Rikki gently propelled herself into the Moon Pool with her tail, the small motion sending her much farther than legs ever could. She surfaced first, Bella and Cleo's heads popping up just after.

"So...how did it go?" Bella asked. Rikki had received a barrage of texts from her friends the night before asking how it went, but she'd been to busy to answer. She wanted to explain it in person, so she'd asked to meet up here before school.

"Welllll..." Rikki stretched it out, keeping her friends in suspense. "It was really good."

Cleo and Bella grinned. "What happened?" Cleo asked. They all got comfortable in the water.

"I went into the building and found this room called the "Red Room". All the rooms were named after colours, it was so weird. The red room is the make-up room. They did my hair and put on a ton of make-up, but the people were really nice. Then, get this, they put me in a two thousand dollar dress and took pictures! That was fun. Then I changed hair, make-up and clothes and they took head shots."

Cleo and Bella both looked really impressed. While she was going through the experience, Rikki didn't think it was all that glamorous, but when she told the story she realized how exotic it all sounded.

"Darren and the photographer liked the pictures, so they're sending them to people they know to see if I could do anything professionally. So now I guess I'm just waiting for them to call." Rikki shrugged.

"That's so cool." Bella breathed. "Do you think we could ever go to see you there?"

"Yeah! That would be fun. If it happens, which I'm still not sure it will." she replied and laughed, but she was actually really worried about the possibility. What if the whole photo shoot was for nothing? Her friends would be so disappointed. And Zane had been bragging around town that he was dating a model.

"You're gorgeous, Rikki, of course you'll get jobs." Cleo said seriously.

"Thanks." Rikki said awkwardly. She was never good at taking compliments. "Anyway, we better get to school..."

"You want to go to school? Never thought I'd see the day!" Bella joked.

"Ha ha." she replied. Cleo swam out of the cave and Rikki followed, her thoughts becoming a quick blur similar to how fast she swam through the ocean.

xxx

After a dreadfully boring day at school with everyone asking her questions about her shoot, Rikki headed to the café for her shift. She wasn't in the best mood.

Zane intercepted her the moment she pushed through the beads in the door.

"Hey, how did your headshot-thing go?" he asked, then didn't give her a chance to answer. Zane put his arm around her and steered her into the office. "Listen, I've been thinking, maybe when you get famous you could boost advertising for this place. Mention Rikki's in a few interviews, we could get more ads featuring you...what do you think?"

Rikki was sick of questions like this. "I'm not going to get famous, Zane! I told you already what my plan is, if you ever bothered to listen."

"You know I listen to you." Zane shrugged off her concerns with a roll of his eyes. "Is it wrong that I want to support my beautiful, successful girlfriend?"

Rikki also rolled her eyes and tried to push away her concerns about Zane. He always liked to exaggerate things, and he would forget about Rikki's modeling career as soon as it ended. Well, first it needed to begin...

Just as she was thinking that, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Rikki's heart raced when she realized it was from Darren. He wouldn't be calling this early unless she had a job offer.

"Hello?" she tried to sound professional.

"Hey, Rikki, baby." Darren said, very flamboyantly as usual. "This is the call you've been waiting for, I think you'll be really excited about these projects. We'll also need you to sign a few things, so get to the office a-sap."

Without another word, he hung up. Rikki was speechless. She'd gotten a job! More than one!

She raced to get ready before remembered that she already had a job. As in, one she was supposed to be doing at that very moment. She couldn't just drop her shift at the café to rush over to Montgomery Management...could she?

"Zane!" Rikki practically ran into the office. "Zane, I just got a call and I need to get to the modeling place right away. I need you to cover my shift." she explained quickly.

Zane looked annoyed. "I already had plans." he complained. "Can't you call in Sophie or someone?"

"Sophie took the day off, remember? Please, Zane. I need you." she pleaded with him.

"Fine, have fun at your new job." he consented, but he was obviously annoyed. Rikki understood why he was a little mad, but he'd been all for her modeling career just a few minutes ago.

Rikki gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver. I'll make it up to you, I promise!" she flew out the door and pulled out her keys.

xxx

Time seemed to repeat itself. Rikki felt the same nervous feeling she'd felt the day before. The cars in front of her on the drive to Montgomery Management looked the exact same. Even the valet person was the same young man. This time Rikki was more prepared for what the building looked like and that was the only difference in the trip.

She said hello to the receptionist and was told to go to Darren's office on the fourth floor. Rikki thanked her, found out her name was Debra, and strode over to the elevator. She had to admit, she attempted to walk like the girls on the runway just a little bit. She might need to practice that, after all!

Darren's office was huge and comfortable. Rikki liked the vibe of it. It wasn't like a serious, businessman office, it was like an artist's studio. There were pictures and sketches everywhere of clothes, people, and sets. Rikki took a seat on the couch across from Darren's desk. She helped herself to a small chocolate from the bowl next to his computer.

