Zyara_Bloodkissed
"Plaid was so last week," someone muttered as they passed her in the hall. She couldn't quite tell who because her sunglasses, epitome of style though they were, made it almost impossible to see indoors.
"Zyara!" her boss yelled, sticking her head around the corner of a door. "You're late!"
She was nine minutes early, to her job as a photographer for Gaian Fashion 2.0, a midrange magazine that was gaining a small following, in fits and starts. The photo shoot was underway, but the model, a pouty, slender young thing, kept tossing her head or moving and throwing everything off.
"Just stand still!" Megan cried in exasperation. Her boss was a decent person and had an excellent eye for capturing fashion, but management shortened her temper to the point of nonexistence. Even Zyara was beginning to get fed up with waiting for the model. There was only so much fiddling with the camera she could do before, eventually, she had to take photos.
"Move again and you're fired, Shiera whatever-your-name-is," Megan snapped. "We are never hiring you for anything ever, I don't care who your uncle is. Your job is to stand still, so stand still!"
The model leapt to her feet. "You won't get another chance to photograph me," she said, storming out, trailing hats and scarves behind her.
"Great," Megan said. "She's the only one we have booked today, and Accounting will kill me if I have to pay for an emergency model. Somebody get Brooke from Makeup, will you?" Brooke was the de facto emergency subject, having been a model in her youth.
"In the Bahamas this week," somebody said.
"Zy," Megan said. “You look good in black and white. Good figure. Pout for me.” Zyara, confused, pursed her lips. “Passable,” Megan said. “Not great, but passable. Show someone how to point-n-click your camera, and get over to the dressing room.”
When she was one of the top models for a small but prosperous talent company, well connected with the leading magazine Gaian Fashion 2.0, she sent a thank-you note to the director of their rival company, thanking his niece for her incompetence, which had set Zyara on the path to her own success.
