Viral

Chapter 15

"Elise Mitchell?" A young man with elaborately styled and dyed hair stepped into the waiting room, the heels of his dress shoes clicking on the tiled floor. He adjusted his pocket watch. "The interviewers will see you now. If you could follow me, please?"

I stood up and brushed off my skirt, hands shaking as I put the magazine I'd been clutching in tense hands back into my bag. "Good luck!" whispered Zoe, giving me a silent thumbs up and a cheeky grin as I left the room. I followed the man out of the room and into a corridor.

"In here, please." He pulled open the door and stepped to one side, bowing in the process.

"Thank you." I nodded to him and smoothed down my skirt again. Bile surfaced at the back of my throat as I stepped into the room, where a middle aged man and his younger female counterpart sat facing me at a desk.

"Hello. Elise Mitchell, is it?" he asked, looking down at me over the rim of his black framed glasses.

"Yes, that would be me. Thank you very much for having me, sir, madam." I smiled nervously and reached over the desk to shake their hands. His was moist and vaguely perfumed, hers soft and crinkly. Mine was clammy and sweating.

"Please, take a seat. And call me Gavin. This is Marina, she's in training." He gestured to the single seat in front of the desk, and I sat down.

"So, Miss Mitchell, this would be your first job in makeup, yes? Have you had any previous experience in the area?"

I nodded. "Yes, it would be my first proper job in makeup, but I'd say that I have a considerable amount of experience with the area from YouTube and other Internet involvement."

"Your channel, yes..." he trailed off, lifting a folder and shuffling files until he pulled out a printed sheet. "Ahem. Javastorm?"

"Yes, sir. I've-" I felt slightly dizzy, as the edges of my vision blurred and refocused.

"You've what?" he prompted.

"I'm sorry. I've created a number of ordinary makeup tutorials, and several for stage makeup because I've also produced sketches and a few short films."

"So..." His eyes skimmed over the paper as he tapped a cheap red biro against his chin. "I see you're only eighteen, yes? So you would be taking the option of a university scholarship were you to get the job?"

I smiled. "Yes, it would be an amazing opportunity for me. I would absolutely-"

The desk flickered and looked patchy as the world began to spin. For a moment, the room swayed unsteadily, falling into greyscale, and toppled into complete darkness.

~*~

Sound and pain returned before my vision. I heard someone crying, as if from a distance, and an incredibly soft voice that echoed. A dull ache pulsed in my head and throat, but the rest of my body seemed to be suspended in nothingness.

"Are you alright?" it seemed to be saying, "Can you hear me?"

Suddenly, a wave of light crashed over me and I gasped for breath. "Where am I?"

Two concerned faces appeared over me, and a dappled white ceiling. The woman spoke. "You fainted, so you're in one of the dressing rooms."

"How long was I out?" I put a hand to my face and felt wetness. Tears and blood mingled on my fingertip.

"Why- why am I bleeding?" Frantically, I pushed against the forceful hands that were holding me down.

"It's alright, you're okay. Stay there. We don't want you fainting again." The woman paused, and sighed. "When you fainted, you slid down under the table and caught your neck and face on the rough cushion- the bottom is quite brutal. I'm sorry."
"No, no, it's my fault," I apologized frantically, "I'm so sorry to waste your time, my apologies,"