Chapter 20
Today was the photo shoot. I had to dress up in the outfits and get my photos taken. Great. I arrived at the studio at nine in the morning. Ma was already there since eight-thirty. She was getting everything ready. As soon as I opened the door to the studio, Ma shoved a black dress in my hand and shooed me away to a changing room.
While I was changing into that black dress, I saw the reflection of my back in the mirror. A faint scratch could still be seen. It covered almost two thirds of my back. I prayed that it would not be noticed. I zipped the back and let my hair cover my back. The dress was cute. It looked a bit like a ballerina dress from the bottom. When I exited the changing room, I had to sit down to get my make-up done. I don't really like too much make-up. Just the light eyeliner would do for me. But I don't think I had my way today. Ma did. It was her day. Not her birthday just the odd day where I have to do exactly as she tells me to. Those days I tell you, did not come that often. But boy did they come. After the make-up session, I was forced to wear red high heels. Killer heels. I felt sorry for my feet. Heels are another thing that I like to wear in moderation.
I had to walk to the centre of the studio. They had everything ready, literally. I had to sit on a white leather sofa and do a few poses. They made me pose against a white background. More than a hundred photos and about an hour later, I had to change in another outfit. This time it was a frilly midnight blue top with denim leggings. It worked. It looked good. This time it was much quicker and the next costume change was within half an hour. My costumes ranged from colourful dresses to skirts to jeans. Majority were dresses. But I was lucky to get one outfit that had jeans. I love jeans. Life without jeans just does not exist. Really, it doesn't.
My favourite dress that I had to wear was a hot pink dress. The straps and top part were studded with silver gems. The dress was long but it flared out from my hips. The bodice hugged my curves. As I twirled the dress blew out. I had to wear silver strappy heels but I did not care. I just loved the dress.
It was almost lunchtime and I had already tried on about 6 outfits. My cheeks were hurting of smiling so much. Most of all my stomach was grumbling. I was really hungry but Ma still wanted to carry on.
"Ma, I'm hungry it will only take five minutes. Let me just eat," I said.
"Dear, just a few minutes more," said Ma.
"You said that half an hour ago," I sighed.
As it were fate, Jake walked through the studio door with a McDonald takeaway bag. My hero. I ran to Jake and pulled him towards the small kitchen that was in the studio.
"Jake, you have saved my life," I said. "I am so hungry."
I opened up the takeaway bag and emptied the contents on a plate. "Wait, these are for me right?" I asked.
Jake laughed and said, "Yeah. Who else?"
"No, I was just checking," I said.
"Are you having fun here?" asked Jake. I stared at him blankly. "I thought you might like it." I shook my head. "Why?"
"I'll tell you later," I whispered.