Sold to the Devil

IX - REVAMP

Two weeks passed by like a flash. Today is the last day of my course. I’m so freaking happy! I wanted to dance for joy. Finally, I will be free from Emmanuel! Hah! Damn that man! Or gay? Whatever. What matters is that I will be free from his sharp claws.

I am humming while choosing what to wear. I chose a dainty dress because I used up almost everything that I brought with me. Today is also my last day here in Paris. Our flight will be later today. I will be going with Walter.

I paired it with white chunky sneakers and a Chanel bag. I put on just lips and cheek tint for a natural look. When I was done, I packed my bags and took them to the suite's living room. I looked around. I will surely miss this place. It didn't take long before I heard low knocks on the door. I peeped and saw Walter. I opened the door for him.

"L-let's go, Miss Heather." he stammered.

"How about my bags?" I motioned at the luggage on the floor.

"I will get them l-later." he avoided my gaze.

"Okay." I sighed, then walked out of the suite. He followed behind me. We quietly made our way to the parking lot where the chauffer was waiting for us. I took a glance at my phone to check the time. It's still thirty minutes early for my training.

"I want to go to the Louvre Museum." I said to no one in particular. Walter looked at me from the passenger seat.

"But we only have thirty minutes left, Miss Heather," he reasoned, but there's no way that I would listen to him now.

"I don't care. It's my last day here. There's no way I'll go home without going anywhere else than the Eiffel Tower. And it's our last day, I'm sure Emmanuel will give me some slack." I winced at that thought. That's not true. He would probably kill me if I came late, but the hell I care.

"A-are you sure about this, Miss?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm positive! Let's go!" I chuckled happily when the driver turned the car. I feel so excited. I've never been to a museum. I wasn't allowed to go on school trips when I was young. My mom told me that it was just a waste of money.

The museums sound boring to me, but I don't mind if it's here in Paris!

"C'mon Walter. I need a photographer." I told him before hopping out of the car. I handed him my phone while we were walking to the pyramid in front of The Louvre.

"Get my picture!" I ordered before running in front of the pyramid. He took several shots. I grabbed my phone to look at the photos while I ordered him to get us tickets to get inside.

"Uh... There's a long line M-miss Heather." he looked at the crowd of people who wanted to go in. I sighed.

"Oh... I can't go then." My shoulders slumped as I walked back to the car. I was watching the things that we were passing by. I don't want to go back yet, but I didn't have a choice. I stayed here for two weeks but all I did was stay inside Emmanuel's training studio.

"Miss H-heather." I looked up when I heard Walter calling me. I noticed that the car was not moving. When I looked out, we were in front of a fountain. I can also see a Ferris wheel.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

"Uhm.. You can take pictures if you w-want." he stuttered when I stared into his eyes. Do I make him nervous?

"Okay." I smiled and opened the door to get off. I gave him the phone while I posed in front of the fountain.

"Do you have a coin?" I asked him. He nodded and gave me a penny.

I closed my eyes and threw the coin into the water inside the fountain. I didn't actually wish for anything specific. I just wanted to throw a coin. I wanted to laugh at my own silliness.

"I-I can take your picture there." He pointed at a spot where both the fountain and the Ferris wheel would be captured in the shot. I nodded and walked there. I raised my hands and made a peace sign while smiling widely for the camera.

All his shots were nice. I thought as I scrolled down on the pictures that he got. Now I can go back to New York happily. I already have a few pieces of remembrance from here.

I smiled and braced myself for Emmanuel's wrath when the car pulled up in front of the building.

“We’re not going to train today.” He said after I walked into his studio. He looked at me from head to foot, but I didn't mind him. I was used to him scrutinizing every single detail of my being. But there's something different in the way he looked at me. Is this because I was late?

I frowned. What happened to him? Why isn't he shouting today? In fact, he even sounded happy and excited. Maybe he's excited about the fact that he won't see me from today? Yeah, maybe that's it.

My eyes wandered around and saw people inside. What’s happening here? Usually it’s just the two of us, but now the room is almost full of people and different stuff. It looked very different from his empty studio the past two weeks.

“Why?” I asked with my brows knotted.

“You’ve already finished the training but I still have to do one last thing before I let you go out into the world.” He gushed excitedly.