Darren stared at her.

"What?" Rikki asked. He laughed.

"Nothing, it's just been a while since anyone had actually eaten one of those. Especially a model." he explained.

The chocolate turned sour in her mouth. Was she supposed to be watching her figure? There were a lot of things Rikki would give up to stay on the Gold Coast, but eating wasn't one of them.

"Okay, I have very exciting news." Darren continued. He was more professional today than he'd been at the photo shoot yesterday. "You must understand that this is practically unheard of, but...you've been offered three different jobs on your first day!"

Rikki grinned. This was obviously good news.

Darren pulled out a few folders. Rikki tried to peek at them, but couldn't. Darren noticed her curiosity and handed her one of the folders. Inside were the photos she'd taken the day before.

There were ten fashion ones of her in the black beaded dress, and five headshots, each from a different angle. Rikki took her time going through them. She looked at them with the strangest feeling, like she was looking at herself from someone else's eyes. The girl in the pictures didn't look anything like her. She was soft and delicate in some photos, but in the next she was fierce and edgy. The headshots were beautiful. You couldn't tell she was wearing a lot of make-up, and her hair looked effortlessly perfect. Rikki wondered if they were Photoshopped at all.

"They're good, aren't they?" Darren asked her. "Everyone was very impressed. So let's talk about your bookings, and then we'll decide if you want to be a client."

"Okay." Rikki agreed easily. She put away the photos carefully, then rethought the action. "Can I keep these? To show my dad?"

Darren chuckled. "I'll get you some copies right away." He pressed a button on a speaker and called someone to do the task. He then pulled up something on his computer and turned the screen to show Rikki. It was a page for a new Australian make-up line called Young Cosmetics.

"This brand is just starting out, but they're getting a lot of publicity right now. Young is looking for a girl to represent their products locally, just in ads around the Gold Coast. Eventually they may be looking for a model to campaign for them nationally, but for now it's local. They've seen your portfolio and they really like your look, especially your eyes. This is just one of the offers I've gotten for you, there's two more."

Rikki nodded enthusiastically. She had been offered three different jobs in one day. Wow. "That one sounds good." she said about the Young campaign.

"I think you'll like this one even more, you've got a great body for it. Have you ever heard of Alice Hunter?" Rikki shook her head. "Well, she's a designer and she's just started a new swimsuit line. Frankly, Rikki, you could rock a swimsuit. Most models are really thin, and often swimsuits just don't look good on bones. Picture the scene: You in a pool, in the hottest new swimsuits of the season...this one could go nationally, Alice is getting really big right now. If the ads do go across Australia, it's a big paycheck for you! What do you say?"

Darren obviously wanted her to take that one, but the second Rikki heard "pool" she was out. She'd end up modeling a massive golden tail rather than the 'hottest new swimsuits of the season'. "Sorry...um, I've got some personal reasons not to do that one. What was the last one?"

"If it's your modesty you're worried about, don't be. The Alice Hunter look is all about modesty! Most of the suits are one-pieces, and I'll make sure you have lots of privacy to change. This is a great opportunity, but I guess I could give it to a different client...although they did specifically request you." Darren pushed her, and did a great job at it. If her personal problem was anything other than a mermaid tail, she would be sold on the project. Instead, Rikki declined it again and asked to move on.

He sighed and pulled up another website. "The last one isn't a great opportunity, but it pays quite well for such a small role. It's a perfume ad involving lots of models, lots of different ethnicities and races. You're perfect for the blonde-haired blue-eyed Barbie doll look."

She frowned. Rikki hated being referred to as girly just because she was blonde. It was such an annoying stereotype, just one of the reasons she'd become a rebel. Still, she needed the money. She agreed to do that shoot as well.

"Now, Rikki..." Darren leaned in across the desk. He was getting serious. "You've done the headshots, you've booked the jobs...it's time to discuss a contract with Montgomery Management. Clearly you'd be an asset to the team. You'll need to sign a contract before I can book you for anything, though. I've got one drawn up, do you have a lawyer or someone you want to call before you sign it?"

"No, I'll read it." Rikki said. She took the papers from them and read them carefully. Surprisingly, it was typed in a large print with words that were easy to understand. There was no fine print or secret conditions. She was required to be with Montgomery Management for six months and could choose which jobs to do. She had to get an agreement with her agent before drastically altering her appearance, such as getting a tattoo or dying her hair. Her agent would get eight percent of whatever she made. There were a few other conditions, but most of them were standard. Rikki signed her name in three different spots and then gave it back to her new agent.

