DELUXE EXCERPT CHAPTER
Get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0101DGWSE
Her hair was longer than it had
ever been. It was a rich, golden blonde with glints of buttercream. It was
glorious hair; the type of hair that gets looks.
Cait hated
it.
“Six
minutes! Six minutes!” The director called to the numerous people milling about
the dealership. They slowly meandered into place.
Cait put
down her sketches and walked over to dealership door. She smiled on cue and
posed with the owner to cut the large purple ribbon with ridiculously large
scissors. The sun was glaring into her eyes and she did her best to not squint
and they pretended to cut the ribbon and open the dealership with a sunny smile
plastered on her face.
“Great
job, Cait!” said the director who ran around congratulating everyone when it
was over. It was a second-rate car dealership opening and Cait cringed that she
was doing such silly jobs. But they paid well for a little bit of work and she
needed the money.
“Wow, that
guy acts like it’s a real movie or something,” said Bonita, the makeup artist
as she was packing her kit to go. Cait fell into a chair and grabbed a bottle
of water. It was warm today and she had started to sweat. She downed half of it
and laughed. “He’s OK,” she said.
“There you
go, giving everyone the benefit of the doubt,” said Bonita. She and Cait had
worked on several local shoots and had become friends. Bonita pulled her dark,
curly long hair into a bun on top of her head.
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“Woo, its
hot today!” She said fanning herself with the palm of her hand. “You working
the Sholman’s catalog next week?”
Cait
frowned and nodded yes. She had worked the Sholman’s department store catalog
for three years in a row. It was great money for a few days of work. She
couldn’t pass it up.
“You don’t
look too happy about it,” said Bonita. “I know 10 girls who would give their
right arm to be in your shoes, Pretty Girl. Why do you model if you hate it so
much?” She looked at Cait and frowned. “Wait,
dumb question. The money, right?”
“Bingo,”
said Cait. “I know I should be grateful, but I dunno. It’s weird…I feel like
I’m on display.”
“Well,
duh! You are. You’re a m…o…d…e…l,” said Bonita dragging the word out.
Cait
laughed.” I know, I know. It’s hard to explain. Call it a wicked weirdness from
my childhood,” said Cait. She laughed it off, but just saying the words gave
her a shiver.
“Well, see
ya next week, girl,” said Bonita as she hoisted her kit and wheeled it off the
set. Cait watched her and wondered how much a makeup artist made. It might be a
good switch. She enjoyed makeup and often did her own on smaller shoots. Maybe
it would be a good income and she could give up modeling and being the local spokes
model at grocery stores and car dealerships and police raffles and whatever
other local attraction would meet her quote for the honor of her beauty, albeit
for just a few hours.
A makeup
artist. Her mind raced. She could be anonymous. She could be hidden from the
spotlight. It would be her dream. She quickly dismissed the idea knowing she
could hardly make the kind of money she made as a model. She sighed and
resolved to be more grateful.
As she
wiped the lipstick off, a dark-haired crew guy with a tee shirt rolled up to
show off his muscles came over and whispered. “I’d buy you a drink if you wore
that lipstick on those gorgeous lips just for me all night.”
She looked
at him hard. His comment made her uncomfortable. He winked and smiled, his
white teeth gleaming against his tan skin. He wasn’t bad looking but he was
hardly her type. Too muscular; too forward.
“Waddya
say, gorgeous? How about a drink?”
“No
thanks,” she said coolly.
“What?
You’re too good for me?”
“No,” she
said quickly. “I didn’t mean that…”
“So, what
then?”
“I have
plans,” she said quickly. “I just meant I have plans and I cannot have a drink
with you,” she tried to lie convincingly.
“Whatever,”
he said eyeing her up and down. Her body clung to the red dress she wore. It
showed all her curves and his eyes traced every one.
He licked
his lips. “Hmmm, yummy,” he said. He grabbed his crotch and smiled at her
slyly.
Yuck, she thought as she turned and
left. This was definitely not her type of guy. Not that she had a type, really.
She had never dated much, not even in high school. She’d been asked quite a few
times, but always chose to hang out with her brother or just read in her room.
She had a distrust of people that left her lonely and unsettled, but she
preferred to call it pickiness.
She could
feel his eyes on her as she walked. She hated the unwanted attention modeling
brought. She wished she could just curl into a dark corner and be left alone.
She would give up modeling in a moment, but until she could find something else
that paid as well and would allow her to pursue her real dream, she would just
have to grin and bear it.
“Be
grateful, remember?” she chided herself out loud.
****
DELUXE EXCERPT CHAPTER
Get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0101DGWSE
FREE FICTION STORIES WEEKLY
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