Incandescent

Chapter 5

years ago

"Payal, you know how it works. And we have a contract with our agency. We will offend them."

"Then we'll hire her through the agency. I'm sure Mrs. Mehta will agree with me when she sees the girl. Arnav, trust me. She's a natural. Even Aman thinks so and he's your best, hotshot photographer."

Arnav let out a huge sigh. Payal was a good judge in these matters and seeing her so confident, he didn't have reason enough not to relent.

"Get me her photos. Who does she work for? How long has she been modeling. Has she been a showstopper?"

Payal swallowed audibly.

"Ermm... She's... she's new. And... she's not a model..." she blurted.

Arnav put his pen down from the sketch he was making and gave Payal a look that spelled 'you can't be serious'.

"Payal, just why are we having this conversation? We can't possibly lift someone off the street and make her walk the ramp. It's not that easy..."

"But not impossible. I will train her. Personally."

He sighed again, "Whatever. I'm not going to waste time arguing with you. And I don't understand the need for you to waste your time with something like this either. I'll give her one chance only because you are asking and you seem confident. If it doesn't work or if I don't like her, you have to let it go."

"Done. But when you see her, you'll owe me one."

Arnav rolled his eyes. "Photos?"

She put an envelope forward but before he could pick them up, she stopped him and said, "you can see the photos later. Come with me to the studio and see her in person before that."

"Payal! You're unbelievable. You brought her here already. What if I hadn't agree?"

She winked. "I just knew you would."

•••

Khushi was scared, her legs felt week and she was apprehensive. She sat in the studio with her mother waiting for Payal and her boss. She had half the mind to get up and run and never stop until she was far, far away from all this. The building, the office and everything looked like a faraway world from the one she had been used to.

She remembered the conversation they had with her father the day she had told him she wanted to get into modeling. He had tried his level best to stop this from happening. He had tried to explain to his daughter and wife that it wasn't their lifestyle and people in their acquaintances would find it immoral. Girls in their family just didn't put their bodies to blatant display like that. He had ranted, pleaded and did his level best to stop her from ruining her life, as he put it. When he had asked who, in their circle would marry Khushi after all this, Garima had simply said when Khushi would succeed, their circles would be far different from the ones now. When nothing worked he had reluctantly let them go. And Garima had been all too eager to accompany her to Delhi.

Khushi now looked at the other models gathered in the room. They were practicing for something and they were aptly dressed keeping in line with the place they worked for and looked smart and sexy and everything she was not. There were some male models too. What scared Khushi in all this was the way they were all practicing walks and the way they conducted themselves. And she knew she probably could never do that herself.

All said, Khushi knew she couldn't, wouldn't back off now because that would be cowardly and Khushi had never been one to back away from a challenge. That's when she saw him enter the room. He walked in behind Payal and they were walking towards her. Khushi swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and stood skewered to her place. She couldn't have moved even if her life depended on it. Thick black hair, definitive bone structure and almost six feet of pure male gorgeousness with deep, chocolate brown orbs stared directly at her.