DWTS 100 Prompt Challenge!

If Looks Could Kill

If looks could kill, they'd fall to our feet.

I don't actually know how I got into modeling, it just kind of happened. Like, I was a normal kid, living in Australia, for eight and a half years of my life, and then one day, in the blink of an eye, I was a child model and living in New York. And apparently, I'm pretty good at it because I'm still modeling to this day. 

For the past four years, I've been one of the headlining models for Louis Vuitton, then while doing that, my dad was diagnosed with Cancer, I became a stressed out mess, my modeling started declining, and then a little bit after that, I was fired from the brand because I had gained too much weight from all this stress and didn't fit their cookie cutter standards anymore. So, then I did a bit of Chanel, Tom Ford, I did a few VS fashion shows, that didn't last long at all, and then for the past year I was under Marc Jacobs, but the people there and the environment there just wasn't healthy, so, here I am, auditioning to be a model for any brand that'll let me audition. 

I had found an audition for Armani's spring collection, so I auditioned to be one of their runway models and what some companies call "brand faces", which is basically the models you see with the off-in-the-distance stares that advertise perfumes and stuff. One of those models and runway walker primarily, but any job I can get in this industry is a good one. 

These auditions are the same for every brand, I know them like the back of my hand. I made sure I fit their body requirements, put the same black dress as every other model, handed the scary man at the front my headshot and resume, stood in a line, hopefully pass type casting, do my runway walk, and then stare at the phone waiting for it to ring for three weeks.

It's simple, really.

Now, when I went to audition, Mr. Armani had been on holiday and left this Val Chmerkovskiy guy in charge of casting his models. I guess he trusted him because Armani is an iconic brand that only hires the best.

I smiled, handed Val my resume, and he took one look at my headshot, and one look at me, head to toe and then back down. He turned to his assistant and put my resume across the part of his face that the models could see, and whispered something to her.

We all thought it was kind of strange, but we played along anyway. We had to. 

The audition went on, and Val had cut fifty five of us from type casting alone. There was only ten of us left to do our walks. 

Dang, this guy means business. 

"Um, red hair,  come here for a second." Val called to me. I knew it was me because I was in a room full of blondes. The other models were rushed out for some reason. 

I walked over to the table, this was unheard of in an audition. 

"Hi." His smile was warm and inviting. "Now, you're Shauna?"

"Sharna." I corrected him.

"My apologizes, Sharna. So, just, um, expect a call from us in a day or two, alright? You don't have to walk." 

"Wait, you're not going to have her walk?" His assistant asked. 

Seeing this would become something heated, Val had another assistant usher me from the room. 

"No, I'm not going to have her walk. She's different and new and exciting and she is the face of this collection, I can see it!" Val defended his opinions. 

"But what if she can't walk?"

"Do you see this resume?" Val showed the woman my file. "There's no way she can't walk."

"This is Armani, we only hire the best, you know that." 

"I know, and I think we just found one of the best." He sat his drink down and turned to fully face his assistant. 

"How can she be the best if she's modeled for hundreds of companies and can't keep a single job?"

"Okay, why don't you go be a good assistant, go fill up our drinks, and let me do my job."

The lady scoffed but did as asked. 

"There's something about that one." Val turned to another employee who was looking at resumes. "She's somewhere near perfect. But, bring in the others to walk." 

"You do know that Mr. Armani might kill you for hiring a model with such a bold hair color?" Val's snippy assistant came back with another drink for him. 

"I might already be dead by the time she's modeled for us. Those looks can kill." 

~~~~~

// Part 2? //