“Hi.” She laughs, and it sounds like wind chimes or music. Something light and pleasant that makes me want to listen to her all day, and make her laugh every chance I get.
“I was thinking for free time tonight—”
“Hey!” A high-pitched voice cuts me off from behind, and I have to force myself to smile, so I don’t grimace.
“Ainsley.” A cheery girl with big round blue eyes slightly too far apart, fiery red pin-straight hair, and small pouty lips is waving her hand in our faces to introduce herself.
“Ro-”
“Romeo.” She nods vigorously. “I know. Lamé said it earlier.”
I take a breath to speak, but her eyes shift to Lydia’s inquisitively, so I stop.
“I don’t remember your name.” She points.
“Lydia.” She reaches her hand out to Ainsley, who gladly shakes it as we continue to walk down the stairs together. A couple other models have surfaced from their rooms and are already a bit ahead of us. We’re all wearing white, which is oddly unsettling, but it’s probably because we’ll take photos at breakfast.
“Where are you from, Ainsley?” Lydia asks to break the slightly awkward vibes between us as we turn down a long corridor with sheer drapes on either side, flowing in the wind of the open doors on either side of us. To the right, there is a vineyard which I make a mental note to come back to, and to our left is a perfect view of the ocean. We curve around a bend at the end of the corridor, and it opens to an indoor-outdoor seating area with black and white marble tiled floors and fiery lampposts.
There are several tables already set with loaves of bread, as well as cheeses, fruits, and wine. I step to the outside portion as Ainsley and Lydia start to talk with some other model about hair care or something like that. I glance back every once in a while, and Lydia meets my eyes.
“You are enjoying the atmosphere.” An Italian accent draws me away from Lydia’s gaze to see Lamé.
“It’s lovely. Very spacious.” I pick up a glass of wine, though it’s still a little too early to be drinking wine. This is very Italian— drinking wine in the morning. And red nonetheless.
“Yes. Very.” He laughs deep and robust, much like the wine dancing on my tastebuds. It’s good. Strong. “You have a long career ahead of you,” he continues. I tilt my head, unsure of how to respond.
“I hope so.” I finally say after a brief pause, and he chuckles again.
“You’ve got wonderful bone structure, a great presence about you.”
“It’s the Italian in me.” I grin into my cup, and he pats me on the back.
“I believe it!” He takes a glass off of the table now and raises it to mine. “Saluti!” His pink cheeks rise to his equally pink sunglasses.
“Saluti.” I affirm, and we clink our glasses together. As I take a sip, I feel a hand on my lower back that sends chills up my spine. I know just by this who it is.
“Lydia Royce.” Lamé extends a hand to her, and she brushes against my shoulder to shake it. “You are stunning. I can’t believe this is your first major job.”
“Yeah, it’s honestly a dream come true. I’ve wanted to model ever since I was little.”
“You’ve landed a great agent then. Not that you would really need it with a face like this.” He reaches over and pinches the defined lines of her cheekbones with his thumb and index finger. “Impeccabile.” He nearly whispers, and I feel like I should leave. She grins as he pulls away, looking down at her feet like she’s shy, but I know she is not. Probably just as uncomfortable as I am.
“Anyway, I’ll leave my two shining stars be. Please enjoy!” He bows out, a crinkly grin still plastered on his olive skin as he walks out into the grass with his wine.
“I still have no idea who he is,” Lydia whispers, and before I can make a joke, Ainsley pops back up behind us. I nearly jump as she gives input that no one asked for.
“He’s the second in command to Miuccia Prada.”
“You think we’ll ever do a Prada show?” Lydia asks her, and Ainsley laughs.
“Probably, I’ve done one.”
Lydia's eyes go wide, and I smile at the redhead.Shouldn’t have been so cold to the girl.She’s a good connection. Then again, being a Miu Miu model is a good connection in itself, but being rude never got anyone anywhere in the modeling world. At least not people just starting out.
“Yeah. It was in Milan. So beautiful and exciting. I love the thrill of shows. I thrive in chaos and the pressure to make it happen.”
“Me too.” Lydia nods.