Once Upon a City (#OnceUponNow Top 25)

✶Chapter 5✶

Watching from one of the televisions that was wired backstage, Cindy felt a nervous knot twist in her stomach. The moment that she had been anticipating was finally here. She was finally going to participate in her first catwalk.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the 26th annual Charmaine Fashion Show!"

Applause erupted through the crowd and Cindy couldn't believe how loud they sounded. They roared with such excitement and anticipation, that Cindy's ears were still ringing when the applause had came to a pause.

"I'm Roy Letterman and I'll be your host for tonight. We have a very interesting line up this evening which will make you ooo and ah at all of the new fashions that are coming out this season! So without further ado, let's start off with a bang!" He said as fireworks erupted from the sides of the stage.

Wow, that was so corny, thought Cindy.

"This is your cue, this is your cue!" Nervously screamed the backstage managers. "Models, let's go,go, go!" They said, making a motion with their hands to pick up the pace. Cindy was thankful that over the past two years she had experience with walking in heels. If she hadn't had a job at such a high end company, she probably would've never gotten the balance practice that she needed.

"Showtime," said Kay, cracking her fingers. As techno pop music blared loudly from the speakers, Cindy kept her eyes glued to the television. The first male who had walked out had a very bad case of blemishes. Clearly, he wasn't wearing any makeup. This boy didn't seem to let that get to him though because he struck a killer pose at the end of the catwalk and then fiercely walked back. As the camera zoomed in on the crowd, they were seen gossiping to each other and making disgusted looking faces.

The next model to walk out was a cute, petite framed girl with glasses and a short blonde bob. The girl was plus-sized and broke the stereotypical model type, but she didn't seem to let that get her down. She walked with her head held high and confident and she held herself in a very professional manner. Cindy nearly gawked at the grace and poise that this woman had, admiring her natural talent and beauty.

The next model was a scrawny, short male of about five foot height. A definite height change from the average model, he seemed a little unsure of himself at first. However when he got down to the end of the catwalk, he struck a pose that sent the crowd into a fit of cheers.

As the camera zoomed in on the audience, a lot of them were seen chatting and typing a storm on their phones. Cindy jumped out of her thoughts when she heard a loud gasp from Kay.

"What?"

By the way Kay's eyes widened, she knew that something was horribly wrong. "We're being blown up with hate online! These comments are so horrible!"

"What? Why? Like what?" Asked Cindy, her heart rate speeding up.

" I don't even want to repeat it. I'm absolutely disgusted with society right now," Kay said, shaking her head.

A male model towards the middle of the shrinking line glanced back at Kay and Cindy. "Yeah, she's right. People are throwing major shade towards the models right now. Look. This comment says, 'Really disappointed with Charmaine Fashion Show tonight. Sad to see the amount of unprofessionality coming from this show. Definitely won't be tuning in next year'." Rolling his eyes, the model locked his phone. Clearly he wasn't one who was going to let the comments bring his performance down.

"What a jerk," Cindy replied.

"Tell me about it," added in Kay.

A person rushing from one end of the backstage set to the other frantically chatted on his cell phone. "I know. Mister and Misses Charmaine are not happy. They have no idea how all of this became such a huge and unprofessional mess!"

Kay's eyes locked with Cindy's and Cindy noticed the dancing flame within her gaze.

"Kay, just calm down."

Shaking her head, she sighed. "This is wrong. So wrong."

Heavy pairs of footsteps could be heard coming from behind the models. Valentino walked side to side with Jaxon, fury written on both of their faces.

"Charlie," said Jaxon, averting his attention to the head backstage manager. "I'm taking charge now."

"But Charming, your parents said-"

"That's not important right now," he said, stepping in front of all of the models. "I need you all to follow my cues. When I walk out there, I want the music to cut off and I want you all to follow me. Every single one of you."

With a determined gleam in his eye, he paced back and forth before the group of models. "You all are lined up in five rows. You all will follow me as I speak a few words. When I'm finished, you all will depart off stage by rows that way it looks nice, neat, and orderly. This whole hate situation needs to be fixed and needs to be fixed now."

"Agreed," added in Valentino.

© Lightning_Stryker 2016