Falling With Style {Chris Evans}

twenty-four

Today was the day.

As organized as it all was, it still felt totally scattered for Mila who was really freaking out. The confidence she felt when she put on the outfit for the photo shoot felt somewhat diminished after realizing how many people were out there on the other side of the thick curtains.

Ashley tried telling her, "There's only a few thousand people out there! Fashion Week this year is going to have almost a quarter of a million people attending, consider yourself lucky!"

It definitely shut Mila up, but it didn't help her nerves. It really didn't help considering Ashley was only anticipating a couple hundred people to show up, but the promotional photo shoot and the message behind it as well as people like Chris Evans and Sofie Willow being involved along with their celebrity friends that promoted it by sharing the pictures really helped and all had something to do with it.

Like the day of the photo shoot, Mila had minimal makeup with just enough white and sparkles to contrast with the white outfit on her brown skin. The only difference was that her hair stylist agreed with Ashley that it would look better if her hair was down and loosely curled rather than in an updo.

None of the fashion show rehearsals felt like they really prepared her for what was on the other side of the curtains. The other models wearing the different outfits all looked so confident. From what Mila could tell from overhearing a few of them backstage was that most of them had done small scale pageants and contests in their fashion modeling careers. Mila was here for one reason and one reason only: Ashley wanted her there so badly.

"What's wrong?" Ashley's voice took Mila away from imagining everything on the other side of the curtain.

"Is Chris here yet? I think I need a pep talk."

Ashley was about to answer, but Sofie had just walked up and chimed it. She offered a gentle hand on Mila's shoulder and said, "Mila, you look better than beautiful. Just remember that Ashley designed this with you in mind. You were meant to go out there in this. Besides, I talked to Chris an hour ago and he had just parked."

Mila let out a breath of relief. Her phone died as soon as she rushed to the venue from studying for her exams around the corner. She looked back to Ashley who was wearing something more along the lines of business attire because she wanted to set a certain image when she introduced her line. To match the setting, she wore a collared white dress where the edges of the collars were bedazzled with clear rhinestones. She wore white platform heels to complete it and a single bracelet that was a plain silver chain link design.

"You're fine, I promise. This is the easiest part. You've come this far, just knock it out! Besides, you can wear whatever you want to the after party. However, I'd prefer if you wore that because you look fucking hot. Gotta go now, bye!" She added a sly wink and smirk at the end before she ran to the center of the curtains. In just a few short moments, they would open slightly for her to introduce herself and the line. Mila would be the third model to walk out while Sofie would be right after her.

She could hear the roar of applause in response to Ashley's introduction as she talked about the line a little. She was also in and out of a conversation Sofie was having with another model and the makeup artist doing finishing touches on her.

When one of the producers gave Mila the cue, she lined up behind the person that was to walk out in front of her. She ended up giving herself her own pep talk along with performing a few breathing exercises to help with the weight on her chest.

You look gorgeous. This was literally made for you. Every inch of you. Remember Chris and his reaction when he saw that picture? Imagine what he'll think when he sees you in person tonight. You're not only Mila right now, but you're a model for the next few hours, and you're an actor. Put on a brave face, look down at yourself, and set the stage.