Karyn's mind was whizzing a mile-a-minute. Mrs. McMillan needed her to cancel her six o'clock, book a seven o'clock and pick up dry cleaning before eight o'clock. She also had to grab the coffee; extra hot skinny dirty chai, one pump caramel. Karyn was never really good at remembering things for class, but for some reason, this morning, it all came naturally to her. Coffee orders, lunch reservations, schedules and names of photographers- the important stuff. If she was ever going to be a model, it wouldn't be for knowing all the aliens in the Star Trek universe, or who signed the Declaration of Independence, that was for sure. Last night, that stuff was pretty important to her, but then, it all made sense. With her big boobs and platinum blonde hair, who wouldn't want to photograph her? She wouldn't have to work hard at all! People would be designing clothes for her. People would want to drive her around. People would want to be around her. She could be a supermodel if she tried. If Giselle, Heidi, Adriana, and Alessandra could do it, why couldn't she?
She was glad she remembered to grab a 2nd coffee for the photographer. What people didn't tell you was that another way to get ahead was to suck up. Photographers, art directors, editors, Karyn would make sure that when Mrs. McMillan was on a shoot, they were all taken care of. After a while, she'd be a shoo-in to help stand-in for test shots, then maybe a couple glossies, then part of the rotation. Getting this 2nd coffee could be her big break.
It was fairly easy to get to the location; the shoot was at a studio on the edge of town, and today Mrs. McMillan was doing dresses for some Italian avant-garde boutique. If she was lucky, Karyn might be able to take one of them home. She backed through the steel double-doors into the open warehouse. Seeing the umbrella lights and the white roll paper backgrounds never got old for her - it always felt like her first time, even though she felt like she had done this before.
Mrs. McMillan looked like an angel. Standing on a pedestal in the middle of all the action, she was wearing a bright yellow party dress that fluttered away from her waist into a bunched up sea of satin as hundreds of flashbulbs went off around her. Arms on her waist, she put forth an effortless cool that made her worth every penny. Karyn made sure to study every movement. When they took a break, she headed over to her boss, coffees in hand.
"Exactly how you asked for them, Mrs. McMillan - tried to get back as fast as possible."
When she didn't immediately hear a response, Karyn looked up at the cast and crew, who returned her look with mouths agape. Had she done something wrong?
Mrs. McMillan was the first one to break the silence.
"Karyn Black, what in the HELL are you wearing?"
