Lights, Camera & Action

Saam

"Chin up, Lingling," Charlotte warned for the hundredth time that night, practically seething as Lingling lifted her chin up, still sending texts to some of the celebrity acquaintances she hoped to run into at the gala. 

Lingling had been in hair and makeup for twenty minutes now, and Charlotte had only put on her foundation. Of course, Lingling hadn't heard a peep from neither Orm or Susie, and she tried to strain her mind away from it as much as possible, because the only thing she allowed herself to think about was what Charlotte said a few days prior. 

Every time Lingling recalled Junji's proposition, she laughed to herself, and Charlotte made her usual frustrated face, but Lingling didn't care. What Junji suggested was pretty hilarious, and Lingling couldn't believe Junji would ever come up with the idea that Lingling liked Orm in her wildest dreams. But in the back of Lingling's mind, she caught herself asking what if?

What if she had come to admire Orm's high pitched giggle or her goofy attitude about the most serious things, or the way she blushed on set when Lingling said something mildly flirtatious? Of course, it was all acting, and Orm was a damn good actor for being able to flush red on command, but Lingling was left to linger on the what if.

"Sorry I'm late!" A sweet voice called out, "My dress had to get tailored," Orm said, and Lingling watched her stumble into the room, a backpack slung around her shoulder, masking the long sleeve, lace embroidered white dress that fit tightly around Orm's small curves.

Lingling bit the inside of her cheek, partly because Charlotte had moved on to adding blush to cheekbones, and also because she was afraid she might scream because that dress looked so good on Orm..

"Have a seat, you're next after I finish torturing Lingling," Charlotte commented, reaching for the eyeshadow palette.

Orm nodded, taking her cell phone out of her small backpack. Lingling was eternally glad, because she wanted nothing to do with Orm until it was deemed necessary. It seemed a bit harsh, but what Junji had mentioned really struck Lingling at her core, and she wasn't sure she could handle Orm with that dwelling over her.

After Charlotte put the finishing touches on Lingling's now flawless face, she moved onto Orm, ordering Lingling to style her own hair. Lingling didn't think much of it, because for almost every event she went to, she ended up straightening her hair to perfection all by herself.

An hour later, there was a sharp rap on the door, and Junji let herself in. "It's almost show time, girls, I hope you're ready," Junji said, clutching a small black clipboard tightly to her chest.

"Lingling's ready, but I have a few more curls to do with Orm," Charlotte commented, untangling the iron from Orm's sleek hair.

Junji rolled her eyes, "If it's not done within the next thirty seconds, I'll fire you."

Charlotte's eyes widened, "Yes, ma'am," She replied, swiftly putting the last few pieces of already wavy hair into the rod of the iron, letting the sharp curls spring loose. Charlotte finished at the twenty seven second mark, ordering Orm to get up with a pat on the back.

"Show time, ladies, the red carpet is ready for you," Susie said, piling up behind Junji at the door.

Junji and Susie ushered the girls through the back entrance, almost shoving them out into the garden like exterior of the building. Like clockwork, paparazzi and reporters turned to the girls, and while Lingling immediately put on her best diva face, Orm resembled a deer in headlights. 

Lingling grabbed her hand in a spur of the moment decision, and leaned suggestively close to her ear and whispered, "Stop looking so fucking scared and act like I just said something really sexual to you."