Honoka hesitantly opened the door, looking back at the mess of ash colored hair draped across her couch, tissues littering the couch, floor, and table. She had welcomed Kotori into her home, the girl depressed, the sweet smile she wore in her photos gone. With a sigh, Honoka turned around and left, leaaving for work.
Early morning, Promise...
Eli and Maki both flinched, witnessing something they had never seen.
"God fucking dammit! GOD! FUCKING! DAMMIT!"
"Umi, calm down," Eli urged.
The blue haired woman was currently destroying everything in their break room, having finally lost her perpetual cool. She was wearing nearly all black, her stiletto boots keeping her feet from the broken glass. Her flat chest heaved up and down, freshly out of stuff to break or throw, and she screamed again, all of her joints locking.
"Three models down, one launching a fucking lawsuit against me," Umi stated, "A FUCKING LAWSUIT!" Her voice had turned from eerily calm to banshee-level.
"We're rich, Umi, we can afford a lawyer," Maki retorted. Eli quickly jabbed the redhead in the arm, hearing a small whimper from pain.
Umi walked over to the large window, looking down; the press had formed a small crowd, Umi arriving to Promise at 3 AM in order to avoid the massive crowd. Out of the corner of her eyes, Umi saw both Eli and Maki come to her side, looking down.
"We still have the CYaRon deal, and our designers haven't terminated their contracts," Eli reassured.
"Not even the show we funded?" Maki asked.
"Not even that."
"I didn't even fire her..." Umi muttered.
"We have her contract, she consented to the personal relationship," Eli, once again, reassured.
"She should've read the fine print..." Maki whispered.
Later...
Honoka ran through the glass doors of Promise, breathing hard as she caught up to Nico and Nozomi. They were both wearing jeans and white tank tops, using jackets to fight the hint of cool spring brought. Honoka basically wore the same, since it was casting day.
"I wish I could run that fast..." Nozomi mumbled.
"I wish I had legs long enough to cover the same distance while running that fast..." Nico said.
Honoka panted, "Are they really doing a fashion show? Like, with a real runway?"
"Hohoho," Nozomi laughed, "I hear they're featuring major brands and showing to some real stuck up people."
"Here?" Nico asked.
"It is a major city," Hanayo said, joining their little gossip group.
"That's because there's a massive university and two magazine companies. I doubt there's many people over 30 that live here," Nozomi explained.
"Oh!" Honoka squeaked, "That reminds me, how's Rin doing?"
Hanayo smiled, "Better, she's here for the casting today. I think she's already waiting with the other models."
Realizing how much time they'd spent talking, they dashed to the casting room. Rin was sprawled out on the floor, a large bandage on her nose. She smiled once they arrived, sitting up; she'd saved room for them. Once they all sat down, they changed out of their shoes and into heels, tucking their jackets in their bags. All of the models Promise had on their roster were in the same room, filling it with idle chatter, ignorant of the CEO coming in.
Eli's blonde hair was in a tight bun, a light blue tunic draping elegantly off of her chest, black tights covering her pale legs, matching light blue heels gracing her small feet. She had a tablet in hand, looking around the filled room and glancing back down at the tablet before calling attention to herself.
"Hello, ladies," the room quickly quietted down, "I'm sure those of you who had even a quarter of a brain cell could tell when we hired new models that Promise is expanding. That was only the beginning, and from behind the scenes we've been working on branching out. We are still the private magazine with our own models, but with this next expansion phase, we are expanding our selection of magazines, we are funding and collaborating to produce our own commercials and fashion shows. We, as a company, already have tremendous influence in the fashion world, but we are striving for more. We want to do more!" The girls all clapped, filling the room with endless noise.
'That's a powerful speaker...' Honoka thought. She'd never known Eli very well.
"Now, to continue with our expansion, we are casting all of you again with a fine tooth comb. We want to know what you can do, what you want to do, and how well you can do these things. After all, what is Promise's unofficial motto again?" Eli asked.
"You have to do anything to work at Promise!" the models said in unison.
"Exactly. Today, I ask you hand in the questionnaire we have given by tomorrow. After that, you will get an email with your casting time. If you do not hand in the questionnaire by then, you will be let go and we will give your job to one of the thousand models that we rejected in the recent expansion."
'That's brutal…' Honoka thought, listening to Nico and Rin commenting the same.
"You're all dismissed," Eli said, watching them leave, "Miss Kosaka?"
Honoka stopped on her way out, her stomach knotting and churning, turning around, "Y-Yes, Miss Ayase?"
Eli had a straight face, nearly blank of expression, "I heard you let Miss Minami into your home. Take this," she said, handing Honoka an extra questionnaire, "we never fired her, but make it clear that if this isn't completed, handed in by you or Miss Minami by tomorrow, she has effectively quit, and will officially no longer be employed by Promise."
"Of course, Miss Ayase..."
Finally leaving, Honoka looked over the questionnaires, "Swimming? Fear of heights?" she muttered. She walked right past the others, so lost in the items listed on the questionnaire that she didn't hear them offer dinner and going over the questions as a group.
Later...
Kotori stared at the paper, Honoka unable to tell if she was actually reading it or not. The girl looked dead in the eyes, and she practically smelled like death, having not showered in days. Honoka fidgeted, her arm beginning to ache.
"You have until tomorrow, okay?" she said, her voice filled with forced, unsure cheerfulness.
"Yeah." Was all the response she received, Kotori setting the sheet down on the table.
Honoka retreated to her room after fixing dinner, filling in the questionnaire by herself. Some of the questions were bizarre, like what are your worst fears, what are you allergic to, would you be willing to be underwater or near water.
'Is it really worth it, in the end?'
After a year long break, I have a chapter. Personal things were in the way for the entirety of the year. Hopefully this is good enough, as I don't think it's my best.
When I started Promise, I knew nothing about the modeling industry. It seemed like an interesting idea, so I went with it. But, thankfully, the modern world has TV shows for everything, and I have watched about three and a half seasons of America's Next Top Model.
Have a recommendation for a photo shoot? Send it in.
Thank you for reading Promise, and for faithfully waiting so long.
Edit: Fixed a huge plot flaw.
