“Sydney,” I said when he came out. He looked at me and smiled, like he hadn’t torn my heart out and crushed it just a few weeks prior. “When did you get this assignment? My agent didn’t say anything.”
“Oh, it was last minute, just yesterday, in fact,” he replied, coming closer. “You know, Alix, I’ve really missed you.”
“Guess you should’ve thought of that before you had what’s-her-name on her knees,” I replied, shuddering at the way he looked at me. “Listen, I’m not going to walk out, but realize this. This is the last time you and I work together. I don’t care if it costs me some shoots, but I’m telling my agent after today that you and I are not to work together again.”
“Alix, come on. I forgive you for the way you acted at the party, you know,” Sydney said. “The least you can do is get over yourself and come back to me.”
I stared at him, unable, or perhaps just too shocked, to speak. Finally I turned and went into the wardrobe area before I hit him. I nearly threw my bag into my chair, not even noticing that Karla was already in her chair, getting ready.
“G’day luv,” she said in her thick Aussie accent. “I see you’re rarin’ to go.”
“Hey, Karla,” I replied. “Listen, no offense today, but just, I’m in like a really bad mood, okay? So while I normally appreciate the little jokes and humorous insights you make, not today, please?”
“What’s going on?” Karla asked, her accent cutting by a third. I had always suspected she played up her Aussieness to have a unique advantage. I know it helped her on her Instagram account, where she had nearly half a million followers. The girl made a lot of money off that account, too. “I thought you’d be excited to work with your boyfriend for a shoot like this.”
“Ex-boyfriend,” I replied shortly. “Didn’t the word get out?”
Karla shook her head. “I’ve been back home until this past Tuesday, doing some shoots for companies and sponsors in Sydney and Adelaide. What happened?”
“He did,” I replied simply. “I don’t really want to talk about it right now though, okay?”
“Okay,” Karla said. “But if you need some help, just tell me. I’ll be happy to try and get you to smile. Hey, did you see the shoot schedule? We’re doing the workout portion first. Hope you’ve been doing your Pilates.”
I shook my head in amusement. Karla knew that, despite the similarities in our physiques, our athletic backgrounds could not have been more different. She was a former volleyball player who still enjoyed doing sports or training daily. I, on the other hand, didn’t dare do too much. In high school I’d been into athletics, and it had cost me a few contracts since I added muscle too quickly for clients’ liking. So for me, the less physically active I was in order to keep decent muscle tone, the better. It did give me another option in modeling, however, as I grew older. In my mid-twenties, I could become more active and go into the fitness modeling scene, where having some more muscle was considered even sexier. It was appealing, honestly. I didn’t like not working my body.
“I’m just going to change,” I said instead, not being pulled into Karla’s banter. “Hey, who’s the guy we’re working with?”
“Greg,” Karla replied, “You remember him from the Body Glove campaign last year.”
I did. Greg was a nice guy, a total professional, and yeah, pretty cute. Best of all, he was everything Sydney wasn’t, so I didn’t have to worry about any of that. I pulled out my wear for the first half of the shoot, a cleavage-enhancing sports bra and running shorts that barely dropped below my butt cheeks before starting in on my hair and makeup. Despite what you may think, for most shoots models have to do their own hair and makeup. Only the superstars or the shoots for live television get makeup artists, everything else being corrected via Photoshop. Karla left and headed out into the shoot, giving me a bit of privacy to gather my composure.
I was mentally ready when she came back in, knocking on the door frame. She was in full-on Aussie mode, and I had to admit, rivals or frenemies or whatever, I liked her. “How’s ya togs, luv? No more sookin’, we want to get this done before the arvo.”
I gave Karla a smile, which she returned with a nod. “Good on ya, that’s what I was hopin’ for. All right now, boom boom, shake the room time.”