CeCe had never been the type to embarrass too easily - probably a good thing for a person working in this industry. Born with an air of confidence radiating around her at all times, she had no problems with answering all of the personal questions the interviewers had been firing her way, nor did she mind talking about her audition tape, either.
“Was it scripted?” They’d asked.
“Nope, not even a little bit. That was basically a typical Saturday night for us. But I can totally do scripted, too.” CeCe had responded. Fortunately for her, she had plenty of proof online from her last company. Plus, having worked on Just Tattoo of Us for the past couple years, she had to be able to deal with some scripting.
They didn’t seem to need any convincing, and seemed to be pleased with all of CeCe’s answers. Like she’d been told already, this interview was more so just a formality at this point, anyway. They’d already seen her tape, they’d already given her all of the information and discussed a start date with her, this was just for them to finally meet her in person.
“Do you have any other questions?” They’d asked, after answering everything CeCe had had to ask before today already.
CeCe nodded in response. “I do. I know I saw something about pets on the initial application form, so I told y’all about them on there, but I just wanted to double check it’s cool that I bring them? I have two dogs, they’re fully trained and everything, so you don’t have to worry about them going potty on y’all’s shiny floors.”
The same person to have asked her the question smiled in response, nodding his head. “Pets are welcome. Your sister has her dog here, after all”
The words made CeCe’s blood run cold, the look on her face saying everything her mouth apparently wouldn’t. Apparently, she’d met his remark with silence for a little too long.
“Chloe? Everything okay?”
The sound of her name—she’d answer to Chloe if it was for something official like a job application—brought her back to reality. “What?” She swallowed, quickly shaking her head. “Oh, yeah, no. Totally fine. I just didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all. Kind of tired.”
The lie had been evident she thought, but considering she’d managed to make her voice sound as sincere and chipper as always, apparently it had gone right over his head. He simply nodded, sending another smile her way.
There were final formalities to go through, with CeCe ultimately signing on the dotted line, but to be perfectly honest she wasn’t really thinking properly anymore, and by the time everything was done and made official, she practically ran out the door. Her throat felt dry, and had she not made it outside and into the light evening breeze, she was sure she would’ve fainted or something.
CeCe knew her sister worked in the porn industry, it was something they’d both admitted to one another, and of course had never looked into as far as each other was concerned. But this one? Of all of the porn production companies in the world, Dani had to be working here. They hadn’t spoken for the better part of two years, maybe even more, but that didn’t stop CeCe from reaching into her pocket and digging out her phone, thumb automatically tapping on the iMessage app.
‘I—’ she typed, before erasing and replacing it with a simple, ‘Hey.’ That got erased, too. Finally, she pulled herself together, typing out an eventual: ‘Hey, it’s your sister. Remember me? Apparently we’re going to be working together..’
CeCe hit send after a brief pause, only to be met with the usual alert: Your message was not delivered.
NOTES ➝ Gaby goes for her Vogue interview. It doesn’t go well.
One of the many important life lessons Abuela had taught Gabriela was that on time is late. She could literally hear the older woman’s voice ringing through her head all morning, and she was going to listen to her advice. However, she was pretty sure there was such a thing as being there too early, so Gaby had been sitting in view of the building in her car for what felt like forever before she deemed it an appropriate time to go inside. Her surprise from Colton had been adorable, and she took one last look over the flowers he’d left for her, before finally driving into the building’s parking lot.
Giving herself a mental pep talk, Gaby collected her things, portfolio included, then climbed out of her car, straightening out her outfit as she headed into the building. She’d gone for a business look, one of her own designs, though the heels that clicked against the shiny floor as she entered the building were store bought—shoes had never been her forte. Gaby pushed a bright smile to her lips as she approached the reception desk, about to tell the lady behind it her name, though before she’d even gotten her first word out, a voice off to the side eagerly called her name.
Gaby looked over to where the voice was coming from, and immediately saw a taller, older lady approaching her. She was wearing a fitted white dress, her hair scraped back into a neat ponytail, and an excited smile on her face as she reached out to shake Gaby’s hand.
“Gabriela, we’re so thrilled to have you here! I’m Julia, I’ll be conducting your interview today. Though, I’ll be honest, it’s just a formality. We’re very excited to have you join us here at Vogue.”
A little blown away, Gaby’s brows raised, a smile tugging at her lips as she shook Julia’s hand back, letting her know how excited she was to be there. She could barely get a word in edgeways as Julia ushered her off to a nearby elevator, then to a large, almost empty, sparkling white office. The immaculate paint job was almost blinding, but Gaby chose not to focus on it as she followed Julia inside and took a seat across from her at the lone desk in the room. Of course, the desk was also bright white. Gaby looked completely out of place in her black dress, but Julia didn’t seem to mind. “So,” Julia said as she sat, beaming at Gaby. She said nothing else, so Gaby took it as her cue to start speaking.
“Yeah, um, so I still can’t believe you guys asked for me by name,” she said, laughing a little as she set her purse down on the floor beside her, then laid her unopened portfolio out on the table, turning it so the pictures would be the right way around to Julia. “Uh, I brought a bunch of pictures of my designs on all different sizes and body types. My friends from school helped me out,” she explained, opening up the portfolio and getting ready to begin explaining what was going on in each picture and what her inspiration had been behind the designs. “School being Pacific State, although I guess you knew that, since you spoke with my professor. I did go to FIT for a little bit during freshman year, but it just didn’t work out.”
