(#2 in the Undying Love series)
SEQUEL TO 'HOLDING ON & LETTING GO'
***
At seventeen, Troye had his heart shattered, but it was put back together by someone new.
At twenty, Troye had his heart rippe...
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The irony of being a model was that I'd never grown accustomed to flash photography.
As I stepped out of the limo onto the wine-red carpet outside The Rosalind, my vision was blinded by the light of a hundred cameras flashing in my face. I shook my head to clear the spots from my vision, not entirely successful as my team climbed out of the car behind me.
As per any red-carpet event, press lined both sides of the walkway and were only tamed by a series of roped bollards and a highly-paid security team. They were great for stopping paparazzi from rushing me with a microphone but couldn't do much in assisting my oncoming headache.
Lacey, my publicist, and Jess, my agent, both took only a moment to situate their floor-length gowns before turning to me. "Ready?" Jess asked.
I smiled. "Of course."
"We have to move." Lacey gently but firmly guided me forward by the small of my back. "The next car is ready to pull up."
"Remember to smile." Jess said.
"But not too much." Lacey directed. "And remember you're only giving sound bites to W and Elle."
"You got it."
One thing I'd learnt when I first started getting invited to these events was to never walk the carpet the same way. The entire role of the carpet was to create a bright and dazzling spectacle; you had to make people look. Relevancy, more than fighting for photo shoots and sponsors in the modelling world, was so easy to fall out of. Without it you were nothing. Sometimes all it took was a floral suit or a charming grin to make people keep looking for one more moment.
And it was my job to make people look at me.
Myself in the lead, our small group made our way through the throng of press. Lacey and Jess hung back to give the photographers time to capture my image. I wore a crimson suit with no tie, my shirt unbuttoned at the top to give way to some creative flair. My stylist had also insisted on gold cufflinks, which emphasized the color contrast.
The cameras did nothing to stop the press from shouting questions in my direction.
"Troye! Is it true you left Gentry due to artistic differences?"
"Tell us who you are wearing tonight, Troye!"
"Go on, Troye! Give us a smile!"
None of this was new. Lacey had spent the past two weeks plus the twenty-minute limo ride prepping me for the event. I'd become an expert in navigating the media by the time I was nineteen, but every event was different and called for a different protocol.
I posed for photos and gave my respective sound bites to W and Elle before Lacey called time. Waving a hand in dismissal at the cameras, she and Jess guided me toward the steps. The press kept shouting questions but their attention quickly shifted as Jasmine Tookes stepped onto the carpet at the other end.
