Chapter 22
I hadn’t talked to Gabby much since the conference in New York, but I reached out to her after Russ told me she was the model in question.
I didn’t tell her how the circumstances surrounding her new opportunity impacted me.
It wasn’t her fault or her problem. So, I just congratulated her and planned to see her when she came back to the East Coast.
Russ’s meeting with his lawyer was short, but it gave me hope.
Russ was advised to wait until after the success of the runway show to approach the board.
The idea was that the momentum of positive press and the uptick in sales would help alleviate concerns.
In the meantime, my contract and the company’s fraternization policy were being analyzed to see if there was a way around it.
When the lawyer suggested a relationship disclosure form and a consensual relationship agreement, Russ had him start the process of drafting it that same day.
It seemed a little too easy, but I wanted it to work out. So, I went with it.
If Russ wasn’t stressing it, I wasn’t going to stress it either.
After talking to my mom, I made peace with the fact that they’d brought on another model to encroach on my workload.
After talking to Russ, I was happy to hear that I’d be working with Gabby.
It wasn’t an ideal situation, but I was genuinely happy for her.
After talking to Gabby, I realized that Bowen was also based in LA, so it made sense.
But after I arrived at the RLF meeting on Wednesday, I was alarmed by the reaction I was met with when I entered the showroom.
“Nina, I’m so sorry!” Taisha gasped before enveloping me in a hug out of nowhere. One of her locs got tangled in the clasp of my bracelet as she tried to pull away.
“Oh no, wait,” I demanded.
She grabbed my wrist. “It’s my fault. I kind of ambushed you.” She carefully unhooked herself and then stared at it for a moment. “Fantasy,” she read the engraved words. “Aw, this is gorgeous.”
“Thank you.”
She took a step back and eyed me. “You’re okay?”
“Yeah, of course,” I answered.
“We heard the news. I can’t believe they’re replacing you. It doesn’t make any sense,” Jonah expressed, coming over to us with the two others right behind him.
“You should’ve been there on Saturday. Bowen would’ve loved you,” Jacqueline pointed out.
“Yeah. They would have,” Matias agreed. “Are they getting rid of you?”
“What are you going to do?” Jacqueline asked.
All of them were staring at me expectantly.
“I’m going to do my job,” I told them, looking around the group. “I appreciate the concern, but it’s all going to work out.”
“How are you so calm about all of this?” Taisha wondered.
“Well, what is she going to do? Go to Remedy and Russell and demand they reconsider?” Jonah scoffed.
“That’s not a bad idea.” Jacqueline chewed her thumb.
“Yes, it is,” Taisha asserted. “It’s a terrible idea.”
“Why would she set her up like that?” Matias questioned.
“Because if they get away with this, it sets a precedent,” Jacqueline explained. “If they can get rid of Nina like this, they can get rid of any one of us next.”
“We’ve shot all of the promo footage so no matter what, our pictures are the ones that’ll be in stores and on the website and social media.” Jonah folded his arms over his chest. “Our contracts protect us.”
“They don’t protect us,” Taisha countered. “But they do agree to pay us out and—”
Jacqueline put her hands to her face. “After the way they were raving about Nina, if they can do it to her, who is next?”
The door to the showroom flew open. The sound of Angelica’s heels clicked as she approached. “Why are you standing around?” she asked in a sharp tone. Then she pointed to the table with paperwork on it. “Let’s get started.”
The conversation stopped immediately, and we silently rushed over to the worktable.
The lead stylist broke down what we were taking with us to wear on our visits to the stores in Atlanta.
She took us one by one to the racks and gave us our wardrobe.
While I was with her, I heard the others speculating about my time with RLF and being upset on my behalf.
After putting the outfits in garment bags, we were sent to the conference room to meet with Lori and Remedy.
It was the first time I’d seen them since the last photoshoot, and so much had changed since that day.
“A lot has changed since we were last here,” Remedy started, reading my mind. “You were popular content creators and now you are models for the next ‘it’ brand.” She smiled as Lori held up a large posterboard. “You are officially commercial models!”
Seeing the image, I gasped.
It was beautiful.
Wearing white tops and jeans, the five of us looked incredible. The poses, the background, the editing, the clothes—all of it worked. We all started talking at once.
