Thank you for reading! I hope the story's making a bit more sense now. =)
Here's the next chapter!
Katherine Hillard looked at herself in the mirror. She turned sideways and sucked in her stomach.
"What are you doing?" her husband asked. He gave her a kiss and she ran her fingers through his dark, short hair.
"Oh, I'm just..."
"Don't psych yourself out, Kat. You're beautiful and you're not one of those sick-looking paper-thin models. Isn't that why that fashion lady chose you?"
"Yeah, I'm just...I don't know. Nervous, I guess."
"Well don't be. It'll be great. And you'll be fine." He gave her another kiss.
Kat grinned. "Oh, go do some doctor stuff."
Her husband laughed. "I am. On my way to teach some young'ins right now."
Kat watched him walk out of their bedroom and waved to him from the window. Her phone rang and Kat scrambled to pick it up. "Hello?" Kat held the phone up to her ear, still looking at her reflection in the mirror. "Oh yes, Ms. Hammond, I could come in early. An hour? Oh, that'll be fine." Kat dropped the phone on her bed and rushed to get ready.
Twenty or so minutes later, Kat rushed out of her house. ONce she saw that she was still fairly early, Kat pulled into a local Starbucks and wanted to grab a book if she had to wait for a long time. After she got her drink from the barista, a pretty African-American lady who was wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt, Kat headed for the bookstore. She wandered the aisles a bit, reading the backs of some interesting-looking books. She maneuvered her way around two young boys sitting in the middle of an aisle, who were both talking to an older man, who seemed to be diffusing an argument between the two. When Kat made her selections, she paid for her books and headed to the office.
Kat nervously wiped her hands on the pink dress she was wearing and stepped onto the elevator with only one other person, a blonde woman wearing pink as well. Kat noticed that she also wore pink glasses. They smiled shyly at each other as they pressed two different buttons for each floor they were going to.
"You look nervous," commented the woman.
Kat nodded in response. "I am, a little. Maybe a lot. I'm doing a photo shoot for Kimberly Hart. And...in some ways, I'm still wondering if I'm right for it."
"I'm nervous, too. I have to explain to these investors why the money they're giving us for research is not exactly turning out the ideal profit for them. I'm a scientist and...to be honest, I'm still wondering if I'm right for it, too." Kendrix gave her a tight smile. "I can't help but notice your accent. Where are you from?"
"I'm from Australia." Kat smiled and stuck out her hand. "I'm Katherine."
"Kendrix."
The elevator bell chimed and the doors opened. Kat smiled shyly at Kendrix again. "Good luck today, Kendrix."
"You too, Kat."
Kat nodded and walked through a set of double glass doors. She headed straight for the front desk and was greeted by one of the receptionists.
"Can I help you?" she asked with a smile.
Kat nodded. "I'm Katherine Hillard. I'm here to see Kimberly Hart...for a photo shoot. Or for some clothes to wear. Actually, I'm modeling the clothes-Kimberly Hart's clothes-for the photo shoot."
The receptionist raised her eyes and looked like she was about to laugh. She dialed a number on the speakerphone.
"Ashley Hammond," a familiar voice answered.
"Hey Ash," said the receptionist. "Katherine Hillard is here."
"Oh, go on and send her in, Karone."
"Will do." Karone pressed a button to end the call. She smiled as she stood and pointed to a long hallway. "Kim's at the very end. Just follow the hallway to end and you'll be right in to Kim's office. They're waiting for you."
Katherine nodded and followed Karone's instructions. She reached the end of the hallway and saw Ashley sitting at her desk.
"Hi Katherine, it's nice to see you again," Ashley said, sticking out her hand to shake Katherine's.
"You too," Katherine said. "But you can just call me Kat." She shook Ashley's hand.
Ashley nodded and opened the door to Kim's office. "Kim is right in here."
A short, petite, woman was sitting at the large desk while a young man was standing next to her. "Hi!" Kimberly's face lit up as she saw Katherine enter her office. "It's nice to see you again!" She gestured to the young man. "This is Mack Hartford. He'll be photographing you today. We'll keep it real small since this is just for a sample. I know this is your first time and it's probably pretty nerve-wracking, but just me, Mack, you, and Ashley, if you're comfortable."
