The time spent on the road going from city to city was something new for me. Driving long distances wasn't something I had ever done. My family had private planes that would take us anywhere we needed to go. Being on the open road and seeing parts of the country was breathtaking, but more than that, the time I got to spend with Justin was exactly what I needed. He was the breath of fresh air that I needed. This entire trip was exactly what I needed to put my focus back on track. As bittersweet as the end was, I knew I had to get my focus back on work. It didn't help that little twinge of sadness when I saw the miles for airport exit becoming smaller and smaller. I sat with my fingers intertwined into his. We were both quiet, we didn't want this weekend to end but it had to. I had to be in L.A. today and he would be there in just a few days. I could handle this. We could handle this.

            I stepped out of the vehicle and onto the plane heading west. The plane landed me safely at LAX. Things seemed more and more familiar each time I was here, even the craziness of the cameras in my face. I had gotten used to driving on the freeway and I had learned the basic layout of the city. The GPS unit was still the best invention when I would get lost, which happened more than I would like to admit.

The one thing I could find was Starbucks. I think I had an automatic sniffer out for any and all coffee shops. The aroma of coffee bean was home for me. It didn't matter where I was in the world, coffee would be there for me. I ordered my normal and waited for my number to be called. Did I mention I was patiently waiting? There were dozen people waiting in front of me with their ticket in hand. I was keeping my cool.

That was until the person behind me decided it was the right choice to sigh in frustration each time her number was not called. Did she really think that her number, which was behind mine, was going to be called before the fifteen in front of her? But when she started to tap her foot off the tile floor in frustration I had enough. I looked down at her foot tapping on the floor. They were my shoes. Those were the shoes. Mine. I looked up at the person wearing them. None other than London Parks in the flesh.

"Excuse me, may I ask the brand of those shoes?" I ask politely.

She placed her hand over her chest and spoke as if I should be jealous of her. "My dear friend gave me a preview of her line. Aren't they fabulous?"

Why must someone speak in their ‘fake' voice? It was highly annoying and blatantly obvious that it was not their actual speaking voice. But I knew it. I knew that was my design. "Oh really. What's her name?"

"Holli Vantilburg. They will be in stores everywhere soon." She began to ramble as I was looking down at the shoe, the details, and the color. "She has remarkable talent don't you think?" She looks down at them, moving them around for me to see. "Her assistant dropped them off to me last week."

Her assistant? Really, she needed an assistant to manage what? I couldn't hold my thoughts in any longer. "Well considering that she did the entire layout of the heel incorrectly, the detail is supposed to start the tip of the heel not after the peep toe. The color is off by about three shades and the quality... Well the quality is a lot cheaper than it's supposed to be." Her face stood still. I wasn't sure if she was shocked or it was all the Botox that was preventing her face from moving. I simply stood there with a smile on my face.

She placed her hand on her hip, bobbing her head back in forth, yet her face still didn't move. It had to be Botox, I thought. "I'm sorry but who do you think you are scrutinizing the work of someone else."

"Considering that very shoe you are wearing is in the midst of a multimillion dollar lawsuit, I believe I would be the only one to know if the heel was correctly designed or not. I'm the original designer of that heel."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She stuck her nose up in the air.

They called my number, I picked up my coffee turning back to her, "The name is Arabella Kinsey, I suggest you contact your lawyer because those are stolen designs you are wearing on your feet." Just as I went to walk away I turned back to her, "Some great friend you have there. Maybe you should check out my line, when it actually releases." I walked out of that coffee shop with an adrenaline rush. I know I shouldn't have spoken to her, I knew that. However the tapping of the foot like she was a child was annoying.

Pulling in the studio parking lot I see my new best friend waiting for me outside. Darrell, my security, he was a hilarious guy and kept me entertained but I still didn't like the idea of having a baby sitter the entire time I was out in public somewhere. He kept his distance when he needed to and stayed close when he knew he needed to be.

"Hi, Darrell!" I said waving to him.

"Good Morning Arabella, how was your flight?"

I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked towards the entrance. "Ugh, it was a flight..." I laughed. "I'm here now."

