Chapter Seven: Catwalk Coaching

Emily practises her catwalk skills...

My heart beat faster and my hands were clammy as I stood in front of the large grey building. I said goodbye to mum and took a few hesitant steps in the direction of the Ford Model’s company building.

‘’I’ll be there to see you when you’ve gotten dressed and everything ok? I’m just going to park the car,’’ mum told me. I just nodded, the nerves soaring through my stomach.

When I made it into the building, I took a few deep breaths before making my way to the front desk. The lady must have thought me a complete wimp- as I stood there, trembling a little. I clenched my hands to fists to calm myself down.

‘’Hello!’’ the lady at the front desk greeted me with a friendly smile. ‘’What can I do for you?’’

‘’I have an appointment with Mr. Robert Jensen.’’

My voice came out calmer and more collected than I felt. I didn’t sound too nervous. The lady frowned a little.

‘’What’s your name?’’

Wondering why on earth she suddenly frowned, I replied: ‘’Emily Ricketts.’’

‘’ID?’’ she requested. I fumbled around in my purse and handed her the ID. She glanced at it, scanned it, and immediately her frown was

replaced by the same friendly smile she had been giving me before.

‘’Walk straight on, and then take the first turn left. It’s the second door to your right,’’ she instructed.

Struggling to keep her instructions in mind, I walked through the large grey halls until I reached the assigned door. I reluctantly raised my hand and knocked softly. Before I could knock again, a loud voice yelled: ‘’Come in!’’

‘’Ah, little Strawberry,’’ Robert grinned and pulled me in for a hug. I was still weirded out when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the large catwalk in the middle of the large room.

‘’This, my dear, is where you will be receiving your catwalk training.’’

I gulped, staring at the strict looking lady in blouse and pencil skirt come over to me and survey me from head to toe.

‘’She’s a keeper, Robert,’’ she smiled suddenly, her voice clipped and precise, but her tone friendly.

Robert gave her a Cheshire cat grin. ‘’Yes she is, and she’s here because of moi!’’

‘’Yes, we’ve heard that, Jensen. Now, Emily, is it not? Let’s get started.’’

She put her hand on my shoulder and led me to a little backroom, where a few other ladies were bustling about with make-up brushes in hand and others were adding things to clothes.

‘’This is where we’re going to get you made up and dressed, and then you can show us your catwalk skills okay? Also, we will be doing a little photoshoot with you, for your look book. Don’t worry, we’ll go easy on you. You are new, after all!’’

‘’O-okay,’’ I stammered, not sure of what to think.

‘’’Now, go on. Marie and Serena will help you undergo your transformation, or, as I like to call it, metamorphose,’’ she smiled and turned to me.

‘’Not that you need it that much,’’ she added, before bustling out of the door. I shook my head to clear my whirling thoughts before making my way to the supposed ‘Marie’ and ‘Selina’.

‘’Hi… I’m-‘’ I started to introduce myself, but the dark-haired one interrupted.

‘’You’re Emily, right? Emily Ricketts?’’

I nodded in confirmation.

‘’Oh my gosh, you are so pretty!’’ the blonde exclaimed.

‘’Yeah, why are we needed anyway,’’ the dark one laughed merrily, putting her hands on my shoulders and guiding me to a large chair in front of a makeup table.

‘’Let’s get started, there’s no time to waste.’’

Half an hour later a bag was shoved into my hands and I was told to get dressed quickly. I hurried to the dressing room, and locked the door behind me before peeking in the bag. I gasped as I pulled out a beautiful black dress. It had a fitted top, and the skirt flared out to just above my knees. Under the skirt was a lot of tissue-y stuff, to keep it stiff and round. The shoes were almost like combat boots, except they had a really high heel and a plateau at the front. They were black, with bright red laces. The dress also had bright red laces at the back. I reached into the bag again and pulled out a black top hat with a bright red ribbon around the brim, and a pair of netty black tights. I stared at the outfit in confusion.

I mean, seriously? Was I expected to wear this?

I stared at it for a long time before throwing on the outfit, taking care not to smudge my make-up in the process.

I felt extremely weird, and decidedly not myself when I had it on. Firstly, I was struggling on the abnormally high heels, and the netty black tights were awfully scratchy.

I put the top had on my head, hoping it would stay on, and wobbled my way to the long mirror. What I saw made me gasp.