Kat smiled. "It's nice to meet you, too. And you can just call me Kat."
"Well, then, you could just call me Kim."
Kat smiled and put her things down. "Okay, Kim. Where do we begin?"
Kim smiled and directed Kat to the makeshift dressing room that they set up in her large office. "You could start with this dress," Kim said, pulling out a dress from a rack next to her. "And we'll work our way through. Just let me know if you have any questions or if you need help with anything."
"Okay, thanks." Kat smiled as Kim closed the curtain.
A few hours later, Kat stood in front of a mirror, admiring her reflection she was wearing a long, pink dress that was cut with an empire waist and flowed down to her calves. Her long blonde hair was loose, past her shoulders. Kim and Mack were standing at Kim's desk, looking at some of the photographs that Mack had already taken.
"This one's good," Kim said. "I like the lighting." Her assistant, Ashley, stood to their left, taking notes. Kat heard footsteps walk into the office, but didn't turn to look who it was. "Hi, can I help you with something?" she heard Kim ask. Kat turned and saw a good-looking Asian man with short hair, dressed in blue jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt.
"Kimberly Hart? Can I speak with you for a second?" he asked.
Kat wondered who he was. She saw that Kim looked like she had never seen him before. Ashley was flipping through her pages, looking frantic and confused. Kat furrowed her brow, knowing that whoever this guy is came as a surprise.
"I'm sorry, but I am extremely busy right now." Kim glanced at Kat and gestured to her. "Our new model, Katherine, is trying some new designs that we have. But you could make an appointment with my assistant." She looked at Ashley, who was to her left and nodded. "Ashley, please." Ashley hurried forward and led the Asian man out of Kim's office. She closed the door as she walked out. "Well, that was weird!" Kim exclaimed.
"Do you know who that was?" Kat asked, stepping down from the platform she was standing on. She carefully raised the dress to avoid stepping on it.
"Not at all," Kim answered, making a face and shaking her head. "I had half the mind to call security, but..." she shrugged her shoulders.
"Why didn't you?" asked Mack.
Kim shrugged again. "There was something in his eyes that made him look like...like he's not a crazed fan or crazy man or whatever."
Ashley walked back into Kim's office a few minutes later, carefully shutting the door. "You have an appointment with Adam Park tomorrow at 1:00," she said.
"Adam Park, that's his name?" Kim asked.
"Yeah," answered Ashley. "He seemed really nice."
"Oh good, so he's not crazy." They all laughed. Kim handed Kat anohter dress. "Here's the next one."
Hours later, Kat put the last of the designs onto the rack and walked out of the dressing room area. She waved goodbye to Mack, who had just finished packing up his equipment.
"Thanks Kat!" Kim exclaimed. "Great day. Where you headed to now?"
"I was actually gonna go jog down at the park."
"Oh, you're good!" Kim exclaimed. She waved to Ashley. "Bye Ash! See you tomorrow!"
"See ya, Kim! Thanks again! Bye Kat!"
"Yeah," continued Kim. "Jogging in your spare time? I used to do gymnastics when I was younger."
"Oh really? What made you stop?"
"Oh, I had an accident. I fell off the beam and just couldn't bring myself to go back to it."
Kat nodded. "I used to dive. But I stopped because of a bad diving accident. Jumped off wrong," replied Kat, shrugging her shoulders.
"Aw. Was this back in Sydney?"
Kat nodded again. "Yeah. Way back home."
"What made you move?"
"My parents. My dad's job moved him here, so...yeah." Kat smiled. "I moved when I was 16."
"Really? Your accent's still strong! It sounds really pretty, though."
Kat laughed. "Yeah. My husband and I try to go back to Australia still. He says it gets stronger every time we come back."
Kim laughed. "You have a husband? When did you and him meet?"
"Way back in high school."
"Oh!" Kim's eyes widened in surprise. "Me too! I mean, my husband I have been together since high school?"
"Oh?" Kat grinned and sat down in front of Kim's desk. She picked up the picture of Kim and her husband from their wedding day. "Let me guess. Were you the cheerleader and he was the jock?" Kat set the picture down, carefully.