I walked through the doors to find everyone buzzing around me. I made a B line through the room when I spotted Troy talking to the photographer, Bryan. They had completely different views on how the photos should be taken. I was on Troy's side, he knew the line, and he knew what would work.

"Arabella" Troy yells as he spots me. "What do you think?"

I sipped on my coffee, "I think you should call the lawyer and add another name to that list..."

He looked confused, "What happened?"

"Did Toni talk to you at all?" I asked.

"I haven't seen Toni all morning. What is going on?"

The idea that Toni was involved still rattles my thought process however, I was suspicious now. "I called Toni Saturday; she said you were in a meeting."

"Arabella, I wasn't in the office this weekend. I was in Miami before flying here today. I think you need to tell me what's going on." He was now suspicious.

As I sat and explained to him the details he began to have the same doubts. I wanted to believe that Toni didn't know anything. I wanted to believe that she was simply busy and didn't have the time, maybe she forgot to ask Troy, but why would she say he was in a meeting when he wasn't even in New York. I wasn't a random person she didn't have to lie to me and make some excuse. So why did my gut feeling say she was hiding something. All signs point to her.

He asked me to talk to the photographer and get things right for the shoot while he went and talked to the lawyer. I guess I wasn't the only one that thought there was something else going on.

I stepped out of the room to see him already taking photos. I watched for a moment, trying to see what he was attempting to get from the photos. "No." I said to the photographer who turned and gave me the evilest look on his face. His vision was not the vision of the line. He wanted to show the ‘youngness' of the line, when in reality that's not what the line was about. The heels were intended for a sophistication and sexiness of a woman. Not a seventeen year old model that looks like she hasn't eaten in a month.

"I'm sorry; this is the vision that was decided upon for this line." He turned back around and started telling the model how she should be standing.

"This is my line and I don't want a model that weighs less than the heel does in the photos. I'm telling you right now, you are wasting time and money because I won't use any of these photos."

            I heard him venting to his assistant that I was firing the hottest model on the scene right now and that I would be sorry but I had a look I wanted and no one would change that. I scanned around the room looking at the extra models they had. They all looked alike. Blonde, blue eyes, rail thin, and young, very young. I needed someone that looked a little different, someone that just would jump off the pages, and then there she was, standing alone watching every detail that was going on. She looked like she was studying everything that was going on around her. Everyone else seemed to be focused on what I was doing, what I was going to say next. She had the gorgeous chocolate brown wavy hair, lashes a mile long, gorgeous face, and she looked healthy, it was refreshing and a nice difference to see her standing in this room. "You" I said pointing at her.

"Me?" She pointed at herself; a little shocked she stepped back. "I'm sorry, am I in the way?" She turns around to make sure she wasn't in the shot or anything.

I approached her, "What's your name?"

Her face widened into a beautiful smile. "Audrey Bell"

"Seriously?" I asked with the biggest smile on my face.

She nodded her head, "Yes."

"How perfect! Well, Miss Bell how would you like to be the face or the feet of my collection?"

"I'm here only as a background model." She admitted.

"Not anymore" How perfect could that have been to pull someone out of the crowd that just happened to have the last name Bell.

            I took her to the wardrobe area; put her in a pair of William Rast jeans, a white tank, and a black blazer. She didn't need anything else. The focal point should be the heels. All the attention should not be on the backdrop or what the model is wearing. The first thing that should grab your attention is the shoe. I look her over up and down. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be.

            Against what the photographer wanted, he got the shots I wanted. There was no purpose in all the extras for this shoot. With each outfit change, he began to see my vision little by little. I wanted them to be real. I wanted the photos to show the versatility of the line.

            I watched out of the corner of my eye Toni entering the studio, heading straight to find Troy. Could she really be involved? Could I have overlooked that side of her? Why didn't Tony see that she was capable of something like this? She had worked for him for years.

"Arabella" I heard Troy bellow across the room. I turned to see him waving for me to join him. I really didn't want to. But I followed suit and entered the room he was in. She sat beside me with a scared look on her face. She either had no clue what was going on or she knew exactly what we had found out.

