Eleanor's Demise ✔️

Chapter 32: You at Your Finest

She put on a fancy dress and walked down the glass staircase, fluffy white carpentry awaiting her at the end. She smiled, twirling in circles at the top of the stairs. The ankle bracelet wasn't going to stop her. She'd come too far. And it was barely visible anyway.

Of course she knew nobody had just left her behind to navigate the world freely. That didn't happen. She was going to definitely be watched and investigated until the end of time. And it wasn't like she could fake her death again. She had to live with it and wait it out. Maybe a couple years down the line she could realize that she was wrong. But absolutely not now. And there was no way she could get the ankle bracelet off. For heavens sake she had to be home by 10 every night.

Home. Where was home? She roamed mostly, forced back in New Jersey and renting an apartment with the money from her first paycheck. Modeling paid well.

She had to watch her every move, her every word. She needed to be certain that nobody cared enough about her enough to search after the ankle bracelet was gone. If the ankle bracelet ever got off.

"Eleanor!" Stephanie Cooper called from the bottom of the stairs.

"My name is Ally." Eleanor pointed out for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Look, I don't have time for this. Listen, we need to work on the look. Hurry down!" Stephanie Cooper spoke sharply. Eleanor quickly rushed down the stairs and met with the stern stare of her boss.

"What's on your ankle?" She immediately looked down.

"An ankle bracelet." Eleanor monotonously said. "I'm covering it."

"It makes you look like a criminal." Stephanie said, "take it off before the next show or you're not going up."

Eleanor's eyes widened, "I can't! I'd get in trouble if I did."

"Sure you can... go to the police station and tell them it's affecting your career. I won't let you perform until you get that darn thing off." And with those lovely words, Stephanie began to walk away."

Wonderful. Just what Eleanor needed.

"Wait! Maybe we can incorporate it into the looks! I'm almost 100% sure the cops won't take it off just because it inconveniences my work. Look it's almost fall and Halloween looks are a thing." Eleanor pleaded. This was probably the first time in god-knows-how-long that she's actually had to beg for something. She needed the money. And stripping was something considerable except she'd need to leave before 10, which certainly wasn't ideal.

Stephanie's eyes shined at Eleanor's suggestion. Her mind wandered and thought before she opened her mouth to speak.

"No. Take it off of you don't perform. I won't say it again." And she left the room.

Well I better start looking for a new job. Eleanor thought before climbing back up the stairs and changing back into her regular clothes.

If she tried to take the ankle brace off, it would alarm the authorities and they'd be out of get her. She couldn't so instead she left Demetri Modeling Co and took a cab to her apartment.

It was small, smelly, and uncomfortable yet it was the only place available on such short notice. The manager didn't even have time to replace the carpet before she moved in. It didn't matter though. Eleanor knew this was only temporary.

It had to be.

She'd find Adam and ask him why he betrayed her like that and then she would go live her life elsewhere. But she knew she wouldn't be able to do that. Adam was her life. Was.

She wiped her eyes as she felt a tear on her cheek. It sucked. The way her life turned out was terrible.

First she was the high school bully to a totally innocent girl and then went to college and called this chic her friend. And immediately after struggling for four years to graduate, she was immediately forced into a wedding with a stranger who was certain that he could get her to live him without sex. Well- whoop-de-doo, it happened and she ended up killing his evil father... and faking her own death. And here she was, pretending to be someone else while Adam knew everything and she had nothing left.

Her life sounded like something that could only happen in a book. But it had happened to her and if she could go back in time and change anything, she knew it would be faking her death.

She regretted leaving Adam, even if at the time she felt it was the right thing to do. She, however, did not regret meeting Josiah who I rightfully was killed by a crocodile. He'd given the sweetest lightest kisses.

Does that count as cheating? She hoped not.

As she approached the apartment, a dark figure stood by the front entrance. It brought back deja vu moments of when she went on a jog and was kidnapped by Mr. Hank Carnegie. Asshole.

She decided to pretend the man wasn't there and entered.

"Excuse me." He called as she shut the gate, making sure to hear the lock click before she turned to him.

"What?" She turned around, shock on her face at who she saw. "It was you!" She shouted and ran up to her apartment.

She needed to get out of here. He was out to get her.