White Diamonds / l.h ✔️

1

~Hera's POV~

"Hera!" My manager yelled at me as I walked down the hallway, causing me to pause and then turn around, confused. "Yes?" I asked, frowning.

Ember's short, curvy frame stood in the middle of the hallway, tapping her foot against the floor. "Come here." She said calmly, but I knew better. The calmer her voice got usually meant the madder she was. And even though Ember was only five feet tall, she was a terrifying woman when she got angry. At twenty eight, she was six years older than me, but she acted as if she were twenty years my superior.

I hesitantly walked over to her and stopped when I was just a few steps in front of her, my tall body towering over her. I was around five foot ten, so I was pretty tall, especially for a woman. "I didn't say you were able to leave yet." She scolded, furrowing her brows in frustration as she peered up at me. "I still had to tell you that next week you have an event to attend. You need to be ready by one PM and there will be a car to pick you up. You know the drill on what to wear." She began, peering up at me. As she continued to explain what the event was about, which was basically just some dinner that I had to attend with a few other models and some of the workers in the agency, I noticed that her eyes kept looking away from me. She wasn't telling me something.

"What aren't you telling me?" I demanded immediately, narrowing my eyes at her in suspicion. Her pale skin turned a light pink in her cheeks. "Okay, fine." She sighed. "I might've lied a little." She muttered, causing me to blink in confusion. "Lied? About what?" I asked, confused.

She let out a heavy sigh. "You're not going there with anyone from the agency. The purpose for this dinner is to go out in public with your new boyfriend, who you love dearly and are going to let take photos of you to post to Instagram." She said, causing me to gape at her. I don't have a boyfriend! "You want me to fake date someone?" I scowled, only earning me a roll of the eyes. "Don't take that tone with me. You don't have any other choice. You two are both some of the most popular, well known models as of lately. Dating would create even more talk, bring even more attention to you. This is a good thing!" She beamed, but I just sighed deeply. "Whatever. I'll be ready." I huffed, turning around and walking away.

If you hadn't figured it out by now, my life isn't exactly normal. Although it had taken me years to even become one, let alone one this big, I was happy being a model.

I'd started modeling as a sixteen year old girl and, finally, at twenty, that was when I started to get paid the big bucks. There was still a lot of talk surrounding my name, both good and bad. Some liked me and some did not, but such is life. For me, modeling was my dream since I was a kid, though I admit my perception when I'd started my modeling career had been a little skewed. I was under the misconception that when I became a model, it would be easier for me, but that wasn't the case. In many ways, life became both easier and harder, but I loved modeling regardless.

When I'd first started, there were countless times where I had done the absolute most just for a photo. Going to places that scared the life out of me, like the very top of a ladder with one leg hoisted up over the top and the other dangling. Doing really stupid things that could've gotten me seriously injured, like sinking myself into ice-cold 'milk water' for so long that I nearly passed out while letting the photographer snap pictures of me. Or jumping so high in the air in heels that I literally nearly broke my ankles when I landed. That was how it was for a long time, but those days were over. I still had that attitude, but it wasn't necessary anymore.

There, of course, were dark sides to modeling. Things that people didn't like to talk about, like the eating disorders and the creepy photographers who sometimes become too handsy trying to pose you right. Those things had always been there and probably always would be, unfortunately.

And, of course, there was the Internet. The internet is a thing that is both a blessing and a curse, as a model. On one hand, it makes the spreading of my name faster and gives me more publicity. However, on the other...it spreads my name and gives me more publicity. When you're in the public eye, people are always going to have things to say, and not all of them are good. Lots of people send hate, send me threatening messages and I even once had someone come up to my house with a baseball bat full of spikes. I got great security after that.

The one thing that always kept me going, though, was being honest. I didn't believe in spouting bullshit that people told me to just so I would look good to the public, and that was probably why it took so long to find an agency that actually wanted me once they got to know me. I wasn't someone that they could take and make into their puppet. If I spoke, it was my words. It was because I wanted to say it. I wouldn't lie, though. Sometimes I did feel pressured. That's normal in a world where everyone tells you what to be and do without being anything like that themselves.

When I did interviews, I answered with my entire heart. I enjoyed talking to them, having them ask me questions, even if it's something I've already been asked before. Sometimes when you're spreading the good word you have to repeat yourself a few times, that's all. The more people hear me, the better.

I always had liked modeling because it was fun, and it was, but now I had a different goal with it. My goal was no longer to have fun but to spread love and positivity, after seeing how lacking the world truly is in it. My goal was to make people feel like they could be themselves, like they were deserving of loving themselves and being loved by others. My goal was to make sure everyone knew that beauty does not look one way. It does not have one face or body or skin color.

I had made only one or two friends along the way, but that was fine. As long as I knew they were here for me and not my money or fame, I would take all I could find. I didn't need many.

However, one thing I hadn't yet done was date anyone at all. I hadn't pretended to date anyone and I certainly hadn't actually dated anyone. I didn't even have a sex life, matter of fact. The well was certainly not dried up but it sure as shit was neglected. I hadn't had sex since I was eighteen. Four years. It had been four years. It wasn't exactly the men's fault, though. I hadn't necessarily been searching for anyone to water my garden, if you know what I mean. I'd been busy working, building my empire so nobody could ruin all I'd worked for. It took me a long time and a lot of bullshit to get here.

That was why I had most certainly not expected Ember to tell me she had someone for me to pretend to date. I wasn't sure how good I'd be at this.

Let's just hope that he sucks as much as me at the fake dating thing.