Disclaimer: All my wishes on stars and I'm still not Stephenie Meyer. Pity.
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Stars All Shine
Chapter One: Missing
I love nights like this, where the stars all shine so brightly in a dark indigo sky. It makes me feel as though everything and everyone has a purpose and every dream I've ever had is within reach. It makes me feel as though I am on the right path, that I am finally becoming what I had been meant to become all along. Something other than the role I usually filled in this life: an object of desire, a mere decoration.
My name is Rosalie Lillian Hale and I am a supermodel. Or was.
Go ahead. Groan. I know you want to. Most people think models are just hollow, shallow, superficial people who care only about their looks. I suppose to someone outside of our world, that might seem true. And maybe it is true. For some models. But not for me.
Please don't misunderstand. I do love my beauty and the power it has always given me. The power to wrap people around my finger in an instant, the power to make men come undone with just one look. But at times it can feel like I am here only for other people. To be their beautiful daughter, their caring older sister, or just the pretty blonde they pause to glance at as they flip through a random magazine.
No one knew me. No one had ever taken the time to get to know me as a person. My thoughts, my dreams, my desires...
For a long time, I believed that there was nothing more I would ever want than to be who I was. To be that face on a magazine cover. To be the girl that every other girl wants to be. I thought nothing could ever make me happier.
How wrong I was.
-- Six Months Earlier --
"Rosalie, can you come in here please?"
I sighed as I heard my agent's voice call out from her office. I had known this was coming for a while. My career seemed to have taken a turn for the worst. And no matter what I did to turn it around, it just didn't seem to work. I knew that it couldn't go on for much longer before she would be calling me into her office to cancel my contract.
The day had obviously arrived.
As I walked into her stylishly decorated office and sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk, Eva Avera looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.
I folded my hands in my lap to hide my anxiousness.
"Rosalie, you know that you have been one of my most successful girls. The most successful, actually," she said, folding her hands on the desk in front of her.
It was true. Her agency had been fairly small when she signed me. I was just a young model hopeful looking for an agent and she was a young agent looking for her first big model. We immediately hit it off. She offered me a fair contract, I accepted, and we launched each other into superstardom. Her agency was now among the most renown in the modeling world.
"Unfortunately," she said slowly, her brow furrowing slightly in evidence that she didn't particularly want to say what she was about to say. And to be honest, I didn't particularly want to hear it. "Your career has been slowing down lately. I've...I've had some complaints."
I looked at her curiously, doing my best to hide my surprise. That was news to me. I mean, I knew that I hadn't been booking as many jobs as I usually did, but...complaints?
"Tell me what's going on, Rose? Has something happened...?," Eva asked. I could tell that she was not only a boss, but a genuinely concerned friend. But I still couldn't explain it to her. I didn't even fully understand it myself.
"No," I said quietly, hoping she would move on, since I didn't know what else to say.
Of course, she wasn't satisfied with such a simple answer.
"Ever since the Connelly job, you've been...different," she explained, "One of the clients last week said that there was something 'missing' in your pictures. I saw the frames myself and...I have to agree. You're beautiful, Rosalie, you know that. But it's like the light in your eyes has gone out. And it really worries me."
I looked over to one of the large windows exposing the New York skyline for a moment before turning back to her, "are you canceling my contract?"
Eva sighed. I suppose she had wanted to break it to me gently. But that wasn't my style. If I needed to find another agent, or another line of work entirely, then I needed to know straight up. After all, I had bills to pay.
Her answer surprised me.
"No, I'm not canceling your contract. I've thought about it for a while and I've decided to let you take a leave of absence. Paid, of course," Eva said, tilting her head to the side slightly as she looked at me with eyes full of worry, "I really want you to take the time to think about things and...to figure out whatever it is that you need to figure out."
Well, at least I wasn't completely fired. I supposed that was a good thing. But what was I supposed to do during this 'leave of absence'? What was this thing that I was supposed to 'figure out'?
My life was perfect. I was beautiful, wealthy, had an apartment that I loved, and a very attractive boyfriend who was just as successful in the modeling industry as I was. What else could I possibly want?
"You have my cell number. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me," Eva said, bringing my thoughts back to the here and now. I nodded as I stood up and silently left her office.
---
During the drive back to my apartment, I did a lot of thinking about what Eva had said. The fact that a client - or possibly even more than one - had complained about my shoot was gnawing away at me. I wondered exactly what the client had thought was 'missing' from my pictures. I always gave jobs my full dedication and did everything I had been trained to do.
Perhaps this client had simply been expecting more than I could give.
Deep down, however, I knew that wasn't the case. I knew something had indeed changed recently and now, it was my job to discover exactly what it was or I would lose everything I had worked so hard for.
Something told me this wasn't going to be easy.
---
As I unlocked the door to my apartment and went in, closing and locking the door behind me, I walked over to the answering machine like I did every day. Sure enough, there were a couple of messages waiting to be listened to. They were probably all from Phillip.
I had been avoiding him lately. Each time he had called, I'd give him some reason why I couldn't go out. I wasn't feeling well, I had a shoot, I had a business function to attend. He had to know that I was lying, but he didn't seem to care enough to ask why.
I absentmindedly pressed the play button as I carelessly flipped through the assortment of mail I had retrieved from my mailbox in the lobby a few moments earlier.
'Hi, Rose baby, it's me. I'm sitting here all alone, thinking of you and missing your beautiful lips and yo-'
I pressed the stop button on my answering machine, not wanting to hear him listing all my physical traits again. All of his messages seemed to be the same. He was missing my lips, my eyes, my hair, or whatever other part of my body happened to be at the forefront of his mind at that moment in time. Thoughtful as his messages were, I didn't particularly care to hear one at the moment.
With a sigh, I pressed the 'next' button.
'Uh, hey. I've been hired by the owner to do a few repairs to the building. So I'll be dropping by tomorrow morning around 8 AM to uh, assess and inspect your apartment. My name's Emmett, by the way. See you then.'
Just great. I get told by my boss to take time off to do some thinking and it just happens to be the same week that they decide to do repairs to the building.
The last time they did repairs on this building, I would get a massive headache anytime I spent more than five minutes in my apartment. All the hammering and drilling going on for hours at a time was enough to drive a person insane. There was no way I would be able to stay at home with all that noise. Especially if I was supposed to be 'thinking.'
'Maybe I'll end up calling Phillip after all,' I thought with a sigh as I headed for my bedroom to change into my pajamas. Since I had no plans to go anywhere this evening, snuggling up with a good book sounded like a good idea. I figured it might get my mind off of the meeting with Eva.
Moments later, I was fully engrossed in a moving tale about four friends who shared an article of clothing, even while on on different continents. The characters were so carefree with each other. They held nothing back. I found myself wishing I had that kind of connection to someone.
Before I knew it, hours had passed and it was time for bed. Especially if I was going to have to get up and let this 'Emmett' guy inspect my apartment early in the morning.
I reached over to turn off the small lamp on my nightstand and rolled over, scrunching my pillow under my head like I did every night, and closed my eyes.
Glorious sleep. Oh, how I love thee.
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So there you go, the first chapter. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!