Model Behaviour

3: You Don't Call Them 'strippers.' They're Dancers.

"No."

"Such a spoilsport."

"Honestly," I glanced at her with a smirk. "I do try."

**

I glared at my portfolio sitting evilly in my coffee table.

I don't know why I even pulled it out. Probably because it had a certain someone plastered over four sections of my thirty page folder. Who knew why I'd included him in the first place.

Probably because whenever I worked with him I'd paid just a bit too much attention to detail and they were my best works.

I sipped on my red wine. It wasn't even a big deal that he was back in my life. He wasn't a big deal in the first place; I think I'm just making it a big deal because he was my first one night stand. And of all the places, in a fucking elevator!

I groaned into my hands.

Damn him for rehashing old memories.

I lifted my head at the sound of a knock on my door. I frowned. The only people with a key to my building were Randy, my mother and my sister. I tied my dressing gown tighter around my waist and made my way to door. I stared through the peephole and released a long sigh. "For God's sake. Cor, it's ten o'clock."

My younger sister smiled as she passed me to stroll into the living room. "I know but, I was just in the neighbourhood."

"You're never just in the neighbourhood, what'd you want?" I closed the door behind me and observed my sibling making herself right at home in my seat and picking up my glass of wine.

"I was out with a few friends and-"

"You need a place to stay. As usual. Because mom's house is so far away isn't it."

Her mouth curled into a frown, just as our fathers does, and she shrugged. "It was either come here or get the subway back to my house and we both know how unsafe it is to be on a subway at ten at night."

Corrine tucked her black hair behind her ear and leaned forward. My twenty year old sister was currently studying business and politics at NYU Stern on a scholarship. Yeah, she was crazy smart and yet here she was, almost wasted, drinking the remnants of my wine whilst attempting to open- wait.

"Corry, wait. Don't open- and you've opened it."

"Why've you got your portfolio out, are you moving jobs?"

I pinched my bottom lip between my fingers mumbling my no.

"Then why've you pulled this out. By the way have you seen mom lately?"

My eyes followed how she flipped through each sleeve pausing on a few of my fine art pieces from my last year.

"Liv?"

"What? Oh, no. I spoke to her on the phone earlier today though." flip.

"Well, I saw her last weekend. Told me she doesn't know whether she'll make an appearance at Randy's bachelorette party."

I perked up and sat beside her. "What? Why not?"

"She said it's something for us younger adults. She was complaining how having her there, you and I won't be ourselves or something."

"Randy wants her there."

"Talk to her she said she'll come for the beginning and she'd disappear when the stripper gets-"

"There won't be a damn stripper for crying out loud." I stressed for the hundredth time today. "Why does everyone want a stripper anyway."

"Because it's a rite of passage." flip.

"For somone that's smart, you're a bit of a moron."

"Har-har." flip. Crap. "Oh yeah, your life drawing pieces. Either you over exaggerate or this guy was really good looking."

I cringed, trying my hardest to avoid the drawn images of Eddie Marshall's naked body. Shouldn't have pulled it out.

"You can close that now." I reached across but she manoeuvred her body so she was blocking me. "Corrine."

"You did a few of this guy, wow. What I would give to be in class with him."

I relented and stared down at the detailed pencil drawings of Eddie's body. I compared his current self to the body from six years ago and released a womanly sigh of appreciation. How could God create someone like him? To think, I actually spent more than two hours in a room with him and examined every nook and cranny of his body.

You spent about half hour touching it.

I shook the thought away and inwardly scowled.

"They're dancer's not strippers anyway, I prefer calling them that. Ooo, what's this-"

"You can look at my portfolio in the morning, okay. Go to bed."

"Okay, alright." I gripped the edge and shut it before she could look at anymore. I grabbed her arm and helped her up. Stumbling slightly, she wrapped an arm around my neck and allowed me to drag her into my bedroom. Normal Friday night for me. Not every Friday but most Friday's. She grumbled how I looked after her too much and how she should be the one returning the favour from all the years I'd helped her during our parents divorce.

Flashbacks to their messy divorce was another thing I kept locked up in the special vault in my subconscious. When I was twleve and little Corrine was only six. Holding her crying body next to the door whilst they argued. Drowning out their pointless arguing with a Disney movie.

Corrine just about remembered it but I remembered it like it was yesterday.

I pulled off her shoes, jeans and blouse before throwing her one of my oversized t-shirts.

"I love you, Liv."

I settled into bed beside her after brushing my teeth. "Love you too."

"But I really do. Thanks." She sighed.

We both had our own issues as such. Corrine may be the smartest woman I knew but she sometimes drank a little too much. She may not notice but I knew when she did go out which was near enough every weekend, she ended up here in bed with me. Mom noticed and we talked about it but I'm not too ceratin our dad knew.

I admittedly had issues when it came to... commitment. I loved my mom, I loved my dad. But they were the reason for it. I grew up watching them tiptoe around each other for twelve years. I hated delving into the past, I really did especially when it came to them.

Corrine's hand landed on my upper arm as she began to snore away. I couldn't help but smile. She used to always touch or hug me. It didn't matter how old we were.

Same old, Cor.

________________________________________

Dived into a small tidbit of Olivia's life :)

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