Grace's dream was a career in the fashion industry. But while she's finally pursuing that dream, her personal life remains a nightmare. Will she be able to escape an abusive relationship? And will she be able to find happiness and maybe true love?
After working in the fashion industry for two years, I feel like nothing can surprise me. Yet here I am, on set to do a campaign...as the model. I can't lie and say I don't enjoy creating content for Instagram but that and modelling for a legit campaign are vastly different things. At first, I thought about saying no, thinking they had only thought of me because of Rúben. I've been getting more and more offers for Instagram ads and things like that since we made our relationship public. But it turns out the team for this shoot is one I met back when I worked for the Stylist and that already asked me to be their model back then.
So here I am, ready to model. Or something like that.
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"Ok, Grace. You've seen the models do this way too many times. Time to do it yourself", says the photographer.
And so I start posing. They direct me a little bit more than usual at first when they notice my nerves. But slowly, I get used to it. And it's actually quite fun.
"You're doing great", says Sarah, the owner of the brand when I'm getting my make-up touch-ups.
"Thank you. I hope you like the end result".
"I'm sure I will. And we can do an event when the campaign launches too, maybe?"
"Sure".
"And maybe...", her change of tone tells me all I need to know about what comes next, "your boyfriend can come to the party too?"
I try not to show how I feel about being used, but it's hard not to. "He's really busy, so I can't say for sure that he'll be able to".
"Of course. We'll just talk about it when the time comes".
"Yeah".
Sarah leaves and Paul, the stylist, leads me to get changed into the next outfit.
"Grace, it's just her that cares about who you date. None of us does".
"It's fine. I should have guessed".
"You were having fun and the photos are stunning. Don't let this upset you".
"I won't", I say, smiling again.
The crew doesn't deserve to see me moody. They are just doing their job.
**
"Hi!!"
The moment Ines sees me, she runs to hug me. We haven't seen each other in a couple of weeks but today I felt like I needed to talk to someone who could understand me.
"Do you want to go grab a drink somewhere or do you prefer to come to my place?", I offer.
"Well, there is Luna as the deciding factor so you can guess what I choose".
"Everyone chooses her".
Back at my apartment, I get some coffee ready for us and a little can of food for Luna.
"Ok, tell me why you look so upset".
"I had a shoot today", I start saying.
"It didn't go well?"
"No, it did go well. But I was modelling for once".
"Oh, that's lovely!", exclaims Ines. She's wanted me to model for a while.
"It was until the owner of the brand made it clear she only wanted me there because of Rúben".
"Been there", she says.
"And how do you deal with that? I've worked so hard and gotten so far...I don't want to get jobs like this because of who my boyfriend is. People already think everything I've done is because of him. Even the things I achieved before meeting him. It's so frustrating".
Ines takes a deep breath and seems to try to find the right words to say.
"I don't know if I deal with it, to be honest. I just know it will happen sometimes and do my job the best I can to prove to people that they should have hired me for me, not for who I date".
"I guess that's a better way to see it", I concede.
"And Grace, you're such a hard-working person. Who cares if a randomer who doesn't know you thinks you've been given a job because of Rúben? You know the truth. And so does everyone that matters".
That's exactly what I needed to hear.
"Thank you", I tell her, finding a reason to smile again. "I needed those words".
**
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Gracewells: I much rather stay behind the camera but this was such a cool experience. Thanks to the team ❤️
-Inesdegenertomaz: coming for my job?
-Gracewells: you don't need to worry 😂
-user8540: You're not even that pretty. They only hired you because of Rúben. Lol.
-user2467: Are we looking at the same person? She's gorgeous.
