Hers 2 (Ruby Rose)

12| Try

"ARE YOU SURE this is it?" Ruby asked me for the second time as we approached the doors of a small warehouse. I glanced at my phone, then at the address on the card, and then at the number above the door.

"Yep, this is it." I replied. We had both been expecting a nicer place, maybe a tall building, but where we were right now didn't even have a sign to indicate that it was the right place. We had already spent way too much money on transport to get here, so all we could do was pray this was it.

"It doesn't look like anyone is here." She said, referring to the lack of cars on the street. "Oh well." Before she could walk off, I grabbed her arm.

"We haven't even knocked yet." I said, pulling her back. She threw her head back and groaned while I knocked against the metal door.

We waited for several seconds, but no one came to answer the door.

I was determined for Ruby to do this, so I reached for the handle.

"What are you doing?" Ruby hissed, grabbing my wrist.

"What?"

"We don't know if we're at the right place. What if some angry mechanic is behind that door? You can't just barge in-"

She immediately looked pissed when I pushed the handle down, opening the door.

As soon as I did, the sound of electrical music hit our ears, and I couldn't help but smile to myself. No wonder they couldn't hear us.

"You first," I said, standing to the side to let Ruby through, "and try to look a little happy."

Ruby rolled her eyes and walked through, stopping just behind the door. Ahead of us were several people, including a model and photographer, standing in front of a artificial white background. He continued taking photos of her while she changed poses, like a true professional, and the photographer yelled commands at her.

As I closed the door behind me, the sound of metal hitting together caught the photographer's attention. He glanced over his shoulder.

"Name, please." He said, lacking tone in his voice.

"Ruby Rose." Ruby said. She was clearly uncomfortable and I felt a little bad.

A woman beside him picked up a clipboard and ran the back of her pen down the paper before stopping halfway. She then ticked something.

"Take a seat, Ruby." She said, gesturing to the area of the warehouse that had racks of clothing and a vanity with lights.

As Ruby went over, I stayed where I was, unsure of what to do with myself. No one had acknowledged me yet and I didn't want to be in the way. I noticed a couch near me and walked over to it, sitting down with my legs crossed.

For an hour, they worked on her hair and makeup, giving her a smokey eyeshadow and smoothing out her hair. Occasionally, we would make eye contact through the mirror, and her eyes would read 'help me'. I didn't understand why she hated it so much. A lot of people would love to have their hair and makeup professionally done, or be a model.

I gave her a subtle thumbs up and I saw the tiniest smile form on her lips before she went back to pursuing them as they applied lipstick.

When they revealed that she would be wearing a dress, I almost squealed out loud. I had never seen her in a dress before, so I was excited. Ruby looked far from happy, but she took the dress anyway and walked behind a curtain.

I watched the photographer show the model the pictures on the camera while she put on a jacket, as she was finished for the day. A few minutes later, Ruby emerged from behind the curtain and the styling team immediately rushed over to adjust her dress.

I held my fist against my mouth to hide the fact that I was grinning from ear to ear. The long sleeved stress was the most sparkly thing I had ever seen. It was midnight black, and made her legs look long and shiny.

She made me reconfirm my feelings for her. I was definitely in love.

"I'm ready for her." The photographer said, taking a few steps backwards. Ruby walked over, her heels clicking against the cement floor.

I felt nervous for her, maybe more nervous than her, but Ruby could just glance at the camera and she would already look like she was posing. She constantly looked like a model, so she barely had to do anything.

The photographer sensed this too. I also noticed that he didn't yell the commands at her, unlike for the other model. In fact, he barely told her what to do.

I had goosebumps throughout the photoshoot. All I could think about was how lucky I was to be able to be with her. I could not wait until we got back to the hotel room.

"SERIOUSLY? ALL THAT, and I don't even get paid?" Ruby said as soon as we walked out of the warehouse. It was dark out now, and we had been in there for about six hours. We were both starving and exhausted, but Ruby was more than I was.

I shrugged. "Everyone starts somewhere." I said.

"I'm never doing that again. That was pointless. I just feel used."

I frowned. "But you were amazing! Just wait until you see the pictures, and then you'll realize how badly you need to keep doing this."

Ruby sighed. "I don't know, Ellis. I didn't exactly enjoy it." She suddenly looked sad, and then it hit me that forcing her to do something was not a good idea.

"Okay, okay fine." I hugged her side as we walked down the street. "I'm proud of you for giving it a go."

She finally smiled at me and pressed her lips to the top of my head.

"And did you notice how nice the photographer was to you? He was an asshole to the other girl."

Ruby made a sound. "They were all assholes, actually."

"True," I nodded. No one ever looked my way or asked me who I was. They all seemed stuck up.

"I actually want to take you somewhere, but it's a bit far away from here." I said. "It's in the city."

"We have all night, babe."

I smiled, but I knew she needed sleep. We would have to save it for tomorrow.