s head and dropped stars all over her. As she looked into the mirror in the bathroom, she thought she looked better than she’d ever looked for a date before. Even though she was dressed like Vera, she could still see herself peeking out through the facade.When she and Mindy came out of the bathroom, Mark was waiting for them. To Helen, his expression was unfathomable, but Mindy seemed to think something when she saw him. If anything, it was as though Mindy understood something Helen did not.“You look nice,” he said to Helen as he took her arm and led her toward the elevator.Mindy hung outside as the doors closed,
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A RoleAfter all was said and done, Helen and Mark were back in the office on Monday, making eyes at each other across her desk. Two days later, Helen got fed up and moved her computer so it faced a different direction. How were they supposed to get any work done if they could see each other so easily? And because they were really part of the public relations department and not models, they had to do press releases and meet with members of the marketing department to make sure the launch of the new phone went well.It was weird. When they went to the meetings where the pictures from their ad campaign were shown, everyone immediately recognized Mark and commented. No one recognized Helen. The first time it happened, Mark went to her rescue and told them she was the model he posed with, but afterward, Helen told him he didn’t need to do that again.“It looks like the company can’t afford real models. Just let them think I’m a glamorous overpriced
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Table of ContentsChapter One - A Request for VeraChapter Two - Two Requests?Chapter Three - Working Nine to FiveChapter Four - Another JobChapter Five - Monday MorningChapter Six - Model ManChapter Seven - Out of the OfficeChapter Eight - Into His CarChapter Nine - On the CouchChapter Ten - The Perfect ManChapter Eleven - A Photographer is Worth a Thousand WordsChapter Twelve - Model without a CauseChapter Thirteen - Shooting the BreezeChapter Fourteen - Up the CreekChapter Fifteen - A Makeover for the AgesChapter Sixteen - Devilish LaughChapter Seventeen - Breaking it upChapter Eighteen - A Role Chapter OneA Request for VeraHelen Paul placed the final double red lines at the end of the last column on her accounting exam. She flipped her test booklet to the front to make sure her student information was correct and then she gathered her things toge
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Helen thought honestly about Mindy and how she compared. Mindy was shorter than Helen unless she was wearing battle gear. When she was all dressed for work, Mindy wore ten-centimeter heels. She was tanned and pierced and tattooed in all the right places and Helen was simply nothing like her.Helen didn’t even have long, pretty hair. Her hair was that unfortunate color that was neither blonde or brown, and to top it off, it was cropped so short that it was almost boyish. She had no figure to speak of. She was pale and… ordinary. Couldn’t a guy get a girl like her anywhere?“Don’t you think I’m plain?” Helen asked when Mindy broached the subject a second time.“Plain?” Mindy asked skeptically. “Plain? What do you mean? If you think you’re ugly, think again. It’s true, you need help, but your problems are nothing that can’t be solved with makeup and a little extra attention. Basically, if you
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Helen looked around nervously. She had never seen the man. How was she supposed to answer? The stranger was clearly playing with her. If she said her date was gorgeous, she’d be in trouble when the short, bald guy rolled in. After scrambling for a moment, she answered, “I like the way he looks.”“Hmm,” the brown-eyed stranger said, as he suddenly turned around the corner and put his arm by her shoulder, nearly pinning her against the pillar. “And you’re friendly with him no doubt?”She nodded and said testily, “That’s why you shouldn’t be putting the moves on me.”“Mark!” someone suddenly called from the other end of the lobby. It was a silver tinkling voice, exactly like the sound of Christmas ornaments jingling.Helen turned her head to see who had called her date’s first name, when suddenly the stranger in front of her closed in and whispered, “Sorry for the late in
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