I'll Lift You Up

About 3 stops and 22 hours later, we finally landed!

"Hello, passengers. We finally landed in the beautiful Victoria, Australia. Thank you for flying with us and hope you have a safe and joyous trip. Thanks, again!" The woman's chirpy voice swam through the speakers.

"You excited?" Austin asked as he handed me my luggage in the overhead compartment.

I nodded and stretched, hoping I would get some sort of feeling back into my butt. Sitting for that long stopped all the blood flow, and frankly I didn't like the feeling.

We exited out the plane and onto the airport. I looked outside the window seeing nothing but open land. The hot sun beaming down.

We made our way to baggage claim where thankfully, everything went smoothly.

"Alright find your name. The agency hired a driver."

I obeyed Austin's orders, not only because he was my boss but I was really needing a shower at the moment.

"There!" I pointed on my tippy toes. Austin weaved and bobbed his head trying to get a better look and grabbed my hand.

We approached a young man, looked about 25. He had a suave haircut. Short on the sides but a bit longer at the top. He was fairly tall and seemed to be happy to see us.

"Hello, you with Elite?" Austin asked, shaking the mans hand.

He simply nodded, shaking Austin's hand too. "I'm Alex."

His Australian voice surrounded me. It put our accent to shame. He focused on me now, with a tiny smirk.

His brown eyes cascaded down my body. I wasn't going to lie, I didn't know what to feel. I felt a little flattered but also very uncomfortable.

"Natalie." I stretched my hand out to break the awkwardness.

"Pleasure."

His warm hand wrapped around mine. He didn't look away from my eyes, he just stood and shook my hand. I was fighting to let go and he jolted, awkwardly letting go. He turned a light shade of red and looked down.

Alex opened the door and waved at me to get in. I hesitated but then walked inside. He bent down slightly and shut the door without saying a word.

Austin and Alex walked around the back of the car, putting all the luggage inside before coming inside the car.

"To the hotel?" Alex asked.

"Yes, please." I slightly begged.

I felt filthy even though I just hopped from airport to airport. I just needed to relax and shower and let my jet lagged problems wash away.

Austin sat next to me as he pulled out his phone. Multiple messages popped up and he began to text away. I just stared outside, taking in Australia.

It was honestly, such a beautiful place. I saw huge cliffs far away with huge open green lands. We approached more of a city area.

"Hotel is right around here." Alex spoke. I looked up and saw him looking at me in the rear view mirror. I quickly focused outside my window, hoping he would stop looking.

'Don't be alone with him. Stay with Austin.'

The voice in my head reminded myself. I washed all thoughts away, reminding myself I was going to be okay and that I needed to stop thinking of the past.

The area was beautiful. There were people walking and laughing. The buildings looked beautiful. Everything here was nothing you could see in America. Being here was different, you saw the beauty in everything.

"Here." Alex stopped the engine and got out. I crept out the car and looked up to see the hotel. It was a huge building that scaled about 50 floors.

"This." I pointed to the white bricked building. "This is the hotel?" I asked Alex.

He smiled and nodded.

"Sorry if it doesn't meet your standards. You probably have nicer things in the US."

My eyes were wide. I began to shake my head. "No, no. It's beautiful. I just didn't know they booked me here. It's incredible."

Alex smiled at me and looked up with me, taking in the building.

We walked around the back of the car, taking out the luggages.

"Here, let me." Alex stated,trying to grab my luggage.

"No, Alex. It's totally fine. You've done enough." I smiled, happily taking my luggage. Austin thanked Alex and walked into the building.

"Hurry, Natalie!" I rushed my self, silently. I looked back and Austin was already inside the hotel.

I grabbed everything and practically ran to the entrance.

"Natalie!" I heard Alex, behind me. He was standing next to the car. I turned around, still holding firmly onto my luggage.

"I was wondering if you would maybe, want to see Australia?"

My heart was racing. I didn't want this. I didn't want anything bad to happen again. My palms were sweaty it felt like my bags were slowly dropping from my hands.

I blinked multiple times, seeing the smile on Alex's face.

I slowly began to shake my head. "I'm sorry, Alex. I can't. I just want to rest, for now."

He nodded and shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe next time?"

I nodded and quickly turned on my heels and dashed into the hotel.

All the awkward tension quickly vanished when I entered the magnificent hotel. The cool air conditioned area whipped me into reality.

The white marbled floors and the red expensive furniture caught my eyes.

The crystal chandeliers sparkled as I walked towards the front desk. Austin's back was faced towards me.

"Here, go on up. We have attached rooms." Austin shooed me away. I happily took it and pranced my way to the elevator. I wasn't on the highest floor but I was pretty darn close. The elevator ride took at least a good 5 minutes.

*Ding!*

I grabbed my luggage and found my room, sliding the card into the door.

My mouth literally felt like it dropped. The glorious room I had was to die for. It had white carpeting with nice caramel swirls on them. When you walked further down it looked like an apartment. The kitchen area had nice dark brown hardwood floors. The appliances were a dark silver. The bed was a totally different story. It was a huge king size bed with fluffy white sheets. The frame was a beautiful wooden piece.

I walked a little further down which was the bathroom. The huge tub took up half the bathroom. The view from the tub was gorgeous. You saw tops of buildings and further down was the ocean.

I mentally made a checklist to go to the beach.

*Knock-knock.*

A door that was slightly hidden caught my attention. I slowly crept up to it and opened it.

"Austin!"

"Were roommates! Well, kinda." He laughed.

He walked into my room and sat at the tiny living room with a huge velvety couch.

"So we need to talk business."

I nodded and sat down with him.

"I talked to Elite. Your starting tomorrow. They want you to just relax today and get ready for tomorrow. I say go and explore if you'd like, but be back early so you can get a good rest. Tomorrow I'll wake you up and get breakfast ready and call Alex."

Austin and I talked. It was nothing about business but we just talked.

Austin has been my manager since I started modeling. So about 6 years. I started when I was 18 so he knows pretty much knows everything, kinda.

When the incident happened a year and a half ago, I just told Austin I needed a break. And he understood, he told me that I started young and that I probably drained myself out. I agreed, even though that wasn't it. No one knows the true story of what happened. No one probably ever will. I'm too scared to tell anyone.

"Il get out of your hair. Why don't you call Alex, he could probably take you out."

I wrinkled my nose and shook my head.

"I'm too tired. Maybe another time." I added.

"Alright, well I'm getting outta here. I'm a door knock away." Austin said with a laugh.

He shut the door and I just laid on the couch looking at my view.

It was near dark and decided it was too late to go out, not that I wanted to or anything.

I rinsed off and set the bath, knowing I needed it the most.

I slept like a baby that night, even though I was a bit anxious of what was to come tomorrow.