“Oh-kay…” I’m still confused. Why is he suddenly acting friendly after being such a terror trainer for the past weeks? Is he possessed or something? I thought as I stared at him.

He, being friendly, looks scarier than his usual scowling face. Yikes!

“Come on, sit down here.” He pulled me to the corner of the room.

Actually, I already have a hint of what’s going on. There’s a salon set up here. I can see a huge mirror with a salon chair in front of it. There's also a makeshift shampoo station beside it. They are probably going to fix my hair. Are they going to give me a makeover?

Maybe.

On the other side of the studio, there is a man with two women who are busy organizing racks of clothes. So yeah, I’m positive that they are giving me a total transformation.

On another day, I may be happy. But now, I can’t help but to feel insecure about myself. Am I really that unacceptable for him to go this far in changing me into another human being? Is there something wrong with who I was?

First, he changed my name. He made up an impeccable background for me. I can understand that part because people can easily look into it. It won't look good for a man like him to be married to a commoner like me. I'm not even just an ordinary person. My background is somewhat embarrassing, so I totally understand where he was coming from. But he didn't stop at that.

He signed me up for this training course to change the way I act. It's hard, but I still try to reason it out to myself. We probably have to attend events and parties together, so it's understandable that he wants me to act with class. But he still wasn’t satisfied. Now he wants to change the way I look! What's next? Would he want me to undergo plastic surgery too?! Gosh. He's stressing me out.

Why did he choose me if he spites every inch of my personality?!

I slumped down on the chair and the two men behind me immediately started with my hair. They are talking in an incomprehensible language, French I guess. I don't understand a word they say, but I think they are discussing what to do with my hair.

I sighed and just took my phone out. I’m sure that I have no say in this, so I will just shut up and try to entertain myself while they do their job. That’s what I did for the next hours while they kept on pulling my hair every now and then.

“It’s done!” the other guy shrieked after hours of sitting there.

Finally! My stomach is already growling. My neck and back also hurt from sitting still for a long time.

They pulled me up and dragged me in front of the mirrored wall. I gasped after seeing myself. My hair is no longer ombre and wavy. Although they kept the length, it is now straight and jet black. It looks so…

Sophisticated.

I can’t believe how my overall look changed just because of my hairstyle. Impressive. Now I’m starting to understand why he has to do all of this.

I never thought that black hair would look elegant on me. I always thought that it was boring and lifeless. I ran my fingers through the silky strands while still looking at myself in the mirror. It looks so gorgeous!

“Tu es si belle!” the guy with the blonde hair gushed as he caressed the back of my hair.

I turned to Emmanuel with a questioning look on my face.

“He said you look so beautiful.” He replied to my unvoiced question.

“Oh, thank you.” I said with a smile, not knowing how to say it in their language.

“De rien.” He smiled. Is that welcome? Nevermind.

After that, they taught me how to put on make-up. I insisted that I already knew how to do it but they were adamant about it, so I just let them. In the end, I was sporting smokey eye make-up with nude lipstick.

It looks very different from my go-to-make-up looks but it isn’t bad. Though I really looked like a different person now. I now look like a full grown woman. I took my phone out again to take another selfie.

“Dear, come here. We’re not yet done with you,” Emmanuel called.

Huh? What else do they have to do? I was enlightened when he pulled me in front of the long clothes rack.

They made me try out different outfits before settling on a beige turtle neck top and a black leather pencil skirt. Then they layered it with an oversized black wool coat. They paired black knee-high boots with them and kept the bag that I was using this morning. They put on a pair of gold earrings with a set of necklace around my neck.

After they were done with me, I am already looking like a million bucks.

My eyebrows rose while looking at my reflection. Hmm, not bad. I look gorgeous!

“Oh my gosh! You’re now ready to go back to New York!” Emmanuel screamed after scrutinizing my final look.

“I’m so proud of you. You look so far from that girl who first entered this studio! You are now a woman!” he added.

Is that even a compliment?

I thought about how I looked when I first came here. I can't remember it though. Was that when I cut my own shirt to make a crop top? I don't know.

I remained staring at my own reflection. I’m not sure how I should feel about this. Should I be happy with all these changes? I don’t know.

“Thank you Emmanuel.” I uttered after a while.

“You’re very much welcome dear.” He replied with a genuine smile on his face. I realized his bitchy attitude just comes out whenever we're training. He looks friendly now...