"Wonderful!" he beamed, like he'd just purchased a shiny new car. She supposed that to an agent, signing a new model would be a bit like buying something. She didn't like being thought of as a commodity. "Now back to work...so you'll take the Young campaign and the perfume ad..." he scribbled something down as he spoke. "The Young ad will pay two-thousand, remember Montgomery gets a percentage of that, and that one starts shooting next Friday at ten. The perfume ad will pay only five hundred because you aren't the only model, and that one is next week on Saturday. I suppose you should see Aubrey downstairs..."

Rikki tried to cram all this information in her head at once and failed. She asked him to repeat it, then she wondered where exactly she was supposed to go to take these pictures. What was she supposed to wear, how would she get into the building?

Darren laughed and handed her a piece of paper with the information in big, loopy letters. "Go down to the second floor to Aubrey Callaghan's office. She's a schedulist, she'll create a planner for you so that you'll remember all of this. You might meet some of your new coworkers, too. They're dying to meet you, they're very impressed." he winked at her. "Not every model can book three jobs in one day."

She blushed, said thank you and goodbye, and went back to the elevator. A tall, thin girl was coming out as Rikki went in. She looked like a typical model, and Rikki wasn't surprised to see her walk into Darren's office. The girl didn't look at Rikki once.

She shrugged and clicked the button for the second floor. It sucked that she had to model for six months, but hopefully she would be able to set herself up nicely for rent or University. These two new shoots would almost cover her dad's debt, so she needed one more...if she could get through the first ones!

The doors opened and Rikki found a door with "Aubrey Callaghan" written on a metal tag in the front. She knocked and went inside.

With a name like Aubrey Callaghan, Rikki expected a perky younger girl who wore lots of pink and was a former cheerleader. Aubrey was actually an older lady who had drawn-on eyebrows and a crazy pantsuit that looked like it was made out of a hotel bedspread. She smiled at her tentatively and took a seat.

"Hi Rikki, nice to meet you." Aubrey said in a kind, thoroughly accented voice. Was it Russian or German? She had no idea.

"You, too." Rikki replied.

Aubrey pulled four or five different planners out of a drawer. "Pick von." she commanded. Rikki chose a red one. "Do you haf a note for me?"

Rikki handed her the paper Darren had given her and decided the accent was Russian.

Aubrey studied the note for a moment and started writing it down in the red planner. "Vhen do you haf work at waitressing?" she asked.

"Hold on..." Rikki pulled up a picture of her work schedule on her phone and handed it to Aubrey. She, in turn, wrote down all of those days in the planner. Rikki watched almost every day fill up with work. Then Aubrey pulled up an email on her computer and wrote even more things down.

Rikki was given the planner and read through her upcoming days with dread. There were detailed notes about her two photoshoots, something called a "go-see" on a few days, and lots of work at the cafe.

"What's a go-see?" Rikki blurted out, hoping she didn't sound like an idiot.

"Go-see is like an audition for models. You go see if you are right fit for job." Aubrey answered in broken English. "You come here at scheduled time and our car take you to go-see."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Rikki said. She looked at the three different go-sees she had scheduled. They were all after the perfume and the Young photoshoot...crap. She really needed money. Maybe those shifts at the cafe, combined with her modeling jobs, would be enough cash to pay the debt.

The upcoming week, according to the planner, wouldn't be too busy. She would have plenty of time for school, work and her friends. But the week after that truly began her modeling career, and then she would barely have time to sleep. The Young photoshoot would be during school hours, but she figured she could miss a day of school for two thousand dollars.

Aubrey started typing away at something and Rikki realized it was her cue to leave. She stuffed the planner in her big, unfashionable purse and left. She had promised to tell Cleo, Bella and Zane about her meeting so she texted them as she left the building. A young man who looked like an assistant scurried up to her, handed her an envelope, and dashed away again before Rikki could say a word. Strange.

She opened the envelope and saw that they were her headshots and pictures. She smiled at the photos and carefully put them back in the envelope. They were proof that this was all real, not just a dream.

Rikki walked out the door and remembered to say good night to Debra. She wished she could see Maureen and Ty again. She tried to think of a good word to describe the people at Montgomery. The only word she could think of was "unique", but technically that described everyone everywhere.

As she got to her car Rikki received a flood of congratulations texts from her friends. It was like falling into a warm, familiar hug after a long day. All these new experiences made her glad she had good friends to fall back on. She just hoped she would still have time to see them with this crazy schedule. She had the best friends in the world. Nothing, not even fame, would be worth loosing them.

I totally meant to have this up earlier but I've been really busy the past few days! Obviously this story is mostly about Rikki, but I'm hoping to include a bit about the other H2O characters. If you were wondering this story takes place after the thirteenth episode in season 3, so Rikki is 18 but Don and Sam haven't been married yet. The next chapter will be about her first professional photoshoots! As you can see, modeling is already starting to interfere with Rikki's life...and we're just getting started xo