Chapter Four: Ford Models

Emily visits Ford Models.

I grabbed my phone from the bed and quickly put in Dakota’s number. I had to phone her, and now!

‘’Hi!’’ came Dakota’s cheery voice over the line.

‘’Dakota, dad just gave his ok. I’m going to be a model!’’

Dakota squealed, making me cover my ear. ‘’Oh my gosh, that is so amazing!’’

‘’I know!’’ I squealed right back.

‘’You’ve got to tell Ness. Hurry, yeah?’’

I clapped a hand in front of my mouth. ‘’Oh my gosh, I completely forgot to tell her about all this! I’ll phone her now. Thanks, bae!’’

‘’Sure, no problem,’’ and with that we hung up. I immediately punched in Tennessee’s number and waited anxiously. I hoped she wouldn’t be mad.

‘’Hi, this is Tennessee not-the-state, how can I help you?’’

I laughed. ‘’Forgot to check your caller ID again?’’

Tennessee always answered the phone like that if she didn’t know who was phoning.

‘’Hi Em! Yes, I did. I’m painting my sister’s room at the moment.’’

‘’Really? What colour?’’

‘’Pink.’’

I could almost see her making a face. Tennessee hated the colour pink. Her sister Breanna, on the other hand, loved it. Everything was pink in her room.

‘’I thought it was pink to start with?’’

‘’Yeah, but she got this notion she wanted a different shade of pink and… so I said I’d do it for her. Mother wanted to hire painters, imagine!’’

I laughed again at the disgust in Ness’ tone. Her family was super rich and snobby. She hated it. The first thing she said when Dakota and I met her halfway through elementary school was: ‘’Hi, I’m Tennessee not- the- state and I’m not rich.’’

You can imagine how surprised Dakota and I were when we went to her house…

‘’Well, I actually phoned to tell you some news.’’

‘’Spit it out,’’ she commanded, making me laugh again.

‘’Okay, okay, I will!’’

I then proceeded to tell her everything that had happened today. She didn’t even interrupt, which was amazing as she was a master interrupter.

‘’Oh my gosh, you are so lucky!’’ she squealed. ‘’Will we get first-row tickets to your Catwalk shows?’’

‘’Haha, if I have any say in it, I promise you, you will!’’

‘’Awesome!’’ she squealed again. ‘’I am so mad I missed it!’’

‘’You’re coming over tomorrow, right?’’

‘’Tomorrow?’’

‘’Yes, I think we’re phoning the modelling company tomorrow and maybe we’ll have to go there to sign a contract or something. I was thinking we could all hang out after,’’ I explained.

‘’Oh, ok. Of course I’ll be there! I wouldn’t miss it for the world!’’

‘’Okay, see you then, Ness!’’

‘’Good night, Em!’’

‘’Good night,’’ I replied and then hung up. I yawned and look at my alarm clock. It was already half past eleven, I guess time to go to bed. I couldn’t wait for what tomorrow would bring.

The next morning I was woken up by the highly irritating singing of my brother.

‘’It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all. Yes, it is, yes, it is. And to enjoy all of it you have to get up now. Get up now! Because, after all, it’s a small world. It’s a small world after all!’’

‘’Shut up Chase. You’re no good at inventing lyrics,’’ I grumble, while pulling the covers closer around me.

‘’Come on sis, breakfast is ready and mom says and I quote: We need to phone Ford Models and get you shined up if we have to go there,’’ Chase said.

I nodded. ‘’Five more minutes.’’

‘’No. No more minutes. Get your lazy a*s out of bed right now!’’

‘’Don’t swear, Chase. Doctors don’t do that,’’ I mumble sleepily. I hear him chuckle and then I feel icy cold water everywhere. I jump up like I’ve been shot. I glare at Chase so hard that if my glare could do anything he’d be dead by now.

‘’Oh, Chase Asher Ricketts. You’ve done it now,’’ I hiss.

‘’Have I?’’ he smirked, throwing the last bit of water in the vase at me. The poor flowers were lying on the floor.

