The Designer and the Model

Chapter 3 - Try outs

Chapter 3

Charlotte entered the room and stopped short of the door. Not out of the doors way it thumped her back enough to drop the glasses from her face. A ball of anxiety, she roughly swept them up and rushed over to the table to meet a familiar face.

"Hey Drake." She greeted him, Drake looked drained and annoyed but flashed her a brief cheerful grin.

"Hey stranger, what can we do for you today?"

Charlotte tried to keep her eyes on him as the women beside him seemed to ignore her entire existence in front of her. Not even a glance in her direction as the women's nails tapped a screen in her palm.

"Um, well I read in the newspaper that you are looking for Models. So I thought, you know. I'd come and see if I could like be a Model. Maybe."

Drake smiled pitifully to this girl he thought of as a frightened little lamb, "Alright cool, so...Do you have any past history in the modeling industry Charlotte?"

The women beside Drake lifted her head, her long sleek jet black hair framing her face, scoffed at him "of course she doesn't, I didn't even need to look to work that out." She spoke with a thick Russian ascent.

Charlotte's hands tightened on the paper resume in her hands as she reframed from sprinting out of the room.

"That's alright, would you mind posing for us please?" Drake gestured over to the women in the corner with the large circular glasses, she had a dead expression as she dragged her arm in a beckoning motion.

Charlotte nodded ridgedly and put her iPhone and resume on the floor, smoothing her hands down the side of her thighs anxiously she went over to take some pictures.

She needed a lot of help from the assistant as to what to do with her hands and how to express her face for the desired photo but after a long while they got the pictures finished. Drake and the women at the judging table reviewed them and Charlotte was on her way to the next faze.

The runway.

This was Charlotte's biggest struggle as she hadn't had much practice in heels, let alone 6 inch heels. Spraining her ankle over a dozen times she kept on trying until she performed her best walk.

Standing at the end of the platform in front of the judges, pink cheeked and on the verge of tears she made eye contact with the black haired woman. Her strikingly cold blue eyes maliciously judged every inch of Charlottes clumsy body but beside her Drake smile and clapped.

"Charlotte, you have a long way to go and I thank you for coming in and giving us your best shot. It's a courageous thing to step out of your comfort zone and face the harder things in life. I think you did fairly well but with training and patients I think you can do great."

Charlotte knew she didn't make the cut, she knew that was the case as soon as she walked in the building. Charlotte could imagine how disappointed her mom and dad would be, especially her mom. She needed a job now, it'd been too long since she'd graduated and now she knew she only had a very small period of time left before her mom would leave her and her dad.

Charlotte's mom didn't want anything to do with her or her dad, she looked them in the same way. Like they are less than trash. Charlotte understood her mom's frustrations and how running a home of 3 people on your own in one of the most expensive cities in the world would be horrible, she felt for her mom and how every cent she made went to running the house.

Emotionally drained and feeling like a complete failure Charlotte thanked the judges for their time and gave the helpful assistant a smile before heading to the door to the left that all the other girls had taken.

It opened to the carpark and as the wind brushed over her face tears streamed down her cheeks.

-

"I can't believe you are doing this..."

"I am your sponsor Lucinda, I don't like reminding you of that but this is where I stand on the issue."

"She doesn't belong here! She is an amateur and not even a half way decent one. After the fuck up with my last model making a fool of me on the runway I would have thought, even if it wasn't to my own personal choosing that you would have the sense to pick at least someone I can work with. The girl can barely talk on her own. Why would you want to invest in that? Why would you want to risk my and your reputation on a novice? When we can have a professional or at least someone that is aware of the skills needed in this industry."

Drake stood with Lucinda and sighed baring a reluctant smile, "Remember how we met? You were barely a citizen in America, you barely knew the language. You wouldn't have been my first pick in a line up for designers but I saw something in you, the purity and originality of your talent bloomed when you were given a chance. I know it's thrown you off lately after that runway with that stupid model that fucked up the show and ruined your design. I know it's messed with your views of models but I'm giving this girl a chance and you must work with her and help her like I helped you. What do you say?"

Drakes smile widened as Lucinda gave him a brief and forced nod.

"Fine, but you are calling her. I'd rather not deal with all that." She told Drake as she pulled a deep black hood over her head from her cardigan, clearly frustrated.

"Yes I doubt she'd want to hear your monotone voice as she is given a chance of a life time."

Lucinda flashed him a look over her shoulder but before she left, stuck her hand in the air with a gesture that made Drake chuckle as the door swung closed behind her.