Chapter 18: Take It Easy
Then, without wasting so much as a second, she got out of the car as quickly as possible. She breathed a sigh of relief. It had seemed to her like the morning would never come to an end, but somehow, by god’s grace, her gravely embarrassing morning had finally come to a close.
As soon as Bell met Scarlett in the classroom, she started gossiping about what had happened last night. Even after Bell spent a lot of time interrogating Scarlett, nothing interesting slipped from Scarlett’s mouth.
Finally, audition day came. Sophie had recommended Scarlett for a part-time gig as a model, but Scarlett still needed to try out at the casting call first. Scarlett chose a high-waisted dark-blue chiffon dress for the audition. It was one of her favorite dresses– she reserved it for wearing only on important occasions. It was cinched at the waist, so it showed her perfect waistline. The inverted triangle neckline design made her shoulders look more petite. The elegant frilled edge of the dress brought her some French charm. Scarlett then put on very light make-up– a basic rule for model castings.
Bell thought Scarlett was dressed quite formally and looked, so when she saw a group of beautiful girls even more elaborately dressed up from head to toe, she was quite startled, “What a struggle…”Content is © by NôvelDrama.Org.
While they were waiting for Scarlett’s turn, Bell seemed to spot someone familiar. “Hey, wait, look! Isn’t that… isn’t that Fannie?” She pointed to the other end of the corridor. Scarlett looked in the direction that Bell pointed. “What’s she doing here anyway? Do you think she came here for the audition too? Who is that woman beside her? She looks kinda mean…” Scarlett rolled her eyes. “You said you thought I looked mean when you first met me too!” Bell smirked and said, “Hey, no, that was different…”
“Mind your language, Miss Harper!” Scarlett just sat there, trying to loosen up. “Oh, she just saw us!” Bell waved at Fannie. But Fannie just turned away, as if she had not wanted to see them there at all.
“What the hell?” Bell got annoyed.
“Just calm down and relax. Go rest.” Scarlett had no interest in Fannie and her friend.
After waiting for almost three hours, Scarlett finally heard her name called out. One of the interviewers admired her very much. He kept saying that her appearance was good and perfectly in line with their designs, but he did not reveal any intentions to hire her.
Scarlett came out disappointed and came across Fannie holding a man close to her body. She raised her head, snorted, and walked past Scarlett as if the two of them didn’t even know each other. She was acting like an arrogant, ready-to-fight peacock, but Scarlett only noticed the man beside her.
“Hey, Scarlett?” The man seemed to recognize Scarlett first, so he stopped, and his eyes lit up. Scarlett remembered that he was someone she had seen at the snooker night. Perhaps she had had a few drinks with him? She tried to remember his name, but her memory failed her. So, she just smiled and said hello, “Hey you, surprised to see you here!”
“My girlfriend had an audition today. I came here with her.” He pointed at Fannie and said. “I haven’t seen you hanging out with Chuck in a while.” He added.
Scarlett laughed and replied, “He never even has enough time for his girlfriends, let alone me, an unimportant friend! Anyway… my friend is waiting for me, so… I gotta go. See you around, though!”
“Do you know who got hired?” As soon as Bell saw Scarlett, she couldn’t wait to tell her the astonishing news. Scarlett knew it well in her heart, but she didn’t say anything.
“Fannie got it! I heard the news while I was in the bathroom. What a shock! You’re way better than her!” Just as Bell finished speaking, she saw Fannie holding a man’s arm walking towards the gate. That scene explained a lot.
“Fannie is…” Bell was trying to recover from the sense of shock she was feeling.
“Keep it to yourself.” Scarlett was not the type to bother with other people’s business. She didn’t have the time, and she didn’t care. Bell said she needed to eat some ice cream to cool herself down, so they went to the nearest store. Not long after they sat down, Scarlett received a phone call from John Steward. “Now? I’m at the Haagen-Dazs on Wellington Street. Oh…Alright, I’ll see you then!”
***
By the time John finally arrived, Scarlett was already on her fifth scoop of vanilla ice cream. After saying goodbye to Bell, Scarlett jumped into John’s sleep sedan. “So what is it?” Scarlett was curious about the gig awaiting her.
“Russian interpretation in a meeting. It may involve a lot of trade words. Are you okay with that?”
Scarlett thought about it and asked, “How much do they pay?”
John smirked and said, “They won’t pay you less than any of your other part-time jobs!”
“Which company is it? Have I worked with them before?”
“T. B. S Empire.”
Scarlett saw hundred dollar bills grow wings and flap in front of her face. Wait… T. B. S Empire.? Scarlett had an ominous thought. She got chills down her spine.
John noticed she was lost in thought and snapped his fingers in front of her face. “What did you do this morning? I mean…you seem kinda dressed up. Did you have some important event to attend or something?”
“Blind date!” Scarlett blurred out.
John frowned at her, “Wait… really?”
“I’m just joking. I’m not interested in that sort of thing… unlike you.” She chuckled.
John blushed and said, “You know it was my mother who insisted on arranging blind dates for me… why would you tease me about it? And I didn’t even go on that many dates…”
“I’m just teasing you, take it easy.” Scarlett opened up her compact mirror and started to retouch her make-up. She needed to look professional for the upcoming interpreting gig.
They got out of the car and headed towards the office building. The towering T. B. S Empire. building was located right in the center of the central business district of Irving.