Chapter 63
Rebecca’s P. O. V
“Yes Mr Gregory,” I’ll be very happy to attend.
Mr. Gregory and I shook hand before he left. I have probably done this for the hundredth time today.
My fashion show was a success as I was able to bag different contract’s and from different other fashion industry, but boy is it exhausting!
1 feel so exhausted, I knew for a fact that I’d probably feel muscle fatigue at the end of the day.
I’ve just attended to the last person and I hoped no one else would seek for me again.
“Hey,” I called out to one of the staff.
She responded promptly rushing over to my side.
“Please see to it, that all the new arrivals are differentiated from that of last week,” I ordered.
“Yes ma’am, that would be taken care of.”
Little by little, the guests were already leaving and I heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
My mind instantly went to Roselle and I felt sorry for leaving her by herself for such a long time.
She was probably feeling bored right now.
I looked over to the place that I last saw her but couldn’t find her there.
I looked around the large room to every corner.
There were few people present and I’d easily spot her if she was a part of them but she wasn’t.
Maybe she went back to the backstage, or she could even be at the restroom.
“Excuse me ma’am,” somebody called from behind distracting me from my thoughts.
“Yes?” I turned to see who it was.
It was Grace, my assistant.
“Your phone have been ringing for sometime now,” she said as she handed me my cellphone.
I checked my missed call and it was Samuel.
For someone like Samuel who never calls except when overly necessary, two missed calls from him was alarming.
I dialed his number and placed the phone to my ear, waiting for him to answer. He picked up on the first ring.
“Hello,”
“Rebecca where’s Roselle?” He asked in a sharp voice.
“She was just here, I’m guessing she went to the restroom or something,” I replied suddenly feeling apprehensive.
“Find her, and let her know that I need her back home now. And why the hell is her phone dead?”
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Samuel seems frustrated.
“I’ll get her now,” I stated before ending the call.
I went to the restroom in search of Roselle but I couldn’t find her there.
My last resort was the backstage, so I headed there with a mixed feeling.
Where could she be and why do I have this sick feeling that something must have happened.
Getting to the backstage room, everywhere was empty and there was no sign of a living being.
My apprehension turned into fear as I saw Roselle’s clothes lying on the floor.
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To be sure it was Roselle’s, I cautiously moved closer and picked up the fabric. When I saw it, I knew it was definitely hers. My heart instantly fell. The realization that she had disappeared completely, leaving only her clothing behind, sent a shiver down my spine.
My mind started racing with the worst–case scenarios as panic started to set in. How was I going to inform Samuel of this? Roselle constant disappearance and attempt to escape was something I had of in the past.
I thought she and Samuel had fallen madly in love with each and she no longer felt the need to run away again.
Or did somebody abduct her? My frustration was pent up as I thought about all this.
I attempted to gather myself by taking a long breath before heading out to the main room and continue to look around for
Roselle,
Only a few stragglers remained in the nearly empty room. In the vain hope that someone might have noticed her or anything out of the ordinary, I went up to a few of my employees.
“Have any of you seen Roselle?” I asked trying to speak steadily.
They looked at each other anxiously and then shook their heads. “No, ma’am,” they all said simultaneously,
My stomach turned to knots and my anxiousness increased. I threw my head back feeling hauseous. Where could Roselle be?
Maybe I was just exaggerating things, maybe she’d just stepped outside to get fresh air.
All of a sudden, I realized James had been waiting outside the building to take Roselle home. She might have been with him. My hope came alive for a moment.
With my heels clicking on the pavement, I hurried outside to the parking lot.
I was hardly conscious of the cool evening air that surrounded me, as my main objective was finding Roselle.
James glanced up as I got closer to the car, with a slightly intrigued expression.
“James!” I called out to him as I got closer.
After shutting off the engine, he got out of the vehicle.
“Has Roselle come to meet you yet?” His brow furrowed as I questioned him.
“Isn’t she supposed to be with you?”
I shook my head “She isn’t, James. I am not able to locate her. I don’t know where she is James.”
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His face instantly became worried. How come you’re unable to find her? “Where was she last seen? What exactly happened?”
I paused as a knot started to grow in my throat. “I’m not sure. Samuel called to ask for her when I was preoccupied with the show. I assumed she might have gone backstage or to the bathroom, but…”
James became increasingly alarmed. “How did this happen? You were meant to watch over her.”
I felt a pang of guilt.
“James, I understand. I was just so preoccupied with everything and I didn’t even believe she was gone until I noticed her clothing on the ground.”
James expression grew gloomy. “We need to find her, now,” he stated with urgency.
The tension was broken at that moment when my phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Ma’am, it’s Grace,” My assistant said in a hurried tone. “One of the staff thinks she might have seen Roselle.”
A beat skipped in my heart.
“Where?” I questioned.
“Ma’am, close to the east wing. Although she didn’t get a close look, the staff member recalls seeing someone who fit Roselle’s description walking in that direction.
I turned to James. “Someone said they saw her.”
Without any more word, James and I rushed back inside.
My heart was racing with anticipation as we headed in.
We met the young lady that claimed to have seen Roselle.