A knock on the door interrupted us. I turned and saw Walter peeking from the outside of the studio. He looked at me twice before I saw recognition in his eyes. I chuckled at his reaction.

“M-miss Heather…” he blinked for a few times before clearing his throat.

“Uh, we have to go to the airport now.” He announced. "Our flight will be in an hour," he said in his normal stuttering voice.

“Oh, okay.” I replied shortly.

“I should go now.” I turned back to Emmanuel and the other guys.

After a few farewells, we walked out of that building with Walter having a lot of paper bags in tow. They gave me a lot of outfits, accessories and other things, as if the ones I have in New York are not enough. But why would I complain though?

The more, the merrier!

I watched the streets intently as we drove past them. I am going back and I am not sure what will happen after that. Will we get married soon? A lot of questions were running inside my head as the airplane flew from Paris to New York. I barely slept the whole flight. The questions kept me awake for almost eight hours.

My heart hammered inside my chest the moment we landed, but I tried to calm myself down. I took a deep breath before standing up from my first class seat. Walter quickly came to my side to assist me but I just ignored him. I got off the plane with all my newly mustered confidence.

“You can do this.” I whispered to myself.

I walked like I was on a runway with Walter trailing behind me like a bodyguard. My hips swayed seductively but all my confidence shattered to the ground the moment I met his dark eyes.

He was there standing outside a limo in an all-black suit. He looks dashing as usual. His eyes scanned me from head to foot before going back up to meet my eyes again. I’m not sure what he’s thinking because his face remained expressionless.

But his intense stare is enough to make my knees go weak. I tried hard to stand firmly and still walk confidently even though my anxiety was eating me alive!

The last time I saw him was... that night. The night that we kissed!

Or made out...

The next morning when I woke up, he was already gone, so I don’t know how to react now. Should I act like nothing happened between us?

Like he didn’t kiss the hell out of me but left me hanging afterwards?

Before I could gather my wits, he already walked to meet me halfway. I couldn’t stop myself from gawking at him. He walked like he owned the place. I can see the other passengers stealing glances at him, especially the women. I don’t know why, but I find it annoying.

Even though I can’t blame them, he’s a real head turner. His dark wavy hair danced with the wind as he made his way in my direction.

He took me by surprise when he pulled me to him and enclosed me in a tight embrace.

"W-what are you doing?" I whispered, but he just ignored me. He kissed me lightly on the lips instead. He tugged my lower lip with his teeth before pulling away.

I know this is all for show, but my stupid heart still couldn’t help but beat crazily inside my chest. I wonder if he can feel it now that our chests are pressed together.

Some bystanders couldn't help their gasp but I had no time to look around because he had already pulled me to the car with his arm still wrapped around me. His musky scent that’s invading my senses also isn’t helping at all to keep my sanity. If it wasn't for his strong arms, I would've fallen to the ground. He wakes me weak.

I breathed out the air that I didn’t realize I was holding in when I took my seat inside the limousine. He walked in right behind me but the moment the door closed, he immediately turned as cold as ice. He took the farthest seat away from me without even throwing me a glance.

I rolled my eyes and just looked outside the heavily tinted window. Some people were still looking at our way as we drove away from the airport. I clearly see envy in the eyes of the young women. If only they knew the real situation, they would already be laughing at me right now. I feel so pathetic.

And this is just the beginning…

“Did you study the background that I gave you?” he suddenly asked after a while.

“Huh?” I was caught off-guard. What is he talking about?

“Heather Naismith, your new identity. Do you know anything about her now?”

“Uhm,.. yeah. I memorized everything including the story of how we met,” I answered.

He gave me a copy of a romantic story of how we met each other. How we started dating and finally ended up engaged to each other. I don't know if he came up with that himself. He probably ordered his assistant to make it because he looked too cold to even think of romantic scenes.

He told me to memorize it because he already did. It's what we will be selling to people who will ask about us.

It also came along with Heather Naismith's background. She was from Montreal, Canada. Her parents are involved in several businesses and Heather, I mean that's supposed to be me, right? I helped them, especially with their philanthropic acts. That was how I met Devin. We met at a charity gala, well according to the story he came up with.

“Good. We’re having dinner at my parents’ house now. They wanted to meet you,” he announced.

My jaw dropped.

What?!