#Chapter 18 - Choosing Clothes

As I walked across the stage as my name was being announced, I felt butterflies in my stomach. This was new too me. I never got truly nervous when I performed but this was different. I was showcasing my body as if it was a talent.
There were nineteen other beauty pageant contestants besides me and every one of them were not only beautiful, but it was plain as the nose on the announcer’s face that each one of them were determined to win.
After the stroll around the stage flashing smiles and waves, we were sent backstage to change into the evening gowns. The one that Elijah and the stylist--who’s names I learned later was Tessa—agreed upon a jaded green floor length gown with a corset bodies.
Curse them both for picking this dress, how do women breathe in this thing? The dress used cords instead of strings to cinch my chest and waist tightly into the dress. The gown at my pelvis bunched at the bottom of the corset before cascading down to the floor.
I would not mind the dress, to be honest I liked how it showed off my figure. But I loved breathing more. If Tessa had not warned me the cost of this damn thing, I would have burned it after the pageant was over.
I was happy if not relived that this pageant forgoes the Q and A segment that most pageants were famous for. This one focused more on the talent portion, evening gowns and of course the bathing suits. Not in that order or course.
After the evening gowns we changed into the swimsuits. I was glad that the three of us (Elijah, Tessa and myself) agreed that I should wear a one-piece bathing suit. It would leave more to the imagination after showing the judges the corset dress.
I did argue with Elijah over the color though. He wanted me to wear a deep red bath suit, but I laughed at him replying. “You want them to think of me as a Christmas gift they can never have?”
That did not sit well with my boss, so I mentioned that I always liked the color of eggplants and Tessa found a beautiful purple bathing suit that matched perfectly. I instantly feel in love with it. Maybe I could convince Tessa to let me have it so I could go swimming in the pool at my house.
I paraded on stage with the suit and matching stiletto heels. That took hours of practice to master, and I have the sores to prove it. But I kept smiling as I wiped my hair behind me exiting the stage after my demonstration.
“Simply beautiful.”
“That color is gorgeous especially paired with the earlier gown.”
“Lovely.”
For the final performance, the talent portion, I acted out a scene to my favorite film. I wore a auberge paints suit that was opened up showing off my black camisole shirt. The scene was being held in a police station being told by police that I was a suspect.
Sitting in the steel chair and the metal table in the middle of the stage, I felt as if I was on a set. I felt in my element. I gave no hesitation as I delivered my monologue.
“You brought me here, under false pretenses hoping to scare me into confessing. Do you have nothing better to do but to harass a widow in her hour of mourning. I lost the love of my life.
I lost my best friend in the entire world, and you think I killed him for a profit. You disgust me, truly. Insurance…why would I kill my husband for insurance money when he told me that everything was left to me in his will when he passes.
And I have not met with anyone, gentlemen. I have not met with the insurance claims. Nor have I met with anyone that deals with my husband’s will. I am too busy arranging his funeral and try to contact our loved ones.
That’s not a motive, sir it’s clarification. I am clarifying that there is no reason to hold me. I let you destroy my house. I let you ransack my studio and for what to satisfy your male egos and your presumptions. Well officers not every wife kills her husband for money.”
In the beauty pageant, my performance and status were flawless and stunning, and many people frantically forwarded my beauty pageant clips on social networks.
"Who is she?"
"This girl will definitely be number one!"
"Wow, it's so beautiful."
"If she acts in a movie, I will definitely go to the movie theater to admire her beauty!"
"..."
I found a lot of compliments about the pageant as well as my performance online. There was nothing negative in the bunch.
"Okay," Elijah said, "I'll tell you how your beauty pageant fared now."
"What?" I was taken aback, "But the awards ceremony hasn't started yet, how did you know the ranking?"
"I found out at a dinner with the organizers the other day," Elijah said. "This pageant will be promoting a relative of a showbiz bigwig, so second place is the best you can get." ranking."
"How could this be..." I felt a little unwilling to believe his statement. There was no way he could know the conclusion of the pageant before it was announced. There was no way that I would get second place based on all the positive feedback that I had gotten.
Elijah advised me not to think so. "It's a good start for a rookie. What matters is how you perform when you get there.”
After the award ceremony, the moving picture of me crying because I won the second place was widely reposted on social networking sites, which aroused the love of the public. I was not the only person that night upset by the results of the voting.
"The first girl is much uglier than her."
"It's not fair! There must be something shady!"
"I think Ava deserves first place!"
“You cannot tell me that the pageant was not rigged! Did you see Ava’s talent portion!”
Ava looked at the messages and smiled with satisfaction. Only I knew how much effort I had put in to perfecting that pitiful and relatable expression. Truth be told I did not need to act that much. After seeing the results and finding out that I lost out to a contestant that horribly sang a hit song that even I could not recognize, many fans online demanded recounts.
I was generally upset about losing out when she put in so much time and effort into this pageant. Thinking about it now I was on the verge of tears, and I could not understand why. I mean I did not want to compete in the first place—so why was I so upset.
But I found myself getting lethargic and my wolf getting weird and emotional. On a set, I suddenly felt unwell. I ran to the bathroom and raised my head. I was shocked to find that my right arm had shifted unconsciously and turned into a wolf's paw.
What the hell is going on with me.
It had been weeks since I heard anything from Tide, and I was worried. Not only for my sake but for hers as well. I had not had transformations like this since I was a teenager.
I threw water in my face to hydrate my sin. I could feel steam rising form my body. Being in a transformation state left my temperature spiking constantly.
I tried counting and calming myself down. 5…4…3...2…I looked down and let out a breath of relief. My hand was normal again. Instead of a wolf’s paw and claws my manicured nails and hand were there instead.
But I needed to find out what caused this so it would not happen again.
As promised Elijah took me along with part of the company on the yacht. He also had three newly signed actresses apart of a competition to be invited as well. I never felt so luxurious and pampered in my entire existence.
The new actresses introduced themselves to me and we all exchanged pleasantries I wanted to go out for a bit of fresh sea breeze. When I went up on deck I saw Elijah was there with a small woman.
“Ah, Ava, I wanted you to meet Sally. She will be taking over as your new manager while you are with the company.” Elijah said as he motioned the woman towards me.
She extended out her hand and we shook hands.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sally.” I said. Even though I was here to enjoy myself I knew sooner rather than later business would be a part of the agenda.
“In the entertainment industry, everything is about connections, and a good manager should be: first, a precise eye for people. Second, a predictable market and able to assess analytical ability. Third that manger should have an extensive and powerful network at their disposal.
And fourth, outstanding control over the artists under my banner. And I am working hard towards this goal." I looked at Sally who was dressed like most of the businessmen on the yacht. She wore a light-colored shirt with khaki shorts and lifted sandals.
I felt a kinship with Sally right from the get-go.
“Sally is as professional as the business goes. She was a broker before becoming a manger and agent to actors and she is good at costs and marketing.” Elijah boosted about his select pick.
"Ava, I've landed you two auditions because of the attention you've gotten in beauty pageants lately," Sally said.
That was fast. Ava thought as she took a seat opposite to Sally and Elijah on the deck lounge.
“What kind of auditions did you have in mind?”