Chapter two
 

"Thank you Anthony once again." Juliana waved to Anthony as she got out of the car. Anthony had insisted on bringing Juliana home every night after work. Juliana joked and always said he was her very own personal bodyguard.

     She walked up the six floors to her apartment. Are they ever going to fix those elevators? She asked  herself. Even though her apartment wasn't much she loved it because it was something she could call her own. She walked in and was startled by a red blinking light. She relaxed as she noticed it was just the answering machine. At that she dashed over to the living room area. She wasn't used to anyone leaving messages at her house, everyone usually called her cell phone. She knew that the only people who really had her house number were all those model agencies she had gone to. Quickly she pressed the button.

Yes this call is for Miss. Moore. This is Natural Beauty of NYC calling to inform you of an opening for an interview and fitting for Saturday. Please give us a call at 1-800-BEAUTY-1 before 10am on Saturday. Hope to see you.

"Yes!!!" Juliana yelled. Seconds later she was on the phone with John

"Johnny guess what?"

"Can you say hello first Juls?"

"Oh whatever I saw you twenty minutes ago. Well I got home and I was startled by a red flashing light that lit up the room, so then after I almost screamed I realized it was just the answering machine"

"Oh wow Juls did another agency call?" John knew her too well. So right away he knew what she was talking about.

" Yeah which is why I'm calling you. I'm sorry but I can't go out tonight. I have to be up and early to get my porfolio and things ready. I'm sorry, I was looking forward to going out tonight but I guess we can go out tomorrow night. How does that sound?"

"Juls, its all right we can go anytime don't worry about it and make sure you call me when you get that deal" he said to her with a sad face. He was happy for her but he knew that once she had a contract with some major fashion stylist or whatever that she would be gone and he would spend less and less time with her.

"Thanks Johnny, you know you are the best. And thank you for not killing me tonight at work. Night luv ya"

"Night Juls, Good luck!"

     She hung up the phone and decided on a hot bath. She needed to relax she could feel herself tense up already. She always had a problem with that. Every agency she had gone to had told her she needed to relax some more and had immediately blown her off after realizing she couldn't relax.

     "Ohh God" she said as she slipped herself inside the bathtub " this is heaven" she put her headphones on and went into a deep trance listening to Alicia Keys.

Saturday 11:30am

     Juliana looked at herself at the door checking if she'd forgotten anything. Portfolio? Check. Keys? Check. She had called the agency and she was on her way to a 12:30 appointment. She had already called John and he said she could come in at four, which would of given her more time to get home and ready for work. He truly was an angel.

     She wore a pair low-cut jeans with a TommyGirl baby tee in white. She loved those jeans, she liked to call them her "Oops jeans" They barely came over her entire behind but enough to cover anything indiscreet. Just above her butt she had a small tattoo of a treasure box with jewels in it. Her family and friends always called her Juls so when she saw this tattoo at a parlor, three months after being in New York, she had to get it done.

     The taxicab pulled up to a fairly large building, that was becoming very familiar to her. She'd  had about three interviews and fittings there. It was the capital of modeling in NYC this building had it all. She stepped into the elevator and let out a sigh of relief, she hated going to those places when about a hundred girls were going for the same job. She found this office with only one child model and what looked like to be her mother patiently waiting to be called in.

"Yes, hello my name is Juliana Moore and I'm here for the Fumanskeeto account" she told the petite receptionist. She looks like she should be a model herself. she thought to herself as she smiled at the lady.

"Oh yes Miss Moore, Mr. Ayala is expecting you"

     Juliana wondered who Mr. Ayala was. She never heard of the name before and she now was getting a tad nervous. She walked into a studio filled with racks of clothing that to her seemed like her own. The receptionist informed her Mr. Ayala would be a couple of minutes. She walked up to one of the racks and saw that all of them shared a symbol that she couldn't really figure out. She picked one of the shirts of the rack and examined it, she truly liked the shirt. The black shirt a cute bee looking character she thought was cute, with the word `Fuangel' right above it. Weird I've never heard of this before. She thought. Juliana was, what she thought, up to date with all the latest fashions and this came as a shocker to her. She couldn't worry about this right then. She had to prove to this certain Mr. Ayala that she could be their head model for their clothing. And she needed to find out where she would have to go to get some of these outfits.

"So do you like the design?" a young looking guy asked standing by the door.

"Umm yes. Are you here for the spot too?" she asked wondering. This guy had to be around her age. He was cute yet very rugged too.

"Please! I don't think so, I rather be a cabdriver." he told her with a smile on his face.

"Oh excuse me. What's so wrong about modeling? If you dislike it so much why are you here?" Juliana asked. She felt offended when people made modeling seem so cheap and worthless.

"Hey I didn't mean it that way"  he said apologizing. He walked over to her and smiled.

     She felt this warmth from him so she felt like he really didn't mean to offend her. So she shook his hand. "I'm sorry I'm just a little nervous because I've never heard of this designer before and I want this job."

"Well it's understandable." he then walked away to one of the racks with a bunch of jeans. He picked one out and headed towards her again. "Here go into that room and try these on with that shirt in your hand." he said pointing at a door.

"Excuse me? What are you doing? I can't go try this on. I have to wait till some overly grumpy old man comes in here and asks all kind of questions and eyes me down like a piece of meat." she said with a smile on her face. It was true, every interview consisted of her standing in front of some old man wearing a bikini while he eyed her down.

"I don't think that's going to happen considering I'm only 20." he looked at her smiling.

" Wait, who are you?"

" Hi Juliana, I'm Trace." he informed her. "Or Mr. Ayala like every one of these old folks call me."

     Juliana was in a state of shock. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She hadn't expected to have this teenager be her potential boss. "Oh wow I'm sorry I didn't know who you were. I apologize"

"No need to apologize a lot of people tend to  mistake me for some young kid. Although again I'm only 20." Trace said smiling. "I must say though, not all of them have been beautiful models"

     Juliana felt like laughing in his face but she figured she'd said enough. "Thank you" she smiled.

"So you gonna try those on or would you like some help?"

"No thanks, I think I can handle it." Juliana said walking towards the fitting room.

     Trace looked at her walking away then went and sat down on a large over-stuffed sofa at the other end of the studio. He got his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his bosses' number.

"Hey Danielle, can I speak to Chris for a moment?" Trace said quietly. He heard Chris on the other end.

"Hey Trace, so is she alright?" Chris asked excitedly.

"I think she'll be a nice addition to Fuman, but are you sure she'll be okay with all the traveling?"

"That's your side of the deal man. You said we needed a new model for this project, so I set this up. She doesn't even know I do this aside from Nsync."

"What do you mean she doesn't know?" Trace asked confused.

"Well I've never actually told her I own this company since I've never talked to her more than five minutes at a time. Just hire her and let her know what's going on with this project. When you said we needed a model, she popped in my head. I know she had mentioned it to me once or twice that modeling was her goal so here`s her chance."

"Alright but I hope she goes for it. I'll call you when I'm done she's coming out with the first outfit. Gotta go"