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A man in a deep black tuxedo offered me his hand. I slowly got out of the limousine, the flash of cameras and sound paparazzi welcomed me as I stepped onto the red carpet.
"Dotty up here!"
"Give the camera a smile!"
"Can you tell the audience who your wearing?"
"Pose for us!"
Various voices all asking for the same thing. I flashed a smile and briefly posed before continuing my catwalk up to the front of the carpet. Reporters were storming the area as cameras were always on and flashing. A few of them noticed me and quickly rushed up to bombard me with questions.
"Dotty, a new and fast approaching model has taken the world by storm! Care to give your viewers a few tips?" The reporter ushered the microphone close to my face. I smiled and tucked a strand of raven colored hair behind my ear. Executing my practiced moves perfectly.
"Well," I started with a soft voice. "It takes a lot of patience to and strength to come by such an opportunity, but it also takes bravery to be able to rise from such a challenge. Thank you so much for the recognition." I smiled at the cameras brightly before turning back to the reporters.
After that, I walked away down the red carpet and towards the event. Momentarily, my fingers trembled but I flattened them against my long red dress and kept my chin up.
In my head, I replayed the words of my stepfather on repeat. "Take care of yourself and be strong, dotty."
Be strong…be strong…
And soon, the event started to die down as papparazzi had gotten all their photos and started to leave. Even some A-Lister celebrities had started to walk away. The man in the tuxedo suddenly placed an arm on my shoulder.
"Remember why you're here, dotty. Right?" Mr Chen spoke with an eerie undertone to his words. Before I could over think it, he shot me a short smile. "We need you in Dylan Riece's new music video, don't we?"
"That's right…" I stood up from my seat, smiling. "Let me see if I can find him.
"That's my girl." Mr Chen smiled brightly as I walked off. With a sigh, I looked around the venue, until my eyes landed on a table with a couple a-listers and unfamiliar faces not too far away.
I walked slowly, in case anyone else would approach before me. The table had this uninvitinh and standoff-ish air floating around. But I could only sigh as I got closer and closer. I had no choice! Be firm!
"Dylan Riece?" I spoke up slowly. The eyes of the people at the table instantly turned away from casual conversation and towards me.
There was Dylan Riece who was closest to me. He was a hot shot musician who had a huge fan base. The fact that I had been an office worker only a month ago and listening to his music in my tiny cubicle to staring him in his face…shocking was an understatement!
Dylan had dark red hair that was styled like a early 2000s pop star with gel and gentle spikes. However, the bored look on his handsome face made the easy going appearance seem a lot harsher than you'd think.
Next to him was another guy, tall with dark hair, and next to him two women. I recognized the three others as dancers in the music industry, having seen them in a couple music videos before. However….
The fifth face in the group was of someone I hadn't seen before. She had uniquely bright blond curls which appeared to be their natural color, yet her skin was a caramel brown. Her eyes focused on me so strongly, my heart skipped a beat. I nearly stopped breathing entirely.
"Uh…hello? Are you a fan or something? Did you want an autograph?" Dylan's voice shook me back to focus. My face heated up, I quickly shook my head, offering my hand towards him.
"S-Sorry. I didn't mean…ahem. My name is Dotty. Dotty Hyde. I'm from—"
"Dotty! Model with Mr Chen's company, right?" He suddenly stood up and smiled, contrasting from his early expression so much that I couldn't help but be shocked. He pulled me in for a hug, and then, patted my shoulders. "Wow, he wasn't kidding either. You look like a younger version of Megan Foxi."
My face flushed a little. "R-Really? That's so kind of you to say. But I, ahem. I wanted to introduce myself…I hear you…are working on a new project?"
"Ah, yes yes yes. Hey, you, scoot over one, will you? Dotty, was it? Take a seat. Let's talk." Dylan suddenly looked at the woman with the blonde curls and shooed her down a seat to an empty chair at their table. Although shocked, I was in no place to say anything. I shot the woman an apologetic look as I took her seat, feeling embarrassed.
"…" the lady said nothing, standing up gracefully and scooting over one, I got to take in her beautiful blue gown a little better.
"So, you want to be in my new music video? Right?" Dylan got straight to the point. I felt a little caught off guard because to my knowledge, he was also younger than me. I believe he would've just graduated high school. Whereas I, had already been an office worker for 3 years! "I'll be honest. My agency wants a newer concept than just models, ya know? You're great and all, but you know, dancing has really been taking the world by storm."