Troy sits up straight in his chair, clearing his throat. "Toni, did you have any involvement with Holli in creating copies of Arabella's collection?"

She looked over at me with tears in her eyes, then back over to Troy; she was fidgeting with her hands. "I... I... didn't know anything."

"You didn't have any involvement at all?" he asked again.

She lowered her head, "I knew something was up. I knew that she was attempting something but I didn't know exactly what she was doing." She looked over at me, "I swear to you, I didn't know her plan. I should have said something when I suspected something but I didn't know anything concrete, and I didn't know it was involving Arabella. I promise you."

The sound of her words and the emotion she was expressing was a sure sign that she wasn't lying. She was panicking defending herself, she wasn't trying to cover something up. However there was something that wasn't telling us, she was hiding something. "What are you not telling us?" I asked, running my hands through my hair, pushing my front layer to the side of my face.

She was quiet again; she didn't think I could see that doubt in her eyes. She looked at me, "... I think... I think Jack was involved."

I was stunned, "Who?" I questioned again.

She looked over at Troy and started talking very fast in a nervous tone, "Jack and Holli became very close after they started working on Arabella's line. They were liked joined at the hip. One always went where the other went. If he wasn't involved, he knew something."

"That doesn't make him involved." Troy said.

"Ever since Holli was fired he has been on pins and needles. Like as if he was scared about something."

Troy and I both looked at each other. Could we trust what she is saying? Could she actually be telling the truth?

"Why did you tell me that Troy was in a meeting, when he was really in Miami?"

She shook her head frustrated, "Saturday was a complete nightmare in the office. When you called, I had already told a hundred people that same line. I remembered later what I said to you but I didn't have time to call you back. Sorry, I should have."

Jack chimed in, "What was going on in the office?"

"Do you remember me telling you that there was a missing order for a couple hundred pairs of Arabella's shoes?" Troy nodded his head as she continued, "I was dealing with that issue. I knew there was an order somewhere but I couldn't find it."

"Did you find it?" he asked.

"Yes, the order was placed a while ago, before the line was even done and somehow the order was placed on hold in the system and it was moved into another folder... long story short is, I found it."

I climbed out of my chair and walked out of the door. I saw Jack moving this around on the accessories table. He was the dedicated worker. He was the one that wanted to help me get this line up and successful. "Jack" I said watching his head pop up and come running towards me.

"Hey girl, what's up?" He was cheerful and full of energy this morning. He didn't seem like he would be hiding anything.

"Jack I need you to join us in here."

He entered the room and saw the three of us all with a stressed face. "Is something wrong?" He asked. But he wasn't scared. He didn't seem like he was hiding something.

"Do you know who London Parks is?" I asked him.

"Yes. Everyone knows who she is." He shrugged his shoulders. "I actually met her last week on one of the deliveries. She was a bit of a bitch. Total let down." He bobbed his head around, trying to make his point.

"Delivery?" Troy & I both asked at the same time.

"Yes. She was on my list of people to deliver to last week. There were a couple boxes of things for her, samples or whatever. Holli used to be the one to deliver the stuff to the stylists because she thought she was the one with the most people skills..." he laughed, "but with her gone, someone had to do it. Most of it was already supposed to be delivered."

It was then, in that very moment, I figured it out. "Jack, were you working with Holli? Did you have any involvement with the stolen designs?"

He flipped his head towards me. "Arabella... I knew nothing. I was just as surprised as everyone else." His face was pale and in a state of panic. He was telling the truth. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"She played you as well. Both of you played a part in her little game."

"What?" they all said confused.

"She hid the order, causing you to look guilty of something. She added those boxes in the delivery list, which she should have delivered herself, but then was passed on to Jack. He would take the fall for delivery the packages to London Parks." I continued to explain exactly how she got away with this, "He would be the person that she would have known from the delivery. She had become close to Jack, making it appear as if you were working together on this..."

It took me a little while, but I figured it out. Her master plan had come unraveled. If there was anything she was good at, I guess it would be criminal intent. She managed to cover her tracks and her back steps. She couldn't manage to follow any kind of directions when told to do something. She couldn't follow a sketch to make a shoe, but she sure was great at being a criminal.