The Portfolio ((G/T))

Chapter Six

"Head high!" Mark snapped, using a finger to push Ellie's chin up rather harshly. Move your left foot to the right a tad! No, no not your right to the left, your left to your right!" Putting a hand to his head he gave an annoyed growl. "Honestly everyone should know their right and their left!"

Ellie flinched at the volume of his voice and looked up to the human, hands on her hips in a pose, her head tilted up high and feet apart. "I-I'm trying! I-I've never done this b-before!" She called up, forcing back tears. Her muscles hurt from holding still in difficult positions, her cheeks hurt from Mark forcing her to smile constantly, and her ears hurt from his voice.

"Well try harder!" His voice boomed overhead once again as he pinched her arm between his thumb and index finger and moved it into a different position. "Hold still now. Smile, I've told you!" Moving his hands back, he looked down t her and rested his hand on his chin to think. "Well it's not perfect, but it'll do nicely. You are an amateur after all. Just know that pose for Monday, we'll go over it again tomorrow."  

His fingers were clamped rather tight around her arm, but Ellie didn't dare say anything as he moved her arm into a painful position. Doing her best not to show any pain, Ellie simply shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths before forcing a smile and looked up to the human's eyes as tears began to brim in her own light blue ones which went unnoticed by Mark. "D-Does this m-mean we're done for today?" She asked timidly, falling to the table and wrapped her arms tightly around her knees, happy that her muscles can relax.

"Yes we're do-" Before Mark even got his sentence out, the tiny woman was already off her feet and collapsed onto the table. Rolling his eyes, he reached down and plucked Ellie up by the back of her shirt, bringing her up to his eyes. "Now listen here. You're the one who wanted to do this, right? You seemed very excited when you agreed. Now here you are looking like you regret everything. Do you not want to do this?" He asked firmly, ignoring the fact she was trembling and looked very scared.

"Y-Yes I want t-to do it!" Ellie cried out as tears started to flow freely. "B-But you're constantly yelling a-at me, and m-moving me around w-wherever you want a-and it hurts me!" She tried to calm down but found herself unable to as the way he was holding her was quite high above the floor, and she was so close to his face. Everything about him terrified her. What he could do, what he could say, it was just so horrifying coming from someone many times her size.

Mark's gaze slightly softened at the realization he was being rather rough with her. After all, she was small and delicate. Studying her tiny face he watched as tears rolled down her cheeks, her lip quivering in fear. "Look, Ellie. I'm always rough on new woman thinking they have what it takes. I was just treating you how I would treat any other girl who wanted to be a model but wasn't that good yet. I suppose I didn't take your size into consideration, but it's just business, alright?" He spoke quieter, trying not to sound too mean.

Giving a small nod, Ellie used her arm to wipe her eyes as she tried to ignore his gaze, knowing he was staring at her. "O-Okay." She whispered quietly and felt his hand move causing her to yelp. When she felt a surface beneath her, she opened her eyes to see she was on his palm cupped to his chest as the world blurred past her. Hesitantly she looked up to Mark's face slightly confused, trying to read his expression but couldn't. Instead, she leaned into his chest and pulled his shirt around her like a blanket. Slowly, she closed her eyes as she rested her aching muscles.

Feeling movement, Mark glanced down to see Ellie curled against him with his shirt around her. A smile threatened to tug at his lips as he shut his eyes, taking a deep breath to fight it back. But when he heard quiet breaths he looked to see her chest rising and falling in a slow pattern, signaling she was asleep, he couldn't fight the small smile that crossed his face. 

Taking her to his bedroom, Mark carefully placed her on the pillow, grabbing a clean tissue to place over her as he grabbed his broken cell phone from his pocket, turned it on and dialed a number before silently exiting the room.

"Hello?" The feminine voice called from the other end, sounding tired and defeated, unlike her usual perky and cheerful voice.

"Rosemary, it's Mark. I found the perfect girl for the portfolio. Do me a favor and get some bright colors ready for an outfit, alright? Or whatever you think would go well with brown hair and blue eyes. Her name is Ellie Miller." Mark said to his assistant with a grin, stuffing a hand in his jeans pocket with a smile.

"You did?! Wonderful!" She exclaimed, back to her happy self. "And I will take care of that right away sir. I'm glad this all worked out, and you sound so much more relieved than our conversation last night. But I've never heard of an Ellie Miller. Is she an up and coming model?" Rosemary asked curiously as shuffling could be heard on her end of the call.

"You could say that she's a small model, no one will know who she is." He said with a small chuckle, amused at his own joke. "But yes, she's new. Just do as I have instructed and then everything will be just fine. I'll see you Monday, give me a call if you need me." Mark didn't bother waiting for a reply as he hung up, a grin on his face. 

Placing his phone back in his pocket, he peeked his head back into the bedroom to see Ellie still fast asleep. With a smile, he leaned against the doorframe. "Just fine indeed."