“Good luck in there.” I look back down at my phone and force myself to stay seated because the other girl is still out here watching me, and I refuse to rush off and let either of them know their words got to me.
When the door opens again, she walks out with tears in her eyes, and I know Elaine just tore her a new one because she’s one ofthosedesigners. I would normally feel bad since this girl is clearly a baby model, and I’m not saying she deserved it, but maybe it’s her karma.
I go in after her and walk over to the table to introduce myself.
“Let’s see your walk first, and then we’ll take pictures.” Elaine keeps her tone neutral, but when I glance behind her at her daughter, she gives me a thumbs up with a huge smile on her face. I give her a small smile before walking to the back of the room.
I showcase my walk twice, and Elaine nods to herself as she writes something down. We take some pictures next, and I expect her to stay seated, but she gets up and stands behind the photographer as I pose.
“She’s beautiful.” Her voice comes out just above a whisper, and I almost thank her but realize I wasn’t meant to hear that. Ismile to myself as I look back over at the camera and give them a few more poses.
When we’re done, she says she’ll be in touch, and that’s all I get before walking out. A lot of designers and agents are different at these things. Some are super friendly, others don’t say a word to you, and the best tell you what you did wrong, nicely or not. You really never know what you're going to get, which is why I’m so nervous about these things, but her daughter definitely made me feel better. Even if she had no clue what she was talking about and I didn’t get the job, it was nice meeting both of them.
I feel my stomach grumbling when I walk out because I made sure not to eat before coming here, but either way… I don’t have the appetite. I feel the back of my eyes stinging as I think of how those girls were just laughing at me, and I know I shouldn’t care what they think, but Ido, and I hate that I do. I have Killian's photo shoot next, so I head to his studio. He’s a friend I met in the modeling world, but I recently learned he’s friends with Vincent Moore, which was a surprise to me.
I ate all day yesterday since my appetite was back, so I don't feel lightheaded as I go through the day on an empty stomach, but I grab a coffee anyway.
When I walk into his studio, I’m shocked it’s so nice here. Someone brings me to Killian, and his face lights up when he sees me.
“Sage, thank you again for coming, love.”
I tell him it’s not a problem, and I lean in to hug him. “How did your photo shoot go?”
“It was a casting, but it was good.”
He ends up taking me to the changing room, and I get dressed before they do my makeup to match the look he’s going for. I have my hair in Fulani braids this week, so we don’t have to style my hair.
I take a few solo pictures, then to my surprise, I take some with Killian, but we’re done a lot faster than I was expecting, and I’m not complaining.
“Thank you for having me today. It was fun.” I hug Killian goodbye, and when he pulls away, he kisses my cheek.
“Thank you for coming. All of your pictures came out stunning.” He takes my hand. “Youare stunning.”
I keep my eyes on him as he brings my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it softly. I try not to read too much into it, but a few of my friends said they think he has a crush on me, but I’m not too sure.
I give him a smile before waving goodbye.
Chapter Sixteen
Liam
“I’m glad you were ableto make it.” Capri smiles at me and I give her a nod before walking in. I glance around the room, and there are a few people here for family night, but I’m glad it isn’t crowded because I don’t want to socialize. My body is killing me from my game, and I’m surprised I even made it here on time, so no, I don’t want to socialize with these families; I’m only here for mine.
I’m also running on almost no sleep because of my early game, and I could never sleep on plane rides. All the back-and-forth traveling between LA and New York is also catching up to me.
Since we lived in Cali before my mom got sick, I decided to keep her here; this is a really good place for her. Instead of being a typical nursing home, it’s just a big house with three other residents and their personal nurses, chefs, and everything else they need.
It feels homier and it’s the closest thing to a home I could give my mom since I travel a lot for games, and while I could buy a house for just my mom and Capri, since she’s her nurse, my mom needs to socialize and at least here, with all the nurses, andvolunteers who come to spend time with them, it’s good for her here.
“Just a heads up,” Capri catches up to me. “She's having areallybad day.”
I glance over at my mom, and she’s looking out that same window. When I make my way over to her, I don’t say anything at first, but she looks over at me, and it’s like she’s seen a ghost.
“Mom?”
“Leave.” Before I can even say anything, she stands from her seat and takes a sharp step towards me. “Do you seriously think I want to see you after what you did, Eli?”
I swear my heart stops at the sound of my father's name. I don’t know how long I stand there, but her eyes cut into me so fucking deep it hurts to breathe.
