All Because of You

Chapter 9

*Troye's P.O.V*

"Troye Sivan?" A taller man with light brown hair stepped out of the office, and I swallowed nervously.

"Yep. That's me. Hi," I babbled, mentally chiding myself for my horrible response. Nervously, I wiped my palms on my jeans before reaching out to shake his hand. Connor's hand ran down my back, making goose bumps erupt along my spine and calming my nerves.

"You'll do fine. Good luck," he whispered to me as I followed his boss into the office, wishing I could bring him with me. Just to calm my nerves, I reasoned with myself.

"Hi, Troye. I'm RIcky Dillon. Have a seat," he gestured to a large plush chair sitting in front of his desk as he relaxed in the chair behind it. Carefully, I perched myself in the chair, trying not to seem too tense and uncomfortable.

"So, of course I've got the regular application questions for you, seeing as you never got an application to fill out. Let's start with those." I nodded carefully, trying to pay as much attention as possible and not get distracted with everything in the room around me.

"Sure," I said, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. As he began asking the simpler questions, I forced myself to relax. They were just the basic application questions mostly, questions that I had been used to filling out for years. Finally, he set his paperwork aside and, weaving his fingers together, leaned forward a bit on his desk.

"Now that that's out of the way..." he said seriously, and I tried not to let my nerves show as my heart rate picked up speed. But instead of talking about something ten times more terrifying than the common job application, he smiled suddenly and spun around in his chair, kicking his feet up on his desk. "Was the shoot with Mr. Franta really your first shoot ever?"

Mr. Franta? I thought to myself, trying to fit the pieces together. Oh, he means Connor.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered. "He just convinced me to do it one day." Ricky nodded thoughtfully.

"They turned out well, the pictures. You really have a natural gift for modeling." I blushed, shifting uncomfortably in my seat from the compliment; after living on the streets for so many years, I wasn't used to them any more.

"Um. Thanks?" It came out as more of a question, and my face turned an even darker shade of red. Ricky only laughed though, not rudely, but like this would be an inside joke between us for years.

"So obviously because of that, I can't ask you the regular modeling questions, but I like you. You seem like a good kid." He made a face as he thought, and I just sat there, my heart beating fast. "I've got a photo shoot scheduled for later today and I'm one model short. How about you fill in, I'll pay you for the one shoot, and then decide from there if I hire you or not?" I tried to stay calm as I digested his words.

"Sure, if you want, I mean," I babbled before internally sighing. How many times can I embarrass myself in one interview? Ricky didn't laugh though; he just smiled before swinging his feet off of his desk and standing up.

"Come on, we'll grab Connor and take you down to makeup." I stood up hastily to follow him, trying not to loose my balance.

Connor was waiting right outside the door with his laptop, and when the door opened, he looked up, a look of surprise on his face quickly melting into almost guilt, like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be there. Ricky gave him a knowing smile as he scrambled to his feet.

"We're heading to makeup. You coming with?"

"I mean... Yeah, sure." Connor fell in line next to where I was carefully following Ricky. "So you got the job?" He whispered to me excitedly. I shrugged.