Howl (BW version)

And it all falls down (Part 2)

Chapter 16:

Bright stepped off the runway, the heavy curtain dividing the hallway to the prep room and the runway falling shut behind him. Immediately, a worker came up to his side, ushering him through the semi-dark hallway and pushing open the door to backstage for him. Make-up artists, hair stylists and clothing coordinators rushed around, their voices filling the room as they all called for extra hands, more supplies or for people to get out of their way. When Bright had first began modeling, the energy filling the room had shocked him, perhaps even intimidated him (there was truly nothing as scary as an angry hair stylist waving around a hot curling iron as she berated you for not walking across the room fast enough). Now, it was a comforting staple in his life (although hair stylists still threatened him with curling irons).

Ignoring the bustle for moment, Bright scanned the room. Not finding the person he was looking for, he looked around again, this time more slowly. The animal inside of him stirred slightly, its head rising sleepily. Bright calmed it, his eyes darting from corner to corner. Where was Win?

Spotting Bright standing idly by the exit to the stage, the main coordinator walked up to him. "Bright!" she barked, arms folded across her chest.

Bright turned toward her, his eyes still looking around the room. "Yes?"

"If you have time to stand around admiring the paint on the walls, then you also have time to throw yourself under a bus! We're running on a schedule here! You're supposed to be back on the runway in a few minutes but instead of getting changed, you're standing around!

The woman turned. "Toey!" she barked. A young girl from across the room jumped and looked up. "Get this person's outfit ready! If he's not changed in two seconds, you're fired!"

Nodding vigorously, the girl dived into the racks of clothing surrounding her, consulting the list of outfits on the paper in her hand. Turning back to Bright, the woman sucked her teeth when she saw that Bright still wasn't looking at her. "You!"

Bright finally looked down at her. "Yes?"

Fed up, the woman grabbed his arm and began dragging him towards the changing station. "Airheaded models, all of you! Standing around as if the clothes are supposed to wear themselves! I swear, you get stupider and stupider—"

"Have you seen Win?"

"—every year! Win?! Who the hell is Win?!"

"The man I came with earlier today."

"I don't know any Win! If you have time to worry about Win, worry about what'll happen to you when you never have a job again!"

Pushing Bright towards Toey, the coordinator stomped off in the direction of a new model that was wandering up and down the room like a lost child. Hands working automatically, Bright began to unbutton the shirt he was wearing, shedding it. Win should have been done with the bathroom long ago, so where was he?

"Is Win the one who was standing around in the corner all day?"

Bright turned to look at Toey, who was standing with her arms filled with clothes for his next outfit. He took the shirt she held out for him.

"Yes. Do you know where he is?"

Toey thought for a second. "I think I saw him going into the bathroom not too long ago."

"How long ago?"

Toey shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe a minute ago?"

Bright slipped into the silk shirt he'd been offered. Win had signaled that he was going to the bathroom before Bright had stepped back out to model the last outfit. Although it didn't take that long to walk the runway, the changing process for that outfit had been extensive, requiring redoing makeup and hair. It was entirely possible that Bright had simply not noticed Win returning from the bathroom and had gone back on stage. It was also possible that Win had gone to the bathroom again in that time.