“Describe everything you saw in details,” James ordered in a stern voice.
“Well I saw her leave the premises with someone, she was disguised in a weird clothing and it was through sheer luck that I was able to recognize her,” the young lady explained.
“You said you saw her with somebody?” I asked and she nodded her head in affirmation.
“Who’s this person?” James asked.
“I don’t know sir, I wasn’t able to see the person’s face. But she was a female.”
“How long has this been?” James questioned.
“More than half an hour ago,” she responded.
James huffed in frustration and his eyes narrowed making his face darken.
“Over half an hour ago?” He repeated in a frustrated to tone.
“Why didn’t you report this sooner?”
The young woman shuddered as her gaze shifted from James to me.
“I–I didn’t think it was important at first,” “I thought maybe Roselle was just leaving with a friend. She stammered.
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In an attempt to case James’s anxiousness, I placed a soothing hand on his arm. “It’s okay,” I said to him. “We’re going to try and get all the information we need to find out Roselle’s whereabout.”
James took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before nodding His tone remained hard but controlled as he inquired,
“Did you see which direction they went?”
The young woman gave an enthusiastic nod.
“Yes, sir. They left through the cast entrance. I saw them get in a car.
James fixed his gaze at her.
“What kind of car?”
The girl paused while her forehead wrinkled in thought.
“The Honda Accord was blue. I’m sorry, I didn’t get the plate number.”
James’s teeth ground and his jaw tightened. “That’s okay,” he said. “This is helpful.”
My thoughts were racing when I turned to face James. “We must inform Samuel. I don’t know how I’m going to tell him about it it how’s he’s going to react but we must really tell him.”
James eyes darkened dangerously, and his face grew grim.
knew he was also having the same thought.
How would Samuel react to this?
Everyone knows how aggressively dangerous Samuel gets when he’s angry.
Even though it has just been for a short while, I realized how important Roselle was to him and how it would hurt him to lose.
I really believed that Roselle would be his hope for salvation and now she was gone.
“I’ll call him,” James said, taking his phone out.
Whatever happens, we need to find Roselle as fast as possible. I couldn’t help but feel that time was running out as James called Samuel. We still didn’t know who had taken Roselle or where they were going.
That is if she was abducted though because according to the young lady who saw her, Roselle didn’t seem to be under compel.
But she had been gone for more than thirty minutes, so we need to hurry.
“Samuel will kill me,” I muttered to myself and my heart sank.
James gave me a compassionate glance. Softly, “We’ll find her, Rebecca,” he said with his voice barely above a whisper.
The young lady who saw Roselle leaving spoke up.
“I’m sorry ma’am. “I feel accountable for her disappearance,” she added, in a shaking voice.
I tried to reassure her by forcing a grin. “It’s not your fault,” I said I warmly.
“You have aided us enough, Without your description, we wouldn’t even have known where to begin or anything.”
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James hung up the phone and turned to face me.
“Samuel’s on his way,” he announced.
My heart fell even more.
Samuel would be mad, Samuel would be really mad.
He didn’t want to let Roselle attend or participate in this fashion show in the first.
My persistence was what ked him to change his mind and now Roselle was gone under my care.
Something struck my mind and I instantly turned to James.
“I think I know how else we can get more information.”
James looked at me expectantly.
“Anything you know, please spill it.”
“The CCTV camera,” I said in a loud voice pointing to the cameras on the ceiling above.
“Fuck! Why didn’t I think of that?” James said.
We hurried to the first floor using the elevator. We approached the security office, which was in a peaceful corner, and discovered the on–duty officer slouched in his chair, sound asleep.
Without hesitation, James gave the man a firm shake.
“Wake up please! We need the footage from the last hour.”
Disoriented, the security man massaged his eyes. “I’m sorry sir,” he apologized.
“What video?
“The video from the east entrance,” James retorted.
“Now!”
The security man rushed over to his computer and began typing hastily.
“Right away, sir.”
I paced next to James as my nervousness increased.
When the security man eventually pulled out the video, James leaned in and looked at the screen.
“Play it from the beginning,” he commanded.
The man gave a nod and went ahead to play the video from the beginning.
Quietly, we observed Roselle, wearing an odd attire likely to hide herself, and a strange woman leaving by the east entrance.
“Can you zoom in on the woman’s face?” I inquired.
With a nod, the officer improved the picture.
To my dismay, the woman’s face remained hidden.
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“Is there another angle?” James enquired.
The cop looked over the feeds. “I’ll check… Oh, I see! That location is being covered by another camera.
We watched again after he switched to the new feed.
The woman’s face was partially visible this time.
“Freeze it,” I said sharply noticing something.
I narrowed my eyes and cracked my head to recall where I had seen the face as the image froze.
“Oh no,” I said in a whisper.
“Why what’s wrong?” James enquired.
“This woman is someone I have seen before.
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Although, I only met her today when Roselle introduced her to me as her former classmate. She was a part of my runway model.
James’s phone rang at that very moment. “Samuel’s here,” he said in a quiet voice.
My heart fell. This situation was becoming worse by the minute.
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