"Dancing?" I thought for several seconds. Suddenly, it made sense why the three people sitting next to him were there. This was basically an open networking event for him to meet dancers for his next project! "Well, it's a good thing that I…can dance!"
"Oh?" Dylan's eyes widened. "Really?"
I smiled strongly. In my head—I knew I had screwed myselg over!! "Y-Yeah, totally. I'm a little rusty, but."
"Where did you learn, if you, don't mind me asking?" A voice suddenly spoke up. I turned around and felt my face flush, seeing as the beautiful woman with golden hair was twirling a wine glass flawlessly, staring at me calmly. I even heard a faint accent in her voice. Was if british? Australia?
"Oh, um…" I started, but then, I clenched my fists and realized there could be no backing down. "I'm self taught, actually…"
"Self taught dancer? Pft! Please… who does she think she is?"
"Wow…models these days…so bold to take the spot of hardworking dancers?"
"Ha…I can't believe it. Which agency did she say she's under?"
I heard the remarks of the three dancers at the table and instantly shrunk in my seat. God…did Mr. Chen send me over here just to get embarrassed? My face couldn't have gotten any redder. I wanted to cry.
"Ha…you know, Dotty." Dylan suddenly planed his elbow on the table and leaned his face into his hand. His brown eyes seemed to be thinking about something very deeply. "My friend here could totally help you brush up your skills some more. My project isn't until another couple weeks, after all."
My face brightened instantly. "W-What? Really?"
Dylan shrugged. "We need to get newer faces in the industry anyways. Sometimes…" he shot a glance over his shoulder, back towards where there three dancers were sitting on his left. They all looked as though they had been caught. "The older talents start to loose their appeal. They get bitter after sometime, don't you think?"
"W-Well, I…" I started to buffer. Why was I being put in the hot seat now! There was no way I could offend these big names any more than I already had!
"I hope you know, Dylan." The woman who had been moved to my right suddenly spoke up again. This time, her accent was a lot stronger. British, too. Her eyes appeared unimpressed. "This friend of yours is also an old talent. Are you calling me, bitter?"
Dylan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "W-What? Gracelyn, you know that's not what I meant!"
"!!" At the name, I quickly looked back at the woman, stunned. "Gr-Gracelyn? As in, Gracelyn Bearens? from the royal dance academy?"
She only looked at me, as if used to the shock that her name usually garnered. "Nice to meet you."
I stood up quickly, covering my flushed face with the back of my hand. Gracelyn Bearens…the first S-lister celebrity to also have a mysterious power…was sitting right next to me!! "I-I just took your chair and…I-I'm so sorry!"
She seemed extremely relaxed, closing her eyes. "Mr. Riece here was the presumptuous one who told you too. No harm done."
"W-What? Gracelyn darling, are you really going to throw me under the bus like that?"
The s-lister celebrity glared at the boy, who jumped in his seat. With one look, he instantly shut up.
"Unfortunately…you remind me too much of a familiar face to get rid of. Tch." Gracelyn mumbled something. Something along the lines of a loud sister or hot headed sibling?
Regardless, I quickly took another step away from the table. Feeling deeply apologetic. "W-Well. I would hate to overstay my welcome… Dylan Riece? If it's alright…Mr. Chen will be in contact to arrange things further if you…"
"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah yeah, go ahead, do whatever." He then took my seat that I had been sitting in, moving closer to the woman who was now sipping from her wine glass, no longer irritated. "That's the fifth time you've spoken about this sister of yours to me. What is it? Do you think we'd look good together? Want to set us up?"
At the conversation that was progressing into a topic I didn't feel like I should be involved in, I stepped away. I took a deep breath, proud of myself for my accomplishments, smiling as I returned back to my original table.
I had no idea eyes followed me as I did so…
"Dotty…Hyde? What a looker of a girl." A cooling, British voice spoke, full of intrigue.
Just then, her phone started ringing. "Hello? Sasha?" Gracelyn picked she sighed and instantly stood up. "Wait wait wait. Slow down. What happened to who? Who's Vikky?"
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((Suprise there readers! I decided that after a long time, I'd return to this story, not overthink things, and just write this easy going plot line for fun! I did my best to connect the seperate storylines into the main one, so, I hope you enjoy!))