In the mirror stood a girl- no, almost a woman. Her blonde hair was curled and flowed down to just below her shoulders. Her skin was a beautiful creamy colour, and looked almost flawless. Her lips were a bright red, and her pouty expression was accentuated by the bright outstanding colour. Her cheekbones were also accentuated by a very small amount of light pink blusher, and her eyes had the smoky effect which contrasted beautifully with her lips. All her right curves were accentuated by the dark, playful dress, and her legs seemed even longer in the clumsy combat boots. It was only when I saw my own grey/green eyes that I realised this girl was me. I looked down at my perfectly manicured nails, which were a bright red colour and wondered how on earth this girl in the mirror could be plain old Emily.

I heard a knock on the door and I froze, before relaxing.

‘’Coming!’’ I called out, wobbling my way to the door. These dratted shoes were gorgeous, but way too high.

I opened the door and heard a loud gasp. It was my mother, she was standing there with wide eyes.

‘’Em-Emily?’’ she stammered.

I laughed a little. ‘’I couldn’t believe it either, mom. But it’s really me!’’ I assured her.

‘’If I wasn’t scared of disturbing your gorgeousness, I would hug my all grown up daughter,’’ my mum teased, tears in her eyes.

I grinned. ‘’I want to hug you too mum, but well- I don’t want to get them mad.’’

Marie rushed into the room and stopped short. ‘’Wow, Emily. That outfit really suits you!’’ she smiled, delighted.

‘’Now come on, we don’t want to get behind schedule.’’

I nodded and followed her, wobbling every step of the way. We hadn’t gotten far till my mother remarked: ‘’I think those boots are a little high, Emily.’’

I blushed scarlet. I hadn’t wanted them to notice, but they were way too high. Marie turned immediately.

‘’Walk a few steps,’’ she ordered. I walked a few steps, trying not to wobble and she eyed me critically.

‘’Hmm, your mother is right, Emily. Wait here,’’ she told me, before running off somewhere.  She came back in a few minutes, a pair of black combat boots in hand. They looked the exact same as the ones I was wearing, including the red laces, except for the fact that these were flat.

‘’Quick, put these on. It was not in the plan, but we can’t have you falling off the catwalk and breaking your leg,’’ she said, handing me the boots. I sat down on the floor and took off my boots before putting on the other ones.

‘’Ah,’’ I sighed in relief. ‘’They feel much better.’’

‘’Good- let’s go,’’ Marie hurried me along.

We made our way quickly to a room behind the same room I was in.

‘’Okay, so Mrs. Ricketts, you can go sit with Robert if you want. Just walk through that door and around the curtain and past the catwalk. There should be some seats there,’’ Marie instructed. My mother nodded, told me she was proud of me and then left.

‘’Now, Emily, all you have to do is walk through that door, up the steps and through the grey curtain. You’ll find yourself on the catwalk. Strike a pose, walk, strike two poses, turn, walk back on the other side. Remember, going is right, coming back is left. Got it?’’

‘’Wait, what?’’ I exclaimed, confused. ‘’Could you say it slower?’’

‘’Okay, listen close,’’ Marie said, repeating what she had said.

‘’Okay, I think I got it,’’ I nodded. She gave me a gentle push. ‘’Don’t worry- they’re not expecting you to be perfect.’’

‘’Who is it?’’

‘’Just Robert, Alana and our boss Ms. Zing,’’ Marie said.

‘’Your- your boss?’’ I stammered.

‘’Of course! She has to approve of you!’’

‘’But- but I signed the contract already!’’

‘’That was the trial contract. You signed to come here today and let Ms Zing judge you,’’ Marie informed me.

‘’Oh,’’ I said. Marie gave me another gentle push to the door.

‘’Now go out there and blow her away,’’ she smiled.

I hurried out the door and up the stairs to the split in the large grey curtains. I slowly pushed them aside and stepped on the big black catwalk. Immediately a large spotlight found me. I blinked against the bright light and froze. What was it that Marie had said? Strike a pose! My mind was urging me, but my body wouldn’t respond. I could only blink. My heart sunk down to my toes as I realised Ms. Zing would probably hate me now.

‘’Move,’’ I whispered to myself. Surprisingly, it worked. I placed a hand on my hip and crossed my ankles, resting the tip of my shoe on the floor. I smirked a little and started walking. I tried walking like I had seen models do, but in the middle I felt like an idiot, so I started walking normal. I made it to the end of the catwalk without any disasters, and I posed twice and then I turned and started walking back. Once back behind the curtains I let out a heavy sigh of relief and flung my hat onto the hat rack.

‘’Thank goodness that’s over,’’ I sighed, plopping down on a chair. A few people working on the spotlights grinned at me, and I gave them a feeble wave. Yay. If the real thing was as nerve-wracking as this, then... it wouldn't do to think about it. I had to remember this was fun as well.

Reviews

[Ejay]

Nice . Your description of Emily's outfit was excellent !!!