Waiting on Someday by Brownell Rachael

Author:Brownell, Rachael [Brownell, Rachael]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Rachael Brownell Books
Published: 2016-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

February 2000

Focus. One foot in front of the other. Look straight ahead. Don’t look at the lights. Ignore all the flashes.

Stop.

Pivot.

Push off.

Head up.

Focus straight ahead.

Down the stairs.

Strip.

Where’s Genevieve? There she is.

Arms up.

It’s stuck. My hair!

Never mind.

Zipped. Change shoes. Fresh powder.

Back in line.

I’m up.

Look straight.

Head up.

The end of the runway is coming up.

Stop.

“Charlie.”

Freeze

There are only two people that have ever called me that in my lifetime. One was my father. He died when I was six. That was almost 20 years ago.

The other was Blake. I haven’t heard from him since I left LA. Almost seven years ago. It couldn’t be but… I heard my name.

Unfreeze.

Shit!

Pivot.

Push off.

Focus, Char. Focus. This is your last run. It’s almost over.

“Char! Great job. You looked magnificent.” Zach’s praises come with a cost these days. I take them with a grain of salt. He may be more than just my manager, but when a runway show is involved, he’s the worst manager to have. “You did perfectly.”

“Except?” I know it’s coming so I’ll ask and get the conversation over with.

“You paused too long on that last run.”

“I know.”

“What happened? I was watching on the screen. Your face, it appeared… frazzled.”

“Nothing.” I don’t want to tell him. No one’s called me Charlie in years. The last person to call me that was Blake. If I bring him up, it’ll only cause a fight.

After Blake disappeared, my career started to take off. One day I was living in LA, downstairs from Aubrey. Two months later, we were living in New York together, along with Zach. Things changed so quickly I didn’t have time to call Blake to ask what happened. I went from nobody to somebody overnight.

According to Zach, that never happens. Normally, it takes years to get noticed. Someone important noticed me that night at the gala. I was set up to have a photo shoot the following week. Those photos opened doors for me I never thought would open. They also opened doors for Zach and Aubrey.

I didn’t know it at the time, but Zach was a newbie to the industry as well. He was just getting started when he signed Aubrey as a client. Me? I was only his second client. My success was his success. His success meant success for Aubrey. It all rolled downhill, in a good way.

We’ve been a team now for nearly seven years. The only thing that’s changed is the living arrangements. Aubrey moved out after Zach and I officially started dating, even though it still feels like she’s living there most days. She’s at the apartment every day, all hours of the day, but she no longer lives with us.

“I need you to change for the after party. Ben is having all the models back to his place. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Be ready to leave.”

He’s gone before I can tell him I don’t want to go to the designer’s party. It wouldn’t matter anyway. It’s not an option—it’s an expectation. If I want to stay working in this industry, I have to play by the rules.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.