The music was so loud that Angela could not hear herself think. The lights and the crowd were noisier still. As she stepped out onto the catwalk she saw the flashing lights of photographers and paparazzi and the nonstop focus of television cameras.

The room seemed to be spinning a bit as she took her first couple of steps. She had to get it together. This was it. This was the big time. This was everything that she had worked so hard for and it was everything that she had wanted for her life since as far back as she could remember.

It had been over three months since her first photoshoot after signing with Madeline Cale and the past twelve weeks had been a rollercoaster like she could never have imagined. Madeline was right on the money when she told Angela on that phone call that her life was about to change.

Everything in her life had changed a complete one hundred and eighty degrees. It was getting to the point that she hardly knew where to turn around anymore. Her days were filled with nonstop busy work, interviews, phone calls, television spots, and radio interviews.

But she would not have stopped a minute of it. The first photoshoot had gone so well that she was instantly booked for three more. That was all it took for Angela to march into the law firm and tell them she resigned. The looks on the senior partners’ faces were so priceless that it would be forever ingrained in her mind. It was beautiful.

When her parents heard about the great things happening for her they were surprisingly supportive and loving. It was the type of support that she had been craving from them to follow her dreams since she was a child and now it was finally happening. She was grateful for it all, but there was a part of her that still remembered the constant disappointment she felt at the way her parents never accepted what she wanted for herself and never really believed that she could be where she ended up. That would always hurt and it would haunt her probably for the rest of her life, but she was learning to forgive as best she could and try to accept the reparations they both seemed to be trying to make for their relationship with her.

Richard had been there with her every step of the way as well. He continued to give her advice and guide her career. He had officially become her manager, much to the chagrin of Madeline and company who preferred their models to be more along the lines of free agents. Richard calmly explained to Angela that was just so they could take advantage of the talent and not give them what they were worth. Angela had already figured that out, but it was nice having someone going to bat for her sometimes. Madeline Cale often forgot that Angela was not the typical model. She was, in fact, a Harvard-educated lawyer who had graduated at the top of her class and could argue and negotiate circles around her. Occasionally, Angela had to put someone in their place when they tried to take advantage; that is if Richard didn’t do it first.

She and Richard spent every moment together that they could. It was about as close to living together as they could get without actually living together. Their romance and their love had grown by leaps and bounds. Angela knew that they were destined to be together forever and she was beginning to think that Richard saw that too.

Since that evening in the billiards room, he never once insinuated or tried to initiate her into bed. He was still the constant and perfect gentleman in all ways and Angela knew that she could trust him not only with her business but also with her life. He was everything she had ever wanted in a partner.

It had been a whirlwind three months and now Angela was walking down the catwalk of her first real fashion show. She was one of ten models chosen for the show, which was showcasing Cale’s newest line of fall fashions for the career woman. The clothes were exquisitely beautiful and Angela felt like she was becoming the biggest star in the world. She realized that she was of course far from that, but she was definitely someone that a lot of people in the industry were starting to notice and the money and the offers were starting to roll in. She had a feeling that this show would really put her on the map.

She mentally ran through the laundry list of steps she had to remember from all of her coaching and training. Head up, smile wide, chin down, back straight, step one foot in front of the other but don’t overlap, maintain a nice slow breath and a steady pace. Make sure to make eye contact with as many people as possible on the left and the right as well—that was a huge rule. Apparently, this automatically made everyone feel that they were deeply engaged in what was going on. It was a lot to remember. Angela quickly ran through the checklist and then threw it away and just let natural instinct take over, hoping that it would all go smoothly. She knew she would never be able to act completely natural any other way.

She was about halfway down the catwalk, modeling her first outfit, when she felt her foot jerk backward. It felt like she was doing an unplanned split and her body was not having it as it scrambled to correct her balance. Something was caught around her ankle and it was pulling her harder and harder backward as her body’s momentum carried her forward. Before she realized it, she was stumbling down to the catwalk floor, her face now kissing the platform hard. Her lips smashed sharply against her teeth and she tasted a fragment of blood. Her mind quickly drifted to images of chipped teeth and mashed, cut, or bleeding lips that would have to be fixed or worked around for her current lineup of jobs.

And then it was over.

She was no longer falling anywhere. Her body had stabilized and she was now able to stop fighting momentum and gravity and concentrate on whether or not she was actually hurt. Before she had a chance to properly assess her situation she heard the gallop of footsteps running up behind her. It was a cacophony of models, makeup people, and show producers who wanted to make sure that their main star was going to be okay and continue to look her best as she modeled the clothes they had worked so hard to sell.

Angela was now becoming aware of the gasps in the audience and the full-on embarrassment she felt coursing through her body. It had to be the most humiliating thing she’d ever had happen to her. What in the hell was going on?

