Life Begins at Midnight

Envy

Monica couldn't believe it. Her sister had told her what she couldn't bring herself to believe. That she, Monica Giulia Neapolitana, was rejected by Richard West. And that was not the worst part. The worst part was that Swot-Girl Analemma had landed the gig. A photoshoot. With Ricky West. In his own house! Monica was shattered. Throughout, she had let herself believe that it had been hers. "What do you mean, Zoe? It cannot be! I had the best preliminaries. I made sure that Swot-Girl Analemma was covered with ink when she went for her preliminary shots. You know you're missing photo-ink... I took it, okay? I made sure her preliminaries would be messed up."

"Mona, calm down. I'm her photographer for tomorrow's shoot. And Ricky didn't even go through the preliminaries. And hers are beautiful. I've seen them. She deserves a chance, Mona."

"Not. Ricky. West."

"Mona, please calm down. Ricky West has chosen the one girl who had check-marked only against his name, and nobody else's. He didn't care that it was some silly schoolgirl with no modelling experience whatsoever. Now I only know Ricky's side of the bargain, but I'm safely guessing that all the other six jobs will be lining up for you, so you're still going to be spoilt for choice. Anyway, I'll see tomorrow who this Analemma girl really is." Zoe tried to talk some sense into her little sister.

"Zo, will you give her a hard time?" Monica pleaded. Zoe had no inclinations of complying, but she said "Yes, Mona. Of course." Because she knew that her little sister needed to hear that if she ever was to put back her confidence, piece by piece. The truth was that this had hit Monica exactly where it hurt the most. Right in the heart of her pride.

Monica had disliked Swot-Girl from the start. Now she hated her.