Chapter Thirteen

You know when people say things are easier said than done? They are telling the truth. Many things in life are easier said than done. Walking down a runway, for example, is much easier said than done. People just think “Oh, how hard can it be? It’s just like normal walking.” Well those people have obviously not tried to strut their stuff on a raised platform in front of hundreds of people while wearing 5 inch heels.

“Come on Jessica, this is basic stuff,” Jake urged as I clumsily stumbled again.

This, my friend, is an obvious example of that same ignorance that I was just talking about.

I regained my balance and glared at him. “If you think it’s so easy, let’s see you do it.”

Jake ducked his head. “Let’s just focus on you today.”

“Exactly. It’s not that easy,” I said in victory.

“Don’t be such a…” Jake started.

I raised my eyebrow and eyed him daringly. “Such a what?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “Carry on.”

Reluctantly, I trudged back to the beginning of the pretend runway that Jake had set up for me and started walking again. Halfway through, Jake rose up a hand.

“No, stop!” he shouted.

I let out an exasperated sigh. “What now?”

“I’m just not feeling it.”

“Feeling what? This is modeling, not acting!”

“When the other models were walking down the runway, I could feel their power almost,” he explained. “It was like they were telling the world ‘This is my outfit and I own it’, kinda like that, you know?”

I tried my best not to look at him like he was crazy. “Did anyone else feel those vibes? Cause maybe you’re just a little…you know, cuckoo in the head.”

Jake rolled his eyes and continued, “You gotta tell people that you know what you’re doing. You wouldn’t want to be walking on that runway acting like a totally shy school now, would you? Not after the press has made such a big deal about you already.”

They didn’t make that much of a deal. It was mainly short interviews, puff pieces really, for their magazine.

“Plus, you don’t want those models to think you’re incompetent, do you?” Jake added, almost as if he read my mind.

Scrunching up my face, I contemplated for a moment. As of right now, I don’t think the models can think any less of me – I was already at rock bottom to them. Then again, it would be nice to get back at them.

“Okay fine,” I agreed and went back to the beginning of the run way.

Okay, I can do this, I told myself confidently. Left strut, right strut, left strut, right –

“Again,” Jake said.

“No powerful vibes?” I said in disappointment.

Jake shook his head.

As I prepared myself for another attempt, I glanced at the clock. It was almost 8 already.

“This is going to be a long night,” I mumbled and began to walk again.

The night seemed to drag on forever. All that ever came out of Jake’s mouth was “Again” and “Again” and “Again” and…you get the point. My feet were aching badly and I was beginning to grow very tired. Jake had bought some coffee a few hours ago, but the caffeine was already wearing off. It just seemed like no matter how many times I do it, I never get it right. I don’t know why. Maybe because I’m just a rather lazy person, or the fact that I’m not entirely comfortable prancing around like ridiculously high heels. Let’s just assume that at the moment, I am, as Jake had kindly (note the sarcasm) put it earlier, completely and utterly incompetent at any of this modelling business. Now that I think about it, I can’t even fathom what was running through Jake’s head when he chose me to be the replacement model or when Anthony picked me to be the poster model.

“I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I can’t do it!” I whined like a little girl after Jake said “Again” for the hundredth time.

“You really can’t back out now Jessica,” Jake said in a tired voice. He looked even more worn out than me. Maybe he’s not getting much sleep at home. Maybe he and Scarlet are fighting. Maybe his marriage is on the rocks. Maybe –

“Jessica,” Jake said in annoyance. “Did you hear me?”

I shook my head in confusion. “Sorry what did you say?”

Jake rolled his eyes. “I said I don’t think that you’re giving it your all.”

“Not giving it my all?!”

“Maybe you could do just a bit better if you put in all your effort,” he suggested.

“Not giving my all?” I cried. “Jake, trust me I am giving more than my all. If my all was here” – I raised my hand at eye level – “then what I’m giving would be way out there.” The heels of my shoes wobbled as I reached above my head.

“It just doesn’t really look – look like um, you really want this,” Jake said.

“I never wanted this, remember?” I reminded him coldly.

Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I thought you would be perfect for this. You’re so motivated and always up for new things.”

“Things are different now,” I told him. “I’ve been saying that since day one.”

“You know Jessica, a lot of things about a person changes but –”

I covered my ears with my hands and stomped over to the sofa. Sitting down on it, I laid back and let out a loud sigh. “Stop it! I told you I can’t do it I don’t know why you keep nagging me. It was your stupid idea in the first place and now I’m stuck in this stupid situation with no stupid way out and it’s all because you don’t know how to hold a tight grip on your stupid employees.”

Feeling extremely irritated, I put my face in my hands and took some deep breaths. Tears of frustration stung my eyes. The sofa sunk beside me and I lifted my head to see Jake staring at me with a soft expression.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “If you really want to get out of this, I’m not gonna stop you.”

“I don’t know what I want to do right now.” I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.

“It’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.” Jake raised a hand to rub my back.

I arched an eyebrow and looked from Jake to his hand. I guess he took the thing because he dropped it onto his lap and coughed. It was quiet for a minute and then Jake jumped up suddenly.

“I know!”… And then he ran off.

The door closed loudly behind him and I sat waiting for him to come back. What is he doing?

After what seemed like hours, though it was only a few minutes (says the clock on the wall), Jake came back with a big camera hung around his neck and pulling a rack of clothing.

“What are you doing?” I said, letting out a small laugh.

Jake shut the door with his foot then turned to me with an excited expression on his face. It reminded me somewhat of a little kid on Christmas morning. “Remember in 9th grade, when you broke up with Connor Brendans?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

I’m not going to go into detail about this, but let me just say, that break up was not pretty.

“Well, I kinda have to remind you. It’s important,” he explained, pulling some clothes off the rack and tossed them to me.

“Go on…”

“Okay, remember when you called me that night and you really wanted to get back at him?” he began. “So I came over and tried to help me pick out a totally scandalous outfit that would make him feel like cr-p for sure.”

“But it was a totally bust because I felt hideous in anything I wore,” I laughed.

Jake joined in on my laughter. “Yeah but then I came up with a brilliant idea to make you feel absolutely gorgeous in even the most outrageous outfits.”

“Then the next day I went to school and felt like a goddess in my tank top and mini skirt because you made me dance around in neon dinosaur tights,” I said, remembering the triumphant feeling I got when I saw Connor’s jaw literally hit the ground. Okay maybe not literally, but you get the point.

Jake looked at me expectantly.

“Is that what these outfits are here for?” I asked, looking at the clothes he tossed me.

“They aren’t exactly neon dinosaur tights, but they’re very different from each other,” Jake said.

My eyes scan through the rest of the outfits. They weren’t too too bad. Mostly a lot of dress up stuff, though I’m sure why we would have that here.

“Well?” Jake asked, his eyes shining with excitement.

I stood up and nodded fervently. “Let’s do it.”

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sorry for the long wait but thanks to everyone who voted! :)

the goal is still 90 votes & if i get a lot i'll probably upload part 2 this weekend (most likely sunday)

so yeah, i hope you like this chapter! :D