Scars

Part 48

(Nichole)

The next day:

Nichole's POV:

It was early morning and Sydney and I were already on location, downtown Los Angeles, in the heart of the city.  Central to all the action.   A prime location.   And what that meant was one thing.  If there was talent here, we would find it.  At least, that was the hope.  Because that was the goal.  The whole purpose of us being here.  To find talent.  A fresh look.  The next big thing.  

Because quite simply, that was the point where that agency was now at.  Because in order to continue to be competitive in this type of market, which was nothing short of a cutthroat industry, we had to continue to bring in new talent.  We had to continue to produce.  And although the agency had been very successful at doing exactly that over the years, lately that had been lacking.  Things had become stale.  To the point, where we needed to bring life back into the agency.  In order to remain one of the top competitors in the world.  So yes, that's the point we were now at.  And that's where Sydney and I came in.  In fact, that's what we were here for.  We had a job to do.  To find that talent.  And I intended to get it done. 

But with that being said, the talent had to be here.  And there was no way of knowing if it was.  But if it was, we would find it.  At least that was the hope. 

The plan was that during the first week, we would simply scout out potential talent.  We would have the models simply walk in, let us view them live.  See how they carried themselves.  See if they captured our attention and to see whether or not they commanded the stage.  And then, any of the models that passed this initial stage, would then be invited back to a personal photoshoot.  It would be at this point where I would take a series of photos, in order to see how well they photographed.  Because in order to be a successful model, you had to have that certain look, not only live but also in photos too.  You had to have both.  There was no way around it. So, that was the challenge.  And challenging it was.  But it was a challenge I was ready to take on.

And I knew Sydney was too.  As her and I were both seasoned professionals.  We had both had been in the industry for a long time and had both survived and preserved through the harsh, competitive nature of all of it.  And to not only make it in this industry, but to survive, as well, wasn't easy.  But we had both done exactly that.  So, without question, we both knew what it took.  We knew what was required and what you had to bring to the table.  So, if the right model for the agency was out there, I knew her and I would find it.  But, again, we could only hope that it was actually there. 

"Oh my God", Sydney muttered to me under her breath, as a slew of models had already walked through.  "This is horrific.  What the hell?"

We were only a few hours in, but we still had yet to see anything worthwhile.  Every single girl that had come through was completely cookie cutter.  Completely vanilla.  And completely forgettable.  There was absolutely nothing remarkable about any of them.  And it's not to say that many of them weren't pretty.  In fact, many of them were absolutely gorgeous.  But that's not all we were looking for.   Because there was way more to being a model than just being gorgeous.  It was about having a certain look.  It was about the way you presented yourself.  The way you carried yourself.   Your confidence.  Your attitude.  The way you commanded center stage.  And quite simply we weren't seeing any of that.  In fact, it was far from it.

"I don't know", I said, looking around at large crowd of girls patiently waiting their turn.  And honestly, I was starting to get a little nervous.  Because, even though it was still only the first day, and still relatively early on, the fact was, things needed to turn around.  And turn around relatively quickly.  Because we on a mission here.  And to go back to New York empty handed... well that just wasn't an option.   "But it's still early on.  It's only the first day.  So, let's just be patient.  And keep trying to find what we're looking for", I said, trying to convince myself, as much as her.