Gaby knew she was rambling, but Julia just watched her with bright eyes, her smile never faltering, so she continued. “Okay, well, so here,” she pointed out the first picture, before Julia finally cut her off.
“Yes, yes, that’s wonderful. It must’ve been amazing to have grown up with the opportunities you’ve had,” Julia said, eyes practically sparkling in intrigue. Gaby was a little confused, as well as slightly hurt that she’d been cut off, but this was Vogue, she wasn’t about to complain. “Oh, yeah. It’s been awesome. Fashion is something that’s always just been mine, though, you know? My parents helped me out with getting started when I first showed an interest in it. I mean, they bought me my first sewing machine and all of my materials and stuff, and they’ve always been really supportive, but I know this is something I would’ve done whether I’d had the opportunities I’ve had or not. Fashion’s just this huge part of me.” Gaby stressed, wanting to let Julia know she wasn’t expecting any special treatment just because of who she was. This was all her.
Julia, however, didn’t even seem to be listening, and instead just continued to smile almost robotically. “Did you know I went to school with your father?” she asked, and Gaby had to stop herself from frowning. Instead, she just shook her head, politely smiling. “Oh, no, I didn’t know that. Uh, were you guys friends?”
“Oh, gosh, no,” Julia laughed, waving her hand through the air. “Definitely not. Every girl had the biggest crush on Pedro. Myself included. He didn’t even know I existed, though. But now look at this! He’s a big Hollywood star, married to Maribel, and I’m interviewing his daughter!” She clasped her hands together excitedly, still beaming.
Gaby stared for a moment, stunned, before she cleared her throat, composing herself. “Yeah. Um.” She was still mind blown, but tried to focus. “So, um, my portfolio? I can show you my designs.”
Julia cut her off. Again. “Oh, no, no need, dear. Like I said, this is just a formality. This is Hollywood, Gabriela. Your name can get you anywhere. Plus, we’d only be needing office help really. Think of yourself as a PA. My PA.” She clapped her hands excitedly, “Just think, Pedro Lopez’s daughter. My PA.”
Gaby wasn’t sure if she was being Punk’d here or not, and even looked around the room to make sure there were no cameras hiding. There weren’t... She looked back at Julia again, stunned.
“So!” Julia continued, “When can you start? You know you’re always welcome to bring your family to any functions and events, yes? We like to put ourselves in the personal lives of all of our employees. Really get to know each other. And our families.”
Gaby blinked a few times, completely lost for words. “Uh, I—” she finally said, pausing as she tried to think of something to say. “I don’t... I’m gonna have to get back to you. I think I was expecting something a little differently. I don’t really want to work as an office hand. I mean, I’m so flattered that you thought of me, but I want to design clothes. That’s my passion, that’s what I want to do. I thought that was what this was, an internship to get me on the right track towards that.” Gaby’s throat was dry, and she really could’ve used an entire gallon of water, but she didn’t dare to ask for one. Julia was weird as hell. She also cut her off again, this time with a laugh.
“Gabriela, this is Vogue. Whether you’re designing, helping out with outfits, conducting shoots or simply making coffee, to even have our company to add to your resume is an amazing opportunity.”
Gaby blinked. While she knew it was true, and that Vogue was supposed to be an amazing company, she also knew she was being totally and completely used and undervalued here already. There was no way she was going to take this position, and she was sure Julia could read her decision on her face already. The older woman’s smile fell.
“To turn this opportunity down would be a ridiculous idea. You know we have a lot of influence in the fashion industry. You already dropped out of FIT. FIT, of all places! FIDM would've been the next best thing, but you took the easy route, and now you're a student at PSU. PSU, Gabriela. That's the easy way out. Everyone knows that. That's what you're known for. Or, at least, it will be, especially if you turn down an opportunity this huge. I mean, of course, it’s your prerogative to say no, but would you really want to have your name circulating the industry as someone who’s not a team player? Who thinks she should be handed everything, rather than start at the bottom like everybody else, just because of who she is?”
The look on Gaby’s face told Julia she had no idea what to say. She was completely twisting her words. The last thing she wanted was anybody to hand her anything, especially not when it came down to her career. Julia was being completely manipulative, and it seemed she thought she’d hit just the right nerve, as the smile crept back up onto her face as Gaby continued to stare at her in complete shock and sadness.
When Naya had received Heather’s text about rescheduling their date, she had to admit that she was pretty bummed. Considering their relationship was still pretty new, Naya liked to spend as much time with her girlfriend as possible, so since she’d been planning on seeing her tonight, it sucked to think that she wasn’t going to get to. She didn’t care about going out on any official type of date, though, so when Heather invited her over to drink wine together, that perked her up a little bit. Changing into jeans and a light pink shirt, Naya grabbed her keys and purse, stuffing her phone into the latter as she made her way out to her car, then made the drive over to her girlfriend’s apartment. By this point, her car pretty much knew the way there all by itself, so she was pulling up outside in no time. She’d had the conversation with her mom about she and Heather’s relationship, and of course, the woman had been overjoyed for her, and as incredibly supportive as ever. So, as Naya hopped out of her car and made her way over to Heather’s building, she typed up a quick text to her mom: Hanging out with Heather, don’t know if I’ll be home tonight or not so go check up on Lucy for me later?, then hit send and stuffed the device back into her purse, ringing the buzzer for Heather’s apartment.
