“Emma?” I rose tentatively from my chair, extending out a hand.
She froze in her tracks, a rather frightening look contorting her painted face.
“It’s Ella, actually.”
Already, it was easy to hear that bitchy tone just beneath the surface. The tone of a girl who thought she was better than everyone around her. Better than she really was.
I warmed in anticipation just at the thought of it.
“But that’s alright,” she hastened to continue (after receiving a sharp look from her manager), “the two of us just met.”
I smiled sweetly, and gestured for her to sit down. Damn right she would behave. This meeting was her ticket out. She knew it. I knew it. We all knew it. Even little Allison, eavesdropping outside the door, knew the significance of what was about to happen.
I was the key to making all that possible. All her dreams. All that insatiable ambition.
She would play nice. She’d smile until that plastic face of hers cracked.
“We may have just met, but I already feel as though I know you,” I said in a disarmingly friendly tone. I flipped open the file in front of me, and began scrolling through. “So you signed last week with Ford Models, right?”
Just like a million other girls.
She perched on the edge of her chair, nodding with the speed of someone who had spent many such hours on the edge of that chair, just trying to get noticed. “Yes, a one-year contract.”
I paused and looked up.
One year in the modeling world was not a good thing. Not when someone was just starting out. They offered longer years to younger girls—trying to get the most out of their age.
Now this girl wasn’t as young as they got—not by a long shot. She was twenty-four years old. Same age as Nick. Two years older than me. But still—just one year?
I looked at her manager. Her manager sank an inch or two lower in his chair.
Yes, everything was riding on this meeting alright. This meeting was making them sweat.
In a way, I almost felt sorry for her. Then I looked at her fake smile...and I didn’t.
It would take a sick person to want to do this. A person with absolutely no regard for either themselves or anyone around them. Nick didn’t want to do it. I had effectively guilt-tripped him into it. Jobs were depending on it. His father had forced his hand.
This girl?
She’d step on anyone and everyone she could just to claw her way to the top.
“Congratulations,” I said politely.
There was no reason to be openly mean. In fact, in the long run, I was actually doing dear Ella the biggest favor of her entire career. Bestowing her a gift that was entirely undeserved.
“So...Ford Models, what then?”
It was a standard question. She gave me a standard answer back.
“Well, modeling is how I’m hoping to get my start, but acting is my one true love. I’d love to branch out into feature films as soon as possible. From there, the sky is the limit. Maybe I’ll transition into music? Start my own clothing line?”
Yeah, because I’m sure you have the talent for all that.
My eyes narrowed slightly, but I kept that fixed smile plastered on my face.
Don’t judge it now, Abby. She’s absolutely perfect!
I shut the folder with a smile, and slid it across the desk.