I jumped out of bed and started to chase him, but slipped on my wet bedroom floor and fell on my butt. It didn’t exactly help that Chase was standing in the door, laughing his head off.

‘’My goodness, you can’t even chase me. Get it? Chase? And my name?’’ he started laughing again like it was the funniest thing in the universe. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Pretending to give it up, I stayed sitting on the floor.

‘’Just get out, Chase!’’ I yelled. He smirked. ‘’Give up already?’’

I rolled my eyes. Of course I hadn’t given up. I’m a Ricketts. Ricketts never give up. Chase should know that.

‘’Get out!’’ I yelled again, choosing purposely not to answer his question. His smirk only grew, but he did leave. I showered and washed my hair, wondering how I could get him back. I knew he’d be on his guard, he knew not to trust me when I said I’d given up. I had played far too many tricks on him for him to believe me. Of course, he had only himself to blame. He’s the one who taught me them.

I went back to my room and to my surprise I found my bed cleaned and refreshed and my floor mopped and dry. A little white note sat on the bed.

Don’t expect me to do this often, Em! But oh well, today’s your special day and I had to give a good impression to your brother… lol. Your father told me to tell you he phoned the company. I came over to help you dress but was sent away by your Aunt Jane... :)

The company want to see you today to see if you’re really what they want (which I’m totally sure you are!) and go over some points and to sign the contract, if you consent, of course.

Savannah, xox

I awed as I read it. And then I thought about what she had written. She needed to ‘give a good impression to my brother’. That meant she liked him! I almost squealed. Savannah had never shown any feelings like that toward my brother. She acted so normal and friendly around him, as if he was just her brother. Almost like I act to him, but then in a more ‘nice’ attitude.

I went to my closet and practically pulled out everything I had in there, before finally settling on a nice outfit which consisted of a sweet floral skirt, white leggings and a white ruffled top with peach blazer. I debated whether to wear heels but decided not to. I wasn’t very good on heels. I put on peach low all-stars, which went very well with my sweet-casual attire.

A half- an hour later Chase and I were fighting over who got to sit in the front of the car. Yup, things hadn’t changed much since Chase went to college. Finally my mother came out and stated she was sitting in the front next to dad, so there was no need for us to fight, after all. Aunt Jane wasn’t coming. She said she would hear the result when we came back, and meanwhile she was going to visit an old school friend of hers.

It was way before we arrived at the grey stone building that I began to get nervous. Like, really nervous. What if they changed their minds? What if I was no good at this whole modelling thing? What if people hated me? What if I messed up big time? What if I had to undergo surgery because I wasn’t pretty enough? No. That’s where I would draw a line. I was not going to have a plastic surgery. Never, nada. But… what if…

Chase must have noticed my worried expression and nail- biting, because he slid over to the middle seat and put his arm around me comfortingly.

‘’Hey,’’ he spoke quietly. ‘’Don’t be nervous, okay? You can do this. And if you can’t? Well, you can always change your mind. Sis, this is all up to you. Just do your best, it’s the best you can do. And if they don’t like that? Screw them. If this path of your life doesn’t work, you try a different one. Some on, this is an opportunity of a lifetime! Don’t go thinking of this as your future. This is a stop on your way to more. Maybe you’ll stay a model, maybe you won’t. The choice is up to you, so there’s no reason to be nervous about this.’’

I looked at him in surprise. ‘’Guess those philosophy lessons at college really worked,’’ I laughed, and soon he joined me.

‘’Maybe they did,’’ he said, growing earnest. ‘’But I mean it. You’re my little sis, and annoying as you sometimes are, I’ll always love you.’’

‘’Hey!’’ I protested at the ‘annoying’ part. ‘’But I’ll always love you too, big brother.’’

I smiled contentedly as I snuggled into him, feeling much less nervous. Big brothers were good for something, after all.

Despite Chase’s wise and well-meaning words, I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous as we sat in the stylish waiting room, waiting until it was time for our appointment.

We didn’t have to wait long, however, as an older lady stepped in the room.

