Learning to be Beautiful

Learning to be Beautiful ~24~

"No, no, no, no." Shaking his dark head, Linc moved to stand in front of me, one palm covering his eyes. "Go back to the beginning of the walk and start over."

Groaning, I slumped and trudged back to the beginning of the long cat walk. I had walked the course at least ten times already, but Linc still wasn't satisfied with my demeanor--he said I was too slouch-y.

"Correct your posture now, Ms. Palmin, or I'll have you put those shoes you like to call 'death-traps' back on and walk in them once more."

Quickly, I straightened my back, making sure to keep my head held high and my chin level. I wasn't sure if Linc would actually follow through with his threat, but I really didn't want to take the chance. My bare feet slapped against the cool catwalk as I walked back to the starting mark. The lights had yet to be turned on, so the white stage was dull and the entire room was quiet. In less than three hours, however, the whole building would be crawling with camera-people, spectators, and models.

"Now, walk." Linc waved me towards him and I started over from the beginning, fighting to keep my face straight and solemn, and my back rigid as a pole. "Good, now stop!" I stopped at the first turn off.

The entire runway was shaped like a 'T'. There were two turn offs that I had to walk onto and then pose on. That doesn't sound too terribly complicated, but according to Linc by the time I walked back, my hips were swaying too much and my back was curved.

Per the Brit's barked request, I continued my walk to the other side of the catwalk and posed there then walked back to the beginning. "Good enough?"

"Good enough won't cut it. It must be perfect." His tone was biting and I fought back an equally sour retort. "We're starting again. With the shoes."

"With the shoes?" Just the thought of walking in those spiky contraptions made my feet ache.

One of his dark eyebrows quirked upwards sarcastically. "Must I really repeat myself?"

I mumbled 'No' in an embarrassed tone whilst looking down at my feet, but stayed where I was.

Linc stepped forward, any trace of emotion except for annoyance wiped clean from his face. "Move yourself, Ms. Palmin."

"No." The simple word came out squeakily, so I steeled my nerves and repeated it. "No."

"Excuse me?"

I stepped towards him as well, looking him straight in the eye. I didn't stand up for myself very often, so this was new for me. "You heard me, Linc."

"Tell me, Ms. Palmin, how exactly do you plan on surviving in tonight's show if you don't even know how to walk down the runway properly?" He crossed his arms across his chest and shifted most of his weight to his right foot.

I wasn't expecting that question... "I'll manage."

"Oh yes, you seem completely competent when it comes to these sorts of things." His mocking words were off set by a condescending eye-roll. "You're a klutz, Ms. Palmin. A klutzy, incompetent, impossibly stubborn, idiot girl. That's the long and the short of it."

His words stung, especially considering my feelings for him, and I felt my eyes starting to sting as tears pricked at them. "I hate you, Linc Kingsman."

A snarky smirk lifted one corner of his lips. "Such fierce words from such a little girl. If that's true, then why did I wake up to you by my bedside the last time I was drunk, eh?" I gasped; he remembered that? "That doesn't seem like something one would do for someone they supposedly hated."

"I-I..." I was at a loss for words. "I don't have time for this." I bent swiftly to gather up the shoes, then prepared to march out of the room and up to Pierre to tell him that I wasn't going to deal with Linc any longer, but Linc's next words stopped me from moving another inch.