Tom scolds Elijah before he turns toward Messy and asks her whether she is feeling fine.

Elijah taps on Tom's shoulder from behind and when he turns toward him, he throws a sudden punch at Tom's face making him fall on Messy but she manages to keep both of them firm from falling down because of her strong legs.

"Now I'm really pissed." Tom says angrily to Elijah. 

"Let it go, Tom!" Messy says worried. 

"Don't worry, Messy! I'll be nice to your boyfriend!" Tom says to Messy looking at Elijah with a menacing smile. 

Tom extends his right leg and kicks Elijah in the belly making him stoop down holding his stomach in pain. And before he recuperates from that posture, Tom holds his head and thrusts his knee into his face, sending him flying, crashing into one of the dressing mirrors. 

While they are fighting, the senior photographer calls Kate who is on her way to the precinct in her car and informs her about it. Hearing it, she orders, "driver, turn the car around" and reaches the studio within a few minutes. 

When she steps into the studio, she sees Tom pounding Elijah's head on one of the dressing tables.

"Thomas!?" Kate yells his name out loud angrily to which he responds by letting go of Elijah. 

"When a dog tries to become a human, it gets welcomed into the family as a member. And when a member tries to become a dog, he gets thrown out of the family." Kate says to Tom, approaching him. 

"You're fired from your intern position in my company. Have a nice day." Kate says to Tom, "also, forget about the stupid deal of ours." and leaves the studio in a bad mood. 

"I'm sorry, Tom! This all happened because of me! You just wait a minute! I'll clean this mess!" Messy tries to go after Kate when Tom stops her, saying, "Are you out of your damn mind?! You plan on wasting an apology on that bitch?! She'll chew you up raw along with your bones!"

"Because of me, your chance at friendship with the new captain is gone now. You tried real hard this time for the first step in fulfilling your dream. Now it's on me that all your hard work is ruined." Messy says, sulking. 

"Who said it's ruined, eh?! All these years and you still think naive that I'll let a bitch get the best of me!" Tom smirks at Messy before dashing out of the door. 

"Don't do anything stupid, you idiot!" Messy shouts at Thomas, making a run for him. 

"Go home, Messy!" Tom says to Messy. 

"What are you up to, halfwit?!" Messy asks Tom anxiously. 

"I'll just pay a visit to our queen bee." Tom says and leaves in his jeep leaving Messy hanging in suspense. 

Late that night in Fashions and Styles main office building, Kate enters the elevator on the top floor and presses the ground floor button after finishing all her work at the office. 

The building is as quiet as a baby sleeping soundly and as empty as a covid red zone. 

As the elevator descends, Kate is busy with her mobile, monitoring her mom at home through the cameras installed at every corner of the house before she gets startled by the abrupt halt of the elevator just entering the first floor. 

Clicking the lift buttons again and again, she tries to call the security despite the poor signal reception but has no luck. 

Outside the elevator in the first floor lobby, chuckling viciously, eavesdropping her, is Tom, whispering to himself, cursing her, "Now I'll show you who's the boss, bitch! All your spitefulness ends today, right here and right now! Scream, bitch! Scream in despair and maybe I'll make it easy for you !" while she starts sweating, squeezing her hands feeling trapped inside. 

Waiting for her to break, Tom gets bored and angry and rushes to the elevator control room for the second time and pulls the lever controlling the lights in the elevator making them flicker.

Kate crouches down in a corner, hyperventilating while he damages the main circuit board shutting down the power in the entire building. 

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Tom runs to the elevator and tries opening its door by force with his hands. 

"Hold on, Kate! Hang in there! I'll get you out of there!" Tom shouts, being worried about her as she didn't respond to him even once before he opens the door and finds her cowering in terror, rapidly banging her head against the elevator wall.

"Kate? Kate, you alright?" Tom asks Kate. 

"Can't... can't breathe! I can't breathe! I can't!" Kate mutters, choking on her words. 

"Everything's alright now! Just close your eyes and concentrate on my voice alone! Give me your hand, Kate!" Tom stretches his hand and reaches out to help her out of there when she continues to mutter, "I'm all alone! I'm...I'm alone and scared! Help!" 

"You're not alone, Kate! Listen to me! I'm here with you! Don't be scared! Come to me and give me your hand, Kate! Let me help you!" Tom tries to calm her down. 

Hearing his words, Kate stops banging and extends her arm toward Tom and he pulls her out of there straight into his arms. 

He embraces her firmly and gently strokes her back, cherishing her, saying, "there, there! You're fine! There is nothing to fear! Everything's alright!"

The minute the generator power kicks in and lights come back on, she pushes him away from her all of a sudden, looking angrily at him, as if she is a completely different person.

"You alright?! You got stuck in the elevator and I helped you out! Kate?" Tom tries to explain but she leaves hastily without paying attention to his words. 

to be continued...