“Oh my God!”
“This is great!”
“Wow!”
“Love it!”
“Holy shit!”
Our praise for what we were seeing seemed to shake off the uneasiness that clouded our meeting since my arrival.
“You’ll have a busy couple of days in Atlanta,” Lori pointed out.
“The images in this series will be in the stores that you’re going to.
Your itinerary has been emailed to you. You’ll all be staying in the same hotel, and you’ll be taking the same flight.
We have a large market in Atlanta so even though you’ll be traveling together and staying in the same hotel, you will be in different stores. ”
Remedy looked around the conference table at each of us.
“You will be representing RLF so please review your contract and the terms and conditions of the role. Please reread the code of conduct and fraternization policies”—her eyes lingered on me for a moment too long—“so we are moving into these new heights with no incidents or issues. We are investing a lot of money into the runway show, so we want to feed off the Fashion Week buzz with these appearances. You’ll be in Atlanta first and then New York, Miami, Los Angeles.
You…” She grabbed her phone and looked at it for a second before excusing herself from the room.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the call was from her brother.
“You’ll be in New York doing appearances around the city ahead of the runway show,” Lori stated, picking up where Remedy left off. “The show will be on Monday, so you’ll be able to watch it online. Any questions?” Lori looked around inquisitively.
I shook my head. Someone else murmured a “no” but most of us remained silent.
“You have early flights in the morning, and we still need your content posted on social media, so we’ll conclude this meeting if there are no questions,” she continued.
We exchanged goodbyes and as soon as we were at the elevator and out of earshot, we started talking again.
“They didn’t even mention the new model,” Taisha pointed out. “What is going on?”
“Do they think sending us an email with the information is sufficient?” Jacqueline questioned. “Because I think we all deserve an explanation!”
“How are you, Nina?” Jonah asked, rubbing my shoulder.
I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted.
“Nina, can I speak with you?” Remedy’s voice cut through our conversation.
Jonah’s hand instantly fell from my shoulder, and we all whipped around to face her. The five of us froze, unsure of how much she’d heard. The elevator dinged, highlighting the silence we stood in.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told the other models as they rushed into the elevator. Walking toward the woman with the serious expression on her face, I braced myself. “Hey, Remedy.”
“I want to be clear that the decision to bring on an additional plus model was a business decision and not a personal one. Your face is still the face that’ll appear in the in-store advertising.
But in a couple weeks, Gabriella will be joining you in your appearance at the Bowen stores in Miami. Is that going to be a problem?”
“No.”
“Good.” She gave a definitive nod. “Your response to the email welcoming Gabriella to the team was gracious. Your social media posts have been consistently reaching our target audience. And I’ve heard that the other models have been speculating about the events that took place this weekend.
From what Angelica told me, you didn’t engage.
” She took a step closer. “We have a board meeting on Friday and we’re selecting our final look. I’m going to nominate you to walk it.”
My eyebrows flew up. “You’re going to nominate me?”
“Yes.”
I was not expecting that.
“Oh, wow, thank you!” I put my hand to my chest. “That would be amazing.”
With a self-satisfied smile, she nodded again.
“There will be a vote. But Angelica has been speaking about you to the coordinators as we’ve been putting together the show.
Russell’s been speaking highly of you since we brought you on, so even though he doesn’t vote on this, if Angelica and I are for it, he’ll approve it.
And I’ll be echoing their sentiments with the board when we finalize the vision.
The decision will be announced on Monday and if selected, your events for next week will change because you’ll have rehearsal. ”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Thank you.”
She picked up her phone and concluded the conversation. “Make it a good trip.”
I didn’t even get a chance to say thank you or goodbye because she’d already turned her back to me.
“Russell, I have news,” she answered as she walked away.
Knowing it was Russ on the phone with her, I felt warmth spreading through me. Trying to shake it off, I pressed the elevator call button.
When I got home, I posted on social media, packed the clothes I’d gotten from Angelica, talked to Russ for about an hour, and then got a good night’s sleep.
I had an early flight in the morning.
I got to the airport, checked my bags, and then walked to my gate. I saw Taisha sitting by herself and I approached.
“Hey,” I greeted, taking a seat next to her.