Desire

FIVE

FIVE

Tiana

"Good morning Gabby, did I get any important calls today?" I asked as I scooted inside the limo.

"Your meeting with this new clothing line called to make sure you're actually coming on this morning. That's all." She said.

"No call from Michael?" I asked eagerly. I was hoping the man himself would have called and hand picked me to be his leading lady. I knew how well I did at the auditions, he just didn't want to express it.

"Michael?"

"Jackson!" I said through clenched teeth. Gabby jumped at my sudden burst then shook her head.

"I didn't get any call regarding him or any audition." She says, pulling her clipboard closer to her. I raised an eyebrow at her, trying to figure out if I should believe her words or not. The only time Gabby kept something from me was when I found that flyer for the auditions so I shouldn't expect her to withhold anything else.

"What should I expect from this meeting?" I said. "And did you get me some coffee like I asked?" She quickly nodded and handed me a cup. I wondered why Gabby was so jumpy today. Was it something I said? Ah, it couldn't have been.

"The most I know about this meeting is that they want you to try on some outfits and see if it'll need anything done to it. Maybe having the sides taken up or something." Gabby shrugged as she marked something off on her clipboard. I only nod and take a sip of my coffee. I wasn't quite impressed with the way it tasted so I sat it back down in the cup holder. Gabby's eyes burned the side of my face as I did that. "If you have the chance, I want to speak to you about your finances."

"No. I've already had this conversation with you once." I told her.

"Tiana please! Please listen to me!" She shouts. "You're slowly going into debt and your parents are still sending me letters daily asking if you could help them out before their house is taken away."

"I'm the highest paid model in the world, how am I going into debt?" I asked her, completely ignoring what she said about my parents.

"You have to pay all your workers, photographers, outfits that you actually keep, flights, and don't get me started on your expensive tastes." She explains as she counts off on her fingers. "You may be the highest paid but you are not touching every penny that you earn and I wish you'd understand that. If you made a million today, you'd probably only see 500 thousand, maybe less than that!"

"All I'm trying to say is get yourself a budget made. I understand that you want to be able to spend your money on what you want for once but Jesus Tiana!" She continues. I sat there and I took her words in for once in my life. I actually cared for what she was saying. I was slowly going into debt the more and more I spent. For once, I was going to listen.

"Okay. Let's see how this budgeting process goes." I said. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her smile from ear to ear. She was so happy that I'd finally given up my stubbornness for this.

"What about you parents?" She asks quietly, almost afraid to ask.

"I can't do anything to help them right now."

* * *

After doing a wardrobe check, Gabby and I had nothing else left on the list. I was starting to wonder what was taking Michael so long to call and tell me I made the cast. I'm pretty sure he was very interested in my explicit dancing. Slow music definitely set the mood that day. I wondered if he was too busy to call everyone the day after.