Kim laughed. "I know it might look like that, but no. We were far from the jock, cheerleader type. I was president of the gardening club and he taught martial arts at a local youth center to kids."
"My husband taught martial arts when we were teenagers, too!" she exclaimed. "So, was it love at first sight for the two of you?"
"Actually...and unbelievably...yeah, it was. A look across the hall, he was the new boy and he rescued me from two bullies."
"Aw, how romantic!"
Kim made a face. "Not really. The two bullies were nothing more than two less-than-average troublemakers."
Kat laughed. "My husband and I weren't like that. We were friends for a looong time before we started dating."
Kim smiled, looking at the time. "Well, I don't want to keep you. Thanks for coming in today. We should hang out outside the office sometime. I'd like to meet Mr. Hillard."
"Oh no, he's not Hillard, that's actually my maiden name. For professional reasons."
Kim looked surprised. "Oh, I understand completely. Hart's my maiden name, too." She grinned again. "Again, thank you for coming in. We've really got to hang out sometime."
"Oh, it was no problem at all. Thanks for a great day!"
Kim grinned at Kat. "Have fun on your jog."
"Have fun...what exactly are you doing tonight?"
"I'll be leaving soon, too. I'm just going to finish a couple of things before I head home."
Kat laughed and stood up. She was halfway out the door and looked around in the hall. "First one in, last one out?"
Kim grinned. "No. I allow myself some breaks at times. Besides, my husband even forced me to work today."
"Forced you to work? What's that about?"
Kim laughed. "I know, I know. But it's okay...we did get a lot of things done today."
Kat smiled. "So, I'll see you tomorrow."
Kim nodded. "Yup! See you tomorrow. Have a great rest of the day."
"You too."
Kat followed the long hallway and saw that most people had already left. She stopped in the restroom to change into a pink tank top, grey shorts, and running shoes.
Later, Kat stopped jogging to take a long swig of water. She was close enough to the soccer field and decided to watch the people play for a bit.
"Go for it, Conner!" A Hispanic man in a black and green shirt yelled.
The guy who must've been Conner kicked the ball into the goal and celebrated when the ball snuck past the goalie. He and the Hispanic guy slapped hands. "Nice pass, Carlos!" Conner said.
Kat watched for a few minutes more before replacing her iPod earbuds in her ears. She jogged a few steps and continued as she pulled out her iPod to change the song. She swerved to avoid a collision with a familiar-looking African-American woman in yellow. Kat slowed as she turned her head to get a better look at her and pulled out her earbuds when she saw the woman's mouth moving.
"I'm sorry?" Kat said, safely putting her earbuds and iPod in her pocket. "Did you say something?"
The woman nodded. Katherine recognized her now. "Kat?" she asked.
Kat nodded. "How do you know my name? You're Tanya Sloan!" she said, excitedly. Kat noticed that Tanya looked sad, all of a sudden.
"Yeah," Tanya said softly. "Do you...remember me? At all?"
Kat wondered what Tanya was talking about. She had never met Tanya Sloan before. "I'm sorry, you must have me mistaken for someone else. I don't think I've ever met you before."
"You have." Tanya took a step toward Kat. "You have," she said again. "You're my best friend, Kat."
Kat stared at her for a bit and shook her head. "No." She took a step back. "You've really got me mistaken for someone else."
"No, I don't," Tanya said. She put her hands on either side of Kat's shoulders.
Kat jumped, not expecting a sudden flash of memories and feelings to run through her mind. She tried to shake herself out of Tanya's grip, but Tanya held on tighter. Kat saw herself as an actual cat, with Kimberly and Aisha. She saw herself as the pink ranger and later saw herself with new powers. She flinched at the sight of the Command Center in ruins. She saw herself with a dog, trying to train it to find trouble and smiled when she remembered that she was an extra in a science fiction movie with Rocky and Tanya. She saw herself dancing in a ballet and surfing in a competition.
Tanya eventually let go of Kat and Kat felt tears fill her eyes. She didn't say anything, but just put her arms around her best friend and hugged her tight. She felt the tears run down her face and Kat dug her face into Tanya's shoulders, who hugged her as tightly in return.
I hope you enjoyed that chapter!
Next: Kimberly