Her question was quickly answered as the crowd of people gathering around her and helping her to her feet bombarded her with questions to make sure she was okay and let her know that it was not her fault. This sort of thing happened and she could not let it get her flustered. This was her first show and no one was laughing at her. She had to pull it all together.

But it was not her fault; Angela clearly saw that now. There was a small piece of rope lying at her feet draped across the catwalk and tied on one side to the bottom of the stage. The other end was loose and pointing to the crowd on the other side.

Angela tried to squint through the glare of the lights to see who might have been sitting over there who would do such a thing. It was probably some stupid kid who thought this would be the best way to impress his friends at school, or it might have been some college fraternity prank. It didn’t matter to her because she was going to—

A woman running through the crowd, running away. Her long dark hair flowed in the breeze as she weaved her way through the large group of people and chairs. She looked familiar—

Naomi.

She turned her head slightly back towards the stage for one brief instant and Angela could clearly see her face. She had done this. She was trying to sabotage her career and teach her a lesson because Angela was continuing to see her father. She was hell-bent on destroying it all.

Well, this was one thing she was not going to be able to destroy. Angela was damned sure going to make sure of this.

She had to catch her.

Angela stood up fully.

“I’ll be right back!” she called as she jumped down off the side of the stage. She landed gently on the ground and was instantly hustling through the crowd, Naomi’s head firmly in her sights. She was going to put an end to this crap right now. She had to confront Naomi and make her realize that nothing was going to keep her away from Richard. He made her happy and she made him happy. Naomi had to know that she had to grow up and deal with her own issues and her emotions.

Angela was out of the crowd and rushing down the corridor now. Naomi had made a turn and was temporarily out of her sights. She had to find the bitch. She never thought she would be thinking of her best friend this way, but there was only so much that she could put up with. If Naomi wanted to trash the friendship for good then that was her problem. Angela was not going to let her misbehave this way and attack her and everything she had worked so hard for.

As she rounded the corner what she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.

Naomi was stopped. Richard was there, his arm holding onto her arm as if she were a ten-year-old girl who had done something very bad. In a sense, that was what had happened. Naomi was acting like a kid and she was going to be treated like a kid.

“Let me go!” Naomi said.

Angela tried to hang back scooting back around the corner. She just wanted to hear what was being said without interfering or possibly making this worse with her presence.

“No. You have to understand something. This is not Angela’s fault. Nothing you do will drive a wedge between us. You can’t continue to act this way. It’s not right.”

“Oh, a lecture from you about what’s right? Give me a break. You lied to me my whole life!” Naomi yelled, struggling in Richard’s grasp.

“I withheld the truth for your own protection and when your evil stepmother told you, you couldn’t handle it.”

“Don’t you dare say anything bad about my mother!”

“She isn’t your mother. I told you that. She didn’t give birth to you and she sure as hell didn’t care about you. Sweetie, I hate to be this blunt with you, but nothing else has worked. You have to understand!”

“I do understand! You lied to me and the only mother I ever knew betrayed me. I have no one who really cares about me and I never have.”

“That is not true! I care. I love you. Why can’t you see that? I lied to you to protect you. As a small child, it would have been very confusing if you’d known the truth about your mother.”

“Whatever. Just let me go. I don’t want to be around you anymore. I’m done with you.”

“Honey, why won’t you listen to reason? You’re old enough to know better. You can’t take this rage out on me and you certainly can’t take it out on Angela. She has always been your best friend.”

“Don’t you tell me who is my friend. She knows how I feel about women you date. It’s a slap in the face that you never cared about my mother. That’s why you cheated.”

“She is your friend and she cares about you. She deserves to be happy. I deserve to be happy. And you deserve to be happy. But I can’t bring happiness into your life for you. You’re a grown woman and you have to figure it out for yourself,” Richard said as he let go.

Angela peered around the corner and even from there she could see the daggers in Naomi’s eyes.

“Then I am dead to you. I hope you two are happy. She lost her best friend and you lost your only daughter.”

With that, Naomi ran off down the hallway.

“Naomi!” Richard called after her, his voice echoing down the hall.

Angela debated for a few seconds whether to walk away and pretend that she had never heard this heated exchange, or comfort the man she loved who was now clearly a broken shell of himself.

As Richard stooped down to the floor and leaned against the wall with his head in his hands he began to cry. It broke Angela to see that big, strapping man whom she loved so much in so much pain.

She took a deep breath and tried to wipe away her own tears as she rounded the corner and walked to him.

She kneeled down beside him and he laid his head on her shoulder, trying to hold back her own tears. She wanted to tell him it was okay and he needed to just let it all out but she didn’t dare. He would do what he needed to do right then. She just wanted to be there for him.

“I’ve really lost her,” Richard said.

“She’ll be back. I know it,” Angela replied.

She didn’t know how, but she was going to help Naomi.