×  New York City, NY ×

"Sorry if I smell like a hospital hallway. Got off my shift and went straight here."

"I don't mind at all." Jessi finished applying some highlighter on Kel, the soft-spoken model sitting in front of her.  She gave the model a smile to convince her that she didn't mind how Kel's dark hair and pale face smelled of rubbing alcohol.  Both of the model's hands also smelled of hand sanitizer and some cleaning product.   "At least you smell clean."

"Been sleeping in the quarters for about a month now. Training requirements," Kel muttered as Jessi worked on her dark brown eyebrows now.  Kel's dark lashes and rather thick brows were such contrast to her pale green eyes.  They looked beautiful and striking at first glance. "That place reeks of bleach most of the day."

"Quarters?" Jessi repeated in a mumble while flicking a smaller makeup brush.  She would be using it for the model's eye shadow.

"Doctors' quarters," Kel replied.  She closed her eyes and tilted her head a little to give Jessi better access.

"You work in a hospital?"

"Still interning, but, yeah."

"Wow.  I didn't think you were older than me," Jessi commented with another smile.

"Almost 28 now." Kel grinned for a second.  "How old are you again? You're so pretty, by the way. You ever tried modeling?"

"Thank you." Jessi giggled and started applying eye shadow on Kel's other eyelid. "25 soon. Little too old and short to be a model but, yeah. Just some small print jobs back home. Some makeup gigs."

"You definitely have the face for catalogue and runway. Commercials, too."  Kel eyed her and sat still in the chair.

They were still alone in the dressing room.  The other models were being photographed now.  Jessi could hear the photographer somewhat yelling instructions and counting off every half-minute or so.  "Thank you. Runway's just not for me but I did some catalogue work last year."

"I wish designers today would opt for older models and girls under five-foot-six. For a change." Kel tutted. "You definitely have the symmetrical doll-face look for makeup, though."

"Really? I always thought my mouth was crooked. But thanks." Jessi smiled at the compliment and put some concealer on the model's eye bags.

Kel had slightly wrinkled and dark eye circles but Jessi  didn't expect the model was old enough to be a doctor. Well, medical intern for now, as she had explained.  "Yeah. Your look's great. Like a Middle Eastern-Southeast Asian mix."

"Thanks. I actually am part Asian. Mom's side." Jessi picked up another makeup brush. "So...you're in residency training and doing modeling on the side?"

"Before I got back into med school, I did this full-time," Kel muttered. "In Italy."

"Oh, Italy. Wow. Sounds nice."

"Yeah. It was. I needed to save up a lot for tuition. I miss living there," Kel murmured with a faint smile that drew small lines beside her pale lips. The semi-matte lipstick looked almost the same shade as her smooth ivory skin, but a few tinges pinker.

"How long were you in Italy?" Jessi checked Kel's brows and decided she needed more gel, even after she already threaded off some baby hairs above the model's lids.

Simple, fresh, but not too formal or bland.  Daytime chic—the look for the day.  Minimal color gradients.  Mostly white outfits.  It was what the shoot's creative director said during the early morning brief Jessi received the moment she got here.

The venue was a studio-type unit that looked more of an office now.  The other half of the unit looked like a clinical laboratory, but the production set-up on that side was still ongoing.

"Almost a year," Kel replied. After the scheduled hour-long photo shoot with the other models, Kel would be doing the commercial shoot.

Although it wasn't the actual job Jessi had signed up for, she didn't complain when her boss said she had to do retouches throughout the day and work the next morning—only if the commercial shoot would take another day to finish.

At the moment, the photographer and the other models were still doing some test shots.  One looked no older than 18, and the rest of them didn't look older than 30.

Zach, her new boss and supervisor, wanted her to do this "quick New York gig" before he would give her the details of her new job in LA.  Must be a quick test run.

"Just a favor for a good friend. Not sure if Enzo will make it but he said he'll try to drop by and watch the shoot since I can't be in New York first thing.  He's the client. Italian businessman trying to market his biotech company. If you could please be early at the shoot, that'd be excellent," Zach said over the phone before midnight last night.

He must be testing her whether she had what it takes, before he gave her a serious full-time job under the production company.  Be it in a TV series, a movie set, a news program, or something else.

Maybe Zach just wanted to check whether she could hold up with grace under pressure.  To show off her guts, she just said yes to his request and packed up her stuff, booked a direct flight to New York and showed up for today's job.

Another big, unfamiliar city.  It was her first time here, but, she shouldn't let the nerves get to her.

Do her best.  Be nice and professional the entire day.

Best case scenario:  the photographer or creative director would ask for her contact details later after the shoot because of a job well done.

She was sleep-deprived, her back was hurting because of the long flight, and her eyes were starting to feel sleepy because of the cold temperature.  The venue had large air-conditioning units running since dawn, she supposed.

But she shouldn't complain one bit.  It took years of patience and hopelessly waiting on her part.  "Game face on. You've waited so long for this," Jessi reminded herself.  She had quite a lot at stake.

×

After the photo shoot with other models, Jessi had to wait for Kel to finish her lunch break.

Kel was one of the models to be featured in the commercial.  Probably a couple minutes of video recordings in the lab-inspired part of the set design.  The other model was a tall guy—more of a Tyson Beckford lookalike.  He definitely looked good in a white coat. No makeup needed. Jessi finished the foundation retouch on him in no time.

The crew enjoyed their lunches in the corner of the studio-type venue, but Jessi just felt too excited to eat.

"Hey, Jessiah.  Could you check on Kel? See if she's still in the bathroom," the photographer requested with a polite smile.  He resumed fiddling with the shooting lights.

"Yeah. Sure." Jessi put down her bottle of juice. "Be back in a minute."  She proceeded to the other side of the building.