‘’Hi!’’ she said cheerily. ‘’You are here, invited by Robert Jensen, am I right? The Ricketts.’’

‘’That’s us,’’ my father answered. She nodded. ‘’Will you follow me? I’ll bring you to his office.’’

We followed her as she led us through a couple of corridors, her clicking heels a steady rhythm on the hard floor. She stopped at a dark brown wood door and knocked three times. A deep ‘’come in’’ sounded and she opened the door. She gestured for us to go in. ‘’He’s waiting for you.’’

Nervously, I followed my family and Chase in and came face to face with the guy from the shop. He sat behind a dark wood desk, but got up quickly as we came in.

‘’Hello, hello!’’ he said, as he shook my parent’s and Chase’s hand. ‘’I’m so pleased to meet the family of our newest muse. And where is the little muse herself? Oh, there you are!’’ he smiled and clasped my outstretched hand. I looked at Chase, a little weirded out and then back at Robert, who was grinning widely.

‘’Well, well. Sit down, sit down,’’ he gestured to the comfortable looking chairs in front of his desk. We sat down and he went back to behind his desk.

‘’I guess you want an explanation, do you not?’’ he smiled, placing his fingertips together, leaning on his desk. ‘’When I was walking through the shopping center, trying to find what I was looking for, I never expected to find someone as suited to my ideals as your daughter. The hair, the posture, the face, the figure, the attitude, everything. It just screamed at me that it was perfect for this position. So I decided to act. I hoped of course, that you would agree. I can promise you one things. Ford Models takes very good care of their models. We choose our models very carefully, and we certainly do not require drastic changes like surgery or drastic weight loss. In fact, none of our models are required to lose any weight at all. All they have to do is maintain the figure they have now. Also, we do not agree with too skinny. We want some flesh on our model’s bones. We also do not agree with too explicit clothing, especially not on our younger models. Of course, the Secret Angels from Victoria’s Secret, we cannot speak for. They have chosen for it.’’

My mother and father glanced at each other and I was happy to see they looked approving. After a lot more talk about the pros and cons, my father signed the contract and I was requested to as well. I glanced at Chase, before picking up the pen and signing my name. It was official, I was going to be a model.

Author's Note

Okay, so that's the fourth chapter. I'm off to edit the fifth! :D

Reviews

[Davy]

‘’Shut up Chase. You’re no good at inventing lyrics,’’ I grumble, while pulling the covers closer around me....

Should that be: GRUMBLED ???

Ah - my very unfavourite American word = a*s (which is a donkey). When referring to the derriere - the spelling is arse ;-)

Not my choice of reading (being a grumpy old man) - but I did engage with the text :-) It's good - just a little lumpy in one or two places where conversation becomes a little stilted. Maybe on editing try rewording certain sentences. When editing - read aloud to yourself - that works :-) Great work (y)

[Cass Morgan]

Thank you for the corrections and the advice. Will definitely read aloud to myself in the future- that's a great idea. And you don't seem grumpy to me ;)

[Davy]

Merry Christmas and a successful writing New Year :-) Cass

[Cass Morgan]

And to you, Davy. :D

[Lavorther]

Your writing has a certain quality to it, like it just comes straight out of a published book. It's very well-rounded, describing everything that is important to the story. I always like to give some suggestions for improvement, but you're making that pretty hard :P

The way Tennessee took the phone made me laugh. That was pretty funny, and cleverly found.

I was wondering about the note from Savannah and how her room and bed were suddenly dry and cleaned up. At first I thought the note came from the flowers that Chase used the water of to wake her up. But the contents of the note suggested Savannah was the one who cleaned up Emily's room, which means it was not from the flowers but left there by her. Maybe you could make it a little clearer what happened there.

I found just one small mistake, probably a result of your editing:
"I can promise you one things."
"things" should be "thing", as you are referring to only one thing.

[Cass Morgan]

Thank you so much for the compliments and the review. I really appreciate it!

[Lavorther]

No problem :) I'm rather enjoying the story, which I found pretty surprising because it's a girly book. Although that probably means you are spending enough time on non-girly things to make it interesting for everyone.