The door to the bathroom was ajar.  Alone, Kel stood by the sink, leaning over it.  The faucet was running. Her hips pressed onto the edge of the sink with her head hanging low, almost touching the bathroom mirror.  She was retching, like she was making an effort to vomit.

Jessi froze before she could knock on the door.  Was it stomach flu? Or...bulimia?  She pursed her lips and waited for Kel to turn off the faucet.

When Kel stopped retching and turned the faucet off, a heavy silence in the spacious bathroom prompted Jessi to step inside.

"Hey, Kel. You okay?"

×

"If you're not feeling well, we could reschedule."

"No. No. I'm good." Kel gave her another smile and wiped the tears off her eyes with some tissues.  Her smile looked less fake this time. "Sorry. Messed up the mascara."

"It's nothing. We'll do a quick retouch. You want something to drink?" Jessi stepped closer.

"No. But thanks." Kel cleared her throat.  Her soft voice sounded nasal.  "Let's get this done so you can go back to LA tonight."

"I seriously don't mind if we reschedule the commercial shoot. My boss doesn't need me back in LA yet, far as I know."

"The photographer and the crew might be busy tomorrow."

"Okay," Jessi murmured.

Kel coughed and stood against the sink with the faucet running.  "You guys been waitin' for me? Sorry."

"Stomach flu?"

"I wish." Kel sniffled and blew her nose.

It sounded like a nervous laugh. Jessi stayed put, intrigued for some reason.  "Acid reflux?"

"No." Kel turned off the faucet, her head hung low.  Her gaze focused on her reflection in the mirror.  She stared at her lower abdomen, her manicured hands neatening the mild creases on her white blouse.

An awkward silence filled the bathroom.  Jessi ignored the gut feeling telling her that the woman needed some significant comforting.  But Jessi didn't want to seem intrusive.  When Kel started sobbing onto her palm, Jessi stepped forward. She stroked the model's back.

"Sorry. I just need..." Kel took deep breaths, fanning her pretty heart-shaped face with her manicured hands.  "To stop being such a crybaby and get it together."

"Want me to tell them to reschedule?"

"No. No." Kel tried more deep breaths. "I'll be fine. Just need to..." She cleared her throat and massaged her forehead.

"You need something?" Jessi handed her clean tissues.

"No, but thanks."

"Can I ask? What's the matter?"

"Ugh! It's just—" Kel blew her nose onto the crumpled tissues.  "The pressure, y'know? Gets to me all the time. It's stressin' me out."

"Yeah. I can tell," Jessi muttered while stroking the woman's arm.

"Just the training and fatigue. Loans. And everything else." Kel massaged the bridge of her slightly swollen nose. "I miss my dad, too."

"I see. He doesn't live here in New York?"

"Passed away last year." Kel sighed while carefully wiping off her tears. "Or was it two years ago? Not sure." She smiled weakly.  "Been training nonstop sometimes I forget what day it is."

"Sorry to hear." Jessi leaned against the sink.

"I ruined my makeup. Sorry."

"No problem." Jessi shook her head. "You still got a full commercial to shoot, girl. It could take an hour or longer."

"I bet. Wish I could just switch it off. Really." Kel sighed and tilted her head upward.  "But life's really testing me this year. And I'm just..." Kel scoffed, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Failing so bad."

"Hear, hear," Jessi mumbled, taking in the anxiety and disappointment in the woman's tone.  What's she regretful about?   "Anything I can do to help you feel better?"

"You listening to my midday rants is more than enough."

Jessi laughed shortly and stroked the model's shoulder.  If they were actually friends,  Kel would be like an older sister to her, something she'd always wished to have permanently in her life.

Being an only child and her parents moving away a lot since she was a teen didn't exactly help her form lasting friendships over the years.

"You got a boyfriend? Or plans to get married soon?"

Jessi made a face and shook her head.  "Too focused on my career goals, as you are. Actually I just moved to LA, like that," she narrated with a snap of her fingers. "Just to get this job."

"Good for you." Kel smiled and glanced at her.  "At least you look like you're havin' fun."

"Three hours sleep last night but, yeah. I'm enjoyin' it so far." Jessi crossed her arms and regarded the woman slouching beside her. "What about you? Always wanted to be a doctor?"

"Not really." Kel giggled.  "My mom kinda...pushed me into med school after I suddenly quit my first job."

"What was your first job?"

"Lab tech. In a small hospital in Schenectady."

"Oh. You...didn't like it?"

"After almost a year, I just resigned," Kel said with a frown.  "Wasn't a tenured position anyway."

"Yeah. Suppose the pay wasn't good, either?"

"Nah. Depressed me a little, actually. Also because my dad was sick all the time, and, I still had thousands of student loans to pay off but I didn't even like my job." Kel feigned a chuckle.

"Then you went to Italy? To do modeling full-time?"

"Yeah. Met Miles and his family. Then Enzo," Kel droned on with a loud sigh. She was checking her phone now.  "Jeez. He just won't stop texting."

Enzo?  As in the client?  Zach's friend and the owner of the company they were shooting marketing brochure photos for?

"Sorry." Kel sighed and kept texting.  "Just gets on my nerve sometimes when he's..." A scowl made her slightly swollen lips pout.

"No problem; I can wait.  They're still having lunch back there, anyway."

"Ugh." Kel pocketed her phone and stood still against the sink for the next couple of seconds. They just stood next to each other while the rest of the bathroom remained quiet.

"Feelin' any better?" Jessi put on a smile and used a chipper tone.

"Not really, but thanks for being my shock absorber."

Shock absorber?  "Why? What's up?"

"I'm experiencing symptoms."

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